CURRENT MISSION

Teaching kids not to be jerks when they grow up. Keeping sane and positive.

ABOUT ME

I like lots of things, and am relatively easily impressed. I don't like violence and am afraid of grizzly bears and religious fundamentalism. I grew up in NJ, went to and eventually dropped out of military school. Went to a tiny college in the woods of western MA, and then to Rutgers, where I majored in English and Medieval studies. Lived in a commune in New Orleans for a few months doing hurricane relief. Worked at Panera bread for a while, which was wonderful, and then lived in my car and traveled around the US for a few months, during which I was rejected at the Canadian border. Now I work teaching English and different perspectives to kids in Azerbaijan, with various degrees of success, staying positive as best I can.

PHILOSOPHY

Do I contradict myself? Very well, then, I contradict myself. (I am large, I contain multitudes).

To understand everything is to forgive everything.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'm happy to host anyone who wants to see a very typical Azeri town. I can also help point to other folks around the country who are great. I promise not to be a downer.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Just started

Interests

Anything I don't know about.

• cooking

Music, Movies, and Books

Lots of stuff, my first musical love was They Might Be Giants, for what thats worth. The best concerts I've been to have been 20 Minute Loop in San Francisco and Flogging Molly in NJ. I'm a bit of an English nerd for Faulkner, Nabokov, Joyce, and Fitzgerald. Gerard Manley Hopkins is probably my favorite poet. I also like crappy comics. Wong Kar Wai is my favorite director, The Little Mermaid was the first movie I saw in the theater, and I loved it. Rachel Getting Married was my favorite movie from last year, Mama Mia was my most hated, but I usually like musicals.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The most amazing things I've seen are people devoting themselves to others day after day without receiving great amounts of money or recognition in return. I have hiked the Grand Canyon from one side to the other and back, that was pretty excellent.

Teach, Learn, Share

Im doing my best to learn the accordion and cook, my best success has been jarring my own relish, but I've got a ways to go.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Turkey

Countries I’ve Lived In

Azerbaijan, United States