I travel occasionally, when time and funds are available, usually going to places nearby. I am proudly Texan, and I adore desert climates. I am very nerdy, mildly geeky and possess a few slightly Gothic tendencies.

Gothic, industrial, dark wave, ethereal wave, alternative, electronica, metal, rock, techno, some synthpop, oldies, folk music, classic rock, world music, or classical/instrumental. My most recent favorite bands have been Depeche Mode, VNV Nation, Blue Stahli (their album Darkeworld specifically, released under the band name “Voxisâ€), VAST, Voltaire (I seem to gravitate toward bands with “Vâ€-names, don’t I?), UnSun, The 69 Eyes, Apoptygma Berzerk, Assemblage 23, Imperative Reaction, Type O Negative, Evanescence (pre-Fallen, actually, back when they still had a unique edge to their sound; their latest self-titled album is terrible beyond words), old school Nine Inch Nails/How To Destroy Angels (or almost anything by Trent Reznor, especially if he’s teamed with Atticus Ross), and whatever else can be classified as either “Gothicâ€, “Industrialâ€, “electronica†in the online music stores. Occasionally, I groove to the righteous reggae rhymes of Matisyahu.

MOVIES: Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments (cheese at its best); The Matrix (as I get older, I’m starting to respect the entire trilogy more than I used to); anything with Star Trek in the title; The Crow (love doesn’t just conquer death in that film; it beats death’s ass!); The Dark Knight (or as I call it, “The Movie That Made Me Give a Damn About Heath Ledger Againâ€); TRON; The Lord of the Rings Trilogy; the original Star Wars Trilogy (go ahead, mention those damn prequels to me, I dare you); Mallrats; The X-Files: Fight the Future; David Lynch‘s interpretation of Frank Herbert‘s Dune; the cult classic Dark City (especially the Director’s Cut); Jurassic Park; Ghostbusters (sad as it may seem, seeing the sequel in theaters as a boy made me want to be a parapsychologist).

TV SHOWS: AMC’s The Walking Dead (I liked Season 1 much better than the comic it was based on, but Season 2 was gravely disappointing); Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (formula for television success: stuff some interesting and potentially volatile people on a space station orbiting a planet-sized Holocaust metaphor, declare the black agnostic leading male a messiah figure for what is essentially “Space Judaismâ€, introduce some genetically-enhanced soldiers led by shapeshifters who are worshiped as gods as the series’ villains and start a major interstellar war between the two factions, then watch as the ratings slowly increase); Babylon 5 (another space station show, only with more drama and less restrictions on its writers); Firefly (for some reason, Sci Fi + Western really appeals to me); Trigun (yet another “Space Westernâ€, this one made by Japanese animators); Cowboy Bebop (a sort of â€Space Westernâ€); The X-Files (if I ever get that damn investigator’s certification from MUFON, I’ll be Agent Mulder); TRON: Uprising (this series actually surprised me with how good it is, even though the plotting can be a tad formulaic at times); The Big Bang Theory (I identify emotionally with Leonard, though I am far too similar in background and temperament to Sheldon). I’m sure you’ve noticed the geeky pattern by now…