Born and raised in Southern California, I'm a part time hermit and part time extrovert. Art has been my passion and hopefully one day my full-time proper career. For now I keep busy by working on a portfolio for art college, working as an occasional freelance artist, and traveling the US to attend conventions that I sell my art at.

I'm also a giant nerd and cosplayer, partner dance enthusiast (mostly swing, blues, fusion), damn good cook and baker, part time vegetarian, and of course, a lover of travel. I also have a pretty diverse friend circle, and try to keep up to date on social issues. One of the reasons I love traveling is that I interact with people of very different backgrounds to my own; understanding or at least being exposed to other people's perspectives is very important to me.

I personally rarely drink, and don't smoke or do any drugs. Just not my thing.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Hostels are nice, but I love the concept and community of couchsurfing. Sadly right now I'm really only looking to be a hostee, but I'd love to pay back the favor in the future when my current housing situation changes. I also am trying to get more into the couchsurfing community as of late. I love this site and want to do my part in keeping it going.

Interests

I'm interested in creative endeavors where I get to connect with other people, and get outside my comfort zone. When I travel I look for a blend of social events, art museums to lurk in, places to dance, and interesting and strange food.

I was lucky enough to grow up close to so many great museums with an artist for a mother, which meant I was deeply invested in art from a young age. Some favorite artists of mine are Fridha Kahlo, Kandinsky, Caillebotte, Cassat, Artemisia Gentileschi, Van Gogh, Ai Weiwei, Barbara Kruger... I love impressionism and surrealism and modern art, especially.

I regularly attend geeky fan conventions, sometimes as a vendor, where I sell fan art I've drawn. I've tabled at tiny 100 person cons... and also huge events like San Diego Comic Con, the biggest of it's kind in the US. It's a great opportunity to travel, and you get to meet and chat with so many other content creators too.

I'm also weirdly into tea, and pretty knowledgeable about different types and its history.

Music, Movies, and Books

An incomplete list:

Music: I like Alt-Rock, Blues, Hip hop, R and B, Folk, Bossa Nova... I listen to all sorts of music, really. Some artists I like: The Beach Boys, Sufjan Stevens, Frank Ocean, Janelle Monae, Twenty One Pilots, Stan Getz, Ezra Furman.... so many more but I'll stop there.

Movies: 2001 a Space Odyssey, Fritz Lang's Metropolis, Pride and Prejudice, Howl's Moving Castle (really any of Studio Ghibli's films, tbh), Dirty Dancing, etc.

Books: My favorite book currently is American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I also really enjoy Margaret Atwood's books (Blind Assassin probably being my favorite), and YA books like Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, etc. If comic books count, I'm quite fond of Matt Fraction's Hawkeye, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Habibi.

Not in the above categories: Welcome to Night Vale, Freakonomics, 99% invisible, which are all podcasts.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

This is may be an odd answer, but rebuilding my life after getting diagnosed with a pretty serious illness in my early teens is a huge accomplishment for me. It definitely has given me a certain perspective on life. It's still something I deal with today, but hey, I manage.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm not exactly sure what to put here. I hope I can share my perspective with others, and I'm always looking to learn about other people's lives and passions.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Hopefully I can share a positive experience with them. I'll try my best to be courteous and respectful while staying with a host. I'd also love to spend some time with my host if their schedule allows. That being said, I'm pretty self-reliant and am perfectly capable of finding my own way if my host is busy. I'm also great with last minute plans.

I'm also usually down cooking or baking with/for my host, dragging them to the social dance events I usually seek out while travelling, buying them dinner/food, or in some way paying them back as a thank you for being a great host.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States