Warning! This is really old (see datestamp at bottom).

• Full name: Matthew William Athanasius Gress - Athanasius is the one of the best artifacts from a Catholic upbrining. I got to chose one of my own names, and then the Jesuits prompty educated me out of the faith, not dissollusioned, not bitter, just not very religious. Additionally, I really try to follow Jesus's central message which was essentialy honoring our neighbors' choices.
  Recently, a friend of mine pointed out that my new name meant "Deathless". This is surprisingly appropriate.
• Nicknames: Dietrich "The Chaste/Chased", Zardoz, Reno, Athanatic, Paladin
• Birthplace: Council Bluffs, IA (Same House my whole life until St. Olaf)
• Hometown: Council Bluffs, Iowa, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Current place of residence: Minneapolis
• Living Arrangement: I live in my new house next to my old house. Here is a picture:
• Current Job: Independent Computer Consultant, Networks and Security Mostly, Minor Land Baroning (Not Slum Lord!)
• CD or tape in your car right now: I have a sleeve of my favorite (currently) CD's in there, I think Stan Ridgeway: The Big Heat in in the player right now.
• CD or tape in your home stereo right now: Old VanHalen (Albums 1-6 are all that exist) - Early Summer Music!
• Last book you've read: Megawatts and Megatons, Jennifer Government, Harry Knowles "Ain't it Cool?", and now "Live from New York" (history of SNL)
• What type was your first car: Blue Oldmobile Station Wagon, big V8 Engine (mom's castoff).
• Favorite family game: Don't see my blood relatives too much, but we play games like Trivial Pursuit with my cousins at least every other Christmas.
• When is your bad time of day: Morning, or Early Afternoon stuck at work (which is chronic).
• Favorite subject in school: Physics, then Economics, then History, then Psychology
• Favorite movie you've seen recently: Shrek 2, Dune/Children of Dune SciFi Series, Cast a Deadly Spell (again).
• Croutons or Bacon bits: Yup, Both. Pig or Soy Bits? Depends on my mood, I guess. Anchovies with Caesar or when I feel like it, definitely.
• Favorite Salad Dressing: Ranch (or the Remolaude(sp?) at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, MMMMMMM!), the Blue Cheese Andy Mills made with really good cheese from Surdyks, yeah.
• Do You drink? (I Assume Alcohol) Some. I like sidecars, mojitos, margaritas, Martinis A roommate and I in college had a case of beer last 6 months one of the few times we purchased such a thing. We had to dust it off and pretend it was a new case to keep up appearances.

  More recently, I have begun to quest for good places to drink Sidecars. They are a really good pre-prohibition drink that inspired the Margarita. Several people in the Twin Cities metro area are part of the "Society for the preservation of the Sidecar".

