CURRENT MISSION

"To mingle with the Universe, and feel / What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal."

ABOUT ME

One of my biggest motivations is to live more lightly on the Earth. I'm vegetarian/vegan, fly rarely, very rarely drive, cycle through the rain, pay for green electricity, try to eat local and organic, grow a garden, and keep my purchasing of 'things' (especially new ones) to a minimum. My research is in ocean physics, to help build better climate models.

I've been a residence don (elsewhere known as an RA). I enjoy socializing and meeting new people but I can be content in silence too.

In 2009 I packed my life onto my bicycle and rode with my friend Ian from Waterloo, ON to Victoria, BC. It was an incredible experience and has shaped me as a person to be sure. To say the least, it's left me wanting more! In 2011 I rode from Victoria to San Francisco to Yosemite. In 2012 I rode solo around Washington and Oregon, particularly around the Sisters volcanoes. In 2013 I did some shorter trips with friends: San Juan Islands and Sunshine Coast.

I aspire to be an amateur endurance athlete. My first marathon was at age 18, at 20 after crossing Canada by bike I joined the Seattle to Portland ride: 200 miles in a day. And then came the 600km solo ride from Toronto to Montreal, in which I contracted my IT band but good and rode the last 150km basically one-legged and was left questioning why I do these things... Concurrent with my move to Oxford in late 2013, I began to cycle less and run more; I totally relearned how to run (in the barefoot style) and took the long view, working up to an ultramarathon (100km) in August 2015.

I think modern windmills and road bikes represent the best and most beautiful of human craftsmanship. I get quite flustered by bright objects such as street lights against the night sky; they often trick me into thinking that they are the moon. "My, what a beautiful moon we have toni---whaaat?!"

PHILOSOPHY

I believe good communication takes effort, and I strive and work for it.

I think it important to undertake personal experiments (call them "(short scale) resolutions" if you will) if there is _any potential_ for gained insights.

If I want to achieve something, I might tell everyone I know of my impending attempt and have them ask me after the fact how it went. In this way I turn my pride into a well of motivation.

From donning, I learned that influence follows respect (and that takes time). Without respect, one is not truly inspiring, but merely preachy.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I believe that strong local communities are integral to our well-being, both mentally/socially/emotionally and politically.

I surfed on some great couches while bicycle touring, mostly via a sort of sister-site called WarmShowers. I've hosted a few people so far, and had all positive experiences, though many of my years I've not been able to host because of a living situation (e.g. college residence, or roommates who didn't subscribe to the CS ideal).

Interests

Cycling and running; fluid dynamics and climate physics; poetry; music (esp. British folk); squash, badminton, bouldering, soccer, ultimate; seasonal foods, cooking, gardening, living simply, organic farming. *Achieving sustainability*.

• poetry
• cooking
• vegetarian
• vegan
• marathon
• running
• athlete
• gardening
• socializing
• bouldering
• music
• cycling
• rock climbing
• soccer
• badminton
• mathematics
• physics
• squash
• climate change

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Into the Wild, Dr. Strangelove, To Kill a Mockingbird, Across the Universe, Life is Beautiful

Books: The Picture of Dorian Gray, Fahrenheit 451, Island, A Short History of Progress, Guns Germs and Steel, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Shogun, The Call of the Wild, Ishmael, The Golden Spruce, Born to Run

Music: Cannot live without it. Right now I'm super into British folk (Fairport Convention, The Pentangle, Steeleye Span, and surrounding bands/solo acts). I also like jazz (eg. Pat Metheny, Al Di Meola, Keith Jarrett). And that 60's and 70's hippie stuff and singer-songwriters: Bruce Cockburn, Nick Drake, Paul Simon, Mark Knopfler, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Al Stewart, John Martyn, The Beatles/Kinks/RollingStones/Zombies/Yardbirds, Grateful Dead, Donovan...
(http://last.fm/user/pii0)

Poetry: *Walt Whitman*, Kahlil Gibran, William Blake, Lord Byron, DH Lawrence, Dylan Thomas, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Emily Dickinson...

Teach, Learn, Share

Can Teach: ("Barefoot") running form; bicycle mechanics; how the Earth works (minimally)

Want to Learn: how to climb better!

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, United Kingdom, United States

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