However, “At-the-whim-of-the-market-income Lifestyle Researcher” just doesn’t have that same ring to it.

Clearly, this is still a work in progress. I’ll get back to you.

And as for

Of course, chicks dig men who lack an income and have no apparent ambition…

… hey, I dig you! … but then, I probably don’t qualify for “chick” status

Congrats on your new lifestyle.

Am still miffed by the lack of “Brisbane” in the list of possible places to travel to, but I’ll forgive you eventually.

Two words: Jerry Cornelius

http://www.pitt.edu/~druzdzel/feynman.html

You are entering a situation where you won’t be around as many people to challenge you. I think this blog is definitely a help in that regard (I hope for more wine-gum type problems now that you have more time to think about them. :)). But in order to maximize your prospects, you should seek out other opportunities as well. I would head to the local University and join several mathematical or CS colloquia, for instance.

Regardless, I very much envy you at the moment. I hope this works out for you in every sense.

In regards to a business card, I might suggest ‘Scallywag’. It implies that one is not a gentleman, but in a way that emphasizes mischief.

I had no trouble working out how “I have a long list of projects to work on” would fill in as much time as you wanted to take, and I can’t think why you would want to travel - that costs money and time that could be spent on projects. Guess what I do for a living…

I think you should call yourself a “Colorful Racing Identity”. Who’s going to argue with that? We’ve got the photos to prove it!

Of course, chicks dig men who lack an income and have no apparent ambition…

Insert quip about delayed gratification here.

You now have an opportunity to use some pretty cool-sounding occupations for your party introductions. Dilettante? Sciolist at large? Socialite? Fop? Dandy?

You’re far too competent to fit the regular definitions of those words, but they do sound like cool occupations.

I failed to impart any “Sage Advice,” but I thought of a quote I like. You’ll have to transcribe for me:

“Oh, she says well, you’re not a poor man. You know, why don’t you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet? And so I pretend not to hear her. And go out to get an envelope because I’m going to have a hell of a good time in the process of buying one envelope. I meet a lot of people. And, see some great looking babes. And a fire engine goes by. And I give them the thumbs up. And, and ask a woman what kind of dog that is. And, and I don’t know. The moral of the story is, is we’re here on Earth to fart around. And, of course, the computers will do us out of that. And, what the computer people don’t realize, or they don’t care, is we’re dancing animals. You know, we love to move around. And, we’re not supposed to dance at all anymore.”

From here.

I wish you all the very best for your hiatus. We’re here on Earth to fart around. Sometimes, with computers.

I signed my reply:

Julian,
Managing Director,
Me

As for what to put in it, if you have the confidence and ego, you can do as someone I read about did (although it would work better if you were famous in at least some circles, as he was), and make it “Julian •••a••, Himself.” (Unfortunately, none of the keywords I can derive from my memory of the anecdote would make it possible to find it on Google, so I cannot tell you who this man was.)

http://mustachesofthenineteenthcentury.blogspot.com/

I’ve always wanted to grow a full mustache but feared retribution. Being a young man with a mustache is an invitation to fisticuffs. However, an earnest retiree such as yourself may pull one off.

Having a “Gentleman of Leisure” on business cards is also awesome. If you took a picture of yourself with the mustache and put it on the card, I’m sure many women would keep it in their purses… for those lonely nights at sea!?

The lack of a word for what you’re doing bugs me nearly as much as it bugs you. I had to tell several people that I was going to a retirement party, and then subsequently explain myself. That took way too many words.