CURRENT MISSION

"We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men." -Herman Melville There is much to be learned from humanity... much to be done FOR humanity. My "current mission" is a continuing one - to teach

ABOUT ME

I used to model, so I have tons of pictures of myself.. that's about all I got from the experience though :o).
I run a small company here in Singapore at the moment. It keeps me busy and brings me joy :o).
What else is there about me? Well, I have been diagnosed with wanderlust, and it's chronic.
At 15, I made a vow to myself to live my life in a way that I would never say my "coulda, woulda, shouldas", and that vow's not lost its importance to me. I still make my decisions based on how they might impact my future feelings of regret.
I like learning from people. I like talking to strangers, hearing people's thoughts, spending time with other people's grandma's (don't get me wrong, my grandma's pretty kewl too, but you get the point).
I live in the desert partly because my mood is very dependant on the weather. I don't like cold, and I don't like rain (with the exception, maybe of a sun shower). I'm like a plant, I need the sun, and tons of it... even if I'm not constantly in it (i.e. - summer time here, when it's just torture to be outside). I have to admit that even during those times, I'm still appreciative of the sun - because at least it's still bright.
I have a tendency to ramble, and can be VERY long-winded. Oh, you couldn't tell?

PHILOSOPHY

I'm pretty new-agey. I very much subscribe to the belief that our lives are what we make of them. That if we sit back and just ride along, that we are missing out on things. I also believe that our lives are enriched by the lives we touch and the people we allow to call us "friend". So I venture out. Some of my most rewarding experiences came out of people I met under weird circumstances. I'm doing my part to make an impact on people's lives and in the process learn lessons along the way.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've couchsurfed a couple of times in the past. The last time was when I spent about a week with the family of this guy I met over the Millennium New Year in Prague. So I'm in this club, and walking through the place, and I spot this brown person. I'd been traveling for about a month and a half at that point, and hadn't come across many black folk. So, excited, I hurry over to the man - not even sure if he spoke a word of English and greeted him with a "BROTHAMAN!!!" :o). Of course, he was Indian. Isn't that funny? Anyhoo, I rang in the following new year at his family's place. Lovely lovely people they were.

Interests

I would get my private pilot's license if I had the money to do so... so it's not a "Hobby", but aviation is definitely an interest of mine. I'm a geek, so I can get into random techie stuff. I used to be big into swing dancing, but it isn't as easy to find a Lindy Hop escape in the southwest as it was in the northeast. Through projects at school, I've learned how to use a mill and a lathe. I get into little projects where I machine my own knicknacks. It's pretty funny, I just machined myself a styllus for my PalmPilot. What else is there? Well, I'm also trying to bring rollerskating back. Yeah, I seriously do get out there on some rollerskates. The funny thing is, I'm a horrrrible rollerskater. But I keep at it :o). Now that I think about it, maybe I'm like a 70s junkie or something because I did just add to my vinyl collection recently as well (bought a Technics turntable last year).

• dancing
• swing dancing
• running
• modeling
• walking
• clubbing
• aviation
• traveling

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: I have to admit that I am not much of a reader outside of textbooks. When I do read, I'm more of a short story type. I like Roald Dahl's stuff. He's twisted (I love it), and Jhumpa Lahiri's first book was good.

Movies: I like comedies. Contemporary comedies as well as stuff that came out around when I was a kid. Eddie Murphy could do no wrong in the 80s, so his early stuff as well as movies like Airplane, the Princess Bride I don't really like horror movies (because I'm one of those chicks who'll actually scream or jump at a scary part). I can get into a political drama (I saw Syriana thrice in the theatre after talking a few friends into seeing it). I get into sad dramas too, like The Shawshank Redemption, The Color Purple, Flash Gordon, Schindler's List... Crash. Thrillers with twisty turny plots are great too, like Fight Club, The Prestige, Se7en, Fracture.

Music: I'm big into classic rock (Led Zeppelin, Allman Brothers Band, Crosby Stills Nash and Young.... Lynyrd Skynyrd, Simon and Garfunkel - if they even count. The list goes on). Since moving to Arizona, I've started to get into country music (you can't escape it). That's a hard one to admit to though :o). Being West Indian, of course I enjoy reggae, calypso, soca... even reggaeton. C'mon, I'm from the Bronx, so of course Hip Hop/Rap (not the current stuff though - it's generally crap NOW). R&B (Babyface, Anita Baker, Aaliyah, Tevin Campbell). Brit pop The Smiths are one of my absolute favourites, the Cure, Manic Street Preachers, Blur, Bush... though most Brits'd be like "Who?", Pulp Neosoul (Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Maxwell, D'Angelo). Motown era stuff (Jackson 5, Wilson Picket, Marvin Gaye, etc.) Swing (yeah, I have a Glenn Miller album - vinyl). Funk (i.e. - Rick James, Parliament), Disco even. I can get into Nina Simone too. 80s - almost anything/everything, pop and otherwise (Prince, ACDC, Whitney, Def Lepard(sp?)... they're in concert with Journey right now, that should be interesting). Yeah, I'm kewl with almost anything 80s. And The Darkness, because they channel that era. Mandopop (Jolin Tsai, Nic Teo, Jay Chou). I was raised on gospel (did you know Elvis has a gospel album). Coming up, there were many incarnations of it playing in the house - country gospel, caribbean gospel, Mahalia Jackson-type black American gospel. And as time went on, "updated" gospel... like Kirk Franklin and Switchfoot). Yeah, my music tastes are pretty varied. There are only a few genres that I can't bear. For instance, I am NOT a fan of techno, garage, "Industrial", trance... But I'm laid-back, so I can even get into bhangra music. Oh, and I like Tom Lehrer too. That's a random one. It would be great to find other Tom Lehrer fans out there. I've turned a few people into Tom Lehrer fans, but have only once come across another. Maybe they're all in hiding... in hiding in some "Home for the Aged" somewhere.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm young, my "wisdom" is a bit limited :o). But I am aware of that, so I think a lesson that I can teach is the value of being receptive. If we know too much, then there's nothing to learn, right? I've seen that to be true.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Belgium, Bermuda, Cambodia, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Viet Nam, Virgin Islands, U.S.

Countries I’ve Lived In

Singapore, United Kingdom, United States

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