A college friend once predicted I'll become one of those skinny old men with a potbelly. Despite my initial protests, I've come to worry she might be right.

My flat came with a television and cable - which I don't know quite what to make out of. I haven't owned a TV in years, which hasn't stopped me from devouring whole seasons of Arrested Development on DVD, or catching 30 Rock online.

I just finished my PhD, and now I'm doing research.

So I love my work, and can't imagine much I'd rather be doing. But yet it feels odd to call it what I'm doing with my life. I never know quite what to think of those people who are so obviously and entirely absorbed in their career. Quite a bit of jealousy - who wouldn't want to be in complete and total love with what they did? But also a little uncomfortable - can't we have a little perspective?

In summary: I hate the word "passion" and wish I didn't.

Laughing at myself. Not so much the selling myself. Baking bread, when I get motivated. Boggle. Being teased. Worrying about how the email I'm writing sounds. Walking aimlessly around the city.

My hair? It's brown and thick and a little crazy, perhaps because I frequently am holding a fistful while thinking.

My favorite of the favorite lists is obviously books. I don't think anything you read after, say, the first year of University can ever really have the same place in your heart, and so my honors have to go to Infinite Jest. DFW is the only famous person whose death has meant anything to me. There are tons of other books that I've had infatuations with, so perhaps a sampling of those that I've liked enough to read more than once is in order: Atonement, Disgrace, The Mystery Guest, To The Lighthouse.

Those guys in university, who were constantly quoting the Big Lebowski and I couldn't understand the point? Do you have those guys here? Anyway, I became one of those guys for a while - I'm mostly recovered now, though there's the occasional flashback. Also, my family lives in Fargo. Really. But most of the movie takes place in Minnesota anyway - they just go to Fargo to hire the kidnappers. Perfectly nice place; that's why it's full of kidnappers. I could never go back.

My favorite band is The Bad Plus. They're a jazz trio famous for covering rock songs, which they somehow manage to twist around in a way that makes it seem completely ridiculous, but yet it still rocks harder than the original. I don't buy a lot of music, though, and tend to latch tightly on to whatever drifts my way. Sometimes it'll be a random song on Youtube: Bjork and PJ Harvey covering Satisfaction. Maps. Pillar of Salt.
Recently, (and I know, I know, I'm late to the party) it was Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

And I'm really, really missing farmer's market tomatoes.

Coffee. Coffee. Reading. Sugar. Music. Coffee.

Tea is great and all, but it's not the same.

I think about abstract nonsense for a living - so there's that. It's great fun, but I do spend a lot of time thinking I could stand to do something that impacted the real world.

Also: what's for dinner. Whatever depressing thing outside my power to change I just read about on a blog.

Hanging out with friends from work. Until recently this meant playing bridge (not just for old ladies!) for a while then having some food and a few drinks.

I'm good at being confessional when the mood strikes...that's just not now. In the meantime, ask me about something private, and I'll give a full, open, meandering and overly analytical response, or think of some amusing way to be coy about it. Probably the former. It'll be fun.

Update: A confession! I'm new in town - just a few weeks now. On the surface this isn't so private, but instinctively it feels like something to hide. The "I just got here and don't really know anyone yet" bit just sounds pathetic, and the "you can show me around" part, though attractive in theory, in principle comes across as a bad Craigslist post. So.....yeah. New in town.

... you want to meet up for good food, coffee, drinks and conversation. Or all four at once.

... the message is intelligent, with sentences and even a short paragraphs or two in it. Not asking for a novel here, but it's nice if there's a little style and human intelligence and warmth there. And making fun of me - that works, too. Surely you have something to say besides just a wink?

... you read Dinosaur Comics unabashedly. And xkcd, but with much eye-rolling. And Questionable Content with deep and abiding shame. Yet you continue reading it.