I am a recent college graduate imported from the SF Bay Area, which automatically makes me a Portland cliché of the worst sort. I do apologize.

I'm an explorer (both in the mental and geographical senses), and I wanted to go somewhere new after college and start to figure things out. I love wandering around new places, getting to know their unique rhythms and modes. I try to find beauty wherever I am.

I live for unpretentious, thoughtful conversation. I majored in English and am a total lit. geek, but my interests extend in many directions including art (all media, all the time), language (trying to keep up with my French and Spanish), food ethics, and media/cultural studies. I have a casual interest in the sciences too; the universe is a strange, pleasantly mind-boggling place.

But, really, right now I'm working on becoming a writer; I'm an essayist (I figure I practically have a degree in reading subtext, so I might as well use it) and a dabbler in fiction. It does feel like there's something wrong with changing my life goal back to where it was when I was six, but then again, when I was six, I was less interested in the possibilities of editing and publishing as well. My stories were also terrible when I was six. But I digress: Yes, I have started walking around with a notebook, but hopefully I won't be turning into a stereotype any time soon. It bothers me that so many people who consider themselves to be writers say it with such pretentiousness oozing from their pores. Stories are part of what makes us human!

What all this means is that I have a terrible tendency to think too much. It practically ruins my chance of doing well on this site, because I cannot look at one of those multiple choice questions without wanting to qualify my answer. Oops.

I'm pretty handy in the kitchen; cooking and baking are two of my favorite hobbies. I get so happy when my apartment smells like spices or baked goods. You'll often catch me dancing (Middle Eastern and modern on my own, but I'm a fan of swing or social dancing too)--sometimes even in the kitchen while I'm cooking!

I'll admit to being a little shy but friendly and sweet. I'm not nearly so fragile as I look, nor as serious as I seem, and I'm very non-judgmental. I'd love to meet new people so please drop me a note.

I know that I want to do something involving writing and creating. For now I'm exploring how to make that possible.

Sensing people's moods, caring about people, understanding other people's motivations, reading subtext, cooking, laughing at jokes that shouldn't be that funny

-If I were to list all my favorite books, it would be far too long a list and would probably get dull and would just seem pretentious anyway. The three books that I hold most dear are probably "To the Lighthouse," "Paradise Lost," and "The Last Unicorn". My favorite writers include Virginia Woolf, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Michael Chabon, Haruki Murakami, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, William Blake, Michael Ondaatje, Neil Gaiman, Vladamir Nabokov, Geoffrey Chaucer, Jhumpa Lahiri, Anne Fadiman, Ruth Ozeki, Toni Morrison, and Jorge Luis Borges

-I go through different phases with films. I have a general love for the film noir genre. Other than that: Amelie (You know, like everyone else in the world, but I don't care because I love it so), Au Bout de Souffle, Pieces of April, Harold and Maude, Kill Bill, Nada +, Spirited Away, The World According to Sesame Street (it's a documentary about Sesame Street around the world and saving the world through education.)

-Again, it really depends on my mood. Some of my current favorite artists are: Noe Venable, Andrew Bird, Joni Mitchell, Jens Lekman, Feist, Terami Hirsch, The Gypsy Kings, Paul Simon, Joanna Newsom, The Ditty Bops, ThouShaltNot, The Magnetic Fields, Lhasa de Sela, Tilly and the Wall, Poe, Iron and Wine, Nellie McKay, Emilie Loizeau, Gregory and the Hawk, and Pink Martini

-I have a special love for curries, partially because they're both fun and easy to make. Fresh summer fruit (especially berries), fresh bread just out of the oven, chocolate anything, anything with a lot of ginger, really good cupcakes with not-too-sweet frosting, cheese, olives, sesame crisps. I'm a hedonist when it comes to good food, and I love cooking it with good friends. As for drinks, really good coffee or tea make me happy. Or fresh-squeezed lemonade with mint.

Okay, leaving things like family, friends, and food off the list:

-Space to dance
-A pen: when I don't have one with me, I always need one, albeit for something completely mundane like writing down a phone number. Paper is usually easier to find.
-Books, books, books
-A pair of shoes suitable for walking (they do not necessarily have to be walking shoes)
-A well-stocked kitchen
-Friendly cafés with comfy chairs

-The future. I'm in that dreaded "What am I going to do with my life?" phase. But I try not to be too angsty about it.

-Whatever I've been reading or listening to lately

-Feminism and gender roles--I'm fascinated and terrified by the ways gender works in our culture.

I have no idea why this thing thinks I'm more indie than anyone else. Seriously. You tell me.