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Name: Bodhi “Bo” Miles Hanley

Fun story: his mother wanted to name him “Bodhidharma” – a Buddhist name meaning All-Pervading Enlightened Mind. Unfortunately, natural birth was a bit more painful than she expected, and Mrs. Hanley opted to juice up with some pain medication in order to push her baby out into the world a little more comfortably. This had the added side effect of making her super loopy when it came time to write the baby’s name down. Alas – her child received a bastardization of a holy name, which Bo thinks is pretty damn funny. Coincidentally, Bodhi is also a Hungarian name, and when asked, Bo’s parents will offer that as the reason behind his title. LIARS.

Nickname(s), if any: Bo – to pretty much everyone; BM – to his hilarious guy friends.

Age: 21 22 23 24 25

Birthday: June 24th

Zodiac Sign: Cancer

Blood Type: B+ (and he is – ZING!)

Favorite Food: His mother's arugula salad with artichoke hearts and raspberry vinaigrette.

Hated Food: Really processed stuff, like Hot Pockets or frozen foods.

School: Sovereign Heights

Hobbies:

Photography – Bo got into photography because of his grandmother. She entered the early stages of Alzheimer's when he was thirteen, and one night, tears stinging the corners of her eyes, she told him she was afraid of forgetting all the wonderful things in her life, not just family and friends but everything, even her favorite foods and clothes. Bo refused to let that happen. That same week, he bought his very first camera and began to photograph everything that he thought would make her happy – neatly tied packages waiting on people's doorsteps, a cup of mint tea in a china mug, the view of the park from the bridge, the color of his mother's hair. There were the normal things too, like photos of family, but what Bo offered his grandmother was the world condensed into a series of photographs. While she was still well, they assembled these into intricate photo albums and scrapbooks, but over time, his grandmother started to forget why they were playing with photos, what day it was, and – most painfully – who he was. This family project quickly swelled into a passion in Bo's life, and though his grandmother is now in a nursing home and reaching the end of her life, he has continued to view the world through his camera lens, searching for beauty wherever he can find it. Recently, he has gotten very interested in Polaroid photography, and the walls of his bedroom at home are filled with tiny photos outlined in white of everything from flowers to faces to feces. (Okay, maybe not the latter.)

Ads in the Pennysaver – One of Bo's favorite things to do is to read and reply to personal ads and "missed connections" in the Pennysaver. He doesn't reply looking for a date. Instead, he will send a nice note, a vote of confidence, or a suggestion for improving the profile. Not only are personal ads in the Pennysaver some of the funniest things in the entire world, but Bo genuinely believes his little notes are making someone’s day better. Particularly entertaining ones end up plastered on his wall mural, smashed between overlapping Polariod photos. Bo really loves it when they respond back and will often keep up correspondence with people, reading the letters aloud to his friends from time to time. He doesn’t see it as cruel, just funny. After all, he is just being nice to some lonely people, right? So what if he gets a little comedic entertainment out of it too?

Rinse + Reuse Cassanova – This isn't quite a flaw or a virtue, more of something that he does a lot. That makes it a hobby, yes? Anyway – Bo has a lot of female friends. He was raised by his mother and his grandmother, and though he loves hanging out with his guy friends, Bo is just as happy to casually hang out with a female. The difference is – he has probably had some kind of intimate encounter with the majority of his female friends. Bo loves love, and he loves to feel pleasure and little rays of sunshine-y tenderness. Many of his female friends will come to him for compassion and affection after a bad breakup, or a stressful week, because he is a “safe bet” who would never disrespect them or tell people or, most importantly, get too attached. He is that friend. His revolving door policy on intimacy is tied with photography for his favorite way to spend his free time. Need a good cuddle? Call up Bo! He won't even be weird about it.

