ABOUT ME

I'm a reporter, mostly for thefineprintnyc.com, a newsletter covering New York media, these days. I've written about everything from Uzbek desert fortresses to a treasure hunt in the rockies. I also wrote the most in depth article on the history of Couchsurfing, featuring interviews with people who worked on it throughout its lifetime: https://www.inputmag.com/features/rise-and-ruin-of-couchsurfing

PHILOSOPHY

I believe:

-in radical transparency

-that one should take what he or she needs and give what he or she can.

-all should engage in rugged voyages, eccentric adventures, itinerant philosophy, and, above all, searing obsession.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've experienced the warmth and astounding generosity of countless hosts throughout my travels. And I've met some incredible when I've had the chance to host.

I'm somewhat suspicious of the current owner of the site, but I've found that I can't quite give up the community.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Absolutely terrific. I've met the most interesting and generous people.

Interests

Exploring the world on foot was my primary interest back in the day, less so now, I guess.

I'm interested in philosophy and writing, as well.

• writing
• books
• cooking
• recipes
• walking
• politics
• technology
• reading
• traveling
• coding
• sailing
• sociology

Music, Movies, and Books

books/authors:

Orwell was my favorite writer growing because of his unrivaled honesty, clarity, courage, and pleasant forcefulness. I’ve read everything he wrote down to the diaries(“1 egg today")

My favorite travel writer is Patrick Leigh Fermor because of his insatiable curiosity in the history, the people, and places he met along the way, his astounding memory, his unabating enthusiasm, and his willingness to fall in love with a place. I aspire to meet these ideals when I travel and when I write.

My favorite philosopher is Spinoza for his intense commitment to the principle of sufficient reason and his commitment to his philosophical conclusions despite the political consequences.

My favorite living philosopher is Nick Bostrom. His simulation argument is the most interesting and effective counter-intuitive that I have ever heard.

Dostoevsky, Borges, Kundera, Cyril Connolly, Steven Pinker, Salinger(especially Bannanafish and Seymour), Shteyngart(all his books, blurbs, and book trailers), Treasure Island(the first book I complained about being given an abridgement of in elementary school), Hunter Thompson, David Foster Wallace, Evelyn Waugh, the metaphysical club, John Stuart Mill, Wilde(brilliant and beautiful in all but poetry), Waugh, Wodehouse, All The President’s Men, Edward Said(late possessor of impassioned and clear prose), Why Does the World Exist: An Existential Detective Story, The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, Bertrand Russell(especially the History of Western Philosophy), Isaiah Berlin, Tolstoy, Douglas Adams, Nietzsche, Camus. Don Quixote, Washington Irving, Hitchens, Heidegger, Melville, Bulgakov, Ishiguro, Tony Judt(favorite historian), Darkness at Noon, and anything to do with Sherlock Holmes or Conan Doyle.

films/directors:

Truffaut is my favorite director because he combined the experiments of the new wave with absolute emotional sincerity.

Tarkovsky, Anything with Daniel Day Lewis, Frank Capra(projected images of how the world should function), Harvey, Soviet Sherlock Holmes films, Fritz Lang, Ed Wood(film), The Marx Brothers, Anthony Asquith(especially the Browning Version), Edgar Wright, Mel Brooks, The Big Lebowski. Inglorious Bastards, The Coppola family, Linklater, Brief Encounter, Breathless, Paul Thomas Anderson, The Lives of Others, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, both versions of Solaris, Woody Allen’s early, funny movies, Aronofsky. Dracula, Bride of Frankenstein, Hitchcock, Rian Johnson, The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, Shadow of the Vampire, Drive, In Bruges, Jason Reitman, The Passion of Joan of Arc, Man with a Movie Camera, Powell and Pressburger, Blue Velvet, Val Lewton(not a director but a producer with enormous creative control)

musicians:

Pink Floyd, Tycho, Elephant Revival, Gogol Bordello, Led Zeppelin, Santana, King Crimson, TV on the Radio, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Al Di Meola, Benny Goodman, The Cinematic Orchestra, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Otis Taylor, Milo, Glass Animals, Sylvan Esso, Charles Trenent, Screamin' Jay Hawkins.

artists:

Magritte, Van Gogh, Schiele, Beardsley

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I walked 500 miles, in sandals with torn up soles, until I reached the edge of a cliff where the earth fell off into the Atlantic and I could walk no further. I sat down, satisfied.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach:

-What I've gleaned from my reading.

Learn:

-Sailing. "I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world."

-Any recipes that remind you of home.

Share

-A meal. I'm an enthusiastic, though imperfect, cook. Everybody benefits from cooking together. Even if we learn nothing(which is unlikely), our stomachs will be sated.

-Stories: the lifeblood of couchsurfing.

Countries I’ve Visited

Aruba, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Netherlands, Portugal, Scotland, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan

Countries I’ve Lived In

India, Russian Federation, United States