I spent a long time building up a great career doing exactly what I like (French translation! Ooh la la!), but it often came at the cost of furthering my social life. Well, now that I've got my professional life all settled up for the next couple decades, I can get back to spending time with the people who make living fun. (That's you, right?)

Things I like: Biking, translation, train-hopping across European cities, board games, hosting dinner parties, wordplay, warm sunny days in Prospect Park, old ads for airlines, polite hippies, making desserts, 30 Rock, picnics, Midwestern accents, making goofy faces, eating out, public policy discussions, animated shorts, platypuses, thinking of complicated ways to say simple things, thinking of simple ways to say complicated things, stoop sales, wine-tasting, mid-20th century modernist design, and seeing my friends and loved ones smile.

Things I dislike: Shouting, macho posturing, people who brag about not owning a TV, racist/sexist jokes, pickles that aren't sour enough, and jerks. Oh, and setbacks. I really hate setbacks.

Working from home in Park Slope, and loving everything about it. Setting my own hours, being my own boss, and being refreshingly challenged by work every day. Some biking, a pile-up of reading. Doing a little dreaming. Saying good riddance to renting, at long last.

My job. Making my friends feel appreciated. Remembering their birthdays and favorite foods. Knowing the names and faces of U.S. Senators. Leading an organized life (a little too organized, sometimes).

My voice, oh God, my horrible voice.

Books: Mostly non-fiction: Nixonland, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, The Fatal Shore. In lit: Saint-Exupéry, Stendhal, and Baudelaire in French; Pynchon, Auden, Yeats, Twain, Roth, and Lethem in English.

Movies: Stuff in French about daisies and viewpoints. Yeah, you know the type. Charlie Kaufman, Coen Brothers, Jean Renoir, Robert Altman, Woody Allen, Preston Sturges. Movies where people shout furious ideas at one another. Movies where pseudo-magical things happen without clear explanations.

Music: Classic soul please, particularly Curtis Mayfield, Otis Redding, and Nina Simone. The Clash, The Soft Boys, Wire. Coltrane's "A Love Supreme". Bowie! The Pogues, Charles Mingus, The Bobby Fuller Four. Prince. Early-60's youth romance stuff like "He's A Rebel".

TV: The Wire, Deadwood, Mad Men, 30 Rock, Arrested Development, Breaking Bad. The Office, Venture Brothers, The Sopranos. Wish they hadn't canceled Kings and Pushing Daisies so early.

Food: New American, various East Asian, French, and Latin/Afro-Caribbean.

1. My wonderful parents, brother, and sister.
2. My passport
3. My cell phone
4. My work laptop (these last three together let me take my whole life anywhere in the world).
5. My bike (a Bianchi Milano)
6. Affection.

Whether I'll be able to keep my current dream job for the next 40 years. Whether a decent cap-and-trade system will be passed into law (Yes please!). Where I'll live for the rest of my life. Wondering if there will still be someone around who loves me when I'm 80.

I own a pair of bunny slippers.

Any of the following:

*You like to brag in public and need someone who will back you up.
*You enjoy having someone make hot beverages on cold mornings.
*You want someone who will be a confidante should you have a need to confide.
*You think you can beat me at Settlers of Catan, Scrabble, or any other board game.
*You are open and communicative about what it is you desire from a relationship.
*You are wondering if there are any men on Internet dating sites who don't have absurd emotional complexes.
*You'd like to get to know someone who will do anything to cheer you up when you're blue.