• Favorite Color: Green. Used to be blue. Oh, yeah, and nice bright rich Blue-Reds, too.
• Shampoo and Conditioner: Both, but it doesn't really matter because I have never gotten split ends.
• Have you ever gone skinny dipping: Yes (Skinnier Lately) Grew up with a pool, after a while my suit didn't get used much. When the hot tub was in the back porch, same deal.
• Do you make fun of people: Yup, that means I need to be able to take a joke too. But not if I know it is really going to hurt somebody, that is not awfully fun and I know how that feels.
• Have you ever been convicted of a crime: Not yet. But with so much law, pretty much everybody is committing a crime at all times, so remember the first rule of a police state: keep your head down.
• Best on-line friends: Never really felt online had the kind of bandwidth that reality does. I guess my best online friends are the ones I made offline.
• One pillow or two: 2, One to clutch and one for the head and shoulders. I have been using 1 King Size one lately that seems to cover both bases.
• Pets/Names: I really wish I was not allergic to fur-bearin’ critters. I love cats. I love my girl Boa Constricter (Smeagol, long story), she is cuddly, 12, and slightly higher maintenance than a pet rock.
• Favorite type of music: Of which sub-personality? I think everybody is this way. However, generally "Rowdy"
• Hobbies: Philosophy, History, Science and Engineering, Geeking, Freedom-Loving.
• Phrase or words you use/overuse: English is the largest language that has ever existed, I carve out my niche in meme-space daily, but I can’t tell you what patterns I am identically locked to right now, probably this sentence.
• Favorite car: One that fits into a briefcase and flys like George Jetson’s. Doesn't exist yet? Well, I am always dissatisfied with technology...
• Type of car you have now: Acura Integra. Happy little (green) car. Starts in the winter.
• Toothpaste: Colgate tarter control (Back Atilla, Back!)
• Current boyfriend/girlfriend: By what criteria? I am not living with anyone or dating them exclusively. In fact, I do not date people exclusively as a general rule, not that I am not willing (or likely) to fall in love.
• Piercing or tattoos: No holes or paintings. I find them fascinating though. When I can get video or mimetic skin I can turn off, you just watch me go!
• Most romantic thing that ever happened to you: Being woken up by someone I didn't expect to be around with a Rose, or just an awakening kiss. That's always nice.
• How do you characterize yourself: Experiencialist. (I think Potential Cryonaut, Transhumanist and Freedom-Lover can fit in there.)
• Do you get along with your parents: Just smashingly for a couple of days at time sometimes, now. I am able to travel with them pretty well. Perhaps being distracted helps us not remember to get on each other's nerves.
• Shower or bath: Shower mostly. But, I got a spa because I grew up being able to completely immerse my body daily and I couldn’t after moving away from home. In the new house, I just tore out 2 walls and built an entertainment home-theatre/bathroom. Presence in it works better than description.
• Favorite town to chill in: If the house I grew up in were anywhere, it would be a great place to chill. It happens to be in Council Bluffs Iowa. But Minneapolis is so much home now that I can’t say that I feel less relaxed here in my Nordeast Minneapolis home. My father will soon probably sell the house I grew up in. That could be a bit emotional for me.
• Favorite ice cream: Chocolate Coyote from Sebatian Joe's in uptown. Haagen Daas Coffee is quite good. Had some black raspberry chocolate chip that pretty darn good! Also, about a dozen flavors (mostly milkless fruit ones) of Gelato in Italy. Especially pompelmo rosa (red grapefruit) at a place near the Pantheon.
• Favorite drink: Diet Dr. Pepper, Fresca, Red Grapefruit Juice, Fresh-Squeezed orange
• Whats your bed time: 12-1 am (but that leaves me without enough sleep if I do several weeks of Day-Job without some catch-up.) I think my "natural" time is like 2-3 am.
• Adidas, Nike, or Reebok: Reebok, they have shoes that you can wear for anything and feel great. But I think I need to look into new balance because I have wider feet than the averages these 3 are marketing to.
• Favorite perfume/cologne: Nothing.
• Favorite website: Slashdot, tribe.net, Mine, I use it for jumping off to everywhere.
• Favorite subject: Recently, how to be free instead of a subject. (Liberale instead of Servile (Spanish pronunciation))
• Least favorite subject: Why the world will always suck and why the future is doomed. (Ok, I guess discussing it isn't too bad, since I have spent a fair amount of mental energy thinking of reasons to tell people why the future doesn't need to suck.)
• Subject of discussion: I get to pick another one? Ok, constant, sustained wonder at the world. That is great recreation.
• Favorite sport to watch: Dating (Whoops, crass), Cat Teasing. Villification Tennis is pretty good, too.
• Most humiliating moment: The entire 6th and 7th grade (narrowly avoided 8th grade by skipping it instead of going on a shooting spree - Wonder if my site gets filtered because of that (probably) tongue-in-cheek statement.)
• Craziest or silliest person: People who believe in a system that bases its function on people ignoring their own self-interest (enlightened or not).
• What do you look for in the opposite sex: Doesn’t need a parent, has decided to be happy, can keep up, is going somewhere, takes life by the throat and doesn't look back.
• How long can you hold your breath?: Not as long as I could when living in the water growing up, probably about 1 min with preparation.
• Favorite pair of underwear: Black and White Triangles (Fading Fast) - Hey, where did those go! I need more underwear (non-White, Please!)
• Favorite Color Bra: No Preference, design is more important.
• Favorite name: My Name(s) are just fine, thanks.
• Favorite Movies: Zardoz, Buckaroo Banzai, Hudsucker Proxy, Cast a Deadly Spell, Hudson Hawk, Big Trouble in Little China, 1000000 others.
• Favorite Food: Meat!, or, you know, Pasta (although I am really not eating much grain lately (since May 1999)).
• Favorite dessert: Apple Crisp is right up there. Oh Oh! Rhubarb pie, and key lime.
• Favorite song at the moment: Many Rowdy songs appeal to me. Light up the Sky - VanHalen, Ready to Go - PowerMan 5000 (Science Fiction Geek Band with Rob Zombie's Little Brother)
• Favorite Daiquiri Flavor: Strawberry (Yes, I know, you purists, you say, "Daquiri? There is only one flavor of Daquiri and that is Daquiri!" I feel almost the same way about Martinis)
• Most difficult thing you have had to do: I could say: "Lose a bunch of weight a few years ago" but it was really easy. Realistically, I think "Kick myself in the butt to graduate College." is more true. I think it would be easy if I had to do it now.
• Celebrity you'd want to be with: (You Will have to define "Be With", but taking it as "Hang Around with" or "Be Friends with") Frank Zappa (Dead), Thomas Jefferson (Celebrity?), Danny Elfman (Busy Guy)
• Coolest Person that you know: Can't Pick, I know some damn cool people.
• Your favorite color in a shirt: Blue-Red Like the one I can never find another one of... (Sigh!)
• Favorite thing to do when you're bored: I always have something I have forgotten to do, and I am easily amused.
• Favorite animal: Homo Sapiens
• Favorite stuffed animal: B5 Shadow Ship (Only Saw one once, but it was Great!) - And yes, since it is Organic Technology, it qualifies as an animal. Oh, and a plush Cthulu I saw.
• Favorite number: Several: i, Pi, 1, 2, and aleph (Don't know enough about e to be comfy with it yet.)
• Favorite day/time of year: Early Summer - I play a particular kind of music in my car and have a great time.
• Where you work/want to work: Computer Consulting (Pretty Cool), The startup firms I am doing with friends that makes the cool stuff we have planned would be the best.
• Who is your favorite poet: Dr. Seuss, Ernie Cline, and some others who escape my mind for now.
• What Do You Think About Ouija Boards? My brother (John Coleman Gress) and one of my childhood friends (Christian David Nelson) made up some really amusing words with one and then gave them meanings. I will post them if I can find that document again. Otherwise, I don't think about them much.
• Your Favorite Tv Show? Firefly (Canceled), Coupling (british one), Chapelle Show, South Park. I am a sucker for amusing dialog.
• What's on your mouse pad? Alienware logo, I think. No mouse pad at work (optical).
• Favorite board game: Trivial Pursuit, I guess.
• Favorite magazine: I used to/still like Wired a great deal. I like the Onion. Is that a magazine?
• Favorite smells: Garlic, Vanilla, Citrus, Coffee, Grapefruit
• Worst feeling in the world: Screwed up (was thoughtless or petty) and hurt someone else and myself in my emotional life.
• Best feeling in the world: Excitement of discovery, shared happiness and wonder.
• What is the first thing you think when you wake in the morning? I love my bed. Then, I would love some water. Then, I love stretching, but I don't have time for a lot of stretching, too bad.
• Roller coaster - scary or exciting? Yes.
• How many rings before you answer the phone? I look at the caller ID on my cell phone nowadays, but as few as possible when at home, caller-id works now, but I don't really screen.
• Future daughter's name: Children? Haven't thought about that. When I see a cool name, I am still thinking "Hey, I want that name too!". I am not sure that is the right attitude to be a parent.

