I have an insatiable curiosity. I am easily amused. I like puzzles and logic games, but I take my time completing them. I like hedgehogs, and am very sad that they are illegal in this state. While I also like other animals, unfortunately I am allergic to most things with fur, which means that I would love to meet your cat, I just can't pet it. I've got an appointment with my allergist soon, I'm going to ask for allergy shots. All this discrimination against animals and their people is really bringing me down.

I am an introvert, and I like it that way. But once I get to know people, I open up, and can be quite loud when I'm excited. I spend a lot of time at home, but I love to get out and around the bay and go for hikes, picnics, visit museums, and all that fun stuff.

I enjoy cooking, crafts, and folk and indie music. I like camping and outdoorsy stuff, but I have a fear of bears and the Blair Witch.

I recently had a lightbulb moment. I was driving home from work, thinking about the day's events, and I came to the conclusion that I am who I want to be. At work, at least. The rest of me now just needs to catch up.

I'm working at a local hospital coordinating clinical trials for patients. I volunteer for various nonprofits around the Bay. I'm singing whenever I get a chance, and slowly learning the guitar. I like arts and crafts too. I need to create to truly be happy.

Current goal is to get out of the house more often and not think so much about what I might be missing on the internet.

collecting accurate data, talking about my passions, losing my chapstick, singing along with the radio, listening, driving, laughing, finding the balance between emotion and thought, making lists.

I don't look people in the eye. I'll let you pretend that's me being coy.

Books: Mark Twain, Christopher Moore, Neil Gaiman, David Sedaris, Sarah Vowell, the PDR, Medical Dictionaries. I am attracted more to characters and plot than to writing style. Most recently I have been reading Young Adult novels, ostensibly for a class I was in, but mostly because I am almost 30 and feeling old. The ones I really like are John Green's Looking for Alaska, Maureen Johnson's The Bermudez Triangle, Virginia Euwer Wolff's Make Lemonade and True Believer, and Markus Zusak's The Book Thief. I also just read The Commitments by Roddy Doyle, and I loved it and want to read more of his work. My goal is to read at least 50 books this year. I'm up to 32.

Movies: Once, The Commitments, Garden State, Spider-Man 2 (and most other comic book super-hero movies), Shattered Glass, Heathers, The Goonies, Anything by the Coen Brothers and/or Sam Raimi, American Beauty, Real Genius, P.C.U. I don't like too many horror movies (zombie flicks are okay, though), and I'm not big on violence either. For whatever reason my brain can't find the "fiction" category to put those in, and so my overactive imagination starts turning and it just seems to real and scary.

Television: Since I moved about 2 months ago, I have not had access to television. Really the only things I'm missing are CSI (the Las Vegas original), which is the perfect nerd show, and Ace of Cakes (on the Food Network). I have a HUGE crush on Duff Goldman. Missing CSI is no big deal, because I can buy it on iTunes or wait for the DVD. But I am really jonesing for some Ace of Cakes! And Cops.

Music: Currently I'm listening most often to: The Weepies, Patty Griffin, Jukebox the Ghost, Mike Doughty, Sarah Harmer, Little Big Town, Ingrid Michaelson, The National, Oppenheimer, The Young Dubliners, Indigo Girls, Vienna Teng, Alison Krauss, and Great Big Sea. I really like folk, bluegrass, and indie stuff. Gimme something upbeat and happy-making with a strong melody, thick harmonies, and Gershwin-like piano or jangly guitars, and I might even be convinced to dance a bit (only in private, though).

Foods: Pizza, sandwiches, chocolate mousse, blueberries, peaches, bread. I am what some would call a "bagel snob." I also drink a lot of coke, which I am trying to wean myself off of.

1. music 2. friends and family 3. honesty 4. internet 5. nature 6. chapstick

psychology, irony, beauty, humor, poetry, pain, misery, affection, music, harmony, truth, research, what I want to do with my life, what the hell I'm doing here, why I'm still alone, whether or not I'm okay with being alone, how not to be lonely, how to like myself more, whether I talk too much, whether I talk too little, whether I sound intimidatingly smart, what the world is coming to, where the hell my chapstick went

Relaxing and having down time. Eating ice cream. Out with friends. Drinking coffee in a local cafe while writing out my thoughts. Cleaning and doing laundry.

I used to be able to quote every line from Wayne's World.

You can construct a gramatically correct sentence using complete words and you wish to converse with me about something geek-related. Or you think I'm cute.

You should message me if you frequently listen to your inner child, or if your realm of possibility still includes the place where the wild things are. Or if you would like to discuss your plans for survival during the inevitable zombie apocalypse.

You should also message me if you are looking for a new friend who is willing to consistently lose at board games. I also have a great laugh, so I would be great to have in the audience when you perform your new stand-up comedy routine. I need more nerd people in my life (ones that I can interact with in real life, not just on the internet).