Just your average goofy, over-intellectual, bearded college graduate looking for friends and adventures in the world. ENFP/ENTP. Believe in the arts, love the outdoors, committed to social justice.

Grew up in Mass., graduated from Carleton College in Minnesota, and moved to Portland this year after a brief stint in NYC and some time back home in Mass.

I work at a fancy Peruvian restaurant in Portland to pay the bills. Thinking about going to graduate school for Urban Studies or Planning. Or something more esoteric like Applied Theatre.

Breathe. Smile. Repeat.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm on Couchsurfing to find friend ships with lovely people as I venture from Portland to other cities in the Western US. Being from the East Coast, I don't have much of a network of friends and family to stay with out West, so Couchsurfing presents a lovely opportunity to meet folks out here and travel low-cost.

Down the road, I also hope to do some traveling in Europe, South Asia, and South America. Hopefully this will come in handy then too!

Interests

Wondering and wandering, pondering and pandering...

I love taking pictures, practicing yoga, sitting in the coffee shop with a pile of books and a mocha at Powell's in Portland, walking in forests, biking around cities, and trying restaurants of all types! I occasionally trying to write creatively, be it a poem or a play.

Also love baseball, a cappella music, theater, Shakespeare, great books, radio (NPR!), Magic the Gathering, playing pick-up soccer, softball and basketball, and movies!

More vocationally, I'm fascinated by how people shape their communities in line with their values--from non-profits to community organizing to city planning to local, state, and national politics. How can I be an effective agent for social justice in helping to create healthy, sustainable communities? I'm particularly curious to learn more about urban agriculture. May want to go to graduate school to explore these ideas and questions down the road.

• arts
• books
• theater
• performing arts
• acting
• beauty
• ethics
• dining
• coffee
• yoga
• walking
• shopping
• politics
• movies
• traveling
• magic
• music
• trumpet
• a cappella
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• baseball
• basketball
• soccer
• softball
• agriculture
• ecology
• economics
• public policy

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: Being Peace, Siddhartha, Letters to My Son, Shakespeare, Bill Bryson, The Swerve, Billy Collins, Where the Red Fern Grows.

Movies: Into the Wild, Castaway, Braveheart, Beasts of the Southern Wild, A Beautiful Mind, James Bond films, Lord of the Rings, Boyhood. Anything that's showing at Living Room.

TV Shows: West Wing, House, Fringe. Hopeing to get into Game of Thrones, House of Cards, True Detective and Orange Is the New Black eventually.

Recently, music has been lots of: Lake Street Dive, San Fermin, Paper Bird, Sam Smith, & Hozier.

But I Also Love: Aloe Blacc, Jack Johnson, Michael Bublé, John Mayer, Mumford and Sons, the Head and the Heart, Of Monsters and Men, U2, the Beatles, Mayer Hawthorne, Stevie Wonder, Paper Bird, Bob Dylan, Bon Iver, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Lupe Fiasco, Ray Lamontagne, the Lumineers.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Spending a summer WWOOFing in southern France was an amazing and transformative experience for me. It reaffirmed for me my value of a direct connection to the land, consideration of the ecology, ethics, and economics of food systems, and the beauty of living a simpler life. I'm curious how the values and spirit of that sort of agrarian lifestyle--the peace of mind, the sustainable agriculture, the rich sense of nature--can manifest in cities.

Teach, Learn, Share

I speak English fluently.
I can do some beatboxing, and vocal percussion.
I have a ton of experience working with Shakespeare's texts in analysis and performance.
In general I've spent a lot of time in the theater and have experience in voice work, movement, and acting training that I'm happy to share with others.

I'm eager to learn how to play the trumpet.
I'm always curious to learn about the lives and values of folks whose careers have some element of social justice.
I'm particularly eager and curious to meet folks involved in urban, community, and regional planning, and those who shape or work on public policy that affects those fields.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Gregarious enthusiasm, courtesy, kindness, and curiosity!

Countries I’ve Visited

England, France, Italy

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States