  Okay, recently I have acquired some virtual children, one of which is called Sigourney. She is the second child so she won't have pictures taken of her until she is about 9. Sigourney basically thinks she runs the world, or at least should.

• Future son's name: Anakin. He is my virtual son. He is quite gay, I believe.
• Chocolate or vanilla? Oh yes! Vanilla massage oil? Chocolate Coyote Ice cream! (Purely Vegetarian, I assure you. Chocolate, Cinnamon and Cayenne! - Sebastian Joe's Rocks!)
• Do you like to drive? Most of the time. I like letting others drive more often than I used to.
• Do you sleep with a stuffed animal? Not currently, used to be more stuffed myself, so maybe I should think about it. I have the body pillow as tall as I am. That could be like a snake, or a nematode or something...
• Storms - cool or scary? Cool. I used to watch Tornadoes hit Omaha when I was a kid in Council Bluffs.
• If you could meet one person dead or alive: Leonardo DaVinci (I would need to speak his language fluently, though, to make the most of the occasion.)
• Favorite alcoholic drink: Sidecars and Long Island Iced Teas seem good recently.
• What is your zodiac sign? Virgo (Chinese Zodiac: Earth Rooster) Kinda silly all around though, the zodiac has shifted more than a full sign astronomically since its inception, so how much do these count?
• Do you eat the stems of broccoli? Yes, and I like Chinese broccoli too.
• If you could have any job you wanted, what would it be? Entrepeneur
• If you could dye your hair any color, what would it be? I would change it from time to time. I would also like to change its consistency for variety, please. I will eventually have a job where people will not be treating me with disrespect for my hair.
• Have you ever been in love? Yes, constantly.
• What is on your walls in your room? My "Room" Well, In my metaphorical "room" I have some impressionist paintings, right now, over some rather fun 3-color texture-painted walls. I usually have Salvador Dali, M.C. Escher and H.R. Giger. I also have the Drummer Boy painting from my Grandmother's lake house (currently in my living room) and my Father's painting of a wood box at a lake cabin in Canada.
• Is the glass half empty or half full? Humans either drag their dreams into the light of day or decide they are incapable (whether they recognize this decision or not). Questions like this sometimes seem a little too trite for something of this magnitude. I guess they are supposed to be content-free dinner conversation.
• What is your favorite snapple? Diet peach iced-tea!
• Are you a lefty, righty, or ambidextrous? I seem to have been more ambidextrous (or ambisinistrous) when I was younger. I am mostly lefty with some firmly-entrenched right-handed activities. My handwriting has deteriorated since the time I learned it.
• Do you type with your fingers on the right keys? (Right? You Mean good ole' "Home Row" from typing class?) Yes, more or less. Whenever I realize that I am typing without looking at the keys, I screw up.
• What's under your bed? Heating Pad, Wooden Sword, "personal massager" etc.
• Favorite sport to watch: Used to go to Creighton University Basketball with my father. He had season tickets for years. It took me a long time to become more interested in the game than the concessions and running around the arena. Come to think of it, I am not sure I ever got more interested in the game than the total experience, but I do remember those times fondly.