I grew up in rural Southern Oregon, USA, about 25 miles from where I live now. Moved "away" (to Portland, OR) for school, where I met my wife, lived out in the Columbia gorge for a few years, then to our current house. We have two kids, 9 and 11 now, who were born in our living room and who homeschool (unschool, as my daughter would be quick to clarify.)

Some of my favorite places in the world are libraries; I love being able to wander in the stacks, sit and read on grey winter afternoons, find books about fascinating things I've never thought about before. When I lived in Portland (a big city for me) I constantly missed living in the country. Now that I've been back in the country for a while, I miss big city university libraries, and easy access to more hustle and bustle when wanted.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm interested in less impersonal travel experiences.

Interests

*So* many interests and so little time. I tend to be a bit of a serial hobbiest. Right now I'm getting back into baking bread, trying to learn to weld with my daughter, and working on various home improvement projects (chicken coop upgrade, another grape trellis, various gates to make, etc etc..)

At various points in my life I've been pretty into ceramics, juggling, aikido, gardening, flint knapping, bicycling (transport oriented, not racing or anything,) theatre, brewing, etc. etc..

• baking
• gardening
• reading
• traveling
• pottery
• juggling
• unschooling
• permaculture
• spanish language

Music, Movies, and Books

I mostly grew up reading sci-fi/fantasy; love Octavia Butler, Kim Stanley Robinson, Ursula LeGuin, Mary Doria Russell, Neal Stephenson, Leonard Richardson, R. A. McAvoy, many more in that vein.

I read more non-fiction these days. Often pop science or related, like "Parasite Rex," Michael Pollen, Oliver Sacks, etc.. Or politics/economics crossover like "Debt," or "Seeing Like a State" by James Scott. I often like books that go in depth about something, even if I don't really follow through. There is an amazing book by Carole Deppe called "Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties" that I love dearly, although I will likely never follow through and actually try and do it.

Favorites in more mainstream fiction are "The Bone People" by Keri Hulme, "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves" by Karen Joy Fowler, Michael Chabon's stuff, Italo Calvino, Salman Rushdie (especially lighter, like "Haroon and the Sea of Stories"), John Crowley, Isabel Allende.

Favorite webcomics; xkcd, Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, Nimona, Help Us Great Warrior.

I find I'm having a harder time listing favorite movies; I tend to enjoy character driven (or at least character respecting) movies. If there's no one in the movie that feels real I have a hard time enjoying it. But at the same time I often like more magical realism flavor like "The City of Lost Children." I guess maybe I like watching most things but like critiquing them more :)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I don't know if it is amazing, exactly, but I am proud of the bicycle frame I built. It is a bamboo frame that I made in a workshop in San Francisco a few years ago.

Teach, Learn, Share

How much time I have available to teach, learn, share or just hang out with guests depends a lot on what is going on in our lives during your visit.

We have lots of books, and a good selection of board games, cards, etc. that you are welcome to read/play/use while staying with us. We have friendly cats (2), amusing chickens to watch and/or feed, an inquisitive child who is usually up for almost anything and a more reserved child who is almost always up for playing video games.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland