CURRENT MISSION

Meet and stay with a local or locals to have fun, share knowledge, ride bicycles, drinks beer, and possibly dance!

ABOUT ME

Hotels are lonely, and hostels are kind of annoying. I prefer a warm, friendly, local experience. I also like to share stories and information about where I'm from with locals of the place I'm visiting.

I just finished a law degree. During the break between the end of school and my articlng year (basically apprenticeship), I want to visit Portland because it appears to be the cycling capital of North America. I wanted to visit Portland before Portlandia was made. ;-)

I'm not into drugs. But many of my friends are into the friendly fun ones and I'm not judgey about it. I'm a social drinker, but not a heavy drinker.

I'm 37 years old. I'm mature, laid-back, kind, intellectually curious, respectful, and open-minded.

for 7 years, I hosted a weekly radio show on which local bands perform live in the broadcast booth.

I'm responsible and dependable, but I know how to have fun. I have a great sense of humour, and enjoy laughing and making others laugh. (Although I have trouble making my sense of humour show on these profile things. I mean, come on, I'm flying solo here. I got nothin' to work with!) At the same time, I enjoy calm, interesting conversation. I love to learn, especially about other cultures, and *especially* other languages.

I love music and live performances. I very much appreciate a good techno dance party (I love breaks and electro--especially the dirty kind. Some house is cool. Dubstep is great to listen to, but it's hard to dance to).

I'm also quietly feminist. I was raised by a single mom, and I demand equal treatment for, respect of, and fairness towards women. I tend to get along very well with women. Most of my friends are women. Of course, I have male friends, too. ;)

PHILOSOPHY

My personal philosophy is kindness, acceptance, and forgiveness. I love meeting new people and learning about what they do and how they see the world.

I also try live in a way that's friendly to the earth and that supports small, local businesses.

I live my life for my wife, whom I adore, and for my family (parents, siblings, siblings' kids). And also for my two cats. I do my best to be there for my friends when they need me. One of my strengths is calming people down and restoring their confidence.

I try to raise awareness about the damage of consumerism and media illiteracy and about the benefits and joys of independent business, local arts, and cycling.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Via the website, I've surfed at the homes of two different hosts. I've hosted one surfer.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Most recent:
In 2007, I stayed two nights with Hester and two nights with Anne-Marie, both in Amsterdam. They were lovely, kind, and generous.

History:
Before I found the website, in 1999 a colleague at school invited me to Grade Prairie to help with a cultural event. I stayed with her at her family's cottage on a river for a night, then at her friends' apartment for a few nights.

In 2000 I surfed one night at the house of a lovely girl (with dreadlocks) who had been busking (playing guitar and singing) on the street in Ottawa. She later took me to her friend's birthday party, where I met another lovely girl (with pink hair). The pink-haired girl took me with her friends to her family's cottage on a river for one night. I later stayed with her in her apartment in Montreal for a couple of nights. I later met a lovely Jewish goth girl at a bagel shop in Montreal. We became good friends and we're in touch regularly. We finally hung out again in fall 2007!

Also in 2000, I lectured at a conference of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music in Sofya, Bulgaria. I stayed for a couple of weeks with the conference organizer and her husband.

Then, I stayed a couple of weeks with some Turkish students whom I met through a fellow conference delegate.

Finally, on that same trip, I met a woman in a camera shop who went to south coast of Turkey with me on a bus to meet her family. Then we spent a few nights in a pension (but in separate rooms).

Interests

My primary interest is my beautiful wife.

Also, I enjoy film (see below), reading, cycling, music, languages, computers, cats, writing, dancing and learning new things. Oh, and sleeping in.

• cats
• dogs
• arts
• writing
• singing
• performing arts
• dancing
• beer
• partying
• drinking
• flying
• shopping
• reading
• music
• guitar
• cycling
• business
• communications
• history
• languages
• law
• tourism

Music, Movies, and Books

While I used to lean more toward independent film, I must say that my favourite film has been The Matrix for a long time. I love what that movie says about today's global society. And I love science fiction.

And the Alien Quadrilogy. I'm the only person ever in ever who has liked "Alien Resurrection" the best of the four. I just love monster movies.

I enjoy films by Tim Burton, Woody Allen, Atom Egoyan, David Cronenburg. I have a sweet tooth for superhero and comic-book adaptation movies.

In terms of fiction, I enjoy fantasy books and science fiction books, mostly, although I read a variety of literature during my university degrees. I love books by Paul Auster. "Women" by Charles Bukowski was great too. And Gabriel Garcia Marquez is terrific. Also Chuck Palahniuk is pretty awesome.

As for music, I enjoy trip hop (Massive Attack, Portishead...), "nu metal" (Korn, Deftones...), grunge (Soundgarden, Alice in Chains...), some techno dance (Basement Jaxx, Pendulum...). Other groups I love are Deee-Lite, Morphine, Porno for Pyros, Meat Puppets, Nine Inch Nails, Crash Test Dummies, Leila, Land of the Loops, Laika, other bands that begin the letter "L"...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I have laughed till I cried. I have cried till I laughed.

I have danced so hard I fell over.

I have walked across the longest pedestrian bridge in Canada It's over 900 metres long.

I have defended my brother.

I met John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants, a favourite popular music group of mine.

I have calmed fevered souls.

I have touched people's lives with my songs.

I lectured on my Master's thesis at a conference of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music in Sofya, Bulgaria. The keynote speaker was the founder of the association, Phillip Tagg. He told me he really, really liked my lecture.

I have found my soul mate.

Teach, Learn, Share

"Seeing Eye Dog" is a brand name. The generic term is "guide dog". Other registered brand names include Kleenex (who apparently are not very ecologically-minded), band-aid, and styrofoam.

Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.

If you can't replace "its" with "it is", don't use an apostrophe.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bulgaria, Canada, France, Netherlands, Turkey, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada

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