TJM

Starved for intellectual dialog and stimulating, articulate conversation! Of course, there's sexual intimacy, which plays that important part, the glue if you will, that binds together what began in a coffee shop or a long walk or a time where you both may harken back to, but without a foundation, something more substantial to keep a coal glowing or a fire blazing, that few moments of bedroom passion subsides, and one finds themselves right back at square one: Seeking a real, meaningful connection.

I've made bad choices as to marriage. I grew up very shy and withdrawn, believing myself ugly and unworthy of every having a girlfriend. I can still painfully recall handing a girl a rose with a note attached, and causing everyone around her to laugh and point at me. My first marriage was to a Filipino lady I met while stationed in the Philippines in 1980. She made known an interest in me, and that was enough! Back in the States, I asked her to marry me sight unseen, completing a fiancee visa, and bringing her to the U.S. only a few months later. No one ever told me such girls were interested in only two things: a "green card" and money. Much to my heartache, our near 22 years together were tumultuous at best. One son was born to us, and remains my only child, now 34 years of age. I divorced her when she tried to kill me so that she could be with someone else.

I've been in a second marriage for over 13 years. She lives upstairs, and I live downstairs. The most intelligent thing that passes between us has little more to do with how much money's in the bank, and how long will I will be gone. We've not been intimate for nearly nine years. She has the mind of a 12-year-old child, and the very thought of intimacy with her makes me ill, if not a criminal (s*x with a child). She's also been physically and emotionally abusive, which has only served to cause me to be more withdrawn.

I hold three academic degrees, including graduate-level credentials. My primary course of endeavor is professional writing, though I've done just about everything in between, not because I've had to, but because my nonstop curiosity drives me to explore new things.

Retired from the U.S. Navy in 1988 due to disabilities directly related to combat in Southeast Asia, I've been a adult family home owner, a journey-level fine cabinetmaker, a landscape maintenance business owner/operator, a paralegal, and a writer.

I enjoy day trips into the mountains or to the Oregon coast, collecting firearms and shooting, camping, fishing, building model sailing ships, bird watching, photography, and good conversation.

Let there be no mistake: I am an American patriot. I've fought and bled in Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, Nicaragua and El Salvador. I do not take Liberty and freedom for granted because I have seen both come and go tragically in numerous countries.

As to food, I really don't have much to say. I am not picky, for sure. I was in-country when Pol-Pot's Khmer Rouge murdered and starved 2.2 million of his own people. Food of any kind is good. Really good food is a feast for which to be deeply thankful. I never complain about what's put in front of me.

If I had my druthers, I'd rather not eat meat. There is enough good science behind plant-based diets. Vegetarianism appeals to me; veganism, less so.

I am not necessarily seeking marriage at this time. I just want to get past where I am now, seeing to it that wife number two is safely resettled with her family, and enjoying the company of an intelligent, attractive woman. Kindness, patience, gentleness, sensitivity, and a heart for those less fortunate are high on my list of attributes I'd like to find in a partner.

Not so much a city guy that I've been much of my life, I seek solace and beauty now in the country. I love rural Oregon! Honestly, I've had enough of the hustle and bustle that increasingly gritty, large metropolises offer. Having lived and worked in some of the largest cities in the world, I'm sort of done with all that.

Hearing from a like-minded woman would be lovely. I prefer thin body types as overweight usually points to unhealthy eating habits and lifestyle choices. I do not smoke, and only on rare occasion do I enjoy a dark micro-brew. No illicit drugs. If you enjoy a little 420 on occasion, that's fine by me, but I'd rather not imbibe. I have too many been-theres, done-thats to my credit down those dark alleyways that I'd just assume not look back, thank you.