Chris Vitale

Tottenville Hs, Attended 1992 - 1996

New York University, Attended 1999 - 2006, Ph.D., Comparative Literature
University of California - Berkeley, Attended 1997 - 2001, Other, studied complit, french, russian, german
State University of New York - Binghamton, Attended 1992 - 1996, Class of 1996, Bachelor's Degree, Philosophy

Prof. English and Visual Studies

DailyKos (extra points if you know what that is, lots more if you're a Kossack as well!). Blog: http://fromthepuggle.blogs.friendster.com/random_thoughts/

Books, books, more books (I eat em for breakfast! yum!), cool bands, guitars, tryna learn new languages, coffee, philosophy, psychoanalysis, semiotics, marxism, puggles, brooklyn, prague, berkeley, teaching, debating, sushi, did I mention books?

I eat books almost as much as food, sooo, even though djuna barnes' 'nightwood' tends to win out as all time fave for the last few yrs, I generally go for anything that tries to figure out the universe but starts from the idea that its impossible anyway (kafka, dostoevsky, bulgakov, genet (the turn on's an extra bonus!), wilde, woolf, r.b. nugent, kleist, bely, spenser, borges, hurston, complexity/network theory, film studies, queer studies, crunchy critical theory by lacan, zizek, bergson, badiou, hegel, fanon, benjamin, freire, deleuze, sandoval, laclau, blah blah . . . )

mulholland drive, 8 1/2, vertigo, 12monkeys, oldboy, hiroshima mon amour, last year at marienbad, solaris, anything by godard, hitchcock, david lynch, cronenberg, and for fun, I'm a sucker for stuff like LOTR, Matrix, Dune, Alien, and horror films like Silent Hill that you can analyze the hell out of with a few toys from the psychoanalytic toolbox . . .

ooooooooo, radiohead, jawbox, burning airlines, blur, supergrass, placebo, tool, 90's king crimson (especially the live double-trio stuff, but the last two albums were just amazing), bad 80's stuff (tears for fears & duran duran at the moment), bad 70's stuff (floyd, bowie, steely dan, santana - bad's the new good!), catherine wheel (one of my real favorites), hum, pixies, etc.

I can't take most tv seriously, so, I like it either silly or informative, which for me means generally either stuff like keith olbermann, stephen colbert (smartest show on tv!), and jon stewart, OR smart cartoons like most anything on adult swim, athf, harvey birdman, and of course, the glorious futurama. Take that, robot-nixon!

Cancer

i love a good beer (sierra nevada . . .), sittin on the stoop eatin breakfast, shooting the shit about stuff that seems profound and who knows just might be, thinking up ways to get that idiot out of the whitehouse, reading lefty stuff, tryina figure out ways to be more than just lefty, reading the onion cuz it does a body good, coffee as a recreational sport, anything green (kiwi snapple, pistachio icecream, mint oreos), taking my crazy puppy to the park, spending time with quality people, family, friends, etc.

What I'm like: love doggies, but not always thrilled with cats; love grandmas, and moms tend to like me; really geeky in my interests, but very down to earth as a person; I believe that the Bush agenda is beyond criminal; I don't fit many stereotypes for gay men, but don't feel I need to 'act straight'; often late, but will do my best to be there for you when you need me; clumsy and a little nutty, but sincere; a little shy at parties, but shine one-on-one/ small groups; sad when communication stops working, but good at keeping it going; sometimes miss the details, but good at keeping the big picture in sight; spend a lot of time in my head, but live from the heart; can be fiercely independent, but thrive best when close with others; not into people who feel the need to always be cool - uncool can be excellent; not flashy, but solid; can take a while to give my trust, but I think people are generally good when given the chance; don't like being told what to do, but always open to talking it out; takes a little while to really get to know me, but once you do I'm like your favorite t-shirt; total homebody, but the the occasional adventure is the best; never seem to run out of things to say, but also know when a quiet hug is best; can be serious a lot of the time, but really a kid inside.

Let's see. In terms of friends, people who treat others well! In terms of dating, well, I've got great friends, wonderful family, love my job, cool puppy, fun projects. But I seem to make the most sense in a serious, committed, longterm relationship. Not into the bar/club scene at all (though I love nothing more than a night of drinks with close friends chatting the night away). I don't care if our interests or passions are similar, so long as you have interests and passions. Somebody honest, real, supportive, open, emotionally available, intellectually curious, personally engaged, committed to making the world a better place, passionate, ethical, and genuine. If you're values are in the right place - people before things, honesty, questioning yourself, always being open to learning from others, openness to change and development, working against inequality, constantly deconstructing your own privileges, skepticism of money/power - so many other things just fall into place.