CURRENT MISSION

"Absorb as much about politics, permaculture, persons, and places as possible now, that I may be a useful humanoid later."

ABOUT ME

This blurb makes the other sections somewhat redundant, but I’m not sure how else to write it, so:

My name is Brendan Tucker. I was spawned in Salem, Massachusetts but grew up in a shitty little Ohio suburb near Cleveland. I have an aversion to shitty little suburbs.

I graduated from Oberlin College in 2010, majoring in Biology and Philosophy. If you’re not careful, I will try to pull you into long conversations about obscure organisms that only the abjectly nerdy know or care about and then go on about how the knowledge we think we have about them has no rational basis. But then I’ll buy you a drink.

I am obsessive politics and spend a disproportionate amount of time reading and talking about theory, absorbing news, and...you know, actually trying to *do* political things. Over the past ten years, I've managed a jagged political jig, moving from bland liberalism in my teen years, spending maybe one confused month in my early twenties as a communist, and finally settling firmly into an anti-civilization anarchist perspective in the past few years.

I practice a mostly vegan diet - though will eat animal products on occasions when I feel it is less exploitative - and chaired the "animal rights" group at my college.

I am currently trying to write a dystopic fantasy/science-fiction novel and have a lot of geeky shit bouncing around my skullspace at any given moment.

I now live in Oakland, California, where I was involved in housing rights organizing this past year, and I now focus on doing a political talk show on pirate radio, volunteering at a domestic violence crisis line, and work on our housing cooperative's urban garden. Existential dread is being kept at bay thus far.

PHILOSOPHY

I'm a huge skeptic/absurdist: I don't think humans are capable of truly knowing much of anything, and I think this means everyone is, to some degree, delusional. But that's okay - it's just the only way to live, and I don't think it has to be depressing or frightening. Pick a delusion, make it a pretty one, and run with it. I very well may be a prophet of Azathoth.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I surfed intermittently from 2010 to 2011 as I worked on farms and intentional communities through the WWOOF program at various places in the U.S. Good times, to be sure.

I took a break from CS as I lived overseas in Southeast Asia for a year (actually, I tried once or twice to surf, but it didn't end up working out).

It's been a bit one-sided so far, and I look forward to having a chance to host now that I have a semi-permanent residence!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

As said, I've started getting my feet wet through CS during my traveling described above. My experience has honestly been nothing but positive, and I hope to pay it forward soon.

Interests

Philosophy: I spend a lot of time thinking and reading about philosophy and know mostly about the White Boy tradition of thought. I like to engage people in philosophical conversations in a way that I hope doesn't come across as pedantic or pretentious - I just like to know what people think and why.

Science: Though I've shed my hard-nosed science mentality, I still like learning about it in a different way.

Anarchism/Permaculture: I passionately believe that non-hierarchical social organization based on becoming a stable and balanced part of the local ecosystem is the most ethical way to live. I hope to soon live on a land project and put this into practice!

Writing: Probably the only artform I have any real talent for, I have tried to more seriously develop it in the past year or so. As said, I'm working on a novel with the dubious goal of combining everything I care about into one project, but I also like to blog, journal, and churn out scribbles here and there.

Politics/Journalism: The best pornography out there. I devour news, both the propaganda and the genuine journalism, pretty ravenously on a daily basis and enjoy reading anarchist political theory. I also have a radio show: freeradicalradio.tumblr.com

Music: I can't do much more than bang a vague beat on a drumkit, but I adore listening and attending live performances.

Vegan Cooking and Culture: I eat beans.

Hiking/Biking/Yoga: I'm not much for competitive sports, but I like to be active. Without motion, my fragile grip on sanity starts to slip, you see. I also plan to bike the East Coast this year.

Craft Beer: Epicureanism at its finest! I am a lover of Stone, Flying Dog, Dogfish Head, Founders, and Hoppin' Frog breweries, and I plan on getting into homebrewing as soon as reasonably possible.

• animals
• dogs
• culture
• writing
• books
• folklore
• cooking
• beer
• vegan
• yoga
• dieting
• running
• working out
• drinking
• flying
• gardening
• politics
• news
• reading
• traveling
• homebrewing
• blogging
• music
• cycling
• hiking
• scuba diving
• sports
• biology
• journalism
• science
• volunteering
• wwoof

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies:
2001: A Space Odyssey, Dr. Strangelove, The Room...

Music:
Frank Zappa, Ween, John McLaughlin (especially the Mahavishnu Orchestra), Mr. Bungle and every band that came out of it (Fantomas, Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant, Secret Chiefs 3, etc.), The Mars Volta and other Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Tom Waits, Hella, Les Claypool (Primus, Oysterhead, C2B3, Claypool's Frog Brigade and Fancy Band), Skerik, Zu, Swans, Sly Stone, Aesop Rock, Eyedea, Buckethead, Praxis and other Bill Laswell projects, John Zorn, Tool

Others are: Butthole Surfers, Pink Floyd, Pixies, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Weather Report, The Coup, The Headhunters, Herbie Hancock, Tim Fite, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Nirvana, Choking Victim, Leftover Crack, and The Clash

Books:
Elements of Refusal, The Myth of Sisyphus, The Gay Science, Pacifism As Pathology, Democracy for the Few, Chomsky On Anarchism, The Mysterious Stranger, Beyond Good And Evil, In Defense of Anarchism, In Cold Blood, As I Lay Dying, Madness and Civilization, House of Leaves, A Short History of Progress, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Only Revolutions, The Lord of the Rings, Watchmen, Brave New World, The Sandman, Winesburg, Ohio, Into The Wild, The Capitalist Manifesto

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I SCUBA dived several times, most notably in Indonesia - I don't have the time or money to seriously pursue it right now - but I absolutely loved it and hope to do it again as soon as possible.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can cook and will definitely cook for anyone I host or who hosts me! I also love fermenting things and talking about doing that/doing it with people. Similarly, I love learning about cooking from others.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, France, Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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