Issuing supreme power to you...one moment.

My self-summary Propose an edit

Blah blah blah soccer. Blah blah blah jazz. Blah blah blah blah. I've answered over a thousand scientifically proven questions. There must be a computer somewhere at okcupid that can summarize for me.

Interesting answers to questions about me that no computer bothered to ask include:

I read the a-phrase-a-week RSS feed.

I went to Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, PA, and it was swell.

I play soccer 3 times a week and am pretty decent at it. I used to play ice hockey, but I just quit my team, and now I've taken up cycling instead.

I think I photosynthesize but I'm not green. My car is green, but it runs on petrol.

What I'm doing with my life Propose an edit

The last year has been dominated by a struggle to replace doing what I'm good at with doing something I abstractly imagine I would find more satisfying. However, for moment I've tabled my grandiose plans of finding the next big thing and am enjoying a mostly telecommuter, senior chip-designer lifestyle. Whatever else may be out there, engineering has made a good case for being my calling (since about 6th grade).

I'm still doing some tutoring and I used to coach soccer and enjoy working with kids. As I have always said in this profile: "Children are our future. Giant robots that terrorize a handful of residual landmasses are also our future, but I'm not so into robots."

[A year ago you would have read the following... now with annotations] I recently embarked on a 6-month leave from work, uncertain as to whether I will return. For the last 10 years I have designed microchips that let you play all your favorite computer games (you know, the fancy ones where you kill a lot of things really fast with really large guns). I think it's been about 8 years since I played one myself, but I assure you they're great for the whole family.

I've been playing guitar for about a year now, so now I should have plenty of time to practice more seriously. [I still suck.] I may also find the time to practice piano more and may even dabble in jazz performance again. I'm sure there will be some travel in all of this somewhere. So far I'm just thinking within the US, but I wouldn't rule out a trip to Europe. [Easter in Croatia was cool and Paris is "all that"]

I've also been doing a lot of road biking lately. I really like climbing up to Grizzly Peak and I'm getting better at it. [Just biked to Mt. Diablo the other day]

So I was able to sit around for the entire first week of my 6-month leave, but then I decided to hit the road and just completed a 4-week road trip, visiting friends and almost getting my money's worth out of a National Park annual pass. I went through Yosemite, Saguaro National Monument, Sand Dunes, Grand Teton, Yellowstone and the North Cascades, in addition to spending varying amounts of time Tuscon, Taos, Boulder, Vancouver, Victoria and Seattle. I've learned a little more about car camping, and now know that, at minimum, a hot dog on a stick would be a very nice addition to a campfire, which is an improvement itself on sitting around in the dark eating beef jerky (all of which still beats just staying home!). [Did a little backpacking in the Rockies this fall because it was so great back then, this time with a stove!]

I'm really good at Propose an edit

My job. They pay me to be smart and I oblige. It's a good deal if you can get it.

The first thing(s) people usually notice about me Propose an edit

My choice of sport deodorants. [Actually, no one has ever commented on this.] Also, apparently I can be sort of intense -- not anal, but just focused.

My favorite books, movies, music, and food Propose an edit

Books: I'm currently reading The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith. Clue me in if this isn't really a Zadie Smith novel. I bought it second-hand in Thailand and it looks like someone pieced it together from photocopies -- the back cover proclaims it a "Atriumph" -- but if it's a forgery, it's still pretty damn funny. Also on this trip, I read half of Theroux's Dark Star Safari before leaving it somewhere on a tropical island, Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Roth's Portnoy's Complaint, Petrovsky's The Evolution of Useful Things and Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. An excellent vacation it was. Some of my favorite authors are Philip Roth, Jane Smiley and Jonathan Lethem.

Movies: This list would probably change every time I had to rewrite it, but some of my favorites have been Sweet and Lowdown, Life is Beautiful, Casablanca and Sabrina (with Audrey).

Music: Music can transform my state of mind, bringing me joy when there isn't any earthly reason for it. My favorite listening is Jazz, The Grateful Dead, Houston Jones, Blues, Bluegrass, Bach and Chopin. The last CD I bought that I really love was From The Pasture to the Future by The Waybacks. Fantastic listening, particularly Petrified Man!

Food: I could subsist happily on just pasta, but I relish all fine cuisine and I blow a lot of money eating well. No mac and cheese at my place.

TV: My favorite TV show is Rumpole. I really liked the South Park about smug.

The six things I could never do without Propose an edit

A piano

Grateful Dead bootleg, Winterland, June 1974

English Premier League

My patterned sock collection

A used bookstore

Chocolate pudding so I can finish my list

I spend a lot of time thinking about Propose an edit

what comes next. Really: everything. I keep my thinking organ very active. I started receiving The Economist a few weeks ago so now I spend a lot of time thinking about how I'm going to finish the last issue before the next one arrives.

On a typical Friday night I am Propose an edit

listening to music or at a movie, maybe at a party, maybe still stuck in traffic from my lousy commute. [Actually, let me talk to you about my current one-day-a-week commute schedule...]

The most private thing I'm willing to admit here Propose an edit

that my ex-girlfriend told me to try this site. Also, my bellybutton is more asymmetrical than it used to be, but my doctor assures me this is neither a sign of cancer nor contagious. And this just in: after about 15 minutes of serious practice, I can finally snap the fingers on my right hand, a skill that had eluded me for about 30 years. I think this may open a lot of doors for my show business career. Update: I haven't been practicing my snapping and I think I lost it.

You should message me if Propose an edit

you want to go the theater (or the theatre) or a Bluegrass show.

you want to jam with me and play some instrument as badly as I play guitar.

you want to tell me I look like a dork with facial hair. If you think I look like a facial-haired dork, keep it to yourself. [Actually, I've taken some preemptive action on this front...]

you are knee-deep in water and need someone to call a plumber. Of course, if you're super-extra-smart you'll call the plumber yourself, and it's you super-extra-smart gals I'd like to meet most. Message me if you see the world from a unique angle and aren't trying to conform to any particular point of view or live out some lifestyle you saw on TV. Don't message me if you'd describe yourself as "chill" and like to say "it's all good." [and even if you do, I promise you won't be first ;]

Also, it'd be cool if you value being fit enough that a 2-mile run or a 20-mile bike wouldn't invariably lead to the emergency room.

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