The world is glorious in both its wonder and absurdity. As much as our contemporary neo-Enlightenment philosophies tend to vilify the human wrought world as "unnatural" and "unhealthy" Nature certainly doesn't have a monopoly on the sublime any more than we have one on the ridiculous.

I'm sure there is nothing like a God, but I'm also equally sure it has a stupendous sense of humor.

The shiny thing the camera is pointed at is, inevitably, quite boring. What lies in the periphery and beyond is less so, but will always disappoint with its insistence on the importance of the center of the frame. It is this tension that gives rise to all meaning, between the emptiness of the subject and the subjugation of any context to that emptiness.

If the above sounds like utter gobbledygook to you, or if you're the type who dismisses philosophy because it "asks questions it can't answer" you should probably just stop reading now.

None of this means you need to read philosophy, or even have heard of any of the philosophers I adore. What it does mean is that you need to have not found a little ledge and convinced yourself it's the world far and wide. Even better if you're alright with simply falling down the rabbit hole forever.

If I was smart I'd delete all of the gobbledygook above the previous paragraph and start there, but even to be friends you need to understand how I see the world.

What I want from those around me is an appreciation of the infinite possibilities both in front and behind them. I want someone who not only knows who they are but knows why. I want someone who isn't afraid of leaving any given self behind.

Adoring information density and pursuing it.

Applying to the UW's Computer Science program for this coming Fall.

Writing, which is by far the most difficult thing I've ever done, despite being the thing I've done the longest.

Reading. The New Yorker is my light silly reading.

Working weird, crappy hours with my name on my shirt.

Coding and learning new programming languages. Python is something I continue to toy with and be tempted by. Objective-C is like a very capable aunt who never quite manages to do what she said, but then always had a good explanation afterward.

Inventing idioms off the top of my head that sound like something you've heard before.

It's actually a sign I like you.

Destroying bicycle drivetrains. Never using the granny gear. Refusing the see the connection between those two things.

Learning over and over the value of being able to throw away something I created and once thought was brilliant and perfect.

That I'm not made of chocolate.

After that it's nothing but good surprises.

Books that feel indecent to read in public, but not in the way you might think.

I spend an inordinate amount of time listening to podcasts put out by the evil commies: NPR, PRI, PRX and (shudder) the CBC. Actually I clap like a stupid seal being tossed fish when a new full length episode of Freakonomics or RadioLab shows up.

The movies, shows and music that I'm into are what you might expect, with a lot of what you might not.

I'm an omnivore who is morally righteous about it. I respect vegetarians, eating local, and more than anything, eating real, actual food. Vegans, gluten-avoiders, paleo-anythings, or any other trendy contemporary diet idea that is ultimately treating the symptoms of our fucked up food system rather than the root will have to convince me that their choices are anything more than grasping at straws. If you think you can, please do. I'd rather date a feisty, intelligent, gluten-free vegan than a fellow omnivore who never had a moral food consideration beyond how to divide five pieces of bacon between three people.

Contentedness can be pursued. Ecstasy cannot.

In that light I need the outside to be more than a place between insides.

I need my ontic horizon to heave and thrash occasionally.

Friends who love enough to be uncivil.

Fun that doesn't exactly feel fun at the time.

I think there's a six in there somewhere.

How strange it is to be anything at all.

How strange it is that the right person can make being seem necessary and inevitable. Whether for five minutes or five years.

The importance of the authentic act.

How the incidental and the inevitable are really the same thing seen from different sides of the mirror.

The Friday-Friday of TGIF fame? Working... that's my Monday.

On the evening I get off work at the beginning of my weekend most of my friends are not cosmopolitan enough to still be up and about. So the exciting answer to this is: go to a bar and read.

The less exciting answer is: go home and read/program/watch something.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I've never actually read the work my username references.

You too are continuously stunned by how little compassion and empathy most people seem capable of, while at the same time amazed by what they can accomplish and do which you never could.

You understand the importance of being objectified in the right way at the right time.

You don't think being a cynic or an optimist does justice to what humans are capable of, both evil and good.

You have something more to say than "hi" or "hey". Be bold. Please.