CURRENT MISSION

Build a fixed gear bicycle.

ABOUT ME

Last summer I tried making a concept album about Dinosaurs. They're these kind of abstract ruminations on dinosaurs, reflecting both on their awesome powers (better than Kylie Minogue) but also on their shortcomings (primarily extinction, but also being jealous of other reptilian creatures, such as dragons).

Now I'm getting my PhD in Boston, studying the brain and the exciting shit that it does. After I get my PhD, I have absolutely no clue what I want to do, but I like school, and I'm pretty good at it. So far all of this seems preferable to getting a job. Except for that bit about not making lots of money. I could use lots of money.

When I grow up I want to be a filmmaker, a working musician, a college professor, a high school teacher, a world traveler, a doctor in a third world country, a non-profit employee, a lobbyist and a public speaker.

I tend to be reserved in social situations where I'm uncomfortable, but thank the lord they invented booze and friends to remedy that situation.

PHILOSOPHY

I live life because I'm not yet ready to face the alternative. Sometimes I question this, but then there's music, food, friends, films, riding bikes in frozen parks, skiing, substances and so much else. Why stop now when I haven't even seen what happens next?

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I live with 7 other people at a co-op, so if you want to surf with us, just give me some advance warning so I can get the OK from the house.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My best experience was hanging out in London with my friend's cousin's fiance, whom I'd never met. He was a perfect host, and cooked for us and was amazing. Aside from that, I can't complain at all about visiting Tobin and Ry in Rochester (http://www.rocwriters.com/2006/05/), but that was less couchsurfing and more friend...surfing?

Interests

Music of an independent variety! Weird but soothing. Beer! Those abbey ales that they serve at the Publick House in Brookline blow my mind. Building things, be they films, sounds, programs, robots...even if I don't have the chops to do it, it's still super interesting. I love riding my bicycle, especially when I forget my helmet and feel the wind in my hair. Awesome. I'm completely non-confrontational, and love when people can resolve situations without awkwardness, and have fun perpetually. There you have it, I am interested in perpetual fun. How novel!

• books
• dining
• beer
• movies
• music
• surfing
• skiing
• teaching
• emergency services
• medicine
• parks

Music, Movies, and Books

Recently I've read a bunch of Octavia E. Butler books, but I also like the 'witty fag' genre, like David Rakoff and David Sedaris, as well as smarty pants sci-fi like Iain M. Banks and everything I've read with queer themes and talking horses. Lockpick Pornography had me laughing out loud. I love to read, but it doesn't happen as often as I'd love it to, which is a quality about myself that I don't love.

Filmwise, I like, in spite of myself, movies about going to school. Pretty In Pink, Napoleon Dynamite and Welcome to the Dollhouse are some good examples. Almost Famous, Spirited Away, Lilo and Stitch, Quentin Tarantino's soundtracks, Woody Allen at times, The Jerk, and so on.

As for music, I don't like to limit by genre. Pick a genre, and I probably like something from it. I own hundreds of CDs, and I have many a gb of music on my computer. But favorites, huh? Let's take Sweetheart of the Rodeo from the Byrds, Disintegration by the Cure, anything by the Smiths or the Magnetic Fields, but also the Louvin Brothers, the Everly Brothers, the Delfonics, Sam Cooke, Patrick Wolf, Animal Collective, Elephant 6, Heavenly/Talulah Gosh, some Neil Young, some Built to Spill, etc.

Best of 2006: Joanna Newsom, Girl Talk, The Pipettes!!!

The Western-y-ness of this saddens me.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I rode my bicycle across the Golden Gate bridge on a fogless day in San Francisco.

I got a plastic recycling bin put in my building at Boston University!

Teach, Learn, Share

In the United States of America, every Police Station and Fire Station is to provide you with a free bathroom at your request. (Except when you need them most.)

Countries I’ve Visited

Germany, Switzerland, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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