Wouldn't it be interesting if there were a bar where you could hang out on a Friday night and meet all the people here - but each person had a popup floating around over his or her head with all of the metadata? You could avoid the closet pet-haters, hook up with the people who share your curious/odd/bizarre views on life, and giggle about the people who'd posted their height as 6' when they're clearly not...It would definitely be entertaining. People-watching with words.

Unfortunately, it seems to be primarily "living to work" at this point.

But also: Appreciating my amazing daughter. Spending time outdoors hiking, biking, or camping. Petting my adorable dog. Budgeting for foreign vacations in the not-too-distant future, which involves more dining in than dining out, more trips to the library than trips to the bookstore, and Napster vs. iTunes. Laughing with friends.

Apologizing for running late. (Lots of practice.) If tardiness really bothers you, as I know it does many people, we probably shouldn't hang out. It's not intentional; I literally think there's something wrong with my brain chemistry and how I relate to time. It runs in my family.

Avoiding drama and people who cause it. I'm pretty busy, and I just don't have time or energy for hatefulness, meanness, or unkindness.

Taking a bad day and turning it into a funny story. It really can't be so bad if I can crack a joke about it. Ask me what happened to my telephone...

(Wait - I don't literally mean to ask me about my phone. It's a story better told in person. And it's not really that great a story, just an example that popped into my mind.)

I've heard this too often to discount it - people comment that I have a relatively mild demeanor for a redhead. (Eventually they ask if I ever actually get mad at anyone.) Maybe they don't notice my attitude first, but they make assumptions right away that later turn out not to be true. I'm mellow!

Dan Savage, Chasing Amy, Foo Fighters, Douglas Adams, How I Met Your Mother, Cake, enchiladas, Angelina Jolie, Tragically Hip, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Heinlein, Firefly, Coen Brothers, premium margaritas, the newest Star Trek, Outlander, Before Sunrise/Before Sunset, Taio Cruz, Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, Pink, Crank, Bel Canto, Ryan Gosling, Thai, Lady GaGa, Beautiful Girls, Ira Glass, Utne Reader, sushi, Dave Eggars, Atul Gawande, Scorcese, Neil Gaiman, Dr. Horrible, Shakira, David Sedaris, Jason Mraz, The Prince of Tides (the book), Chase (the theme from Midnight Express) (it makes a great channel on Pandora), Across the Universe, Sinatra...

Daughter
Dog
iPhone
Self-respect*
Music
Books

*iPhone before self-respect? Apparently so! Let's not even think what I'd do to get it back if it were ever stolen...

Dating. The impossibility of it. I have several friends who've been divorced for less than 2 years who are in serious relationships. How do they do that? Maybe I am just a tough sell.

I am fascinated by the match percentages here, and excited to see that there are so many people out there with attitudes and values that are similar or complementary to mine. I've also tested it out enough to say that if you've answered a decent number of questions, and we're at 85% or higher, we're almost sure to have a good conversation!

Of course, chemistry is still key, and no number of questions can account for that.

Camping, or book club, or hiking, or out for dinner and a movie with my daughter, or out for drinks with friends, or home relaxing on the couch trying to whittle down my Netflix queue. There's really no pattern, and they're all good choices.

I admit nothing.

You are truthfully free to date and would be willing to meet in person before long, if we seem to be hitting it off. I really do not want to just chat, text, message, or even talk on the phone - I have enough people in my life that I can talk to online. I don't think there's any point in spending a lot of time getting to know each other that way without confirming that we also like each other in person.

By the way, you long-distance flirty guys are exempt from the "meet" requirement, so if you feel a drive to contact me, please do. It's fun to hear from other countries sometimes...

If we're talking and you're interested, please suggest something. Spontaneous is fine, too - I'm free at odd times. It's even sometimes easier for me to make plans in the very near future. Coffee, beer, lunch, today, tomorrow? Whatever! Try it.

I am also honestly interested in activity partners...girls included! But not someone who says "activities" and only means "let's get naked." It would be fun to have someone new to hike or bike with around here.