After taking a sabbatical from OKC, I'm ready to put meet new friends and hopefully one deeper connection. I'm still plenty busy with fatherhood and work so ideally I'd like to meet someone near Oakland since I fatherhood and home ownership leaves me fairly settled in Oakland these days.

As my tag line might suggest, I’m vegetarian and have been since 1992. I enjoy doing nearly anything outdoors but some of my favorite things to do outside would be cycling, and the occasional trip into the back country (backpacking, snow camping. I also like to feed the grey matter with fun like the Commonwealth Club lectures, my Audible books, etc.. I love Audible.com and go through about 30-40 books a year from this site, most of these listened to on long bike rides. Mostly a non-fiction reader but last few years slipping in 30-40% fiction.

I’ve enjoyed volunteered at animal shelters in the past and found it to be very rewarding but I’m just too damn busy these days. I sometimes like to work on my house, but I'd much rather be doing something athletic outdoors for fun. I’ll gladly do a motorcycle or cycling touring trip as a vacation but you’ll probably never catch me spending a vacation on a cruise ship. I enjoy growing fresh organic veggies in my back yard and making trips to home depot (my new toy store) shopping for improvement projects on the house.

I enjoy local live bands in a small venue, a small outdoor bar/cafe, a nice restaurant, the theater or some other cultural event. I sorely miss the Parkway speakeasy theater down the road but the new owners for the El Cerrito are still maintaining most of what made the originals great and I would love to visit "The New Parkway" in the near future. I listen to a wide range of music but lately I've been into the surf/skate/punk genre (Rise against, Bad Religion, Green Day, Pennywise, Sublime); occasionally I relax to something softer like Toad the Wet Sprocket or Dido. I do still own a TV but I watch very little TV these days except for movies and only thing that I can't go without is The Daily Show.

**You should know that I have a full house at home with 3 cats, 2 dogs and occasionally my 1-2yo son stays with me on evenings/weekends at what my family calls “the zoo”. Because I have a short bike ride to work, I own a home in Oakland and my son lives close I’m hoping to meet someone who either already lives close to Oakland or would be willing to live <10-15 miles to DT Oakland.

While I love my son very much I want to be upfront that I cannot have any additional children (vasectomy) and probably don't want any more. In my feeling that our planet's resources are already stretched and there's already too many people on this planet and if I DID ever have another child it would only be through adoption of an older child NEEDING a new home and my spouse wanted to share this role with me. I of course would also be open to meeting women who already have kids.

I've been a road bike rider (and occasionally racer) since a teenager and this is the one sport that I expect to continue until my death. I also enjoy walking and/or backpacking with my dogs. Sometimes its fun to do absolutely nothing other than sit & watch the sunset.

I feel lucky to have a my job. I've always wanted to make the world a better place to live and I've found a way to do this through my work. I'm a mechanical engineer and my firm is a leader in the nation in designing green/sustainable building systems.

Riding my road bike but mostly hope that I will be a a great father to my son (and 4 legged children).

My eyes or my hair

Favorite authors: Thomas Friedman, George Orwell, Khaled Hosseini, Malcolm Gladwell, Bill Bryson, or Michael Pollan.

Movies I've loved: Shawshank Redemption, A Beautiful Mind, The Departed, Field of Dreams, The Last of the Mohicans, LOTR, Matrix , The Power of One, Phenomenon, Philadelphia, Revenge, The Princess Bride, Powder, The Red Violin, The American President, Cinema Paradiso, Blade Runner, The English Patient, The Hangover, Moulin Rouge, The Departed

Music I listen to the most are Punk covers, skate punk, alternative but I'll listen to most types of music except country or opera.

Vegetarian/Vegan foods a must, I favor Indian, Thai, Italian, & Mexican.

1. my family
2. my planet
3. sex
4. my bicycle
5. my job
6. my house

How to raise a future leader, planet saver and not just another resource consuming mouth breather.

How to design greener, more sustainable, lower energy consuming buildings.

How to get my hectic work schedule to allow more "down time", especially mind cleansing time on my road bike.

At home watching a movie eating home cooked dinner or eating at a local eatery, often in the Glenview strip.

OK, OK I confess!! I looked at your pictures before I read your profile. I did read it though, I swear;-).

I have an above average sex drive.

You love animals & kids, you're vegetarian or veggie friendly, hot, and you think I'm hot.
Bonus if you already enjoy your own outdoor activities whether they are are new to me or not.