budalla's profile

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Relationship

Single. Interested in meeting women for dating and meeting women for a serious relationship and meeting people for friendship and meeting people for networking

Hometown

Houston, Texas

Places I've been

I've journeyed to almost every state (save for Washington and Oregon) west of the Mississippi, with sojourns to Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida all the way to Key West and most of the national parks and monuments contained therein. If it's off the beaten track or has a twisty mountainous road to get there, so much the better! By trains, planes, and automobiles (and an RV!) through Mexico to the Yucatán, Belieze, Guatemala (including Tikal!) and El Salvador (during a revolution, no less! (Mayan and Aztec ruins are a speciality!) In the summer of ' 07 I and my eight-year-old daughter (yes, she's 8, soon to be 9 and my only child, the single most important person in my life!) traveled 5004 miles in 23 days by Volvo 850 to almost every National Park and Monument we could find to between Houston, Disneyland (3 days), and Southern Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. We styled it The Great Hole in the Ground Tour. Camping, motels, and more canyons, caves and every hole in the ground we could get to. (Ask nicely and I'll send you the Google Earth itinerary. With the new flight simulator built-in to Google Earth, it's fun to see where we went on the ground!) I prefer the automobile, RV, or train over planes when I travel, unless the destination alone is the reason for traveling. The journey, not the destination, is what I enjoy the most!

More about me

I am generally regarded as human, although my ex-wife (who was also my high school sweetheart) would tend to disagree. I read sci-fi, watch The Daily Show, teach elementary school by day, sing in my church choir, have three cats, write, putter about the kitchen, ride my bike (mostly with my daughter), go for long walks in the evening, and will talk to anyone about anything as long as it is understood that we each have our own point of view, be it sex, religion, or politics.

I am changing careers in seeking to become a certified teacher after having spent many years selling books, working with computers, maintaining networks, remodeling homes, and anything else that made money when I needed it. My goal is not to be wealthy, but to be comfortable and enjoy life.

I have an nine-year-old daughter, my only child. She arrived late in life and my universe has changed. I remember my life before she was born, but it almost seems like someone else's life. If I have to choose between anything else and spending time with my daughter, my daughter wins, hands down, unless I have no other choice. (However, if the right lady should come along, I am certain my daughter would agree to share. LOL!)

I have two major guidelines I try to follow in life: I try to love my neighbor as I love myself (regardless of whether I agree with them or not, or if they are just a complete boneheaded idiot! *chuckle*) I have to admit, that one is real hard to stick to sometimes, but I persevere. And, I believe in all things in moderation, but I am willing to try all things. I am a cautious, not a reckless man, but with proper planning and careful forethought I may try or do things that might appear outrageous/reckless to others.

Something you should be aware of, all things being equal, if I have a choice to make I like to take the road less traveled. Anyone can follow in the safety of the herd, I like to go and see what's off the beaten trail. I am a curious sort and completely unrepentant!

I am active within my Episcopal church. My politics are decidedly middle-of-the-road, as of late. I tend to be a fiscal conservative and a social moderate. I refuse to claim blind allegiance to either major political party, but instead prefer to take the best of both and promote what is better for the greater breadth of humanity.

Vive la via media!

Activities

Read, sci-fi, walking, hiking, bike riding, camping, computers, writing, cats, music, cooking, education, swimming, car trips, dinner parties, spades, hearts, poker, word games, older movies, necking like high school students, public displays of affection, time with my daughter

Favorite Charities

I prefer to give my time and energy rather than money. I volunteer as time allows and where I am needed most.

Favorite Music

rock, swing, blues, fusion jazz, reggae, classical, modern orchestral, pops, show tunes, novelty, parodies, big-band, indie rock, hard rock, blues rock, punk rock, 80s new wave, electric guitar, classical guitar, world music, surf music, shredding, instrumentals, Tijuana Brass and Brazil 66, music from the movies, and much, much more!

Favorite TV Shows

The Daily Show, Boston Legal, Eastenders, Battlestar Galactica(sci-fi channel version), Stargate SG-1, The History Channel, Good Eats, The Food Network, Turner Classic Movies, Connections

Favorite Movies

Quiet Man, Lilies of the Field, Mothra, Godzilla, Sideways, Rocky Horror, MPython & The Holy Grail, The Life Of Brian, Princess Bride, Bride of Frankenstein, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, You've Got Mail, Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, The Godfather, Lord of the Rings, Pretty Woman, Hidden Fortress, Yojmbo, Sanjuro, Seven Samurai, Goldfinger, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Our Man Flint, True Lies, Groundhog Day, Scrooged, Thief of Bagdad(1924), Robin Hood(Errol Flynn), Shall We Dance?, My Fair Lady, American in Paris, On the Town, Singin' in the Rain, Producers, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, Umbrellas of Cherbourg, President's Analyst, Duck Soup, Magic Christian, Some Like It Hot One Two Three, Tom Jones, Heat of the Night, Forbidden Planet, Day the Earth Stood Still, My Neighbor Totoro, MASH, Fantasia, Dr Strangelove, etc

Favorite Books

I think I own about 9000 books. Most are in storage. I prefer sci-fi, histories, nonfiction, science essays, biographies of those who have been dead for at least 25 to 50 years. (I do not like reading autobiographies of the living, particularly those that think they have done something famous like being an actor or successfully completing rehab or posing as a politician!) *** I have been working through classic literature when the mood strikes me such as Evelyn Waugh and Henry Fielding. Recently, Tom Jones, the first great true novel. *** Lately I read primarily science fiction for pleasure and to relax. I find an author I like and then proceed to read everything they have ever written in the order that they wrote it. It is a habit I have followed all of my life.

Favorite People

My daughter and a friend I have in Beaumont.

Favorite Places

Mountain tops, forest trails, hidden canyons, the arms of someone you hold dear, an empty street in the middle of the night in a bustling city, a warm swimming pool on a cold day, resting with my head in the lap of someone I trust, the tops of tall buildings, old places that the world has forgotten, out on a bay or lake in a small sailboat, on a quiet path in a park that few remember

Favorite Animals

cats

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