Seven Days Personals - Introducing: Vermonters

These are a few of my favorite things: learning, reading, humor, bicycling, deep conversation, humor, building things, fixing things, and last but not least, humor.
Any day I learn something new is a good day. It’s for that reason I became a technical writer. Learning new things is baked right into the job.
I’m always reading something, and more often than not it’s fiction. I think you can learn a lot about someone by the authors they read. Among my favorites, past and present, are Haruki Murakami, Truman Capote, Tim O’brien, Joan Didion, Raymond Carver, Carson McCullers, Dave Eggers, Anton Chekhov.
I ride my bicycle all year round, hot or cold, rain or shine. Outside of family and friends, it’s the most important thing I do to preserve both my mental and physical health. A good ride for me usually includes dirt roads and out of the way places.
In conversation, my default mode is listening. Listening to someone, and truly hearing them, is such a simple gift we can give. I’d much prefer to hear about you (ideally over a cup of coffee) than talk about myself.
I like to use the following anecdote to describe my personality.
One of my favorite nonfiction writers once used the term fly in the ointment to describe a fellow writer. This fellow writer would insert himself into his non-fiction stories, becoming an active character in them. On occasion, he’d even “stir the pot”, if that’s what it took to keep the story lively.
The writer’s own approach to nonfiction was to be a fly on the wall. Quietly observing and listening.
My personality is akin to the fly on the wall. Never stirring the pot, and never missing a thing.