I’m 35 and 6’3”, living in south west London with my dog (who is 2 and 1’4”, respectively). I’m a software engineer; having worked in tech for a while, I currently make a living as an indie app developer. This means I create my own apps for iPhone and iPad and sell them on the App Store—I make educational and development tools.
My interests revolve around tech, science, design, comedy, rationality, neuroscience and neurodiversity, sci-fi, and a few other things. I enjoy watching TV shows and movies, followed by videos that explain just how little of the artistic meaning and cinematic intent I managed to grasp. I read roughly equal parts fiction and non-fiction (mostly popular science). I’m not a devoted gamer by any means, but I do play a little every now and then, and am endlessly fascinated with video games as a storytelling medium. Music has always been a significant element in my life—I used to play drums and dabble in several other instruments, but haven’t done so in a while (unless air drumming counts, in which case I still practice regularly).
Broadly speaking, I take pleasure in figuring shit out. I like fixing and building things, I have high admiration for good craftsmanship (regardless of the craft), and have a “maker” mindset in general. I’m very analytical and somewhat quirky, or—in other words—kind of a nerd. I tend to plan the shit out of things, can be prone to over-analysing, and likely seem a tad too logical at times. Whatever life throws at me, I will always find something begging to be organised into a list (or, better yet, a spreadsheet).
I wouldn’t call myself adventurous, but some of my actions could imply otherwise. I've moved a fair bit, switching cities and countries—I'm originally from Belarus—leaving comfortable jobs to work on my own things, and giving up comfortable lives to try something new. For better or worse, I’m not too bad at making myself do things I’m afraid to do. On balance, it’s leaning towards better—I’ve tried more things that I’m glad I have than those that I think I shouldn’t have.
I spent much of my twenties actively engaged with Rotaract, domestically and internationally. I once went to a burn in a desert (and will likely go again), and I also did a solo parachute jump once (and will probably never do again). I own more headphones than I realistically need, I buy vinyl records even though I don’t have a record player, and I sometimes get paper copies of books I’ve already read on Kindle for some reason. I talk to my dog (a lot), my plants (a bit less) and inanimate objects around the house (only when they go out of their way to make things difficult).
Personality traits I’m highly attracted to:
I like people who recognise the vital importance of navigating life with optimism, humour and a generous sprinkle of lighthearted silliness. I don’t like people who tend to be cynical, dishonest or mean-spirited.
If you’re interested in a relationship, mind that I’m monogamous and that I’m attracted to female people; if you’re just looking to be friends, then that I can do with any people and any number of people. You can reach me at alexstaravoitau [at] fastmail [dot] com.
That one photo I use across all social media
Photo proving I have the rest of the torso
Bonus photo with the dog