I'm a first year English teacher struggling with having to wield authority and the oppression of grading, but loving the creativity and general awesomeness of my students. I'm from the Bay Area and have lived the majority of my life here, except for various sojourns to Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Seattle, and (most recently) Miami. The vast majority of my friends live in SF, so I am there quite a bit...usually drinking sake in a park when the weather is nice. I think I am supposed to write about a goal now, so I will. I plan to take surf lessons within the next few weeks in Santa Cruz. I did my undergrad work at UCSC, but never learned how to surf, much to my regret. I love the ocean and don't mind the cold at all (or sharks...just punch them in the nose right?). I have to say, I do watch a fair amount of tv. But it's good tv and that should count for something. I am completely loyal to: Lost, The Office, House, True Blood, Flight of the Concords, Top Model (very guilty pleasure), Mad Men, and now Glee (you would have to have a heart of stone not to love it). Musically, I am all over the place. I just went to the Treasure Island Music Festival thing to see Beirut. Other musical loves: Bowie, Sigur Ros, Tori Amos, Mika, a lot of echoy dub, Jenny Lewis, Mum, Antony and the Johnsons, and Postal Service. I suppose this is where I should now make the case that I am a special snowflake amongst regular snowflakes...in lieu of that, I will end this with a quote from a favorite childhood film, Beetle Juice: "live people ignore the strange and unusual. I, myself, am strange and unusual."

Coffee is okay and I do like a glass of wine, but a truly great first date would be speculating about the former lives of mummies at the Rosicrucian’s Ancient Egyptian Museum (yes, San Jose has an Egyptian museum!) and then catching the Planetarium show next door.