I put off e-dating for a long time, but I didn't have much luck meeting single women, so here I am. I'm an easy-going, optimistic person with many interests. I love reading literature, going to movies, listening to music, going to concerts, watching baseball, hiking/ camping, skiing, playing ping pong, and going to plays. I'm always open to new activities and interests. I have friends in Asia and Europe and love to travel and experience new things. Politically, I'm a progressive - definitely not a radical but not a moderate either. I started a novel but never completed it. Instead I have been writing songs for the last couple of years. I am a very creative person.

After teaching high school English for several years, I now teach English at two of the city colleges. I truly love my job and am always striving to improve my teaching. I'm from downstate originally but have lived in Chicago for almost 15 years. I moved to the west loop a few months ago. I love Chicago!

My favorite movies of the year (in no particular order) are: 500 Days of Summer, Up, In the Loop, Juice, Moon, Up in the Air, Where the Wild Things Are, a Serious Man, and Harry Potter and the Hormones Start Kicking In (or whatever it was called).

My biggest vice is my CD addiction. I seem to be the only one who still buys them. I love nearly all types of music. Put my iPod on shuffle and it will skip merrily from Cat Power to Marvin Gaye to Frank Sinatra to Randy Newman to Miles Davis to Dolly Parton to Wilco to Cheap Trick.

And no, that's not my real name. My user name is a combination of two of my favorite literary characters. My real name is Celtic, although I'm not. My favorite quote is from Oscar Wilde: "Life is too important to be taken seriously."

Basically, I have a wonderful life with an amazing family and great friends. Yet I know if I could find that special someone, I could be even happier. I would love to share my interests with someone and learn from theirs. I pride myself on having an open mind and being willing to try new things.

I guess that's it. How'd I do?

As should be clear from my description, I have a wide variety of interests. The first date could be many things, depending on your interests. We could do the traditional dinner and a movie, see a play, go bowling, or go to a concert. Or for something really non-threatening, we could just start off with lunch or drinks. I'm flexible. I'm all up for: taking a ride on a hot air balloon, parachuting, kayaking down the Mekong, or backpacking across the outback. But let's save that for the second date...