Hi all,

My name is Mark, and I just got back to IL on July 10 after serving in the Marine Corps for the past 4 years! Being gone for so long has made me realize how much I missed home, family, friends and Illinois drivers (and the Chicago food/sports)!

All in all, I'm a pretty laid back guy. But I don't like people who talk down to others, or flaunt what they have to others. I love to have some laughs with friends out on the town, or in front of the TV with some pizza (just as long as there's nothing green on it). I like to try new things and go out, but I also LOVE staying in and having a quiet night. I pretty much think of strangers as friends you just haven't met yet. I don't like stuck-up people, hippies or tomatoes. Looking for a girl who loves dogs, is nice, caring, at least smarter than my parrot and is someone who likes to have fun and LAUGH! Humor is one of the most important things in my life, and the glass is always half full in my world. Life is too short, so be happy for what you have and never stop working for what you want! If you don't think Superbad or Supertroopers are some of the greatest movies ever made...we prob won't get along, haha. Oh yeah, and I LOVE cheesecake.

I pretty much love cars more than anything, and they are my biggest hobby (working on them, shows, driving with the top down). If you like guys who drive Honda Civics with 20" gold rims, body kits and who think they're Vin Diesel...you really won't like me. I am also a huge Blackhawks fan, love animals (but especially dogs) and love to argue and debate about pretty much anything. Intelligence/education is pretty important to me, and I was lucky enough complete two bachelor's degrees before I went into the Marine Corps. I am planning on pursuing a PhD. in Biological Psychology after I have given myself some time to relax after the Marines(mostly because it would be wicked cool to be called "Doctor", am I right?).

To tell ya the truth, had my heart broken far too many times, and have pretty much been on a strike against women (AKA: Girlcotting) for the recent past, so I'm just seeing if there are any nice and normal girls left out there who would like to go on some dates and see what happens. So, if you've read this far...thanks...and if you wanna make a new friend go ahead and say hi because I WILL write back.

I don't know, I guess it all depends on the OTHER person, you know? Since the 1st date is always the most exciting, I would like to have plenty of time to get to know her over dinner/drinks. I think pretty much once we both realized the other wasn't some crazy stalker or anything, we would probably end up blowing off the "set" plans and just waste the night talking about the most random stuff you could think of. But, if I WAS in charge, I would tell ya I'm taking you out for a nice dinner, comedy club and then drinks/dessert.