I am retired and work part-time as a reporter for a small town weekly newspaper. I live out in the woods on a lakeshore, in a summer cottage which I converted for year-round living. My summers are filled with outdoor activities in one of the prettiest areas in the country -- the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. But the bitterly cold winters of northern Minnesota limit my possibilities for at least six months of the year.

This has been my first experience with small-town living and after three years here, I am ready to return to civilization. I miss the amenities and the energy of more metropolitan areas. Forty-some years in the Washington DC area and almost twenty in the Orlando FL area confirmed me as a city boy. My property is on the market, but where I'll move is as yet undetermined, just some place that has a movie theater, a dry cleaners and more than two stoplights.

I've been divorced for nine years after having been married three times for over 35 years in total. I've done very little dating since my last divorce, preferring to find out a little bit about myself after all these years. Well, I've learned about all I care to at this point, and I've discovered that, of the two states of living, I prefer being part of a couple to living alone.

I once enjoyed dancing, but have grown rather rusty at it from lack of practice. I had to give up drinking but I still enjoy going out to bars, particularly for televised sporting events, live bands, and Karaoke. I enjoy most kinds of music from Classical to Country to Rock, but am not a fan of Rap, Hip Hop, or the Music? of whiny young girls (the only person who knew how to really whine was Patsy Cline). I enjoy live theater, particularly musicals, and even a good Shakespeare production. My favorite form of escapism is two hours in a dark movie theater stuffing myself full of popcorn! I find it rejuvenating. Fine dining in a fancy restaurant is always enjoyable and I still own a couple of suits and ties, so I don't mind "dressing" occasionally. Live sporting events are always fun and I enjoyed Redskins football and Senators baseball years ago in Washington, DC, as well as University of Maryland sporting events. In Florida I enjoyed Orlando Magic basketball and the occasional trip to Daytona for the races. There's not much going on up here, sportswise, at "The End of the Road" in Ely, MN.

My favorite TV show is Jeopardy! and I've yet to be beaten at a game of Trivial Pursuit. I've actually been interviewed (including playing sample games) and qualified for the Jeopardy! show on three separate occasions over the last ten years, but they've never selected me for an appearance. They tell you at the interview that they usually qualify about four times as many people as they will actually use in a year's time. So my nearly lifelong ambiition to appear on the show has yet to be realized, but there's still time!

For a first date, I believe in "lady's choice", or is that a copout? Left to me, it would be dinner in a nice restaurant followed by a night club with live music or perhaps a movie or a play. For a daytime date, weather permitting. I would prefer a hike in a scenic park or a bike ride, followed by an early, casual dinner.