I'm the kind of guy who, if I send you a message, will spend a *minute* on it.

Look, it's fair for us all to really question *why* we're here. And I get the whole 'I'm just trying it out' thing, and the whole 'I'm not really sure why I'm here' thing, but neither of those are true for myself.

So, why am I here?

I think meeting people is really, really fun. I like learning about someone, getting to know them, talking about our perspectives and how they overlap & differ. I find it really rewarding. And I want to share myself with someone.

I don't know when I'll find her, and it's not lost on me that as we get older, we all have less time to find that person, but I think that's okay. Either I'll find her or I won't. Regardless, I think it's important that I put myself out there, and try to learn as much about relationships - and myself - in the process.

So yeah, if I write you a message, expect it to have some semblance of a substance. I want to know about you - how you feel, what gets you excited, how you see yourself - and I want to share those things about myself with you too.

I recently quit a challenging, well paying job which was really holding my career back. I have been an industrial/product designer for a few years, and before that I built custom bicycle frames (yes, it was cute, but no, I don't have a beard or wear a funny hat).

So now I'm pivoting, which means I'm basically learning *really* hard and buying everyone coffee. Stay hungry.

-Giving an explanation that's *way* too long.
-Keeping trimmings of vegetables in the freezer to use for broth.
-Making you think my dog is going to be a nightmare, and then he's super sweet and well behaved and really loves you.
-Being genuinely interested in a thing.
-Being down with things like "If you want to increase your success rate, increase your failure rate."

Great hands. Like, really superb hands - hands you wouldn't believe. They'll make you faint.

A DISCLAIMER: Interests are boring. If you like me, you like me, not the things I like. Ultimately I don't give a shit if you like The Wire, but I accept that it's a convenient shorthand to indicate each of our socioeconomic and cultural statuses, and anyway it makes good conversation. So take everything here with a grain of salt, and remember: you want to date *me,* not my interests.

I mostly listen to audiobooks and podcasts. If you know what podcasts are (I understand some people don't, which I guess is fine) then you can be sure I'm listening to all the right ones.
A few favorite books:
Joseph O'Neill: "Netherland"
Jonathan Lethem: "Fortress of Solitude"
Ian Frazier: "Travels in Siberia"
A lot of Thinkbooks, e.g. Gladwell, Dubner/Levitt, Taleb, et al. Basically anything in the New Yorker. And I'm about halfway through DF Wallace's essays and really need a kick in the pants to just get with the times and finish them all.

I get really excited for summer blockbusters, but am also prone to rewatching "12 Angry Men" or "Out of Sight" for like the sixtieth time, and I'm always down for "Fitzcarraldo" or "The Royal Tenembaums." I've also recently been watching "Cheers," which it turns out is totally underrated.
Put another way: I didn't understand "The Seventh Seal," but watching it did help me understand parts of "Love and Death."
Also, TV is basically movies these days. I'm excited for Mad Men, sad about 30 Rock, probably should be watching Girls and Breaking Bad... etc.

A few of my favorite all time albums:
Yo La Tengo: "I can Hear the Heart Beating as One"
Brian Eno: "Another Green World"
Slum Village: "Volume 1"
Youth Lagoon's first (but, I fear, not his second) album.
Lately I've been listening to a lot of Shearwater, which makes me feel great but which somehow doesn't translate well.

I make a lot of udon noodles for myself, and ate more cheesesteaks than you could shake a stick at when I lived in Philly. I'm trying to develop my Lemon Meringue pie recipe, and am really into exploring the variety and depth of indigenous rice-and-bean dishes (eg. Hoppin' John, feijoada, etc).
I also try to go to Diner as often as possible.

Did you notice my use of quotes here? And just you *try* to find a stray apostrophe...

Pshaw!

Stuff. See above, below, whatever.

Trying really hard to make you laugh, and also trying to be as sincere as possible as much of the time as I can.

Optimally I'm taking some kind of small risk. I like people, and I like trying to relate to them in their own way. I also like taking a long night walk with my dog, who is great.

I am, from time to time, wrong.

You want to be engaging and charming and ebullient, and you want someone to reciprocate.