CURRENT MISSION

to broaden knowledge of people, cultures, and ideas through travel, first-hand experience, and self-education

ABOUT ME

I am a painter and sculptor, by profession and at heart. I do a lot of things besides art, but I like to be creative wherever possible.

I absolutely love challenges, trying new things. Similarly, I like puzzles and equations, searching for patterns, finding ideas, and tasting weird foods.

I enjoy real and authentic connection and conversation. I enjoy going out, seeing live performance, and being spontaneous or adventurous. And I also can write in my notebook for hours without getting bored, stay in and cook in my pajamas...

There is a time for everything. I like a decent balance of order as well as chaos in life, as I think it is meant to be this way.

PHILOSOPHY

I'm interested in intentionality and power.
I value directness and boldness, without rudeness.
Maybe I accept rudeness only when paired with sincerity.

I think I generally live and travel adaptively, understanding that surprises are always waiting for us, and that what we make out of whatever comes is what later defines us and our experiences. I believe in the individual, I enjoy quarks, and I believe in the power of the individual to create life and find resources.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I think life is about sharing in all kinds of ways, and CS is a great tool for this, whether hosting or traveling.

Interests

I like Language (Linguistics as well as the concept of communication, relation or expression.
Literature, History, Art, Philosophy.
Being active, and stimulating thought, motivations, activity...
Nature is very important to me.

I like simple things... like good tomatoes or crusty chewy bread. Silence. Dirt. the ocean. Banjo Music.
Lots of things of low or high real significance in life, really. I like understanding things and learning things even in subjects that aren't favorites.

• arts
• literature
• performing arts
• education
• environment
• cooking
• traveling
• puzzles
• music
• teaching
• history

Music, Movies, and Books

There is good music from every genre... but some favorites/influences are:
Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, Talking Heads, Lou Reed, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, The Animal Collective, Pink Floyd, The Police, Godspeed You Black Emperor! Erik Satie, Converge (Jane Doe), ... A lot of jazz, swing, and blues, alternative rock. Some reggae. World music. Classical piano and violin... I also like The Refused and the early hardcore or punk bands, especially those who make use of brass instruments.
I have a serious weakness for all 80's music.

Books?
I like the classics a lot and I like intellectual and philosophical reads.
Joyce, Camus, Sartre, Luigi Pirandello's "One No One and One Hundred Thousand". "I and Thou," (Ich und Du) by Martin Buber.
And provocative, emotionally evocative writing:
Sylvia Plath can rattle your bones! Calvino's "Invisible Cities" I love. Charles Simic, Rilke, Marquez, Kafka. Lots more, can't list them all.
"My Stroke of Insight" by Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroscientist who had a stroke.

I like creative, original, eerie, gritty, or colorful films. Waking Life. Como Agua Para Chocolate. Cool Hand Luke, Dancer in the Dark, Wings of Desire, Billy Elliot. Stanley Kubric, Jim Jarmusch, Coppola, von Trier.
I also love DC and Marvel Comics and their films.
And Star Trek: live long and prosper.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I hitchhiked at night once, in a snow/ice/lightning and thunder storm.... That was interesting!

I hitchhiked from Vermont, USA to the Panama Canal and back. But my favorite experiences where the people I met not places or sights. I've found that i sometimes forget things I've seen, but I never forget who I'm with and how I experience an environment.

Teach, Learn, Share

One of my personal philosophies is also not to expect anything except that I will always learn something.

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, San Marino, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands, United States

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