Okay, so, think of your age. Visualize that number in your mind. Does it start with a two?

If it doesn't, I'm not interested.

This needed editing, because I've changed a lot-- I think that's a good thing. I'm a little more liberal than I used to be, a lot more heartbroken over human suffering in general. I've been trying to not snap at strangers when I'm in a hurry. Stuff like that. For this reason, most of my journal rants should be disregarded; I've eased up a lot since I wrote them.

I used to say that I had a crush on Thoreau, advil, legal pads and the Constitution, but I'm sort of over Thoreau. I mean, we're still friends, but it's not serious, not like it used to be; then I was walking out with Kazantzakis. Things cooled off a little between us, and I've rediscovered my unending adoration for Vonnegut.

For awhile I cheated on Advil with Excedrin, but then I dumped caffeine, and thankfully Advil took me back. These days I like my legal pads to be a nice pastel colour; the yellow ones hurt my eyes. I've remained faithful to the Constitution, though.

I've been swept off my feet by physics! I've always been a fan of philosophy, and to me, the two are closely linked; they are both incredibly beautiful ways of understanding our endlessly fascinating world.

Guess what? I try to be smart, I try to be moral. I guess I could say I'm "very intelligent" and "a good person" but everyone else's OKC profiles have turned me off those terms; people always say that and usually they're lying. I haven't seen anyone else say the same old crap my way, so maybe I'm not lying. Or maybe I'm just trying too hard. I'm certainly trying-- usually always, usually at everything.

I believe in a whole lot of things, stuff like freedom, and right and wrong, and self worth. I don't like communism. I don't think it's a nice idea in theory. I don't think whatever happened to whoever was all her fault because she wore whatever or got in the car, so don't try it. I don't believe in polyamory, I probably don't want to talk about your favourite band. Please don't talk to me about anything in this paragraph, actually; having the same conversation over and over gets really dull.

I'd like to give the whole wide world a hug, but when you do that, the whole wide world tries to cop a feel. For awhile I gave up on that, but now I figure it's worth trying, and if some people suck, just suck it up, you know?

I'm optimistic, idealistic, fun, a risk taker, blah blah blah. I spent a lot of last year getting lost. Getting lost is fun!

I spent a lot of this year getting increasingly excited about outer space. I've always been excited about inner space. Between the two, I'm reading Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman and Woman: An Intimate Geography. I recommend both.

If you can think of a cool way to pretend to be an astronaut, let me know!

Waiting on the edge of my seat for you to point out that I've spelled "favourite" wrong, and that really it should be "favorite." No, really, I am so psyched. Bring it on.

But seriously, I'm a freshman at a local University, and that's really exciting and going really well; I have an internship on the hill, I'm almost positive now that I want to be an Anthropology major, with minors in Physics and maybe International Studies, and I'm in a couple clubs.

Like most people, I'm really good at doing things I like doing.

My first love is People, my second love is Writing, my third love is Physics, but my fourth love is Not Having To Live Under A Bridge, and in order to maintain that lifestyle choice I will probably go to law school.

When I grow up, I hope to be a nuclear reactor.

To be honest, the first thing somebody usually notices about somebody else is either really unpleasant, or something that somebody #2 went out of their way to make somebody #1 notice.

So the first impression that I try to make is pretty, put-together, approachable and nice. I hope it works!

Books-- wow, so many things, I have a hard time picking! I recently loved When Nietzsche Wept, A Man Without A Country, and Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands. I love Vachss, poetry(preferably clever or acerbic poetry-- Dorothy Parker, Wendy Cope, but recently Auden, Eliot and Rilke), good fiction and funny non-fiction like Sedaris and Vowell. I'm not a fan of pulp, or pretty much anything with high heels or shopping bags on the cover (though I love high heels and shopping bags in real life.) I don't read much fantasy except for Pratchett, or Sci Fi except for Vonnegut and Douglas Adams.

Movies-- I don't see them often, so I'm sort of useless with pop culture. I'd like to see more, though. TV really isn't my thing, but there's a few shows I watch-- Dexter is my favourite, and I also love House.

Music-- I like anything good, I mean in terms of technical talent, and plenty of stuff that isn't. But guess what? I don't like it when people judge each other by music taste:

"Truth is in the motive. You are what you do, not what you say. Anyone can claim their music is making a political statement. Anyone can believe it. But until a piece of music starts swinging hammers and elections, it hasn't got a beat anyone trying to change this junkyard of a planet can dance to." ~Andrew Vachss

Foods-- So many things! Especially exotic. My favourite? Indian food. I also love Mediterranean, and, freakishly, German. I think I may be one of the few people alive who actually likes German food, and I'm for sure the only person I know who will admit to hating sushi.

Editors

• SuttersGold

The Constitution, my ambitions, my family/friends, my mind, my talents, and Flutie's Hail Mary.

Words! Holy hoi polloi, Batman!

So, you know how some girls allegedly fall for "bad boys" or "jerks"? That's sort of me and New Technology.

I know New Technology is bad for me. New Technology really isn't always nice to me, it doesn't care about how I feel, it tries to suck up my money and control my life. But I'm still just irresistibly attracted to it! There's an incredible excitement there-- trying something new, something I don't understand. And, you know, maybe New Technology just hasn't met the right woman. Maybe if we spend some time together, New Technology will open up to me.

Totally message me if you speak another language and will talk to me in it-- that's awesome.

Message me if you're studying law, anthropology, or a hard science, or working in any of those fields or in politics! Of even just if you can do multivariable calculus; that is so impressive.

Message me if you have ever pretended to be an astronaut and would like to again.

Pretty much message me no matter what unless you're the sort of person who gets pissed off at other people over the internet.

Something to note, though: I try to answer every message I get, but I'll usually put as much effort into responding as you did into writing, you know? It's just that I get sort of busy and don't really have time to respond to a simple "hey, sup?"

Editors

• SuttersGold