Jeff profile picture

Jeff

I am here for Friends

About Me

I'm a very, VERY mellow, laid back person. Many people have known me for years and have still never seen me angry or overly upset. In fact, I'm probably pretty boring and unmemorable to those who first meet me; it takes a while for me to warm up to people enough to let myself out, and once I do they can never forget me...haha. I can be a very quirky person, and have learned to appreciate my quirkyness...hopefully others will appreciate it too...I think they usually do. Being so easy going, I am terrified of confrontation...TERRIFIED!! The name Jeff means "Peaceful", so I guess I have sort of a natural karmic aversion to conflict. Wow...I really sound like a hippy stoner or something, but I so totally am not...although some of my favorite people are!! I like a wide variety of friends. Hanging around multiple copies of the same person is boring. I feel as though we learn the most from those who are most different from ourselves.

My Interests

I love movies, books, and music...see below. I am very interested in politics and social issues. I love food, unfortunately. Fortunately, I like biking, walking, and swimming. My one butch trait...I'm totally into cars (a love which competes with my love for the environment...oh, the inner turmoil!!). Oh, another butch trait, I love going to hockey games, and baseball games...Something that never happens anymore since I moved out of Chicago and into Key West.

I'd like to meet:

People who think. Nothing pleases me more than a great, intellegent, thought provoking, philisophical conversation. I like people who cherish their individuality. We are all unique, and the people who let it show are the ones we remember. I like that those who are comfortable with their individuality have a very real presence...neither fake nor vacant. I like a good balance of cynicism and optimism. There's a lot in this world to be cynical about, but you have to be optimistic regardless. Someone too optimistic comes across as naive, but someone too cynical is just dreadful to be around.

Music:

I love all sorts of music...Tori Amos, Tina Turner, Lenny Kravitz, Cesario Evora, Everything but the Girl, Nina Simone, Matchbox 20, Barry Manilow (don't tell anyone), Diana Ross and the Supremes, Gray Eyed Glances, Billy Holiday, George Michael, and on and on and on...

Movies:

Too many to mention... Lantana, Living Out Loud, Life is Beautiful, Mahogany, Bridges of Madison County, A Patch of Blue, Imitation of Life, Dogville, All About Eve, Lady Vengence, Water, Mildred Pierce, Earth, The Music Box, Cote D'Azur, Fifty First Dates, Urban Cowboy (Again, don't tell anyone), Kitty Foyle, My Man Godfrey, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, Broadcast News, Network, Ordinary People (also appears in the book category), etc...

Television:

I'm not a big fan of TV, but I did LOVE Six Feet Under...the most brilliant show of all time!!! I like Seinfeld, Judging Amy (another guilty pleasure), but usually I watch CNN...anything but Glenn Beck (actually I watch that a lot, but spend most of my time yelling at him even though he cannot hear me.) Also on CNN, Nanci Grace who I find terrifying, but also fascinating. When I was a kid, I was hooked on Dynasty and Thirtysomething.

Books:

Anything by Richard Russo (especially Empire Falls, Nobody's Fool, and Straight Man) and aside from Richard Russo I like The Reader, The Portrait of Dorian Grey, A Man in Full, The Blank Wall, The Innocent Mrs. Duff, The Ameteur Marriage, Memoirs of a Geisha, Sweet Thursday, Love Story (Shhh...there's my guilty pleasure in the book category), Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (the movie is great, too!), Ordinary People (also appears in the movie category), etc...

Heroes:

Ms. Swan - hahaha - not really, I do love her, but she's not my hero. There are no heroes, just heroic actions. A person can be a hero for a moment, but one is not a hero for life. Now, People I respect and admire...Tina Turner, Princess Diana, Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Maya Angelou...but they're not heroes, they're human. Actually, one of the things I respect most about them is that they've held on to their humility even when much of the world puts them on a pedestal. They acknowledge that they are human and that they do not deserve such a pedestal.