CS

Hiya! I'm Caracal Raven Keithrafferty, born 11/11/92 at 4:16 AM. (11/11/92 (9+2=11) 4:16 (4+1+6=11)). From my early development to the present day, I've striven to become a Renaissance man, but not only in a personalized sense. I want to become someone capable in any situation. I have a love for a variety of topics. There are some basic core parts of myself that show up immediately.

Creativity is in the heart and soul of all I want to do. Creativity is what allows a person to explore unhindered. Creativity is the backbone of ingenuity, and ingenuity is what helps us grow. I love those with wit and cleverness, and when a person shows me their art or passion, I can't help but be drawn to it. I like to see my own self as both clever and genuine, but that's a little contradictory. In D&D terms, just look at me as Chaotic Good, and that should be a good enough descriptor! (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChaoticGood) I show my honest face and intentions immediately, and it can sometimes be seen as a bit intense for people who are not open themselves. The world builds lots of walls, but sometimes they crumble with just a “Hello.”

More than my love for creativity is my love for empathy. It is something that the world sorely lacks, but it is the thing that will save it. Helping others, volunteering, making friends, and being excellent to each other are truly valuable. I embrace emotional depth, and try to live without skepticism, but still with alertness and awareness. Seeing life through the eyes of another is a particularly powerful experience, and a valuable one at that!

I have a passion for science, and know it's true value. Topics like Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry, and Physics all are too cool to not explore. I have a little bit of a science background, having taken some of the early core Mech. Eng. classes at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I worked in a lab for a few months doing Microfluidics work with an ecologically-based focus. I was helping record tiny 20-30 micron wide droplets of oil and water (for reference, a human hair is around 100 microns thick!). We would then shoot these droplets at zooplankton and see their reactions to different substances. I want to become an actual scientist some day, not just a science fan. There is so much to learn, and I want to take it all in!

I love writing, and during my travels I will be making headway on my intended sci-fi book set in the near future. I'll be basing the characters in it on all the significant people in my life. The topic is somewhat open right now, but I've got plenty of notes and ideas; the hard part is transforming those into full sentences! As of August 28th, I am a published poet in a family anthology of writings! (http://www.amazon.com/dp/1514845695/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_awdo_oDC4vb07ERP3F) I've written some lyrics, and am doing much more as I progress along in my musical exploration.

I have a healthy degree of romanticism in my life. I love to live for experience. Whether good or bad, I am glad to at least be alive to see things. I do still have a dose of pragmatism too, so that I'm not always duped when taken advantage of. But from what I've been told, traveling is the best way to see the good in people in the world!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm on Couchsurfing for three types of interaction: self, another, and a group. I'm embarking on my first trip out West on September 27th, and through this journey I hope to experience something new for once. I've lived in Racine, WI and Milwaukee for too long. The farthest I've been from home has been to Chicago for family. The world is much, much larger than a 3 hour drive from home. In December I will be leaving back out West, this time to Seattle. There isn't a return date yet for that.

Here's my WWOOF profile if you're interested!
https://wwoofusa.org/wwoofer/caracal11/

Through interaction with self, I will discover ideas about myself I never understood before. During a 2 year plight of self riddled with anxiety and depression, I couldn't stand being around myself. I had thought on leaving as a method of running away from me. But I know that a mindset like that is unreasonable. Now I'm finally comfortable with me. Change takes time, but doing so is necessary for the betterment of self.

Through interaction with others, I will form good friends, good connections, and good teachers. The kindness and love the world has to offer is bountiful and beautiful. Friends are the ones that help me up, connections are the ones that keep me going, and teachers are the ones that help me develop. Not everything will be easy, and it's the challenges along the way that will teach me; it's just easier sometimes when you have someone you can trust.

Through interaction with groups, I will learn what it's like to be in a different culture. Social dynamics and interactions interest me to a very high degree. There will be a large number of unfamiliar situations I will be in, so I intend to mesh with them as well as I can.

Interests

My interests are great and varied, and I will be developing them quite a lot during my travels, as free time will finally be in abundance in my life. If you've read this far, you can probably guess that I love to collect skills. If I can take a small class on breakdancing for free, why not try it? If there's a seminar on the importance of comic books in the late 80's, why not check it out? I approach the world with an open mind, one yearning for new things to soak up. Some of the skills I will hone, develop, and learn include guitar, melodeon, writing, reading, blogging, german, detail painting, and networking. These are just the skills I can learn on my own. I can only imagine the things I will learn in permacultural terms if I happen to get to volunteer on a farm!

• cats
• arts
• culture
• writing
• books
• poetry
• photography
• make up
• running
• shopping
• reading
• traveling
• blogging
• painting
• leatherworking
• guitar
• business
• chemistry
• teaching
• engineering
• physics
• science
• volunteering
• wwoof
• parks

Music, Movies, and Books

My love for music ranges among a large number of genres. My roots are in 90's alternative rock, and 80's hits. My love for those are mostly nostalgia-based now. I've started exploring into indie bands and I sometimes spin EDM and trance when I DJ (which isn't too often, but I do when I can). Just as well, on my journey I will be learning guitar. I'm bringing a small squeezebox melodeon with me. I know I will initially sound like cats on a chalkboard, but hopefully I will eventually move onto a Romantic Italian night sound instead. As long as I maintain my laptop properly, I should be able to run software for a program called FamiTracker in which you can make chiptune music. I've played around with it for maybe 20 hours or so, but I have so much more I can learn.

