Like so many small town Wisconsin girls I've got a heart of gold and a cheerful disposition. A jumbled mess of contradictions, I'm serious but playful, flexible but challenging, nurturing but not smothering, and intense but easygoing. I'm both strong-willed and open-minded, and my old soul is tempered by a generous dose of childlike wonder. I delight in simple pleasures-- the smile of a child, sunlight catching on leaves just so, clouds billowing across the night sky.

I'm compassionate, warm, sincere, and self-aware, and I value immensely those traits in others. I love spending time with those I care about, but I'm also fiercely independent and protective of time spent to myself. In others I seek complements, not completion.

I tend to be both high- and low- maintenance in ways you just might appreciate, but I guess that depends on your perspective. I do possess sufficient depth that my concerns are weightier than whether my butt looks too big in my jeans (it doesn't), and I'll never subject you to chick flicks, Oprah recaps, or trips to the mall. Basically I'm grounded and still feminine without being girly in the prissy/catty/(dare I say fluffy?) sense.

Though I border occasionally on cynical, at heart I'm an unrepentant idealist. I'm deeply concerned by the state of humanity and compelled to work toward its transformation on some level (enter pesky pessimist: however futile that may be). Despite being something of a dreamer, though, for the most part I'm fairly rational and analytical in my approach to the world (less so my personal choices).

I'm impulsively free-spirited, and as something of a hedonist, my id is generally more persuasive than my ego. I always appreciate a good excuse to check out a new band, play in the mountains, hit up a good happy hour, or just roam aimlessly about watching people or enjoying the parks.

A few of my favorite things:
Books, ideas, tangential and parenthetical thinking. Words. Dry humor. Meaningful conversations and one-on-one time with deep, complex, and insightful people. Progressive politics. Social justice. Live music. Lectures. Libraries. KEXP. NPR. Carousing. Spontaneity. Sunrises. Sunsets. Sunshine in general. Travel near and far. Living in the city. Relaxing and rejuvenating in the wilderness. Getting dirty. Getting clean. Car camping. Hiking, biking, backpacking, and snowshoeing… at a leisurely pace. Swimming. Bonfires. Digging in the dirt. Compulsive googling. Juggling random mini-projects that never seem to get finished.

Trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up, a recurring theme it seems. Lately I think a lot about going back to school to get certified to teach. However, I'm hesitant to do another go-round with grad school until I'm a bit more resolute in my chosen career path. I'm reasonably wary of what, to date, has been my process of elimination approach to professional life. (Seriously, you should see my résumé.) For now I’m working in a classroom for kids with emotional and behavioral disorders and loving every crazy, chaotic, but gratifying minute of it. Or wait... was that my summer vacation?

Spelling and proofreading. That said, there must be a glaring typo lurking in this profile somewhere. Research. Self-entertainment (or -distraction, anyway); I truly can't recall the last time I was bored. Remaining calm in crisis situations. Staying up all night. Hooking up my friends when they've inevitably come camping without a headlamp, raincoat, or some other such essential, or need a safety pin or band-aid from my bottomless purse (see Boy Scout, below). Caring for and indulging other people's kids. Posing questions.

In the sunlight I get a lot of "Your eyes are *really* green, aren't they?" Indeed they are. Much to my dismay when they find their way to bloodshot, damn those complementary colors.

I've also been told that I have an expressive face, and that my voice is not quite firm enough to frighten teenagers (Midwestern lilts die hard, again to my dismay). Oh well... at least it all works with the little ones.

Books: The Poisonwood Bible and High Tide in Tucson (Kingsolver), East of Eden (Steinbeck), Mating (Rush), Savage Inequalities (Kozol), Schooling in Capitalist America (Bowles and Gintis), Love in the Time of Cholera (Garcia Marquez), Geek Love (Dunn), The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (Kundera), The God of Small Things (Roy), The Spell of the Sensuous (Abram), Desert Solitaire (Abbey), The Prophet (Gibran), A People's History (Zinn), A Prayer for Owen Meany (Irving), Everything is Illuminated (Safran Foer), The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (Chabon), The Kite Runner (Hosseini), The Bluest Eye (Morrison), In America (Sontag), Slaughterhouse Five (Vonnegut), 1984 (Orwell), The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Murakami), Lolita (Nabokov), A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bryson), Guns, Germs, and Steel (Diamond), The Road (McCarthy), The Hours (Cunningham), Gilead (Robinson), The OED (although I usually rely on a battered copy of the American Heritage Dictionary that I won in the fifth grade; it was part of the grand prize in the mall’s back to school sweepstakes… quelle chance for the budding word nerd! I was notably less enthralled with the Bart Simpson t-shirt and Brewers warm-up jacket.)

