Some people are turned on by power.

Others, by money.

No matter what people tell you, there's something non-physical about their partner that turns them on.

I don't mean to undermine the importance or relevance of physical attraction. Often, it's the first thing that people notice and at times it can completely nullify your chances of seeing someone more than once.

Physical attraction is extremely important, but for me, it's not necessarily the outcome of a physical trait. There are certain personality traits about a person that can make me physically attracted to him.

Love is one of those things. With every boyfriend I've ever had, I've gotten more and more attracted to him as I fell deeper and deeper in love.

Power doesn't turn me on; neither does money, not even education necessarily. I've met some extremely well educated people who make me want to puke as soon as they utter a word.

Kindness turns me on and strong family values. I think I'm not the only woman who likes men who are kind to dogs, babies and the elderly. I am turned on by patience. By someone who's truly interested in what I think. Someone who makes me laugh and doesn't have a bitter and cynical look on life.

Yesterday I found something new.

One of my teammates and I went to a meeting with a research person who wrote an application that we're supposed to use for our client-side applications. This one hour meeting grew to four and a half hours as the guy gave us a full background on why they had built this package and how excited he was about it and some of the problems they were aware of, etc. While I could tell that my teammate was about to pass out from boredom, I was so excited that my neck pain disappeared for some time.

I discovered that geeks turn me on.

Actually, that's not entirely true. There are several kinds of geeks. One kind thinks he's better than the rest of the world and looks down at everyone who asks questions. This breed is often bitter and condescending.

The other kind, the one that excites me way more than it should, is the kind who is so thrilled by the work that he wants to share it with the whole world. He comes into your office and says, "Look what I figured out, isn't it neat?" He's not showing off, he's like a little kid who discovered a new toy. He's giddy.

Maybe that's what really turns me on. The giddiness. The intoxicating level of fascination with something that is obviously driven by large doses of passion. And that turns me on.

It's contagious.

It's not the intelligence or the technology. It's not the knowledge.

It's the child-like ability of exercising pure joy.

And this guy had it. I sat there, getting drunk by his love for it. At that moment he was much hotter than Tom Cruise. (Okay, so Tom doesn't do it for everyone. Put your own hottie here, since that's not my point anyhow.)

My list of favorite people just got incremented by one.

What turns you on?

Previously? Durable.