I’ve been in the Boston area for about three years so I’m still exploring New England. I’m originally from a small city in Northwestern Ontario, on the north shore of Lake Superior. I love nature and wildlife. I really miss that connection if it goes too long without getting back.

Since I’ve moved to Boston I’ve fallen out of playing my sports a bit but am looking to get back in. Golf, hockey, softball, running, weightlifting, kayaking, hiking, swimming, roller blading, cycling, skiing are all things I enjoy and wish I was doing more of right now. I’m a casual sports fan and enjoy watching in person but not so much on TV. I love watching good movies and quality TV series though.

My favorite ten movies (at this exact moment) are: High Fidelity, Spirited Away, Fight Club, The Sword In The Stone, Return of The Living Dead, The Godfather, Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, The Secret of Nimh, Howl’s Moving Castle.
TV series that I love(d): The Wire, Futurama, The Simpsons, Last Exile, The Sopranos, The X-Files, Cowboy Bebop
Music: Spin Magazine is a good barometer of what I’m probably listening to right now. Scrolling through my ipod at this instant (complete albums only) is AC Newman, Air, Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, Band of Horses, Bat For Lashes, The Beta Band, BRMC, Bon Savants, Bonde Do Role, Bright Eyes, Broken Social Scene, Brother Ali, Bruce Springstein, Camera Obscura, Crystal Method,… ahh you get the idea. Indie pop, alternative rock, some hip hop, trip hop and dance. I think I need to put some motown on.

I’m fairly well read. This is something I wish I did more of. Quality reading, and less of the online fragmented style. Books I love include Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man by Dostoevsky (more of an essay, but beautiful), Eye of The World by Robert Jordan, Stumbling Into Happiness by Daniel Gilbert, Lord of The Rings, Freakonomics by by Levitt and Dubner, Macbeth, The Sacred Balance by David Suzuki, The World According to Garp by John Irving, A Deepness In The Sky by Verner Vinge. I can carry on a conversation regarding the transcendentalists and existentialists as well.

Online I look at boingboing.net, woot. No myspace page, although I love writing privately and to friends. My drawers and pockets are littered with little composition books filled with my thoughts, maps and occasional drawings. One of my favorite things is writing in small notebooks.

I work as a research scientist in Cambridge. I enjoy it and feel I’m set on my career path. I am also working towards a MA in Biotech, one course at a time through night classes at Harvard. My schedule can be busy but isn’t full.

There is a lot this small profile doesn’t convey about myself. Even though I’ve been a relationship for most of my adult life, I’m pretty inexperienced at dating. I don’t have a gameplan or anything, I’m just looking to meet and make new friends and “romantic partners” in a fun and low pressure way.  If you are interested let me know…

Today I completed the CSS behavioral style survey test.

The results were completely predictable.

Under favorable conditions I scored highest as an “Intuitor” with “Feeler” close behind. Intuitors have a behavioural focus of imagination, theory, envisioning speculation. Their comfort zone is unstructured creative tasks, discovering “why”, using imagination. Their dress preference is colour blends and “unpredictable”. Under positive conditions I scored lowest on “Sensor”, people with a behavioural focus of doing, competing, getting results. Their comfort zone is concrete tasks, practical situations, goal-oriented simplicity. Their dress preference is bright, hot colors and “functional”.

but

Under stress conditions my whole behavioural axis changes. “Thinker” scores mega high. Thinkers behavioural focus is structure, logic, organization, problem solving. Their comfort zone is analytical tasks, data collection, logical comparisons, weighing data, forcasting consequences.  They dress conservative and in cool colours. “Sensor” rockets up from almost nothing to second place and my “Feeler” score plummets.

So when I’m happy I’m creative and unstructured. A pioneering spirit. Secondly, I focus on expression, human interaction and projecting feelings. I’m also terrible at completing anything. But… when I’m stressed I become a little underground troll shutting the world off completely to formulate and execute my do or die battle plan.

Thanks Dr. Mok, but I already knew that.

Today I let my parents know that I broke up with ******. I called from the lab. Everyone took off early because its Friday afternoon and there was a snowstorm as well. I like talking to people from our large empty lab. Maybe because it’s my little zone of order and logic. Home is my zone of sloth and sleep.

My mom was supportive and positive. My dad was bummed out. I think I expected the opposite.

After the conversation I walked home ruminating on my dads reaction. It makes sense I suppose. He has two children. I’ve had been with ****** for nine years. He’s over fifty and ready for grandkids. What differs between him and my mom is that he was adopted. His only blood connection is to me and my little sister, ******…. and she’s a lesbian. That isn’t an issue in our family and he’s very accepting and I know he would never say it, but if ****** adopted, it wouldn’t be the same as if she or I had our own child.

I think it was him that once said to ******, “I’m very glad that ***** has you with him.”

Evolution ensures that the horniest fit humans survive. Now I have the extra pressure of guilt pushing me to procreate.

I’m trying to figure out how to date.

I joined an online dating service and put up some pictures that unintentionally make me look like a rugged outdoorsy traveling all the time action adventure guy. I’m in a kayak in one with a big toothy grin, I’ve got parrots behind me and scuba gear on my shoulder in another, I’m berry picking in another.
Now I’m receiving electronic winks but haven’t figured out how to respond. I boldly returned one wink yesterday. She shot back an email and I don’t know what to do. So inept and hesitant. and lazy. damnit.

My rooommate is absorbing my quirks.

On a road trip to the grocery store he bought wine for the first time. He also got some frozen Mexican food (which I eat way too much of). I warned him that he’s falling into my glamorous wine and burrito lifestyle but it didn’t seem to bother him.

welcome to a very special valentines day post live from my itouch while I wait for a burrito to cool.
Tired today. I spilled donkey serum on my pants in the lab today. So hungry

I feel so limited. I can sense the talent and comprehension that I lack.

I can’t articulate and frame what I feel and then the flavour and meaning drift away.

I’m just a caveman with better hygiene and education.

I’m so restless.

Dinner and wine are now intertwined in my mind. even if dinner is microwaved burritos with lettuce.

I said “utilitarian” yesterday and felt bad when I saw the blank look on my roommate’s face. Every conversation with him ends with, “sooooo… are we goinig to play table hockey?” …. and the answer is always yes.

I hate my class right now.

Lukewarm on my job.

Healthy, financially secure and lazy. apathetic.

I don’t have the energy to build up another Xanga network of interesting people again.

I just wish I communicated better with the people I know offline.

Writing on an iPod touch in a laundromat. It’s surprisingly easy.

If I could go back and show 1991 me what I was doing right now, he would be amazed.

Actually 12 year old me would probably first say, “I’m wearing red pants?! And green shoes? Cool.” then, “holy hell, computers got small. I hope I’ve got a sex robot too. Probably not if I’m washing my clothes at the laundromat. I wonder what game system I’ve got at home?”

Ps2 kiddo.

Swedish bedbug bite
Antibiotics downstairs
Canadian Feist

I decided to look at what people in the Born In 1979 webring were writing about.

Their children
Their marriages and divorces

Fuck me.

He doesn’t want her but he just won’t let her go.

Stars – Set Yourself On Fire is an album that I used to love in a light superficial way. Melodic, uplifting, fun, reflective indie pop. I love that they are Canadian. I love that they are low notoriety. Today I put it on after not hearing it for a long while. The lyrics were prominent over the instrumentation for maybe the first time. It felt satisfying to stumble into a soundtrack so fitting for my breakup – reflective, beautiful and sweetly sad.