I like fireflies, coherent light, and love. Family (blood or not) is sacred. I'm funny and cynical, but seldom sarcastic. I'm a transplant victim of geography and culture. I like jeans and sweaters and no ties. You can dress me up and take me out, but I'll probably itch afterwards. I like exploring, but not being a tourist. I like music, especially made by friends. loyalty is good. dependency is bad. I like o-scopes and cameras. I like playing didgeridoo at two am. I'm probably not like the other boys.

You're wicked smart (doesn't have to be book smart), self-aware, and funny. Artist/musician/scientist a big plus. Slighty askew to goofy at times. Sincere and full of kindness. Loyal. You know the right time to say exactly the wrong thing. You understand the healing powers of friendship, love, grilled cheese, and tomato soup. You sometimes swear at the tv. Like to cook and garden a plus but not mandatory. You're a geek by day, and a superhero by night. You're in touch with your small god.

i like the contrast of hair against skin. i like geeky girls with glasses. i like techno girls with ink and cat-5 hair. i like earthy girls with dirt under their nails and green thumbs up to their elbows. i'm way into dorky, cute, and brilliant. surprise me.

i'm not into poly. thanks, but no.

my manners may manifest in strange ways, but i always leave the seat down. i favor sincerity over sarcasm. expression over abstraction. i'm comfortable with who i am and like to share.

i am quiet and robust. like cheap wine laced with anti-freeze.

you're honest and you play nice.

i favor nice over fancy. i have no desire to settle for the comfort food of an easy relationship. i'm waiting for the right girl. not the convenient one.

Read my journal for more.

I am photovoltaic, sublimated, and coherent

some things i've enjoyed doing: getting lost in london. buying bread and chocolates for the gypsy kids of targu mures. embracing the language barriers in mons. body surfing in the black sea off constanta. touching the standing stones of avebury. wandering through dracula's castle in transylvania.

stomping through europe. i've been to belgium, luxembourg, germany, france, romania, england, and scotland.

i'm working on my escape plan from the evil corporate world so i can feed my soul and not just my stomach.

i'm focusing on making my life a calm and restful place. i'm decorating my house with sacred objects. crystals, and fossils, skulls, giant saguaro skeletons. i hike and bicycle though the desert. i watch the hawks and the quail. i try to catch lizards, but at the last minute i chicken out. afraid i'll accidently pull their tails off, i stay my hand and they always escape. i feel connected to the earth and i know if i keep putting that good stuff inside of me, it will take root.

i've recently moved from chicago back to the deserts of the southwest. i have a computer geek day job*, but i also moonlight as a photographer for the heard museum and native american artists.

i'm working on a video documentary on the spiritual aspects of treating native americans with cancer. it is affecting me... greatly.

embracing the learning curve.

laughing at the quail on my porch.

turning petroglyphs into laser art.

listening, photography. photoshop. reading. being compassionate. snuggling in the morning. being kind to small things. being polite on the phone after being paged at 4 am.

spotting zebra tailed lizards. it's really very easy. they wag their tails like dogs when you spook them.

some of my recreational photographs are here: www.flickr.com/photos/swamidog

looking good in a fez.

i sometimes wear bright orange pants.

i exchange goods and services for lattes.

i choose the wrong times to quote bad movies. especially ones about talking gorillas.

i say very funny things in a very serious manner. sometimes this gets me in trouble.

i will take off my shoes before coming inside your house.

(a) The Hyperion/Endymion series by Dan Simmons. Zodiac, and just about anything else by Neal Stephenson. Anything by Ray Bradbury. The Club Dumas. Gojiro. Rocket Town. American gods.

(b) Amelie, Spirited Away, and Ghostbusters. Repo Man. Dead Man. Tank Girl. Hell Boy. Altered States. Pan's Labyrinth. Hudson Hawk. Return of the Living Dead.

(c) Just about anything on Peter Gabriel's "Real World" label. The Blind Boys of Alabama, Dead Can Dance, Al Farka Toure, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Xavier Rudd, Everything but the Girl, Leonard Cohen. Nick Cave. My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult. CornerShop, Air, Massive Attack, David Byrne. BB King. Cibo Matto. Ulcer. Miles Davis. The Waifs. Any music created by my friends.

(d) Indian food, especially mattar paneer with mango lasse. Thai food, especially anything with wide noodles and tofu. New York pizza from wood fired ovens. Pecan breaded tofu. Endless cups of chai or coffee. Omelettes with smoked gouda and fake sausage. Green chili, especially on pizza with pineapple. Ethiopian food with lots of injera and red stripe.

my eyes, my hands, my camera, my dsl, my friends, my compassion, my spirit, my desert, my inability to count to six, and you.

how to invent a job doing things i love so i can feed my soul as well as my stomach.

communicating with intent. how to make more than noise.

non-linear optics and how the second harmonic of yag light looks like sunlight through lime kool-aid.

how to safely transplant rattlesnakes from my neighbor's front yard.

the way colony creatures such as ants and bees communicate.

what to bind to my coffee receptor sites.

the elegant expression of fireflies lighting up their butts when they're horny.

how science without art is like sex without love.

how trickster coyote lost his eyes.

the trust, responsibility, and faith that's been shown to by the native americans i'm working with on my cancer video projects. cancer survivors who are seeped in culture and tradition and are allowing me to take their stories and give them to others. these people, these heroes doing great things with their small and quiet voices.

the sound of birds flocking over my head.

at home. making pals with my big blue couch, reading, geeking, and listening to world music.

practicing circular breathing with my digeridoo.

going outside late at night with a flashlight to watch the kangaroo rats, pocket mice, and spadefoot toads.

cozied up to my mac pro and editing footage in final cut.

working on the star projector for the ceiling in my house. failing that, going outside to look at the stars.

sneaking out with a flashlight to count the frogs that are making weird horny noises in my yard.

trying to make my mark.

processing too many hdr photos.

programming laser shows.

waiting for you to call me.

i sometimes watch judge judy.

i like whales, but big fish give me the creeps.

i'm useless with directions and i dislike driving.

i like to make monkey noises in crowded elevators. i will blame you.

i really do have a 20 watt laser in my basement. it's not just a pick up line.

i like good coffee, but i won't be a snob if it's bad.

i may wake you up in the middle of the night to tell you about the new color i created by mixing ultraviolet and infrared light (spoiler: it's kind of a weird electric pink fuchsia).

i like you.

you are human.

you have a jetpack.

you know how to keep squirrels out of my bird feeder.

you'll go on late night missions with me to rescue baby spadefoot toads from the street.

if you are cathy rogers from "junkyard wars".

you think you, me, and a latte' sounds like a pretty good idea.

you voted for obama.

you are none of these things, but want to.