I moved here from Seattle in March. What's this hot, bright yellow thing in the sky?

I make eye contact and listen closely. I value quality interaction. I can handle high-intensity situations fairly well. I think deeply and critically (as in "critical thinking"). I'm interested in just about everything. Once in a while I say something pretty funny. I have lots of empathy. I like kindness. I'm fairly comfortable with myself. I've done a few unusual things--traveled to India to study the music, started a literary journal, been both a computer programmer and a counselor. I think I'm becoming a decent photographer. I'm definitely on the liberal/progressive side of the spectrum. I like hiking around in nature but I'm not hardcore.

What else...? There's always room for improvement.

I got my MA in psychology (counseling) last year. Moved to the bay area for more training.

listening, empathizing, challenging, writing, grammar, knowing when not to correct other people's grammar, amateur massages, Scrabble....

The beard? The glasses? The friendly manner and fabulous conversational skills?

books ... Woolf, Austen, Forster, García Márquez, Calvino, Borges, Homer.... I've been known to read Ancient and Medieval history books for pleasure. Young adult fiction seems to be where it's at these days: Philip Pullman, JK Rowling (pronounced "rolling"), and Suzanne Collins are excellent.

movies ... The Lion in Winter, Bon Voyage, Life of Brian, The Seventh Seal, Ridicule, Ang Lee, Woody Allen, Hitchcock, Astaire and Rogers, the occasional sci-fi/fantasy/superhero blockbuster. Recently enjoyed: Cloud Atlas.

music ... The Beatles, Beethoven, Diane Birch, Dusted, Faithless, Florence + The Machine, Imogen Heap, Indian classical music, Lady GaGa, Melody Gardot, Neko Case, Nick Drake, Philip Glass, Rachael Yamagata, Regina Spektor, Sarah Bareilles, Soundgarden, Tift Merritt, U2

food ... My favorite fish is raw ahi. My least favorite fish is cooked ahi. I like lots besides seafood, too.

wine ... reds, e.g. cabernet, malbec.

beer ... Hefeweisen

cocktail .... Vesper

television ... The Daily Show via the web. I enjoyed Lost and Battlestar Galactica on DVD. My So-Called Life back in the day.

comedians ... Bill Cosby, Eddie Izzard, Mitch Hedberg, Louis C.K.

sketch comedy ... 'A Bit of Fry and Laurie' and Almost Live, both now sadly defunct.

Touch
Humor
Honesty
Learning
Courage
My iPhone

Words. Music. Art. Relationships. Marriage equality. How to change the world.

You are smart and good-looking and you like what you see.