CURRENT MISSION

Waging war on hipster malaise

ABOUT ME

I usually direct my energy into having fun adventures, or creating adventures for other people. I'm secretly and insanely driven, but people don't pick up on this unless they're paying close attention because I'm also pretty relaxed and silly. My first teaching job was at a high school for kids who got kicked out of alternative schools (that's very very bad). Most of them were addicted to hard drugs. Many of them had gnarly criminal records. I danced and sang for them. We loved and hated each other. It was bad for me, and I got a "normal" teaching job (at a public school in a low-income neighborhood- we still go on lockdown from time to time), but I still find myself craving the old adrenaline rush. I plan events (such as 75-person haiku parties at downtown art galleries), plot social engineering experiments that use my students as guinea pigs, gallivant around my beloved neighborhood (Seattle's Capitol Hill--watch "Singles" to visualize it), and rock out at concerts. Also, I read and read and read.

PHILOSOPHY

Right now, Ecclesiastes. Before you non-religious folk turn wary, consider this: 1)we're all gonna die, and there is nothing we can do to alter that, so we might as well eat, drink, and enjoy what we find to do, right? 2)There is nothing new under the sun. 3)As for morality, the 10 Commandments are good for you. Don't lie, don't work one day of the week, don't sleep with your neighbor's wife, don't steal, etc. 4)People who think they know, don't. Really, this is the only philosophy I can't refute.

Что привело меня на Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Because I'm on summer vacation, I have a brief window of availability for hosting! As of August 27th, I will be out of commission again, except for weekends.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

All around the [American] west coast, a little in Scotland and Germany, Nicaragua, and quite successfully in Brooklyn.

Интересы

BOOKS, especially those written between 1840 and 1930. Anna Karenina's my favorite.
Music, especially the live kind. (alt-country, folk, rock, jazz, hip hop- as long as it's good, I'll listen.)
The role of Public Education in a Democracy. Really, I'm sometimes obsessed.
Society. Making sweeping generalizations about it.

• arts
• books
• singing
• concerts
• education
• partying
• drinking
• music
• jazz
• teaching
• engineering
• history
• mountains

Музыка, кино и книги

books: anna karenina, the perks of being a wallflower, the house of mirth, moby dick, the catcher in the rye, mating and mortals (by norman rush), leaves of grass, the power of one, little women, the brothers karamozov, the brothers K, middlesex, paul johnson's a history of the american people, and many many more.
movies: amelie, the godfather, moonstruck, the commitments, and lately, the band's visit.
music: i fall in love with something new every month or so, but I always come back to stevie wonder, the beatles, otis redding, and aretha franklin. I am enthusiastically in favor of the neo-soul revival.

Классная вещь, которую я сделал(-а)

The mountains around Haines, Alaska. I've gone on many adventures, and done many bold things, but I have never been as awestruck as I was by those mountains. I was there for 5 days, and my mind didn't even start comprehending them.

Учу, учусь, делюсь опытом и информацией

Well, during one month last year, I taught my 9th and 10th graders about the assassination of Julius Caesar, the fall of Rome, the Renaissance, enjambment, similes and metaphors, and Jonathan Glazer's "Rabbit in the Headlights" (UNKLE with Thom Yorke singing--youtube it!) music video. They've read Plutarch, Machiavelli, and e.e. cummings. I know a little about a lot of things because I've taught every kind of high school history and english class possible. Teach me more!!

Где я побывал(-а)

Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Guatemala, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom

Где я жил(-а)

Nicaragua, United Kingdom, United States

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