Welcome, Reader, to my humble profile. My name is Oreste, and I am not only your host, but I'm also a customer!

Er ...

To help make your experience here at Oreste's profile the best it can be, I've made two categories for your perusal. The first category is "Positives." You can probably guess what the second category is.

As far as I'm concerned, they're all positives. Public perception is never quite as sympathetic as I am, though. Also, being what it is, perception is a fickle beast. If you think I've mislabeled something as negative or positive, all I can do is shrug. Shuffle them as you will.

Positives:

1. I'm a poet. That means I have studied and paid close attention to language, and the ways we communicate. I know how to express myself, and I enjoy it. It does not mean that I am romantic, picking flowers, and lost in the clouds. Tell the truth, I've never met a poet like that.

2. I am very easygoing. Many people have told me I feel comfortable to be around; I make them feel relaxed.

3. I have a lot of curiosity. I love to read or hear about new ideas, or old ideas and how they shape the culture. I have read and thought about a wide variety of philosophies, and I'm always willing to discuss or re-examine the things I believe are true. If I'm not doing this in some way, then I actually can't feel connected to my spirituality, my truths.

4. I keep active. I play volleyball 2-3 nights a week. My parents play as well, so as an extra bonus, I keep in touch with my family.

Negatives:

1. I'm a poet. It's easy for me to get sidetracked into discussing the difference between two very subtle shades of meaning in the same word. Or sometimes I will argue that one word is completely wrong, and then suggest a different word to replace it, a word that as far as anyone cares, means exactly the same thing.

2. Travel is not on my top ten list. I have a lot of passion for the world, it's just that I tend to pour out that passion over one or two things at a time. Translation: I get wrapped up in my work. I hate to get torn away from something, and unless you're taking six months to a year to really experience the place, then travel is just a series of getting torn away from places.

I also like being where I am. I happen to live in California. I've been to other countries, including a six month stay in the U.S.S.R. (when it was still a country). I'm not making a blind comparison. Maybe if I lived in Minnesota, I'd be keen on getting torn away from there as often as possible. Florida, too. That hellhole has way too many mosquitoes.

3. I'm not on a high horse about this What you choose to do to yourself is your choice. If you choose to smoke, though, I'm not interested. I honestly can't stand the smell. Not to mention that if I see you drop your butt on the ground, right there, I've lost all respect for you. Find an ash tray.

4. It turns out that people have different ideas of what's too far away for a relationship. The "looking for" feature has two options: 75 miles and 20,000. I chose the most representative. Anything farther than a half-hour to 45 minute drive is too far for me. That would mean I could date someone from San Fransisco on a good day, but let's face it, when does the Bay Bridge have a good day? Meeting halfway is fun and reasonable for a date or two, but it's not sustainable for longer than that. Let me know when you move to my town.

Neither here nor there:

When I look at my profile after an edit, it gives me the option to add me to my favorites. So I think, "How messed up is that, if I don't even put myself on my own favorites list?" So I click on the link and nothing happens. Great. Now I've sent myself totally mixed messages.

Online dating is kinda like the bar. Men are on the prowl, women are on the defensive, and people are saying things they wouldn't dream of in ordinary company. Not to mention everybody's pretending that's not what they're here for in the first place. The only difference is there's no loud music and no cloud of smokers outside.

I don't want to get past your skepticism. I'm real. It only makes sense to get our respective online dating fears out of the way, and the best way to do that is put them to the test. So let's go anywhere that's safe, public, and where conversation is easy. Then you can a)check that my pictures are real, b)realize I'm not a psycho/liar/wanted felon, and c)find out if we like each other. It would end with a handshake or a hug. After that, we can decide if we want to go on a "date" date.