Greetings to you, fellow human!
My name is Asher, and for the first time now I am refreshingly aimless in life.
I just graduated from a Pennsylvania liberal arts school with a degree in Ethnomusicology, and I plan to meander my way toward professional musicianhood while befriending as many interesting people as possible. I love peeking into other people's lives in order to remind myself that I am not the center of the universe. I myself am an open book. I'm rather obsessed with music, but my side interests include goat cheese, poetry, forests, life stories, Douglas Adams, meyer lemons, sociology, ultimate frisbee, Pokemon, other cheeses, and the innate mind-bending absurdity of the universe. I grew up part-time on a farm in California, full-time homeschooled. My parents are an inter-racial lesbian couple. I'm a black belt in Cuong Nhu, after training since age 7. I was good at chess when I was 10, but now I suck. I was a co-president of my high school dance team. My friends call me Glom.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

The stuff I plan when I travel is rather nice, but every trip I've been on has been defined by the chance encounters I've had with random people. Every single one. So I figure I might as well cut to the chase and directly seek out people to share a bit of my life with. I'll buy you a beer and write you a song.

Music, Movies, and Books

MUSIC:
... I don't even know where to start. Here's a brief list: The Beatles, Chris Thile/Punch Brothers, Kendrick Lamar, Pinegrove, Joni Mitchell, Thelonious Monk, Gillian Welch, Flying Lotus, John Coltrane, Radiohead, Bob Dylan, Fiona Apple, Big Thief, Julian Lage, Earl Sweatshirt, Joanna Newsom, Jefferson Airplane, Larry & His Flask, Esperanza Spalding, Margaret Glaspy, Neil Young, Ambrose Akinmusire, Jeff Buckley, and a lot more

BOOKS/POETRY:
Beloved, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Calvin & Hobbes, Ender's Game, Ginsberg, Rilke, Sylvia Plath

MOVIES/TV:
The Big Lebowski, The Graduate, Wayne's World, Rick & Morty, Over the Garden Wall

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I haven't done anything flashy or cool, but I had a crazy personality reinvention in high school.
I was devoutly introverted and awkward until I was about 16 or so (met a girl, joined the frisbee team, got bored of sulking), when something in me snapped and I suddenly exploded into the energetic, flamboyant mess that I am today. Now I love interacting with people, and I love myself too, which is nice. My primary code in life is to be immune to judgment and to eliminate it from myself as well.

I also had a weird left turn in college. I came in as a neuroscience major and had my heart set on being a professional nerd of some sort. But then halfway through I made friends with a bunch of other musicians and decided adamantly that my lifelong past time ought to be more than a past time. Prior to a few years ago I swore to never do music professionally, lest it somehow taint the sacred activity of hollering Beatles songs in the middle of the forest. But then I decided there was nothing I'd rather do with my time, so here I am. I all but dropped out for my last year of school (phoned it in, played guitar all day, somehow magically graduated).

Teach, Learn, Share

I WILL TEACH YOU GUITAR. Spread the gospel.
Or even better, I will jam/listen/go to gigs for eternity.
I will write you a heart-rending ode for your generosity.
I will help out with house chores.
I'll buy you a drink or a fancy cheese.
I will tell you my entire life-story in mind-numbing depth and listen to yours with equal intensity.

What I Can Share with Hosts

See above.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Mexico, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States