Movies: Lost in Translation, Amélie, Fight Club, City of God, Waking Life, Frida, Garden State, Donnie Darko, Rushmore, Secretary, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Motorcycle Diaries, Baraka, Talk to Her, Bad Education, Y tu mamá también, Life is Beautiful, Run Lola Run, Afterlife, Au Revoir les Enfants, Sex and Lucia, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Annie Hall, Harold and Maude

Music: Radiohead, Thom Yorke, Wilco, Built to Spill, The Shins, Elliott Smith, Ray LaMontagne, Interpol, Yo la Tengo, Pixies, Frank Black, The Wrens, old U2, The Clash, The Smiths, Morrissey, Talking Heads, Modest Mouse, My Morning Jacket, Pavement, Stephen Malkmus, Cat Power, M83, Aimee Mann, Beck, Iron and Wine, Calexico, Sleater-Kinney, Belle and Sebastian, Ryan Adams, Clinic, Kasabian, Will Oldham, Cowboy Junkies, Delays, Jesus and Mary Chain, Stone Roses, The Strokes, The Epochs, Panda Bear, Tap Tap, !!!, Sondre Lerche, Decemberists, The Broken West, Menomena, Gillian Welch, Sera Cahoone, Cold War Kids, Hot Chip, Fujiya and Miyagi, Architecture in Helsinki, The Papercuts, Klaxons, Sufjan Stevens, Spoon, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Doves, M. Ward, Nick Drake, Jose Gonzales, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Brendan Benson, DeVotchKa, Eels, Fruit Bats, Ghostland Observatory, Kings of Convenience, Nada Surf, Okkervil River, Neutral Milk Hotel, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Tapes 'n Tapes, PJ Harvey, Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter, Bright Eyes, The National, The Knife, Apples in Stereo, Arctic Monkeys, Peter Bjorn and John, Jamie Lidell, Brandi Carlile, Sun Kil Moon, Flaming Lips, Arcade Fire, Neko Case, New Pornographers, Silversun Pickups, The Cure, Rogue Wave, The Rapture, The Raconteurs, Band of Horses, Caribou, Grizzly Bear, The Village Green, Detroit Cobras, Voxtrot, Wolf Parade, Helio Sequence, Bon Iver, Everybodyfields, Lucinda Williams, Patty Griffin, Builders and the Butchers, Yeasayer, Vampire Weekend, The Cave Singers, Elvis Perkins, MGMT, Gang Gang Dance, Deerhunter, TV on the Radio, Sonic Youth, Animal Collective, No Age, Walkmen, Hercules and Love Affair, Girl Talk, Cut Copy, Phosphorescent, Fleet Foxes, Rodriguez, Neil Young, CSNY, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Sam Cooke, Stevie Wonder, Al Green, The Roots, Tribe, Lauryn Hill, J-5, De La Soul, Blackalicious, Kanye West...

The list goes on and on… and on. When it comes to music I’m kind of fickle and fanatical, you see. It all depends on the day. Lots of my beloved KEXP and a random smattering of indie rock & pop, jazz, hip hop, blues, old soul, trip hop, REAL country and alt-country, classical, and reggae. Recently I've been on a New Wave kick, and lest you think me a music snob (although, come to think of it, that list presents me as more of a music slut than snob), I've been enjoying the hell out of some yacht rock of late. Quality.

Food: Indian, Thai, Ethiopian, sushi, seafood, and here is where I must cop to the occasionally overwhelming urge for (and indulgence in) a good cheeseburger. Here too is where I’ll also confess that I’m no fan of pizza (gasp!).

Excepting the obvious (and yes, that includes friends and family):

Books
Music
Internet access
Being surrounded by plants in some form
A comfy hoodie
Purses and/or bags (To haul around the mass of "just in case" stuff I feel the need to carry on my person whenever I venture more than 3 feet from home; I'm like a Boy Scout and always need to be prepared.)

Oops. I guess that means I might want for more than six things. But really, though, I am not particularly materialistic.

Far-flung friends and family. The human condition. Politics. Social and economic injustice and potential fixes. Related, our educational system and its impact on children and society. Language and semantics. Religion and its underpinnings and implications. Sundry philosophical meanderings. Psychology and neuroscience. The fleeting nature of our time on this planet. How best to make a difference in the world-- while satisfying intellect and without compromising ideals. Approaches to motivating kids.

And always taking up at least temporary residence on the back burner of my brain.. the repetitive silent recitation of that list of things I need to look up when I get home. (Just what *was* that third one again? Damn, my mnemonic devices always suck!)

Spending time with friends... hanging out at a pub, checking out a band, feasting on an impromptu potluck dinner, or keeping warm at a blazing bonfire in the middle of nowhere (Golden Gardens works too). Sometimes, rather often enough these days, just staying in to recharge.

Is something that would no longer be considered very private then, huh? Besides, I think the tests reveal quite enough, thank you. The questions here, not so much. I wish there were more options like "(D), None of the above apply with any level of precision for various contingencies one might imagine with very little requisite imagination."

You are some combination of the following:

Approximately equal parts hellion and nerd, and at least semi-socially adept in spite of it.

In possession of a karma account that's always in the black, but you're by no means a doormat.

Quietly (or not so quietly?) brilliant, and not all that condescending or pretentious about it.

Quick-witted but kind-hearted. You're appropriately irreverent and know when to speak your mind and when to bite your tongue.

Able to intuit that the prior qualification needs not apply to most discussions of the Bush administration or the Religious Right.

Equally enamored of the solace of nature and the temptations of the city.

Averse to televised sporting events and video games (a girl can dream, right?).

Willing to step outside your comfort zone (and from your own shoes into those of another).

In a nutshell: Considerate, intelligent, curious, and adventurous. Well-rounded, engaged, and capable of exercising both sides of your brain. And of course, things will be all that much more fun if you have something of a wild streak in you…

That said, you and I both also know that chemistry is inexplicable. Barring the laundry list, if you think we might have fun sharing a laugh, digressing, or delighting in the mutual reassurance that at least one more person on this planet still cares about the things that really matter, by all means drop me a line.