CURRENT MISSION

Breathe while I can breathe.

ABOUT ME

I majored in Philosophy and Literature, but I tend to get excited about pretty much everything. Are you into music? Let's talk about Stereolab! Are you into IR? Let's talk about immigration crises around the world! Are you into 1980's Swedish architecture? I know absolutely nothing about that but let's talk about it anyways! Of course my passion is film, and I can talk your ear off about that. Looking to find that sense of great beauty in the world (art or whatever you want to call it). Above all else I'm into adventure. Unfortunately not great with languages.

PHILOSOPHY

I'm an Absurdist. Believe that we better make the best out of the life we have because the human experience is what makes the world livable.

While I'm here though I want to live life as absolutely as I can. I'm still young, so this is all as much of a work in progress as I am.

Can be a bit of a Dadaist sometimes too.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Couchsurfed for much of a six week trip I took through Europe. Had an amazing time and would recommend it to anyone. Hosted a bit at my college apartment in St Louis.

Interests

I'm a film buff in a huge way. Can go on for hours about the subject. Also love Literature, Philosophy, Music, Politics and History. Honestly though, I tend to be excited about pretty much everything. Will have a conversation about almost literally anything. Even (especially) if it is something I don't know too much about yet.

Also really into powerlifting and starting to learn parkour.

• arts
• literature
• theater
• architecture
• photography
• acting
• beauty
• politics
• music
• swimming
• history
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

All of this is so far from inclusive...

Movies (this is hard): Wild Strawberries (any Ingmar Bergman really), pretty much anything Czech (especially Daisies or Valerie and Her Week of Wonders), Five Easy Pieces, Once Upon a Time in the West, The Red Shoes, Lawrence of Arabia, La Dolce Vita (same deal with Federico Fellini as Bergman), Z, El Topo, Last Year at Marienbad, La Jetee, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, Beauty and the Beast (Cocteau version), Branded to Kill, Three Colors Trilogy, Anatomy of a Murder, Drive, The Great Beauty, Shame, Her, The Hunt, Run Lola Run, Bicycle Thieves, Dead Man, Princess Mononoke, Spirit of he Beehive, 400 Blows, Leningrad Cowboys, Tale of Tales, In Bruges, Amadeus, Ashes and Diamonds, Eyes Without a Face, Le Samourai, Viridiana, Wings of Desire, Children of Paradise, Decameron, Flowers of Saint Francis, Mean Streets, Manhattan, If..., Streetcar Named Desire, Only Lovers Left Alive, My Darling Clementine, Withnail and I, Sunset Boulevard, LA Confidential, Boogie Nights, Barry Lyndon, Inside Llewyn Davis, Being There, Nashville, The Gold Rush, Sunrise, The Man Who Would Be King, Chinatown
Here's a rough Great Movies list on Letterboxd (which needs to be updated a bit to be honest)
http://letterboxd.com/theplotislost/list/ben-lubens-great-movies/

Music: Pulp, The Smiths, Black Marble, Childish Gambino, David Bowie, Belle and Sebastian, The XX, togetherPANGEA, Ezra Furman, gardens & villa, Nick Drake, Anamanaguchi, The Knife, Chvches, Mogwai, The Clash, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Death Grips, Bosnian Rainbows, Spirit Vine, Chance the Rapper, Run the Jewels, The Auteurs, Blur, The Shins, Radiohead, Wildcat Wildcat,Haim, Manic Street Preachers, Kenickie, Elastica, Mice Parade, Muse, Ariel Pink, Dead Ships, Nick Cave, The Knocks. Tend to be into a little bit of everything.

Books (also hard, I'll just list some authors): Italo Calvino, Camus, Kierkegaard, Goethe, Robert Graves, Jean Toomer, Alberto Moravia, Dostoevsky, Christopher Moore (don't judge), Paul Muldoon, Shakespeare, Pynchon, Maichel Houellebach, Nabakov, Arthur C Clark, Machiavelli, Kafka, Gogol, Neal Stephenson, Hesse, Blake (my favorite poet), Yeats, Eilean Ni Chuilleanain, Seamus Heaney, Ciaron Carson, Thomas Kinsella, Wallace Stevens, Adorno, Rushdie, William Gibson, Tom Stoppard, Dumas, Homer, Aeschylus, Orwell, Sophocles.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Took a trip to the Galapagos and had a genuinely profound moment with a sea lion where I actually felt at one with nature. Found him in a lagoon and ended up about 3 feet away. Just locked eyes with him for like a full minute. Then I blinked and he was gone. He had started swimming around me in a circle. Kept at it for a good 15 seconds before swimming away. Should have been uneasy, but it was too damn magical.

Also saw Cthulhu once, but that is a different story...

Teach, Learn, Share

I tend to collect interests, so I would love to give anyone a breakdown or lesson on something I love. Would happily teach guests about Philosophy, Film, Theater (acting), or anything like that.

Also willing to teach Film based photography, resources permitting.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Armenia, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

United Kingdom, United States