Oh boy, here we go. The dreaded "how do I describe myself in such a way as to show how delightfully awesome I am, while not sounding arrogant or self centered, and pique the interest of people I would be interested in without alienating anyone or creating some sort of bogus false expectations?" Or maybe that's just me, I don't know. I like to imagine this is a question that plagues online dating site users, but I am prone to analyzing everything.

I suppose I should just come clean to start with, I am what some people would refer to as a "nerd" or "geek." With many of the stereotypes associated with such titles being accurate representations of me. I love reading. I like games of all types (video games, board games, card games, role playing games etc). I like science fiction, some fantasy, and I like it when a story explains why something is, instead of just expecting you to accept that it's just how things are. I'm very shy, and somewhat self conscious about it.

One thing that I kind of break the mold on though is that I very much like sports. I'm a huge hockey fan, I started playing when I was 5. My favorite teams (in order) are my hometown Detroit Redwings, and my adopted home Carolina Hurricanes. I also like football, both professional and college. I am proud to say I was a Detroit Lions fan through the good times and bad, and I'm a NC State Wolfpack fan on the NCAA side. I also particularly like volleyball, and other than that most anything they are willing to put in the Olympics is entertaining enough to be worth watching.

I think it's also only a fair disclaimer that I'm not super into anime, comic books, or manga. I know those things do typically go into the realm of nerd, and while I'm not opposed to them, I also never really got into them.

As far as the sort of place I'd choose for a date, I'm not too picky, but I do have certain criteria I desire. I prefer to go to places where it is light enough to reasonably see the person you are with, quiet enough that you can have a reasonable expectation of having a conversation that isn't primarily shouting "what?" at each other, and an adequate seating:patron ratio to ensure a reasonable possibility of finding a table vice standing in a mass of humanity all night. All of which I find to be extremely achievable goals without imposing too much in the way of restrictions.

I am 5 classes away from finishing my bachelor's degree, I'm a first class petty officer in the US Navy, and I'm striving to improve myself physically and mentally. I currently intend to get out of the Navy in about 1.5 years when my contract is finished, at which point I'm tentatively planning to work for Westinghouse as a nuclear engineer. Of course it's only fair to put up a disclaimer that what the future holds is, as Yoda says, "Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future."

Learning. I love to learn new things, and as such I'm pretty much continuously trying to figure out how things work and why. If curiosity killed the cat, then I guess it's a good thing I'm not a cat.

Physically... that I shave my head, I have pretty sweet (if I must say so myself) blue eyes, or my clever T-shirts.

Personality wise, I suspect that they notice my quiet and reserved exterior, but presumably one can also observe my witty insights and sense of humor.

Books: More than you can possibly imagine, I love reading, but...
Dorsai!, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Inherit the Stars, a ton of Star Wars books, Ender's Game, The Mote in God's Eye, Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code, Starship Troopers, Time Enough for Love, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress... I feel silly even trying to list them all

Movies: Star Wars, The Matrix, Equilibrium, Mel Brooks films, Slapshot, Mystery Alaska, Gladiator, U-571, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Unforgiven, I, Robot, The Bourne ____, The Golden Compass, Stardust (laugh it up, fuzzball... it's actually surprisingly interesting storyline) The Princess Bride... Once again I'm getting a long list going (and using not-entirely-necessary ellipses)

Music: Country, Rock, Oldies, and anything that is either catchy or funny.

Food: Rice is pretty much my only exception to "If it grew up under water, I don't like it." But I like most everything else, with particular emphasis on Mexican, Italian, Chinese/Japanese and classic American foods.

Family
Friends
My computers [I argue IG-88 (My phone, he's a droid, get it?) technically would qualify as a computer, thus doesn't require his own listing. I also really like personifying my inanimate objects.]
My car (Her name is Gabby)
Good books
Opposable thumbs? (Ask a silly question, you get a silly answer)

Recently a friend asked me "What would you do if you knew that you could not fail at it?"

I'm trying to figure that out, but I suspect it probably has to do with developing practical interstellar space travel, and then convincing humanity that we need to expand beyond our home planet. Kind of a big thing, but then why blow your critical success on jumping over a puddle when you could jump the pacific ocean instead?

Of late I have been attending Friday Night Magic fairly regularly. I'm not opposed to going out and doing stuff on a Friday night, be that a movie/drinks/dinner or what have you. I'm not a big fan of super crowded/noisy venues, for example "clubs." But honestly I'm most inclined to stay home and watch a movie or play a game.

I'm a complete sucker for things that relate to places I'm from. For example: I like several Kid Rock songs because they reference Michigan and it makes me think of when I was a little kid living there, or I get really excited when I see a North Carolina license plate because I feel like they're a fellow tarheel braving the North East.

You are inclined to get to know me better.

You have similar interests.

You have a brain the size of a planet, and know where that saying comes from.

You want to? Do you really need any other reason?

You like Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain? Wait, I feel like that isn't very original...

You have some other compelling reason, divine intervention, etc