CURRENT MISSION

To host the world in NYC

ABOUT ME

I am a recent college graduate who has moved to New York City to carve out a career in writing (I know, cliche, right? At least I didn't arrive on a dark and stormy night). I have moved into a great house and host a ton of surfers with my roommates. I love to show people around New York (I'm not an expert, but I know a few things about this great city), and I love meeting new people. I am extremely laid back, but also passionate and ambitious. It makes for a pretty satisfying combination. I am currently writing a novel, as well as working toward a few other goals. I have three roommates, each of them verified veterans of the Couchsurfing world. They are:

Miranda
Joseph
Elin

PHILOSOPHY

Fear and hatred are things that will ruin your life. Understanding and love are on the other side of the spectrum, they are the things that will make the world come alive, and they are the things we should strive to embrace.

Once you look past your television, you find that there is not much to fear in this world.

Life is what you make it. If you make it something beautiful, nothing can steal your happiness.

Someone can stop your pulse, but they cannot take your life.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I constantly host surfers from around the world with my brilliant and awesome roommates.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Incredible. I fully believe, after hosting and surfing for so long, that Couchsurfers are the best people on earth. The people I have met here and the things I have done will remain the sweetest memories I have until my dying day.

Interests

History, reading, writing, poker, chess, great conversation and a wide variety of other things. I also love philosophy. And, of course, I love to travel (if that's something I even need to say). But what I think I love most isn't seeing the sights and the landmarks in an area. What I love the most is standing on a street corner, in a city I've never been in, and just taking it all in. I love watching the people rush around me like water, letting my body hang momentarily in the unfamiliar landscape and, if only for a moment, truly being a part of the city I'm in. That's what I love about Couch Surfing, because typically that feeling would stop the second I entered a hotel.

• arts
• writing
• books
• running
• movies
• chess
• reading
• traveling
• poker
• guitar
• surfing
• economics
• emergency services
• history
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Rod Serling, Ayn Rand, Thomas Paine, Gil Scott-Heron, Franz Kafka, George Orwell, Kazuo Ishiguro, F. Scott Fitzgerald and countless other authors.

As far as music goes I love Atmosphere, 311, NIN, Modest Mouse, The Pillows, Public Enemy,The Smiths, Daft Punk, Dead Kennedys, A Tribe Called Quest, Jeff Buckley, Elliott Smith, early Counting Crows, Steely Dan, I listen to any kind of music, really.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I documented the protests at the DNC in 2008. I was in the middle of everything when I saw a team of officers loading pepper bombs into their weapons. I screamed for everyone to run away and get out of the area they had maneuvered us into. Me and some other people got out before they started pepper bombing everything, but it was too loud for many people to hear me. After running across a busy street, I was interviewed by PBS about what I had seen. I've been told by a lot of people it ended up on television. I never saw it, though.

- I trespassed into an old abandoned mental hospital with a few friends when I was a teenager. We found most of the furniture and files were still there. We decided to poke around and see if we couldn't find the reason the place was shut down amongst the files and the belongings left behind. What I found was some of the creepiest and most unsettling stuff I've seen, and it was all capped off rather nicely when the police chased all of us out and nearly caught us. But we escaped, and I later found out the hospital was shut down for mistreatment of minors in the late 80's. Exploring those old hallways and dormitories still stands out as one of the most unique experiences of my life.

Teach, Learn, Share

-I have a BA in History with a minor in Economics, so I can talk for hours about those topics.

-I can teach you a lot about the craft of writing, and help you with any creative project you may have.

-I can teach you the basics of guitar including some scales, some notes, tuning, etc. I can also teach you a lot about poker.

-I am excited to teach you anything I know about any language, especially Japanese. I can teach you the basics of the language, and have you speaking some key phrases by the time you leave. I also love to practice languages, right now I am learning (in addition to Japanese) Spanish and German.

+What my roommates can teach you

+MIRANDA is a German speaking New York native who studied film in college. She also works for a magazine.

+JOSEPH does kinetic art and he built a sick rube goldberg machine that cracks a Cadbury egg.

+ELIN is a tremendous filmmaker and several of our surfers have appeared in her films.

Countries I’ve Visited

United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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