My self-summary:
An artist wearing blue face paint...a geek with a hops palette...
Passions: music -- performance, analysis, composition, editing, yet simple listening. computers. philosophy. microbrewing. using periods instead of commas...*
What music, you ask? Bach, Radiohead, Dream Theater, and Szymanowski come to mind. If you like Richard Strauss' Metamorphosen and Ron Nelson's Passacaglia you might as well give me your ring size...or keep reading...
I like arrangers too, doesn't everyone? Robin Wylie (best known as NSync's vocal coach); Jack Gale (brass quintet master); whoever did the Marine Band's version of G?tterdammerung...
I don't have overall favorite books, but we'll get along if you like Hofstadter - G?del, Escher, Bach; Orson Scott Card - Songmaster; Dostoevsky - Brothers Karamazov...
*while even the deepest passion need not interfere with the ability to form coherent sentences, there's plenty of time for that later
What I'm doing with my life:
I will have a computer science / music degree in -- wow! -- less than 3 weeks now. The CS job front looks nebulous as always, but I can fall back on my poker books if it comes to that.
Eventually I'll head back to graduate school in music to pursue a 2nd career in performance, conducting, musicology, or God-knows-what. Teaching sounds simultaneously scary and boring at the moment, but maybe I'll have mellowed into something respectable enough for "the establishment" by then.
Long-term, I will get myself a JD. As much as I like to analyze issues right now (in moderation, or more accurately fits & spurts), there's no substitute for a professional legal background. Maybe it will lead to a practice in whatever the cutting edge of information theory has led to, or toward related work in policy and advisory roles. It's also a prerequisite to becoming President.
Somewhere in there I will revisit my European travels. I'm not optimistic about getting my German back where it needs to be, unfortunately, but I've already survived one long-term Viennese assignment + dozen-country backpack with aplomb. Prague and Rome residents: start practicing your English now!
What are you doing down here? If my dreams of world domination are relevant to your dating fantasies you need to either get some sleep or message me before it's too late.
I'm really good at:
Analyzing complex issues, while stating things if and only if I can defend them. I'm not a fun person to debate if your interest is "winning." If you live for the chase, on the other hand, I can guide your philosophical ups & downs to places you've never been before. Or dismiss it all as academic wankery better framed as a dialectic between Russian Imperial Stouts and Belgian Trappist Ales.
The first thing(s) people usually notice about me:
Are looks deceiving, or a window to the soul? If you want to play psychologist all you'll have to work with at first are few raised eyebrows and trademark smirks. It behooves truly interested parties to buy me a drink.
Note: I try not to drip my Duke-blue blood on expensive carpets, but if you put one near an HDTV in March, consider yourself warned.
The best movie I've seen in the last year:
The Pianist (yeah I'm a little behind the times)
I've watched Good Will Hunting enough that one viewing was probably in the last year. Despite seeing more flaws every time, I always find different characters to identify with. (For instance, I've gone from looking up to Matt Damon to thinking he looks
so young.)
The SIX things I could never do without:
I have no problem admitting to being too materialist for this question.
Experiences have taught me that I can do without most "necessities" due to gigging around the country or the proverbial desert island, but I'm not creative enough to fill my mind with interesting music for the rest of my life. The Internet is probably cheating, but is a library of scores too much to ask for?
Wait...wait... desert islands don't have Malaysian, Thai, Chinese, Indian, Southern Italian, or TX BBQ cuisine. Even worse, the circumstances might force my roommate to use a stove. Beware.
The person I'd most like to trade brains with:
Seth
MacFarlane (notably of Family Guy). I'm not humor-impaired, but this man is an order of magnitude above the quotidian plane. I assume the premise of this question includes getting to hang on to some of those attributes after the swap?
On a typical Friday night I am:
Everyone knows the standard lines about Friday: hanging with friends, dancing, drinking. While there are some interesting factoids in here -- I'm better at the Wienerwaltz than booty music, with tango falling somewhere in between -- why not take a peek at an average day?
Practicing my instruments, my free throws, and my poker face. Trying to convince my roommate to watch Farscape, failing, and picking some music or photos or vids from my collection that sounds like it's worth a visit. Cooking either an exquisite schnitzel or a cop-out Ramen. Realizing that 9:10am class is wishful thinking.
The most private thing I'm willing to admit here is:
I'm not a very private person. WYSIWYG. Freaky, eh?
You should message me if:
You aren't afraid to deal & dish sarcasm in kind; you're cultured enough to know what the hell I was talking about in the first place; you have a knack for finding the open man and draining the 14-foot jumper; you don't need me to fix your computer for you; you play the french horn; you think I'm weird for saying this, but in a charming way.
Oh, and you have to like cheesecake.
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