In a nutshell: I grew up and went a university in the San Francisco Bay Area. After graduating, I spent a couple years in Sierra Leone as Peace Corps volunteer, and then returned to the Bay Area for a Ph.D. in international development. I lived in a small town in central Mexico for a year for my dissertation research. After graduating, I taught for two years at a university and now work as an economist in DC (near Dupont Circle). My research focuses on environmental issues related to agriculture (e.g. what to do about the greenhouse gas emissions from livestock). I spent the last year living in Rome while working for the United Nations.

I’m emotionally stable: I don’t fly off the handle and rarely raise my voice. I’m probably on the introverted end of the spectrum, and not assertive or pushy. I’m definitely not a workaholic: up until very recently I was working 4 days a week (by choice!). I’m also not much of a night-owl, though I can be roused for a late-night soiree.

I enjoy following politics, and I’m well left of center. I think my blood pressure dropped about 10 points after Obama won the election! Politically, I’m probably most passionate about environmental issues – few things get me more depressed/irritated/riled than low-density sprawl. I often feel guilty about eating meat, but haven’t garnered the resolve to stop. I’ve been somewhat involved in local civic activities – I’m on our neighborhood historic preservation committee and, until recently, was our civic association president.

I run and work out regularly and go backpacking and canoeing occasionally. In the last couple years I have taken up (actually returned to) sailing as a hobby. Actually hobby might be an understatement – escapist fantasy might be more apt – something about the idea of cruising in the Caribbean in the dead of a DC winter... Such excursions have remained in the planning/dreaming stage and I haven't sailed beyond the Chesapeake Bay. I’m also a member of the Appalachian Trail club, and when I can get a reservation, really enjoy spending weekends in their cabins. I love being outdoors, basking in the sun, and “communing with nature” – anywhere from pristine wilderness areas to my backyard.

I get a lot of satisfaction from the various plumbing, electrical and woodworking projects required by my less-than-pristine Victorian. In a much earlier incarnation, I was somewhat of a motorhead, but I haven’t owned a suitably vintage car or motorcycle for some time. In decent weather, I enjoy the Sisyphean task of taming the jungle that is my yard, and cultivating, despite the best efforts of the various creatures that live there, a respectable crop of tomatoes.
Last but far from least, I am the father of two beautiful girls (5 and 7) who mean the world to me and who live with me half the week.

I read the NY Times religiously and the New Yorker when I have the time, plus more sailing magazines than I would care to admit. RE fiction: Whites by Norman Rush and A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. Non-fiction: The Moral Animal by Wright and Guns Germs and Steel.

Movies: I looked at my Netflix list came up with, in alphabetical order no less: Being John Malkovich, The Big Lebowski , Boys Don't Cry, Brazil, Crumb, Donnie Darko, Fargo, Happiness, The Ice Storm, Memento, The Remains of the Day, Roger & Me, Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic, Sexy Beast, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Vanishing (the original Dutch version), and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

“Newer” pop music: Joanna Newsom (a goddess), Belle and Sebastian (earlier stuff), and Bonny Prince Billy (pretty much only “ease down the road”), Antony and the Johnsons and The Sea and Cake. Jazz: early 60’s hard bop (Coltrane, Davis, Shorter, and Hancock) is probably my favorite period: can’t beat “Kind of Blue” on a drizzly day for bittersweet reminiscing. I’ve also been listening to a lot of classical music lately as I slowly turn into my father (yikes).

you don't use message as a verb.