Hello! I'm Nick, a transplant from Los Angeles, pursuing a teaching career and making ends meet with a hotel work.

I've been living in Portland for about six years now, and I've come to enjoy it. I don't consider it home. I'm committed to creating a home of my own, though I'm not sure where it will be yet. Education is a crazy market at the moment, and I have no idea where the winds will take me.

Outside of my educational career ambitions, I enjoy literature, film and art. I thought I'd have no time for leisure reading when I embarked on my master's program, but I've found that it has been the only thing that has kept me sane throughout the experience. Netflix proves to be both comfort and distraction, but ultimately it has greatly widened my exposure to film and television. Art is something I used to find much more time to enjoy, but without someone to share it with my interaction has fallen off. I particularly enjoy Italian renaissance, neoclassical, and impressionist works. Los Angeles has the John Paul Getty Museum, so I've been a bit spoiled when it comes to art museums. I'd love to visit the Portland art museum again with someone equally driven to explore their collection.

Portland is a very political place. Even after six years I'm not quite used to it. There is a certain fatalistic sentiment in regards to the politics of Angelinos, resigned to their status as one amongst millions. As of late, I've been coming to terms with the political nature of my teaching career, and it has proven more exciting than I had anticipated.

Kurt Vonnegut once explained, in an interview, that writers write books hoping that there will be an audience capable of reading them. He then proceeded to explain how amazing reading is as a concept. With a set of maybe 50 symbols (letters, numbers and punctuation), we generate an infinite possibility of emotion and experience. Only with a group of readers skilled enough to understand a given piece of literature can writers keep writing.
I think that's one of my biggest motivators.
I want the next generation to have great literature, whether my students write that literature or are the readers that make it possible.

Even my fellow English instructors have noted a certain prowess for grammar; I wouldn't say I'm a "grammar Nazi," maybe just a grammar nationalist.

I have never been a gifted creative writer, but I've been complimented on my ability to write striking prose and articulate in conversation. I love words and the amazing nuanced definitions that every person holds for each one. I think any prowess I have with them is simply a reflection of my adoration for them.

I am meticulous about my posture, so that can often turn heads. When I smile naturally, I tend to smirk, and it takes a lot of effort for me to generate a smile that doesn't make me look mischievous. When I am lucky enough to receive compliments, folks usually cite that they find me either articulate or peaceful.

Books: I'm an aspiring high school English teacher, so this has the potential to be tedious. I generally enjoy fiction, historical fiction and what can be generically called "literature." Weird favorites include Hemingway, Paulo Coehlo, Jeffrey Eugenides, Tracy Chevalier, and Bryan Lee O'Malley.

I like watching movies, but Netflix has spoiled me such that I'm terrible at keeping up with what's new. If you are a big movie buff, I'd love to hear your suggestions.

I love '90s alt rock and all of its ilk that has trickled into the 21st century. I enjoy artists like Jenny Lewis, Death Cab for Cutie, Ingrid Michaelson, Arctic Monkeys, Tokyo Police Club, The Wombats, The Pillows, The Shins, before Port of Morrow... My inner hipster also insists that I mention this awesome band you probably haven't heard of called Blind Lovejoy. I also have to warn the musically minded that I am wildly music illiterate. I don't understand the first thing about notes, tone meter, etc. I enjoy music for my experience of it, so if you can explain to me the technical value of a piece I will be eternally grateful for the favor.

I love food. I know there's lots of emotion about food, particularly here in Portland, but I tend to prefer enjoying it to debating the merits of various restrictive diets.

Food, not just nutrients, real food
good conversation
occasion to get dressed up
the feeling that I helped someone
strong, intelligent women in my life
books

Can we just drop the 'about' and call it a day?

I am always thinking about something, usually to excess. A few months into my teaching program, I started planning units based on movies, books or television I was watching. I think that is more telling than anything; I always want to know if there is anything I can learn/teach from what I'm experiencing.

Counting the pennies for a high end Portland hotel.

I have a penchant to lapse into idiom during regular conversation. Subconsciously, I think it makes me more accessible, but it probably just sounds quaint at best. I nearly had the credits to qualify for a Women's Studies minor, so when I'm clamoring for idiomatic salience and accidentally utter the phrase "rule of thumb," I have a mortifying, bite-sized crisis of character every time.

Any of the things I've mentioned here strike your interest, or you feel that you have something interesting I need to know about. I love conversation and minutiae.