Ok, I guess it may help if people knew a little bit more about me than thumbing through the tabs. I prefer freewheeling like this anyway, so...

I am a mechanical engineer, hence the screen name 'magicengineer'. Due to the lack of spaces though, it should obviously read 'magic engineer'. It's the title of a book by L. E. Modisett, Jr. (http://www.travelinlibrarian.info/recluce/recluce/engineer.html) that I read and identified partially with the main character. I also happen to like fantasy, magic, the whole shebang, and I still play D&D on a semi-regular basis, but unlike others who may play it, I don't talk about my characters with others that have never played. Which isn't a bad thing, don't get me wrong, it's just something I don't do. Even if others share their charcter's exploits with me, I'll find it interesting, and may share something funny that my character was in that ended up being clever or really stupid, but that's as far as I take it outside of gaming.

So, liking fantasy, and being an engineer by profession, the name sounded like the perfect contradiction-in-terms that someone like me could appreciate, and others could question to start conversations. It was also better than any other pseudonym that I had used in my youth. I've always liked to have meanings-within-meanings, hidden gems like clues to a treasure for people to discover. Look at it one way, it represents that I read, what I like to read, and maybe something about my personality. Look at it another way, and it shows that I'm deeper than what was previously thought.

I enjoy tutoring math, with a math background from engineering, I feel that I want to give back and help make life a little less stressful for students who are struggling. I've seen a lot of different levels of math prowess - from the 'I hate it' to the 'I'm really good, but I want to be better'. What I've found is for those students who hate it, really don't hate math, it's that they don't get along with their teacher, or they don't understand the teacher's lesson. Once that happens, the student tends to shut down and not want to learn. Math is one of those subjects that can be spiced up, but it's challenging to do, and not many teachers are doing it. My sister didn't like her Algebra II teacher and got poor grades. Once she took it under a different teacher, she did better. And no, she didn't go through it, learn it, and then it was easier the second time around. She dropped it after the first quarter. Many times when tutoring, I've heard the same complaint, that they understand me better than the teacher. The material hasn't changed! So the only other thing is how it's presented or who's presenting it.

Right now I work at a local learning center for math and reading, and tutor on the side online. I'm also on Yahoo! Answers, but that's beginning to wane. I'd rather help one-on-one than compete for someone's attention.

I live alone. No pets. I'm allergic to cats, and some dogs, I've found out. Which sucks, because I like animals. I have no food allergies that I'm aware of, and I've adopted my maternal grandmother's view on food - as long as it doesn't bite me first or bite me at 2am, I'll try anything. But I don't eat like there's no tomorrow.  I have a few, really close friends, and a decent amount of good friends that I try to treat like they are close friends.

Single, and enjoying it some days, but not so much on others. This past week, not so much.

I write as a hobby. I also have a few stacks of model aircraft that I will eventually get to. Some people still call them 'cartoons', I now prefer the more adult term of 'animation' to describe that I still watch cartoons.  My favorite now, to the point of addiction, is Naruto. I've had dreams where I've been running like the ninja there do, arms straight back at full tilt. This is proof to me that I've become addicted. No kyuubi or jinchuuriki dreams yet though. Give it time.