I'm a freelance writer who's spent the past 10 years living in San Francisco, a city I love but one that is submerged in money and, soon, sea water. I like to read, write, make music, talk and listen.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm heading across the country on the train in January, en route to the inauguration and then making my way back to San Francisco. I'm hoping to stop in many towns and cities along the way, to talk to hundreds of strangers, to share stories. I recognize that I've chosen to live in a bubble – the one that incapsulates the cities and coasts of this continent, and I'm trying to poke my head out.

Interests

Travel, obviously. People. Conversations. History. Skiing. Swimming. Playing basketball poorly. Ping Pong. Chess. Boggle. Reading out loud. Singing songs and banging on a guitar. Spending hours trying to teach my hands how to play piano. Dancing. Feeling.

• theater
• dancing
• cooking
• drinking
• reading
• live music
• learning
• talking
• hanging out
• listening
• thinking

Music, Movies, and Books

Never have been able to hang my hat on a favorite. They sort of come and go. I'd say at the moment my favorite:
-Movie is "World On a Wire," just saw "Arrival" and quite liked that. "Burden of Dreams" is wonderful. "Rope", "Citizen Kane""On the Waterfront" "Apocalypse Now""Holy Mountain".
-Book is the hardest. Maybe "Gravity's Rainbow" or "Infinite Jest", or the two taken together. I'm currently embarking on a long train journey through America, and carrying in my mind or bag as talismans: Joan Didion, Hunter Thompson, Studs Turkel, Plato's dialogues, Edmund Wilson, Gore Vidal, I.F. Stone, Andrew Kopkind, Warren Hinckle. Sinclair Lewis. William Gibson. Marshall McLuhan. Umberto Eco. Jessica Mitford.
-Music, for a long time I was in the "everything but country" camp but having discovered Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Marty Robbins, Townes Van Zant, Lee Hazelwood, John Prine...I kind of like country now too. Longtime jazz head, love Beethoven, Schubert. Love the Garcia Hunter songbook, John Coltrane may have been a god, Chuck Berry, the original viral video of a Fleet Foxes cover by the sisters who became First Aid Kit is one of the most haunting bits of music I've ever encountered. Arcade Fire. Bob Dylan. Leonard Cohen. The way Tom Waits sits in a chair. Otis Redding. Disco. Soul. R&B. Talking Heads. Jorge Ben.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I had a job in the great north woods (up near Grand Marais, MN)/ working as a cook for a spell/ but I never did like it all that much/and one day the axe just fell.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm compulsively contextualizing, and harbor a lot of obscure history in mind, and love to share it.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Whatever I've got.

Countries I’ve Visited

Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, China, Egypt, Germany, Ireland, Laos, Lebanon, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Turkey, Venezuela, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States, Venezuela