Woods Workbench

In January after almost 19 years of marriage, I separated.  No condolences necessary as it was a lot of hard work to escape from Oz. 

While I look forward to finalizing the divorce, I am concerned about getting into a work rut and not making the effort to meet someone new.  Therefore, I opened a profile on Yahoo Personals, and the internet Russian prostitutes have been very impressed, but I had to throw those solicitations back.

I am thinking about rewriting the free form portion of the profile, because that is how it works, right?  Not really, but it would be fun to try to describe myself a couple different ways if only for the challenge of it, since it can be difficult to do it once.

Below is the text that is there now.  I'm saving it for myself here for future reference. 

I am looking for an independent woman who understands and enjoys the power of her own mind. I seek a woman who loves the enjoyment of life, not in the hedonistic self-destructive sense, but in the rational value-based goal-achieving sense that enhances self and life.

My friends describe me as passionate, intelligent, hard working, competitive, inventive, devoted to my kids, easy going, a natural teacher, a leader, honest, dependable, and joyful.

According to my enemies, and any man of integrity should have enemies, I am selfish, opinionated, hard, a know-it-all, intellectual, and inconsiderate of others' feelings.  Of course, these sour grapes are twisted versions of some of my virtues. 

Please note that Christians will not be happy in a relationship with me, because I hold in reverence productive achievers in reality, my heroes and heroines.

Personally, I recognize myself as having a healthy self-esteem.  I am a jack of all trades yet I have been the most knowledgeable person in the world in my specific field at times in my career.  While my job description may be system developer, I am more of a businessman in the scope of my professional interests.  I take ideas and life very seriously, and for me that leads to serious fun.

The literary character I personally identify with is Hank Rearden in _Atlas Shrugged_.

I am interested in government and foreign policy, yet my politics do not fit into any of the usual categories.  In general, I advocate Justice based upon individual rights, which consequently leads to Freedom.  IfI had to summarize my opinions in one word, it would be Capitalist; therefore, I am no Republican.

Regarding my body type, average may not quite cut it as I have been bodybuilding.  I am somewhere between the before and the after picture.  Although I will never become a Mike Mentzer, this effort highlights a few of my better personality attributes: 1) dedication to personal improvement, 2) recognition of the power of choice, and 3) a healthy satisfaction in using my mind to reshape not only the world but also myself.

If you have gotten this far, the fair question would be "What is it that sets Jim apart from all those other profiles?"  I am virtuous, and those virtues that I practice are: rationality, independence, integrity, honesty, justice, productiveness, and pride.

I appear to be running out of writing space so in an effort to cover many topics I will list some of my favorites:

Philosopher: Ayn Rand
CD: DoubleLight's "Assembly of the Wondrous Head"
21st Century Novel: Bernstein's _Heart of a Pagan_
Business book: Collins' _Good to Great_
Football Team: Packers
Food: Pizza
Exercise: Incline Press
Movie: "In Harm's Way" (1965)
Children's book series: Little Critter
TV Show: Law and Order
Comic Book Hero: Mr. A
Painting: Larsen's "Just the Beginning"
Sculpture: Longman's "Genius of Electricity"
Flower: Iris
Band My Daughter Makes Me Listen To In The Car: The Faint

My favorite trips have been to Pike Lake (Wisconsin), Cancun, and Orlando.  I love the water, and spending time with family and friends.

Looking at some of the conversation starters, I thought of a question related to those: "If you were on a deserted island, what book would you want with you?"  My answer: _1001 Guaranteed Ways to Successfully Escape a Deserted Island_, because I define the terms of my life, which I will be happy to share as an equal partner with the right woman.

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