Alaska – Bo has one dream in life: to go to Alaska. No, really. He isn't big on personal goals or life planning, but this is the one pervading impulse that has followed him from childhood. Growing up on a beach for most of his life, he has always been fascinated with the idea of a place made of ice. Giant photos of glaciers like mountains and the piercing blue of the water dance in his head when he has a spare moment. He has books stacked all over his room about traveling in Alaska, sights to see, best times to go, and the history of the state. After graduating from Sovereign Heights, he plans to take some time off and move up there to make a living in the ecotourism industry. He will talk to anyone who prods him about it with stories of his future with whale-watching, scaling glaciers, fishing barges, and the massive population of Grizzly bears, but when push comes to shove, he still doesn't have a ticket, a place to stay, or any experience whatsoever with being in an environment that actually gets cold. The place he lived before Destiny City only had two seasons: really hot and less hot. The boy has never seen snow and wouldn't know how to get ice off a windshield if he was holding a manual. This is a bit of a pipe dream, and probably something that will never happen, but when asked what he plans to do with his life, Bo will always answer, “Alaska, man, Alaska!”

Survivorman/Man Vs. Wild -- Bo refers to this as "research" for his trip to Alaska and his inevitable excursions in the wilderness. Bear Grylls is the manliest man he has ever known (did you SEE him give himself an enema for hydration?), and Les Stroud is so in tune with nature he is practically some kind of wood nymph. Bo envies the ability that these men have to truly (he believes) rough it in the wild. They are really living life, in his book. He doesn't really stop to think about the camera crews or the possibility of some things being staged. He just takes notes and tries to practice biting the needle tip off the leaf of an aloe plant, fashioning a proper head covering out of strips of cloth, and purifying urine into drinkable water.

Gemstone: Diamond

Virtues:

Non-Violent Soothesayer – Bo grew up with an almost spiritual appreciation of the world around him. He has boxes full of photographs of random leaves, sunsets, animals, trees, air, rocks, even that bum who sleeps down by the Gas Station. Bo believes in the magic of the world, and how everything is connected, and to him, that is beautiful beyond beautiful. Because of that connection, Bo also believes in the power of energy: how positivity can uplift and negativity can tear down. If a butterfly flaps its wings on one side of the world, will it cause a tsunami on the other? Bo certainly thinks so. If you punch someone in the face in Destiny City, he believes that the aura of negativity and destruction has the power to expand outward – and he is not at all cool with that. With those powers combined, he is a champion of nonviolence. Just as Bo would not want someone to crush him to death, he tries to avoid killing needlessly, even bugs or spiders. (This isn't to say that he screams or cries if he accidentally smushes a bug on his windshield; he just tries his best to avoid pumping death and destruction into the world around him, even on the small scale.) Bo probably has a bumper sticker on the back of his electric moped that says something like, “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” He's not a hippy. Just a pacifist.

Low Maintenance – Bo is low maintenance in almost all realms of his life. He isn't picky about where you go to eat, or who comes with, or what you do after. He can be ready in five minutes. He would wear boxers or briefs; he doesn't care. Does it matter to you? If it matters to you, he can wear what you suggest. If you haven't talked to him in two weeks, he doesn't need a reassuring text or Facebook message just to say hello and to remind him of your friendship. If he is dating you, he doesn't need constant reminders of how much you care about him, or how valuable he might be. Even if there is a problem going on in his life, Bo won't complain or whine or harp on it at all because that will just bring others down – and what's the point of that? Easy-going to a fault, Bo recognizes that there are many people in the world who care a lot about the details of everyday life, and he is happy to let them take charge and just hang back in the wings.

Good Vibrations – He's picking up good vibrations, baby, and he likes it. Bo is sensitive to attitudes in the room, and even though he might not ask what the precise problem is, he is quick to diffuse any tension as best as he can. Negativity and bad vibes throw him off, and Bo believes firmly in the need for everyone to just chill out and think positive. He will do what he can to bring that positivity to others, but if he can't, he will settle for shining like a light bulb for the rest of the room. Bo is calm and collected, slow to anger, quick to forgive, and an easy laugh. All of these things make him generally pleasant in day-to-day encounters. He might not be anyone's best friend, but he isn't anyone's worst enemy either. Bo is just floating right down the middle, and that is where he likes to be. Want to forget about your stress? Come hang out with Bo. He doesn’t want to think about your stress either.

