CURRENT MISSION

Learn, grow, love. All the time.

ABOUT ME

I'm a Canadian-American who currently goes to the University of Oklahoma in Norman. My friends call me Reisner. I study linguistics and international studies and all sorts of other things.

I love to learn and to debate and to have conversations over good food and drink or a good bowl of pipe tobacco. I read a lot and think a lot, and I love to meet people who do too.

PHILOSOPHY

I value human life, beauty, empiricism, and knowledge. I like the idea of pragmatism and minimalism but have to be intentional in applying those ideas to my life. Poverty and violence break my heart. I try to love people better.

Interests

I love constantly learning new things and having new experiences. Long conversations about fascinating subjects is one of my favourite things in life. I am particularly interested in linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy, economics, music, and history.

I love songwriting, liturgy, pipe-smoking, Persian literature, acoustic phonetic analysis, cooking South Asian foods, applying neuroscience to new things, philosophical abstraction, putting things into classifications, listening to music from around the world, Central Asian history, calligraphy, and (if it's not apparent already) making lists.

• literature
• beauty
• dining
• cooking
• drinking
• socializing
• minimalism
• music
• country music
• guitar
• calligraphy
• economics
• history
• languages
• neuroscience
• beaches
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Neutral Milk Hotel changed my life. Sufjan Stevens has made me cry. Beirut has given me feelings of ecstasy. Conor Oberst always makes me think. Johnny Cash reminds me that I'm a human.

I like blue notes, dissonance, pop sensibilities, experimentalism, tradition, improvisation, and rhythms that induce dancing.

Princess Bride is my favourite movie, but you can't beat watching Nosferatu accompanied by a live organist.

Ecclesiastes reminds me life is vanity. Job reminds me life is suffering. Song of Songs reminds me life is love. I constantly read non-fiction, but I want to read more fiction.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I taught a blind boy at a school for the blind in Uganda how to play Johnny Cash songs on the guitar, and he fell in love with country music.

I've watched the Celebration of Light from the beach in Vancouver where beautiful explosions of fireworks reflect their light off the English Bay and their sound off the skyscrapers.

I climbed up one of the Wichita Mountains with some good friends and we meditated, smoked pipes, and celebrated the Eucharist together while staring in awe at the beauty of the natural world around us.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to write the international phonetic alphabet, Cyrillic letters, and the Persian script.

I can help you install Linux on your computer.

I can teach you how to smoke pipe tobacco well.

I can explain Episcopal services and traditions to you and answer questions you might have.

I love learning about other languages and cultures, so I'd love you to teach me something if you know!

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Mexico, Russian Federation, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Ukraine, United States

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