Not-so-suddenly single and ready to get out again. I'm not quite ready to go to bars--So where else do you meet people? I decided to try an online site. As you can tell, I can be initially reserved, but I have another side. I enjoy company and like to try new things. This is the dullest self-summary on the site.

I'm a teacher, high school level, literature and humanities.

The hump. What kind of question is this? I don't know what people notice about me; it seems rude to ask.

Gulliver's Travels might be one of the funniest books I've read. (As an English teacher, I read books many times. They need to stand up to repeat readings.) I taught The Lord of the Rings before the movies came out and made the story mainstream. The books are still much better and deeper. And it's surprisingly erudite--the reader doesn't need to know all the archetypes and references, but it's fascinating to study. Dickens is wonderful. I'm one of the few who loves Hard Times. It's actually hilarious to me. Come to think of it, Confederacy of Dunces made me laugh loud and hard. British poetry. Love it. Larkin, Shakespeare, Dylan Thomas, Keats, Yeats--too many to mention.

I love classical music. I can't pin it down any more specifically than that; there's a huge variety. Bach, Vivaldi to Duke Ellington. Living composers: I think Ennio Morricone is a genius.

Movies: I also teach a film studies class, so I've got many favorites. The Searchers might be on top. Shop Around the Corner is fantastic. (Lubitsch is a wonder.) Sergio Leone, Orson Welles, Keaton, Chaplin. You've probably never heard of I soliti ignoti--and it's a better movie if you've seen Rififi. It's wonderful that my students love them, too; it's great to share the things you love.

Food: my parents were from Sicily. That's a delicious cuisine: great peasant food, combining a lot of cultures.

Mexican, Thai--oh, I just like food, especially if it's from a hole-in-the wall diner.