As far as movies go, I'm a big fan of intelligent and meaningful dramas, witty humor, stunning visuals, and/or feel good films. To give an idea of the directors I adore, Tarantino flicks (True Romance!), Wes Anderson's (The Royal Tenenbaums!!), Miyazaki Films (Howl's Moving Castle!!!), and Kubrick movies (A Clockwork Orange!!!!) are all big for me. I'm also fond of science documentaries like Cosmos, Living Planet, and Planet Earth. And I can't leave it out, but The Road Warrior and Fury Road are both dear to me. Another important one is Good Will Hunting. Those should give an idea of the movies I love. I do enjoy movies by myself from time to time, but when they're with a friend, they're much better.

Reading. Oh man, reading is great. I have a large respect for anyone that loves books. They teach so much and bring you into a world that you've never experienced before. You get to read the creativity of another person's mind, and that is utterly fascinating. I generally stick with the same authors for a long while. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R. Donaldson have importance to me through their themes of reality vs. perception, the gift of kindness, and denying a calling yet still being drawn to it. The Dune Chronicles, The White Plague, and Dragon in the Sea by Frank Herbert are intense in their delivery and importance to me. Dune especially, via its exploration into man vs. nature, coming of age, and the true capacity of man's potential. I dig Kurt Vonnegut because we share the same birthday, but moreso because his type of dark humor and gallows humor sync well with my own writing style. He is an inspiration, tried and true. But more than anyone is Sir Terry Pratchett, the creator of the great Discworld, riding upon the the back of A'Tuin, drifting throughout space... I've read 19 of his books, and that's just a start. I am utterly in love with his humor, satire, creativity, and a list of two thousand other great things. If you want a good book to start with, check out Going Postal. It will thrust you into the city of Ankh-Morpork, and will function as a fine introduction to its not so savory denizens.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Two things I've done that are pretty amazing are involved in my volunteering I've done. The first volunteering I really did was through UW-Milwaukee in a program called Service Learning. We had to pick an organization to work with, and I chose Junior Achievement. In Junior Achievement, I taught children about civics, roles of business, government, and economic basics. This interested me, because when I was younger, I thought those were bland topics. But, when those subjects are presented in an engaging and interactive light, they can actually be quite fun! That volunteering really gave me a confidence boost in my interest in becoming a teacher. I get along well with kids too, and teaching them is undeniably a good investment!

Service Learning inspired me to continue my volunteering. I eventually joined a program called Americorps. It helps students and young adults practice environmental stewardship and learn useful skills. Through the program, I learned to drive, I earned a Class A Sawyer Certificate and Level A Hazmat Safety Certificate, and I picked lots of invasive species, and cleaned up messy parks. It's hard work, but it's redeeming too.

Teach, Learn, Share

My skills are hard to list because I'm not particularly specialized in any category. I've worked with a very large number of different things, but never held onto a trade. That, combined with my modesty, prevent my true ability from being analyzed in a fully accurate light. Even still, here are some of the things I think I have some talent in.

Shipping and Handling. Through running my own craft business, and making a living by buying on craigslist and flipping items on eBay, I've become able to find good rates on postage costs. It's helped my organizational skills through necessity, and has taught me a bit in business terms.

Photography. I used to be an amateur photographer until my camera was stolen. My focus was portrait photography, and I also ventured into product photography too. I'll be bringing a camera with me on my journeys, and will be making a blog along with it!

Leatherworking. I've done a fair amount of novice leatherworking for a fair amount of time. I tooled some veg tanned leather and dyed it for friends by making wrist bracers. I've also made greaves and attempted a breastplate once, but that didn't end up too well. At my most recent job, I cut straps of leather, and also assembled things using rivets too. I'm a crafty bastard, and have a healthy amount of leatherworking experience; enough to talk shop at the very least.

Writing. This skill is quite a bit more subjective. Some people may view my wordsmithing as pretentious, whereas others may find it dull, and some may even find it tastefully Romanitic. In any case, writing is an interest of mine that turned into a hobby that will turn into a passion. I want to write one book at least and cross it off my bucket list. I thoroughly enjoy writing poetry and fake letters of recommendation.

General Contracting. I've got a fair set of skills in this department. I know my way around most power tools, and I can swing a hammer without smashing my fingers. I've done painting, vinyl siding, flooring installation, door installation, and other miscellaneous tasks. What I lack in knowledge or skill, I can typically make up for with intuition.

What I Can Share with Hosts

What I have to offer to hosts is myself. I'm a generalist, and try to find the best in the world. I can offer good company, help around the house, stories, friendliness, honesty, openness, adventure, humor, deep discussion, a love of science, art, an interest in environmental and ecological preservation, and many other things. The best part about me is myself as a whole, because I think I'm a pretty cool cat overall.

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States