Fairdinkumbloke, 54

I believe a successful relationship is not based on shared interests, but on shared VALUES: such as honesty, integrity, good communication, loyalty and commitment. It's also important to me that the person I date have a strong sense of what they stand for. The 5 things I stand for most are love, honour, compassion, freedom, and justice.

I'm an Aspie, but very high functioning. Unless you're an Aspie expert, the only thing unusual you'd notice about me is that I suck at small talk. What I lack in small-talking skills I more than make up for by being a great listener, and I can talk endlessly and eloquently about the really big issues: the meaning of life type stuff.

To make a relationship with me work, you will need patience and understanding in abundance. I'm 45 years old, and never had a girlfriend. I have zero experience at showing affection physically. I AM good at expressing my emotions verbally. I HAVE experienced deep, passionate love, and am good at putting that into words; but I'm not so good at showing it in other ways. The upside of all this, is that if you need a lot of patience and understanding yourself, I can give it to you. A relationship with me wouldn't start with fireworks: but I believe that's a good thing, because the bigger the fire of passion burns in the beginning, the faster it burns out. You need to look at me as a long-term investment: it will take a lot of time, patience, and understanding to bring out the best in me, but I do have a lot of love to give, and I will absolutely give it all to you, for the rest of your life - if you're prepared to make that investment.