Wait, were we in a fight? – Bo does not hold grudges, or stay mad for very long (if he gets mad at all). He doesn’t see the point of sticking to your guns on an issue when it only makes you more miserable. Who wants to be sad? Crazy people, that’s who. Even if someone has done something that is universally considered bad, Bo will still answer that person’s calls and hang out. If there was an argument of some kind, he will likely forget what the anger was about in the first place by the time the other person comes around to apologizing, or asking for an apology. If someone started to yell at him openly at a party, Bo’s response would just be to walk away. He doesn’t have his pride tied up in how “tough” he seems, and he really doesn’t care if the other person thinks he is totally wrong. As long as the tension goes away, Bo is a happy camper. Emotionally volatile people find a nice buffer in Bo because he will still accept them, no matter what cruel things they might have said, as long as they agree to be happy again. The true virtue of this is that Bo has never really had ego issues, or felt entitled to be right, or to have his thoughts heard.

Flaws:

Resistant to Meaningful Discussion – Bo isn’t good at talking about bad things. He will listen to you, sure, but he will have no advice other than, “Cheer up?” His own problems are not excluded. Even if something bad has happened that really should be talked about, Bo will avoid it because he does not handle negativity or discord well at all. Bo wants to bring happiness and positive energy, but he wants to do this without actually having to TALK about the things that made it bad in the first place. This logic is backward, but Bo believes wholeheartedly in it. Bad is bad. So let’s not think about it. Let’s focus on good, good, good. For this reason, Bo never really resolves conflict; he just ignores it, or offers/accepts an apology with no discussion of the issue. This is not healthy, and at some point, it will likely backfire on him in a big way.

A Distracted Distraction – Bo is both prone to distraction and a distraction. When serious business is afoot, Bo is probably in the other room. Maybe eating a sandwich. Maybe showing someone the photo he took of how his stomach can look like a frowny face. Bo doesn't own a planner. Bo doesn't remember plans. Bo does what he feels the best about on any given day, even if that means totally blowing off someone else. It isn't that he does this to be mean; he just follows his impulses. His love of photography lends a lot to this flaw. In the middle of an important conversation with a friend, Bo might catch a glimpse of something he finds beautiful and wander off silently, camera in hand, to scale someone's fence to get a shot of it. Bo is a dreamer, a visionary, an idea guy; he cannot be trusted to carry out the inner workings of whatever plan is afoot. He will inadvertently forget something very important and cause problems for everyone else. Going skydiving? Put someone else in charge of loading the parachutes.

Commitment-Impaired/Inconsistent – Bo can't commit to much of anything. His favorite band, favorite color, favorite everything tend to change from day-to-day. He thinks that it is a good thing because it means he is flexible! To others, it can be just frustrating. The movie that you have planned for weeks to see might suddenly become boring to him. The trip to California that you already bought tickets for is so yesterday. Deep personal relationships seem beyond his comprehension. When Bo goes shopping, it takes him twenty minuets to decide between crunchy peanut butter and smooth. One day, he might be praising your character for his/her sense of humor and intelligence, and the next day, he can't even remember his/her name. This makes it very difficult for Bo to be trusted or relied upon.

Space Cadet – Raised as an only child with parents who believed that a Spirit Quest was a necessary part of every young person’s life, Bo has spent a lot of time by himself with his thoughts. He learned to entertain himself from an early age, and as he has grown, that hasn’t changed much. If people are talking about something that does not interest him, it is totally normal for his eyes to glaze over as he lets his mind wander. He is a big believer in taking long walks by yourself without a cellphone or any scheduled time to return home. Despite all of his kindness and warmth, this trait can make him seem distant to friends and family -- and he kind of is. Bo loves being around people, but a lot of the time he is hanging out with people, he is really just having his own little conversation in his head, or observing the room, or thinking of Alaska or how this would make a great photograph. There is always something else going on in his head, and oftentimes, it is more entertaining to him than whatever is going on right in front of his face, which Bo is not too good at disguising. This is a cause for a lack of closeness in his life. Bo has tons of friends, but Bo doesn't have a best friend.

