After reading more of these than I care to admit, I begin to wonder if anyone is really qualified to recommend themselves to strangers. (Extra points if you can name the literary work I'm alluding to there.) I have no idea how to summarize myself. The things that I find particularly interesting about myself might bore someone else to tears while the stuff I find ho-hum and mundane might be what really makes someone else sit up and take notice.

I'm an early 30s graduate student that really has very little time for a relationship right now. Which of course meant that's when it dropped in my lap because that's the way it seems to work with me. I am generally involved in open or polyamorous relationships. (It's one of those things I find mundane but other people are endlessly interested in.) I am most definitely sarcastic and smart-assed but I'd rather be a smart-ass instead of a dumb-ass. I like cats but love dogs, always have a book somewhere near me, am addicted to doing sudoku puzzles and playing games on my iPhone. Actually, I think I'm just addicted to my iPhone! I'm a texting queen but don't really like talking on the phone. I have a fondness for bad puns, especially bad fish puns, that no one else seems to appreciate. I was raised a country girl in a town that was around 7,000 on a good day but love living in the city now. They say you can't go home again and I don't know that I believe it; I think it's more that you don't want to go back once you leave.

I like to think of myself as a good person but even so it's unavoidable I'm going to do bad things. I believe in ghosts and spirits and that those two things are not the same (I'd explain but that's a lot of explaining to type!). I believe that the Rams will eventually play football again (though I've sadly been proven wrong this season, haven't I?) and that we should never have got rid of Warner. I kept the faith with my beloved Iowa Hawkeyes and look where it's got me! I believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny because they still bring me presents; of course, if I look at my mother's right before those holidays I'll find those same presents but that's probably just a coincidence. I believe my best friend is the best thing that has happened to me in the last five years and that we are closer than sisters. And I believe I'm fortunate that I can use "my best friend" to describe more than one person in my life.

I'm in graduate school to finish my Ph.D. in cognitive psychology. I also work full time because I have to pay the bill somehow and being a professional student doesn't pay that well. In my dream world I win the lottery and I CAN be a professional student. I love to learn. Trying to find something I'm passionate about. This is going to be a madcap year so please bear with me while I lose my mind.

writing, listening, giving advice that I don't take. Making obscure references to things no one else gets.

My weight. I'm mostly comfortable with my shape but occasionally I have "fat girl angst". Otherwise probably my eyes.

My sense of humor. It's often dark or obscure; people don't always get my jokes. I think they're funny though and honestly? I just want to amuse myself.

The words I use. I tend to have a rather extensive vocabulary. Often, like with my jokes, people look at me askance (see what I mean?) when I pull out some thesaurus worthy words.

Surely they don't expect me to pick just one of anything? Variety is the spice of life! To quote a friend, "embrace the power of 'and'."

Books: Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, Queen of the Darkness by Anne Bishop (simply amazing, if you haven't read them and enjoy fantasy I highly recommend them), the In Death series by J. D. Robb, the Anita Blake books by Laurell K. Hamilton, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, anything about forensics from forensic anthropology to forensic pathology whether it's fiction or non-fiction like the Diane Fallon mysteries by Beverly Connor or No Stone Unturned by Steve Jackson (about the formation of NecroSearch International).

Movies: I'm a romantic comedy kinda girl, probably because I'm a hapless---I mean hopeless romantic. Hope Floats, Jerry Macguire, Pratical Magic and Love Actually are staples of my DVD shelf not to mention Dirty Dancing. I am also a huge fan of Serenity and the TV show it was spawned from. I just recently added Rent, both the 1995 and 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice, and The Lake House to the collection.

Music: I listen to just about anything. Recently I've got Michael Bublé and the Rent soundtrack on repeat on my CD player. I also love Trisha Yearwood, Nickelback, Matchbox 20, Barenaked Ladies, John Mayer, Joss Stone, and Melissa Etheridge. It's a good bet I've got music on in the background no matter what I'm doing and it could be anything from Melissa Etheridge's "Kiss Me" to Custom's "Beat Me" to Alanis Morisette's cover of "Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)". I was raised on country music but I've been branching out lately.

Lip balm, especially Burt's Bees or Blistex's Complete Moisture, writing in my journal with colored pens (is that one or two??), music, books, my best friend, my cell phone or computer..

What I'm going to do in the future. Why I'm only a 96% match with myself! If I really honestly feel like cooking that night. My family. What book I want to read next. My relationships with the people around me.

Either at home curled on the couch with a good book and the TV or a CD on or out with my boyfriend Phil62702 having fun re-exploring St. Louis.

I'm polyamorous. This does not make me a slut, a bad person, or promiscuous. It also doesn't guarantee I'm sleeping with you.

You're capable of having a conversation that does not include the phrases "a/s/l" or "how r u?"

You didn't run scared when you saw the words "open relationship" in my introduction.

You know where the phrase "Silence! I kill you!" comes from.

Or, better yet, you can tell me what my user name references.