I tend to have a pretty serious demeanor, especially with people I don't know very well, but I take almost nothing seriously. I believe irreverence is next to godliness.

I'm probably kind of difficult to read, and I don't like to have people knowing what I'm thinking; but when I get really excited or amused by something, I shake my leg like a dog. So that's a pretty obvious tell.

I wouldn't ever call myself an optimist, but in general, I believe that everything will work itself out. I guess you could say that I boast a cheery sort of cynicism.

I act logically rather than emotionally, and I value understanding more than feeling. I'm made of straw, not tin.

I experience an overwhelming sense of nostalgia for no time in particular.

I believe that Oxford commas are what separate us from the animals.

PHILOSOPHY

"Wise men should act with detachment to preserve the world."
-The Bhagavad Gita

"Sanity is not statistical."
-George Orwell, 1984

"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."
-Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

"Neither do the ignorant seek after wisdom. For herein is the evil of ignorance, that he who is neither good nor wise is nevertheless satisfied: he feels no want, and therefore no desire."
-Plato, The Symposium

"Goodness is something chosen. When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man."
-Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange

"Yossarian knew he was right because, as he explained to Clevinger, to the best of his knowledge, he had never been wrong."
-Joseph Heller, Catch-22

" I shall ask for brains instead of a heart; for a fool would not know what to do with a heart if he had one."
-L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz

"Prejudice has a way of fostering the very object of its hate."
-Randy Shilts, And the Band Played On

"For a sin of that sort that so many bear, certainly some just relief will be devised."
-Earnest Hemingway, For Whom The Bell Tolls

"Don't look to be saved in any one thing, person, machine, or library. Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were headed for shore."
-Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

"What reinforcement we may gain from hope,
If not, what resolution from despair."
-John Milton, Paradise Lost

"The world is always falling down.
The news is always very sad.
The time is always late.

But the fruit is always ripe."
-A. O. Scott, A Critic's Place, Thumb and All

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I've hosted surfers from various places. I try to make people's travels a little more enjoyable. I try to be interesting when other people are kind enough to host me. I've surfed in Europe, South America, Africa, and domestically. Excellent experiences all around!

Interests

classic lit
minced garlic
warm tea
red wine
rye whiskey
cuddly critters
argyle socks
travel...obviously

Music, Movies, and Books

Blind Pilot
Lord Huron
Horse Feathers
Boy & Bear
The Wizard of Oz
The Lord of the Rings
A Clockwork Orange
Catch-22
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
1984
The Bhagavad Gita
The Warmth of Other Suns

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've seen quite a lot of the Nepali countryside from the luggage racks atop travel buses. Having done this, I think it's a shame to travel any other way.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Canada, Chile, France, Gambia, Greece, Italy, Japan, Madagascar, Netherlands, Peru, Senegal, Spain, Switzerland

Countries I’ve Lived In

Ghana, Nepal, United States