I'm a nerd. Not exclusively, not entirely, but I'm definitely a nerd. I am a highly verbal, highly analytical person. My social instincts are somewhat duller than I would like.

That being said, I'm also a romantic. I'm a sucker for concepts like love, hope, compassion and freedom. I'm so optimistic I'm often characterized as naive. In truth though, I'm no less capable of seeing the problems of the world than the most jaded of cynics, I simply refuse to accept the assertion that they cannot be solved, or at least mitigated.

I'm a musician. If you haven't heard me sing, you've known me for less than two hours. Music is a part of me; it bubbles unbidden out of my soul and I do what I can to release it whenever the situation allows.

Finally, I am quirky. I love novelty, and I dislike excessive seriousness. I've been known to do completely random things simply to see what happens (within reason, of course). I find that it's easier to be happy and find justification for my happiness than to allow circumstances to dictate my happiness and spend my life in perpetual pursuit of more favorable circumstances.

I'm studying computer science at Iowa State University. When I'm finished, I intend to go to graduate school, preferably in a large city in a coastal state. My eventual goal is to do R&D in the field of artificial intelligence.
In the meantime, I'm singing a lot in choirs and taking voice lessons. I'm also working to improve my piano skills. I plan to keep music as a major part of my life wherever it takes me, although, as I mentioned before, my career goals lie elsewhere.

Critical Thinking, Mathematics, Music, Verbal Communication. Adjusting my perspective to best suit the situation.

Probably my height, because it's noticeable from a great distance. As far as more substantive qualities, it's difficult to say. Likely my whimsy, or my propensity toward verbose explanations of seemingly simple matters. (Think Willy Wonka meets John Kerry.)

Music: anything structured enough to be distinct from noise, but complex and/or virtuosic enough to hold my complete attention. examples: J.S. Bach, Bobby McFerrin, Eric Whitacre, Stevie Wonder, Claude Debussy, Jim Croce, System of a Down, Michael Buble, W.A. Mozart, Eminem, The Beatles, Giovanni Palestrina, The Be Good Tanyas, etc...

Books: "Godel, Escher Bach"- D. Hoffstader "The Book of Numbers" -J. H. Conway and R. K. Guy, "Blink" -M. Gladwell, "Ender's Game" -0. S. Card, "Stretching a point" -M. Stroble, "Why is God Laughing" -D. Chopra, "The Calculus Gallery" -W. Dunham, The Wheel of Time -R. Jordan

Movies: Good Will Hunting, Finding Forester, Spaceballs, Charlie Wilson's War, etc.

Food: The most delicious thing requiring the least effort on my part.

In no particular order:
Music. Reason. Love. Language. Oxygen. Curiosity.

Just about anything. Mostly topics which are susceptible to great insights by laymen (Social Sciences, Philosophy) or things in which I am relatively well-educated (Math, Music, Computer Science, Linguistics)

At home with my roommates or by myself. I recently made the poor decision to move to the outskirts of town without procuring a car beforehand. The bus doesn't come out here after 6:30 so my social life kind of sucks right now.

"... private thing I'm willing to admit here" is a contradiction in terms (or as I like to say,"That's an oxy, moron."). Anything I admit here is not private simply by virtue of being posted on a public web profile.

you should message me.