I'm probably not like too many guys you've met. And, depending on your point of view, that may be a good thing and it might not be. I've got old-fashioned morals but New Age inclinations. A modernized western gentleman, I think. I'm a social liberal and a fiscal conservative. I did not graduate high school traditionally, but I got my GED as soon as they would let me, and have studied outside of school. I've got a job (but I'd just as soon win the lottery and let someone who needs one have it); I've got a car, but it's an aged station wagon I've owned for 10 years, and I'm not driven to buy something to impress people with. I think Gary Larson and Steven Wright are geniuses, and Rush and Sean are gasbags.

I'm looking for my last first date, but not 100% sure I'm ready for my next one to be that. I like sitting and drinking coffee and having long conversations, watching movies, and staying up late to see the interesting people that come out at night. Sunrises have ended more of my days than they've started. I'm definitely a Nightowl.

I occasionally like flea markets and second-hand stores and garage sales, but I don't want to do that every weekend. I like home improvement projects, if they are well planned and everything is in place to finish the job once it's started. I can be humorous (unintentionally more often than not), but I don't feel a need to be "on" all the time.

I live a very small town a long way from a lot of places, and not very close to much. Thus... if I plan on driving 2 hours each way to meet someone for coffee, I'll have gotten to know them fairly well by e-mail, and then probably phone, before I hop in the car. Does that make me sound "distant"? I AM distant. It's a matter of geography. Literally. But I'm willing to consider it. For the right person.

Who is that? Well, at the moment, it'd be nice to have someone to call up and say, "Hey, there's a new movie opening Friday after next." and we could talk about it afterwards over a late supper. I'd like to go with someone to shoot a little pool (which I am incredibly rusty at) or to a book signing or a poetry reading or the symphony or a concert featuring something a little more modern. Right now, I'd just like to meet someone I'd like to get to know better, for whom the feeling is mutual.

I think it's nice when a lady takes pride in her appearance, but can manage that without being Too high-maintenance. A creative mind is a big plus. Pretentiousness isn't.

If you're a sports fanatic, into Nascar or into status symbols, then we probably wouldn't be a very good match. If you're turned on by bad boys and motorcycles, you should probably keep looking. If long hair (very long hair) is a turnoff, there are other profiles you should read. (Yes, I have a ponytail. Yes, it reaches my belt. *sigh* Okay, yes, you can braid it if you HAVE to.)

If you like the widest range of music possible, sit in the car until the song ends, will pull over to look at a rainbow and believe physical intimacy is fun and something to be shared frequently, we might have a few things in common. If you want to share your day with me, I want to listen, and then share mine with you.

I'm really too complex to explain in a few thousand characters. It took me 50 years to get here. And what I'm looking for is almost as complex. But if you think we might get along, we can talk about it.

I think a first date should be in a quiet, relatively intimate setting, where we could relax and get to know a little more about one another by talking, not screaming over the band. If things were going well, we could make an evening of it with a movie and dinner.