Okay, for starters, I'm bi-ish*, but that doesn't appear to be allowed; since I tend to lean more towards women, women it is. I am puzzled by the stereotypes around bisexuality: men, I guess I can sort of see, getting excited over some imagined potential insta-threesome, but women? For crying out loud, you like girls, I'm a girl, what's the big deal? Really, all you dykes out there that say, "I won't date bi girls", fess up: why on earth not?

I'm a shy, flaming-liberal goofpants with a passion for comparative grammar, with a soft spot for grumpy, anti-social intellectuals and academics. I go out a fair bit, but when I'm at home, you'll most likely find me curled up with a book and a scotch. I work in an academic library, and one of the best things about that is being surrounded by potentially interesting books. That, and the free tuition, of course.

I understand neither why the new education thingie defaults to 'some college' nor why it's been dubbed 'smarts'. University taught me what Galois Theory is, but not how to keep, say, my foot out of my mouth.

And as to whether I have a car: who cares? No, really: are there folks out there whom this is a deal-breaker for?

POF says I'll be successful if only I talk about the following:

1. Hobbies: I read a lot. I used to play a lot of music, but have been neglecting it for a while. I recently picked my violin back up, which I had last touched when I was 17. It sounds really, REALLY bad--but so much fun! I like video games, mostly of the 'puzzle' variety. I like hiking & kayaking & generally getting to naturey places in order to look at them. I think it's super cool that you can stick stuff in the ground, and then it'll grow & be pretty; sometimes you can even eat it. I also really dig comparative grammar and spend a lot of time learning (often dead) languages.

2. Goals/aspirations: Ideally, some of these strike-it-rich-quick ideas will pan out and I'll be able to quit my job and live the rest of my life on a sailboat in the Galapagos. Or the Canaries. The Canaries were really nice. Even if it doesn't make me a bazillion dollars, I'm still keen on my scheme to reform Ancient Greek pedagogy.

3. What makes me unique: *bursts into laughter* Oops, sorry.

4. Music: This is going to ensure my success, eh? Okay, um, I like stuff, normal-y stuff that's catchy and is clever and has pleasant harmonies and has maybe horns & handclaps. I like weirdo-y stuff that sounds as if it might have sprung from completely alien cultures, as well as all-too-human stuff like vacuum-cleaner symphonies, &c. People I like a lot that you might have heard of: Robyn Hitchcock, Morrissey, Parliament, Little Richard, Quebec music in general, anydisco anytime anywhere, anything in the Rough Guides series, stuff they play on Radio3, Bob Dylan. People I don't like, at all, under any circumstances: Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, U2 (except that one song), Tragically Hip, sensitive singer-songwriter types, anybody playing the saxophone.

*Or something. So many labels, so little time. What is clear is that the either/or man/woman thingie doesn't leave a lot of room for subtlety.

I'm pretty amenable. I'll happily do just about anything but shopping and team sports. So, take your pick: a game of chess or cribbage, a movie or a play, a hike or a canoe trip, a concert at the Starlight or the Chamber Music Society, a coffee or a pint...

There are two kinds of people who might describe themselves as "a terrible flirt": those who cannot stop themselves, and those who cannot. I'm one of the latter. (This is an example of what passes for wit roundabout here.)