Appearance

Hair: Honey blond, leaning toward the lighter side. Sun-bleached.

Eyes: Twin pools of cool, cool ocean water perfect for getting lost in (read: blue green).

Face: Long face, square jaw, very tan skin.

Body/Height: Gentle giant. Bo is 6'5" with broad shoulders and a swimmer's build (slim waist, strong legs, muscled arms, beefy). He hit puberty a bit earlier than other boys his age and his love of the outdoors helped him bulk up to his brand new hormone-driven height. His arms seem a bit too long for his body, but they are all the better to hug you with. NOW COME HERE AND BE HUGGED.

Accessories: A braided hemp bracelet has graced Bo's wrist for much of his life.

Laurel Hanley, mother -- Laurel was a child of the 60s, a hippie of the truest kind who didn't own a bra until she was 18 and leaving for college. When she got to college, she had a change of heart and became an investment banker. After years of working in the cut throat white collar world, she had a bit of a nervous breakdown, quit her job, and dedicated her life to rediscovering her inner spiritualist. This all happened before Bodhi was born, an only child to a couple who never planned on having children. His mother is loving, but irresponsible. Because she is significantly older than most of Bo's friends' moms, Laurel doesn't exactly keep a very tight leash on her only son and pretty much just trusts him to handle his own business. If he needs her help, she will give it, but most of Laurel's influence on her son has to do with how much she encourages him to pursue his pipe dreams, continue his art, and be a freethinker.

Todd Hanley, father -- Todd is also an investment banker, but he never had a problem with the cut throat white collar world like his wife did. When Laurel decided to leave the profession, he stayed and supported the two of them. When Bo was born (surprise baby!), he got a promotion to do consulting work. His new job gave them significantly more money, but it meant that he was traveling five days out of every week. This happened right around the time that Bo was born. After four years of separation from his family, Todd began to drift away, sometimes staying away on business for weeks at a time. He never actually had an affair, but Laurel insisted that she could smell another woman on him. It led to endless fighting for two years with Bo frequently an audience member to their anger.

Bo's parents finally got divorced when he was 7, and his mother moved with Bo down to a coastal state to live on a beach. His father paid child support, but visits were infrequent. Usually, Bo would spend one week a year with his father for some bonding time, maybe two. His mother ended up getting a job at a fair trade boutique and began crafting her own metalwork sculptures. Neither his father nor his mother ever remarried. Bo, however, thinks they are seeing each other again. His father never left Destiny City (where he was born), and right before Bo was set to enter high school, his mother suddenly decided that she wanted to go back to DC, leaving her job at the boutique behind. She never gave a clear reason, but Bo has come home a couple times to find his mother and father talking in the kitchen. His dad will always say he just came to take Bo out to lunch or to check in with him, but then he will sit in the kitchen for hours with Laurel, even when Bo goes to his room or heads out with friends. Bo doesn't mind -- more power to them! Life is short and love is beautiful. All he wants is for them to be happy.

Grandma Winnie, beloved old lady -- Winnie is Bo's grandmother on his mother's side, and she is the coolest lady he has ever met. When Bo was born, his parents weren't exactly prepared for a child. (They were not a couple who planned on having kids, period, and were well past their prime to be making babies.) His grandmother handled almost all of his child-rearing needs, acting as his number one babysitter. She even moved with Bo and Laurel when they headed south after the divorce and then moved back to DC with them when they made their return. She is a former house wares model who lost her husband in the war, but for most of her twilight years, she still drank like she was 25 and hit on men that were 25 too. Saucy little grandmother. Unfortunately, Grandma Winnie got older and developed Alzheimer's. She now lives in a nursing home in Destiny City, and Bo visits her regularly.

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