...indeed, I've tripped and fallen flat on my face so often that it's all scratched and dented already, despite my having bought it quite recently in anticipation of my sally forth into the perilous world of online dating. :-( *Stares at banged-up breastplate dejectedly*

Oh, hi there! I'm a graduate student at Michigan State. GO GREEN! I'm fairly laid-back, and perhaps some would say I'm an unassuming guy. In nearly every aspect of my life, I prefer to be pragmatic and to always keep things real (hence the profile title). That's not to say that I don't value morally and intellectually sound ideals--far from it--but I'm generally satisfied with putting in my best effort and standing by the outcome.

My pastimes include tennis, softball, basketball (not too good at it myself, but I love watching it), biking, swimming, reading, music and movies.

Carpe diem is a motto I have taken to heart, and try to live by every day of my life. I'm not a passive guy--never have been, never will be. If something or someone truly grabs my interest, I set off in pursuit. I'm not an obsessive psycho though, several FBI agents and police officers nodded their heads in agreement with me over this very point in interrogation rooms across the country--betcha none of the other guys on here can boast about quite that much expert opinion vouching for their character!

I would like to meet a smart, funny and interesting girl, with a view towards friendship, possibly more, if we were to really hit it off. I'm always open to new experiences. I enjoy lively, intelligent conversations on pretty much any topic, and love to have a good laugh. It would be nice if I could meet a girl who has a bubbly and gregarious personality, and with whom I could go out and have a jolly good time. However, I could just as easily spend a quiet evening having a nice conversation, playing Scrabble, watching a movie together or doing one of the activities I've listed below as being suitable for a first date (or pretty much any other time).

I thoroughly enjoy my work, and while it's very important to me, I don't expect the woman in my life to get super excited and giddy every time I run out of the bathroom naked and yelling that I've just come up with a new design or algorithm, or a proof to a theorem. Well, never mind the theorem, I hope that she'd be happy to just...*ahem*...see me like that every so often...she might want to have a towel handy at all times, however--Douglas Adams was certainly onto something when he gave that sage bit of advice.

Finally, a word of warning--my sense of humour tends to be fairly politically incorrect and irreverent at times, especially on the topics of politics and organised religion. We'll get along well if you're not religious (or don't take it too seriously even if you are) and you're left-leaning on most political issues--indeed, even if you're a liberal, chances are, my political views will put me somewhere to your left (I *am* foreign, after all).

If you like what I've had to say above, then we should definitely talk. And oh, please make sure to include your SSN in the subject line of your email--I use 'em to keep track of the thousands of messages flooding my inbox. The ladies on this site--they're all over me.

I'm assuming this is about a proper date, as opposed to an "I'd like to meet him for coffee in a safe, public place so I can size him up and ascertain what I need to pack in my seemingly bottomless ladies' handbag that'll help me dissuade him if he were to ever get fresh well before I'm even interested, let alone ready" type of initial meet-up.

If so, there is a wide range of activities I'm interested in pursuing, such as going to museums, art galleries, concerts, sporting events, etc., or browsing through a used bookstore or just enjoying the outdoors--but really, I'm open to most anything.

Of course, a nice dinner date and an evening spent conversing on all manner of interesting topics is hard to beat. A picnic at a park or by a lakeshore sounds pretty good to me, too.

You know what would be really fun? A ride in a hot air balloon together on a perfect summer day. :-)