There's a forest clearing with a little pond I used to skip rocks on when I was a small child growing up in the mountains of Northern California. I visited that little pond last winter and it reminded me that there's still quite a bit of that little boy left in me. Now I'm all grown up with a job and an adult life, but I find myself looking for someone to be together with to share the sweet little moments of life.
My family is the most important thing to me. I'm the oldest of four brothers, and we are very close, along with our cousins. There is a musician, a doctor, an entrepreneur, a journalist, a mathematician, and a Google manager, among others, and they live all over the east and West coasts - Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, Boston and New York. My parents still live in Northern California, and I am close with them and visit there often. My closest extended family are in Philadelphia, Boston and Los Angeles. We all see each other frequently in spite of the geography.
I have wonderful friends in Florida and in many other places. I've been best man at five weddings and each of those marriages are still going strong - that's one of my proudest achievements.
I should note that I speak, read and write a couple foreign languages pretty well, Mandarin and French. I've studied German, Portuguese and Spanish at points and hope to develop one or two of those languages.
I work in Fort Lauderdale as a trial lawyer. It's challenging, rewarding work that demands a lot of energy and empathy. I enjoy working with people from all walks of life and I like the intensity of public speaking. I get a tremendous amount of satisfaction every day helping people. I've been a prosecutor and defense attorney, I see both sides of issues well. Both roles are rewarding. I believe in our justice system, though most people have strong misconceptions about it.
Travel is a big part of my life. I grew up with family on both coasts and in Norway and Hawaii, which are my two favorites places outside the US. I was always seeing different places as a kid. As an adult, my good college friend Joe is the travel buddy I most often go exploring with (he's the Shrek look-alike in many of the posted photos). Last year we went to Tibet and Nepal, and the year before to Turkey and Romania. I've been to many parts of Central America, Southeast Asia, Southern Africa, Northern Africa and Israel, and all over North America, Europe and China. I would like to visit South America, the middle parts of Africa, Australia and New Zealand in the coming years. I will try just about anything new, food or otherwise, and in a group I will usually be the first to volunteer.
Health and fitness have always been a priority to me, whether it's keeping my teeth straight and clean, or staying physically strong and flexible. I grew up playing a lot of basketball, weight lifting and running. Earlier this year I put an exceptional amount of time and effort into my work, and it paid off. Now I'm enjoying getting my exercise routine back to my normal level.
Music is vital to me, listening our playing my bass or guitar. I wish I had time to be in a band, which I often have been. I still write and learn songs for fun.
I really like the weather and cultural diversity of South Florida, and it's been a great place for my career. I miss mountains, though. I would probably be willing to move for the right situation. I have Heat season tickets, so it would be hard to leave that - I'll probably stick around as long as LeBron does. We both took our talents to South Beach, and we'll see where it takes us...
I have some nice material possessions, but if they were gone, I don't think I would mind that much. Along with friends and family, my intellectual and spiritual life are the most important things to me. I am an affectionate and sensual person, and I have learned that I need a soulful, graceful partner. Looking forward.
