Matt, 31 years old Matt, 31 years old Where were ...

Where were you born and raised?

Staten Island. The Great Kills neighborhood of S.I., which is a very small cul-de-sac kind of community. It's a real quiet, kids-playing-roller-hockey-in-the-streets place.

You think it's still like that?

Not as many kids. It's actually gotten more upscale. Staten Island is full of prefab houses, and these are all old houses, and there aren't many left.

So a house built in the 50s in that area turns out to be historical. Do your parents still live there?

Yes, they do.

Tell me about your siblings.

My sister is the oldest? She paved the way as the rambunctious, punk-rock-club girl, and my brother was the one who studied the book of lists. I was the young, soccer-player kid.

What happened to playing soccer?

Beer and marijuana.

As the youngest, did you find it easier or harder compared to your siblings?

Probably I had it the easiest because my parents changed so much. By the time I was a teenager, it was sort of a different lifestyle in my house.

How so?

It was the 80s, back when everyone actually had money. It wasn't as much like that when my brother and sister were younger. It was a lot more franks-and-beans out of a can.

What was your sister like as a teenager?

Mean. Mean, private and moody.

What was your brother like?

Quiet, meticulous and also exceedingly private.

And you?

A loud, sloppy, goofy mess.

Who was your first girlfriend?

There was a girl in the neighborhood, but I can't remember her name, when I was 11 or 12. The first serious heartbreak.

Handholding and?

Smooching in the closet? Spin the bottle?

How'd she break your heart?

By going into the closet with somebody else.

How far did you go with her?

Definite smooching. I don't even know if tongue was involved.

When was the first time you went to second base? Do you remember?

Probably high school. Freshman year.

Do you remember the girl?

Anastasia.

Where'd you meet a girl named Anastasia in Staten Island?

No, I went to high school in Brooklyn. So it was with Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope preppies.

When do you think your sister lost her virginity?

I don't even want to imagine. She's still a flower to me.

How old were you when you lost yours?

Fourteen.

To whom?

To Anastasia. I don't know if this means anything, but she's now a devoted lesbian.

You're still in touch with her?

Yeah, she helped me after September 11. Put me up for a couple days. With her girlfriend.

Why'd you have to get put up after September 11?

I was stranded coming back East [from Chicago]? I stayed with her parents and then they drove me to Cleveland, and I stayed with her. [Then] Amy came and met me.

Who's Amy?

My fiancée.

So you stayed with Anastasia and her girlfriend.

First with her parents. Then with her and her girlfriend.

When was the last time you'd seen her parents?

When I graduated from high school, 13 years ago or so.

How long did you date Anastasia?

On and off for about two years, I'd say.

How long were you dating before you had sex?

A matter of weeks probably.

Was it her first time too?

I think so, yeah. I'm pretty sure.

How'd it go?

It was fine. It was brief.

How long did your sexual relationship continue with her?

A while.

When she did become a lesbian?

As far as I found out, she became a lesbian late in college.

In college. Always in college. How did you find out?

She told me.

So you kept in touch?

Yeah. There was the? She? I don't know how much you want to go into this, but she was actually impregnated by my former best friend.

Was he your former best friend because of the impregnation or??

Yes.

Did she cheat on you?

We'd broken up freshman year of college, that kind of thing, then over that summer, we were trying to reconcile, and she actually snuck around with my then-best friend. And got pregnant.

And the baby?

Terminated. He lent her money to help with the abortion.

You still in touch with him?

Not so much.

Maybe that was the beginning of the end of relationships with men.

That could've started her on the course, yes.

You can take comfort that perhaps it wasn't you, but the guy who knocked her up and lent her money for an abortion, who gave her the realization that men are not really worthwhile.

I never thought of it that way.

How long have you been engaged?

Since June.

How long have you been dating?

Just over two years.

Are you excited to get married?

Thrilled.