CURRENT MISSION

Obtain my MLA in Landscape Architecture

ABOUT ME

All-in-all...
I love to joke around and laugh, which means you'll usually see a smile on my face. I also tend to get animated when explaining things, which seems to amuse some people. I like to engage others and enjoy getting involved in "deep" conversations. I also enjoy listening to people explain their different viewpoints and experiences.

I'm always trying to learn new things about life, our environment, the mind, society, world events, technology, etc. The more you learn, the more you realize you don't know... weird how that works, huh?

I've always been an outdoor person and gravitate towards sunsets, crazy lightning storms, big mountain views, flowers, waterfalls, caves, and all the other weird nuances of nature. Hiking and kayaking are my methods of choice, but I'm always up for a different outdoor experience and trying something new.

The truth is... bio's are limited, so you just have to spend some time with me to get a real-life idea of who I am.

PHILOSOPHY

Keep an open mind and you just may learn something new.

Truly believe in yourself and good things happen.

Be kind and respectful to people with different beliefs or views. You don't have to agree with them, just try to respect them.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I love CS and convey this to others in hopes they will embrace the concept and join. I attend various CS meetings / gatherings and host other CS'ers.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Only CS'ed a few times so far, but have city-surfed alot...

Lived in big U.S. cities (New York City, Houston, Jacksonville, and New Brunswick, NJ) and little country towns (Makanda, IL-pop. 400 and Pocahontas, IA-pop. 800). Beyond the U.S. tour, I've enjoyed Canada (B.C.), Denmark (Aaarhus and Copenhagen), Germany (Berlin), Italy, (Rome, Verona, Venice, & Milan), Ireland (Dublin), Australia (Sydney & Canberra), and Peru (Cusco, Machu Pichu, and Lake Titikaka).

Interests

TRAVEL, sustainable design, hydroponics, Ralph Steadman, Earthships, hiking, camping, film/photography, horticulture, kayaking, caving, reading, documentaries, archeology, the environment, MAPS/cartography, meteorology, geology, the ego, eastern philosophy, LOA, foreign cultures, native cultures, innovation, world politics, history, screenwriting,...

OK, I'll stop there, but I have many more interests.

• design
• photography
• documentaries
• concerts
• festivals
• dancing
• environment
• cooking
• modeling
• partying
• clubbing
• gardening
• flowers
• politics
• technology
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• kayaking
• spelunking
• camping
• swimming
• archeology
• business
• cartography
• teaching
• geology
• history

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies:
Into the Wild, Stay, Naked, Blade Runner, Fight Club, Mirror Mask, A Box of Moonlight, Trainspotting, The Big Lebowski, 12 Monkeys, Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly, Raising Arizona, Snatch, Momento, Easy Rider, The Science of Sleep, The Fountain, Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind, What the Bleep Do we Know?, The Secret, ... um, I can never remember them all.

Music:
NEWER: TV on the Radio, Caribou, M83, Bon Iver, Black Mountain, The Cave Singers, Pink Mountaintops, Sun Kil Moon, Deerhunter, The Dodos, Battles, BlackMoth Super Rainbow, Elf Power, The Black Angles, Fever Ray, Chad Vangaalen, Deerhoof, Apparat, Ladytron, Bat for Lashes, Professor Murder, Bloc Party, Atlas Sound, Kings of Leon, LCD Soundsystem, Jose Gonzalez, Animal Collective, Puscifer, Girl Talk, Pelican, Devendra Banhart, Boards of Canada, Arcade Fire, !!!, Cloud Cult, Sky Cries Mary, Tool, APC, RATM, NIN, Porcupine Tree, Radiohead, Thom Yorke, Beck, Jane's Addiction, Porno for Pyros, Bran Van 3000, Pearl Jam, Widespread Panic, etc.
OLDER: Pink Floyd, The Pretty Things, James Brown, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Them, Cream, The Beatles, The Spencer Davis Group, etc., etc.

I need different music for different moods. I love to have people turn me on to new music, SO PLEASE MAKE SOME SUGGESTIONS!

Books:
Into the Wild, Nature as Healer, Freedom From the Known, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Call of the Wild, White Fang, Electric Koolaid Acid Test, The Adventure of Leadership, Celestine Prophecy, The Power of NOW, um....I'm drawing a bit of a blank for other titles.

Mag's:
Backpacker, Outside, NG Adventure, Mother Earth News, Mixer, The Week, The Economist, etc.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Lived in Pocahontas, IA (pop. 800) and New York City, (The Bronx - City Island), NY (pop. 12 million) in the same year when I was 12. I went sledding in -50F that winter and rode the subway through the South Bronx to Manhattan without parents that summer...both were exciting.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm a teacher (by nature, not literally) and love to share my personal experiences and general knowledge with anyone interested.

Above all, I LOVE TO LEARN NEW THINGS! Since there is SO MUCH info/things out there, I will spend my entire lifetime learning.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Peru

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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