The first thing I should mention is that I'm in an open marriage with quirkycutie. And as of Dec 20, 2010 we are the proud owners of a sweet-smelling baby boy! Well, really we're just leasing him until he turns eighteen, then he gets released back into the wild. That means that I don't have a lot of spare time, but then who does? I certainly think it's important to meet and get to know new people, and good conversation is always welcome, otherwise life would get pretty boring.

I have been told that I'm a good listener, and I've been told that I need to talk more about myself. I'm naturally reticent, so that can be a challenge, but I'm working on it. I'm easy-going and quite liberal in my views, and I strive to be as non-judgmental as possible. All of that combined makes it pretty hard to find a topic that would offend me. Ideas are meant to be analyzed, engaged, and debated. I don't pretend to be great at it, but I enjoy it and I hope that you would too.

I'm a creative person but it's not my occupation, yet. I'm ambitious about making music and writing my full-time job, but I'm not cutthroat about it. I'd rather build a community than achieve my goals at the expense of other folks. Oddly enough I have a bachelor degree in Mathematics, so I have a nerdy side as well, and I'm fascinated by technology and science.

My sense of humour is very self-deprecating and quirky -- I enjoy The Office and Steve Martin in equal measure. Ideally the people that I spend time with also have a great sense of humour and some sense of playfulness, curiosity, and a desire to explore. Someone who is willing to talk about themselves openly and honestly is also very important. Because of the nature of my relationship, communicating honestly and fully is key.

By day I work as a mailman. It's exactly as weird as you'd think; well, maybe 10% more weird. That's not my passion, though. I am a musician in a band called Graydon James & the Young Novelists, and we rehearse, play, and tour about as much as we can while still holding down regular ol' soul-sucking day jobs.

I also have a son who is two and a wife who is fantastic, and they make my days both hilarious and heart-warming. When I have some time, which is admittedly rare, I try to do some writing. I'm heaving a novel out into the world in May, so I have a fairly full plate at the moment.

I also watch a healthy amount of Seinfeld -- 3 or 4 episodes a week. It keeps me feeling hip.

I'm pretty happy to find out that I'm a good dad. The fact that I can entertain a 2-year-old may never be useful after this year, but I'm hoping some of the skills will transfer to the "terrible teens".

My hair. I think it eclipses all my other features, which is to my benefit.

I've gone through some tough times with my hair, because I disliked it most of my life. When I finally just let it do whatever the hell it wanted, that's when it ended up taking care of business. If that's not a metaphor for something, then I'm no whos-a-ma-whatchit.

books: My favourite book is Catch-22, but the person who puts the "thor" in "author", in my opinion, is Kurt Vonnegut. I enjoy most things I read, but I've been especially impressed by Raymond Chandler, Terry Pratchett, Miriam Toews, Cormac McCarthy, Dashiell Hammet, Steve Martin, and Roald Dahl.

movies: I don't know why, but Joe Vs. The Volcano is my favourite film. There you go, I said it. Also, the Coen Brothers do great work 90% of the time. My highschool years were spent working some evenings in my parents' video store, so I just have a healthy love for most cinema.

television: We haven't had cable for some time, and I don't miss it. I like Seinfeld, though.

music: I listen to a lot of bands that you'll find in the "B" section. The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Ben Folds (Five and solo), Blowfish Implosion, Bottlestab, The Band, Big Knickers on Small Girls, Birthday Massacre, and Bill Nye. Some of those band names are made up.

food: My rule with my son is that you have to try food once. If you don't like it, then you don't like it, but you have to try it. I think it's a decent rule. I will admit that I find it hard to handle spicy foods, and I'm perfectly okay with that. I don't understand why it is a point of pride to order something ridiculously spicy.

Besides the obvious requirements for life, I can't think of one.

My son and the different creative projects I have going on. And I probably think about The Globe and Mail's Saturday cryptic crossword too much, because it takes me a week to do the damn thing.

Playing a show, almost invariably. Which, I've discovered, is the worst way to meet someone for the first time. If I'm not playing some live music I usually try to go see some live music, because that's what most of my friends are doing. Toronto has a great music community!

I still have a hard time accepting that people can like something that I was creatively involved in, whether it's music or writing or what-have-you. It's something that I'm working on.

You're finished your Christmas shopping.