American born of Canadian/American descent, Jewish by birth but completely non- practicing for some time (that could be a lengthy but interesting topic for conversation...) For fun I love to play volleyball, hike, ride my bicycle and my motorcycle and read. I also love to work with my hands, doing all my own maintenance on my cars and bikes. I have done a complete gut renovation of the family's house in the past and I have rarely come across a mechanical device that I can't repair.

I work in financial services, on the technology side, currently managing some large scalability testing efforts. I have also done Project Management, and a lot of BA work as well.

While I have worked on Wall Street for quite some time, I am by no means a conventional "wall street guy". I dislike posers, I actually do like jeans and tee shirts, and while well educated (including an MBA) I didn't attend an Ivy. (not that there is anything wrong with going to one. I am however intelligent, articulate and exceedingly funny, with a sometimes sarcastic, sometimes slightly twisted sense of humor.
While I enjoy my work and usually find it gratifying, I also like to play. Sports, out on my bike, pillow fights, whatever. I hope I never get like too many people I have met who have simply forgotten how to have fun.

So among the clichéd characteristics that often get listed I will self assess as follows:
Caring - yup, I am compassionate, and have the ability to understand other's situations. I am no mother Theresa though and I am a firm believer that hand-outs suck, and people should work hard to get what they want. We all make mistakes, and sometimes thats sucks, but people with true character act like adults and start working on fixing the probelm. Those that cry in the corner and blame the world for their screw ups do not appeal to me. Having said that, I have a soft spot for those that have worked hard or those that due to ugly circumstances only had choices of "crappy" or "more crappy".

Romantic - I didnt used to consider myself romantic, but in light of repeated feedback to the contrary, it may well be that i am. I am not a big flowers kind of guy but I wont forget important days though.

Smart - I am very analytical. I process information at an enormous pace, and some can find that a bit annoying as most peple act on instinct some significant amount of time. It is just how my brain is wired, so please be OK with me thinking ahead and always having a plan B at the ready. Note: this does not preclude being spontaneous as many of my Plan "A's" are so foolhardy that no plan "B" is going to help when plan "A" was so damn dumb to begin with :-)

Funny - Well by now you have either found me to be amusing or you decided you don't like my brand of humor. If nothing else I am quick witted and you are not likley to ever be bored.

Passionate - Absolutely... about a lot of things. Some other words here are driven, motivated and a phrase that someone came up with in high school to describe me when asked if I was focused was "more focused than a rabid pit bull with lockjaw"


What I seek in a partner is smart (yes smart... I really hate those blank looks and meaningless head nods when words exceed two syllables, or I start to explain something...), strong willed, hopefully a smart ass, spontaneous at times but thoughtful and methodical as well. Non smoker/ drug user, yeah pot is a drug in case you thought it was somehow excluded from the list.

Update: I have learned a pricelss lesson about judging people too quickly or simply by whether have a college degree. I met an amazing woman who is bright as the sun, sharp as a razor and gasp no advanced degree. I know this is a dating site and we have to make determinations based on limited info, but this is one area where I need to figure out how better to determine "smart" without using a degree as the measuring stick.

Ok I think perhaps this is long enough....

First dates can take many guises... A day at the zoo, a bicycle ride, a walk in the park, a motorcycle ride if that is something you are comfortable with. (Full disclosure: Riding is not just a fad for me. I have been riding sportbikes for a long, long time and plan on continuing to do so.) A first date could be anything where there is an activity so we can see and gauge each other's reactions. The reality is that it is often someone's smile, their body language, the tone in their laugh that makes them irresistable to us, and you only find that in person, not in email, not phone calls under varying circumstances. I think movies or shows are a bad first date idea as you never get to know the person you are with. Dinner can also be sort of awkward if it is the focal point. If there is no chemistry then why should we both squirm through a meal knowing that we both want to bolt ASAP?

A perfect 1st date? One where somehow 6 hours has passed when the plan was to meet for a quick drink and at the end we are both wrestling with our conscience about how to say goodbye (handshake, peck on the check, devouring each other in kiss...)


So low key, casual, with an escape route for one or both of us if things go south, but with the seamless option of turning a casual meeting into a ten hour epic encounter if there is that click and flow that just feels right.

Update: I have come to hate the coffee/ drink date. it seems to be a disporportionate amount of planning and effort for what turns out to be a 30 minute event. Now granted sometimes that is 27 minutes too long, but sometimes it is 4 hours too short... I have no good answers here. I am happy to listen to your suggestions on the matter.