My Personal Ad: Still looking for my other half...

I was just talking with a friend who recently created a MySpace page. He told me that he decided to do it after another friend had created a MySpace page simply by copying the text of his Match.com personal ad profile. It seemed to work - he immediately started getting hits and responses, and from real flesh-and-blood people, not just the sort of predatory phonies who plague every MySpace user.

I decided that's a great idea, and I could go it one better. I've mentioned my Match.com ad here before, but now I'm going to reprint much of my profile information, both here and on my MySpace site. (I actually just revised and updated my profile yesterday!) For more details, visit my Match.com ad (username is databoyechom).

About me and who I'm looking for:

Over the years I've learned something about myself: I socialize better with children and animals than I do with "adults." At parties I tend to drift away from "grown-up" conversations and begin playing with the hosts' pets. Kids find me fascinating in the way drivers find a car wreck fascinating. I appreciate kids for their innocence - well, I've known a few malicious kids, and I try to steer them in the right direction if I can - and for their enormous potential. And kids appreciate me because I do something most other adults can't be bothered to do: I pay attention to them.

This stuff carries over into romantic relationships. I'm looking for someone who, in the immortal words of Dee-light's song "Groove Is In The Heart", is "not vicious or malicious, just de-lovely and de-licious." I'm looking for someone who is still in a state of becoming - who isn't set in her ways, refusing to explore new places or ideas, but has an adventurous streak, and a desire for personal growth. Being willing and able to give good backrubs is a big plus, too!

And what can I bring to the party? Other than a ridiculously broad trivial knowledge, I can bring one important thing: I will pay attention to you. I hope you will do the same.

My ideal house - well, I've found it, I've bought it, and I'm rehabbing it, making it suitable for the 21st century while retaining the character of the early 20th when it was built. "Casual" best describes my clothing, though I tend more towards "nice" jeans, henleys, and Oxford shoes than khakis and "tennis shoes" (we call them "sneakers" 'round these parts, ma'am.) And my sense of humor could best be described as "wry", but more often is described as "twisted"...a consequence of being raised on Monty Python and MAD Magazine. So, there. That's for starters. I can tell you more; all you have to do is ask.

I'm looking for someone who is gentle, kind, adventurous, daring, naive, intellectual, honest, thoughtful, happy, yet at the same time incomplete (because if your life is already complete, what possible role can I play in it?). Someone who has a child-like sense of wonder about the world but the worldly wisdom that comes only from hard experience. Someone who wants to have adventures and do things, but isn't maniacal about taking risks for risk's sake alone. (In my first personal ad I said something like "somewhat young, somewhat pretty and somewhat sane." I think it was somewhat more clever than that, though.)

I've also come to realize that I'm most attracted to artists, musicians, and writers. If you're not one of these, don't worry; but if you are, you may be in a better position to understand and relate to me.

I'd rather be able to meet someone who is at most only a few hours' drive away from me, which opens up half of Pennsylvania, all of New Jersey, much of New York, most of Delaware, and parts of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. (all places that I visit from time to time.)

***
Much of the stuff above was written quite a while ago and is still valid. But I guess there are a few things I should add, now that I have the space:

I'm looking to date. To go out, have a good time, meet someone that I can connect with on any number of levels, maybe even consider going further to something more serious. But first I'd like to date. I'm not looking to become an instant father. I'm not here to make up for the sins and failings of those who have come before me, and I'm not here to try to fill the shoes of someone who's moved on. I'm me. I hope you get to know who that person is.

Well, I hope that gives you a sense of who I am. There's a lot more about me on my blog, which is a sort of autobiography in a million parts. If you're interested, I'll point you there, and you can learn much, much more.

I hope this has caught your attention. If you've made it this far, you may very well be the sort of woman I'm looking for. Get in touch, and we'll talk!


In my own words
for fun:
I enjoy traveling with good friends, gardening, stargazing, nature-watching, dancing, carousing, reading, cooking, and blogging. Give me a wink or an e-mail and I'll send you a link to my blog!

my job:
I work in a DVD Manufacturing facility. I used to have a management position in our DVD Authoring department, but corporate changes pushed many of us in different directions. Looking to make better use of my Physics degree and 17 years in industry.

my ethnicity:
I'm actually more pinkish-tan than "white".

my religion:
My stock answer is "Jesuit-trained semi-agnostic lapsed Catholic." I'm not as lapsed as some of my friends, but I still feel that the Church has some issues it's gotta work out someday. Ask, and I'll tell more.

my education:
I double majored in Physics and Philosophy. Isn't that weird? But If you knew me, it would make perfect sense. I also did one semester of graduate school in Physics - the most horrible and humiliating six months of my life.

favorite hot spots:
It's been waaay too long since I've been to Tink's in Scranton...and the Amber Indian restaurant in Moosic is one of this area's best-kept secrets! Just tried Kildare's for the first time and liked it, and I love the BIG Margaritas at Don Pablo's!

favorite things:
Working compost into the soil in spring...wandering blindly through my back yard with my eyes aimed at the stars...finding a book I've always wanted to buy in the bargain section of a bookstore...and good conversation that makes the world go away!

last read:
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." Damn, that woman can write! I'm currently reading "American Sideshow", a series of vignettes and mini-biographies of sideshow performers from the last 200 years or so. Also New Scientist, Newsweek, MAD...

So. Whaddya think?