CURRENT MISSION

To go where I'm called to go, meet people, learn what I need to learn, then move on.

ABOUT ME

I believe that my hair is brown, but I can't comment on that with any authority because I'm colour blind. It may as well be red or green, and frankly I hope it is. My eyes are certainly not brown.
I live in Winnipeg, where I keep myself very busy with writing, grassroots activism, special needs work (I worked in a public high school for seven months this year!) writing and producing independent theatre.
Last summer, I wrote and produced a play which was a murder mystery and dark comedy about my hometown (a reviewer compared it to Woody Allen and Quentin Tarantino, which is now my claim to fame). It is now time for me to get out of town for a bit. I am putting a whole bunch of stuff in a backpack and I'm hitting the road from mid-June to mid-September. For more, see my mission statement.

PHILOSOPHY

My philosophy will not fit into this box. If we hang out for a bit, you may get a better sense of what I'm about.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'm new to it. For now: I'm traveling. Once I'm home, I'll do my best to free up my couch, plus I'm happy to meet travelers for coffee and show you around Winnipeg.

Interests

Playing the harmonica is the only thing I'm interested in. And practicing yoga. And climbing things. I also like cooking healthy food. But if you want to talk about the history or politics of the Middle East, that's fine - it's often a good way to kill a couple of hours. I also like talking about the nature of existence. If you play the guitar, maybe we can jam.

• writing
• dining
• cooking
• coffee
• yoga
• politics
• traveling
• socializing
• guitar
• backpacking
• boxing
• rock climbing
• history

Music, Movies, and Books

I saw Slumdog Millionaire recently. That was brilliant. I have watched Back to the Future, Beetlejuice and Ferris Bueller's Day Off more than once. I like documentaries like The End of Suburbia, Crude Awakening (both about oil peak), The Take (by Avi Lewis + Naomi Klein), Blue Vinyl, Slingshot Hip Hop (about Palestinian Hip Hop), Arna's Children, Paradise Now (that last is not a documentary).
I liked Batman Begins and Dark Knight the first time I saw them but not the second. I liked The Prestige - actually, I'm a big fan of Michael Caine. Have you seen Noises Off?
I like some Coen Brothers - Big Lebowski, Fargo, O Brother. NOT Burn After Reading.
Pulp Fiction = very inspiring.
I like The Temple of My Familiar by Alice Walker. I like Starhawk's book The Fifth Sacred Thing.
I like music by my friends Patrick Keenan, Ian La Rue, the Magnificent Sevens, The Fugitives (check them out, they all have myspace pages), CR Avery, I like Pavement, Ween, Dandy Warhols. I loved the Beatles until I saw Across the Universe, which turned me off them forever. Bob Dylan is brilliant. Neutral Milk Hotel are a favorite. Belle and Sebastien. And I like the movies of my friend Noam Gonick: Hey Happy, Stryker. And Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg. Everything he says about Winnipeg is true.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The most amazing thing I've seen is people opening themselves up to perspectives that they had previously been closed to. I have seen this more than once and it's beautiful.
And what have I done? I wrote a one-man-show once and performed it in Winnipeg, Montreal, Toronto, Minneapolis, Vancouver and NYC. But that seems obvious. Ultimately, what I've done is not important.

Teach, Learn, Share

I have things I can teach you if you want. For more see the philosophy section. You also have things to teach me.

Oh - and if you need any dramaturgy or advice on writing...