CURRENT MISSION

To read, to travel, to know . . .

ABOUT ME

I've just return from a summer spent in Ireland with a load of CS-ers. Now I'm back in The States and already looking forward to my next CS adventure.

I work at a small university as a European historian. My academic expertise is in Irish history, though this is mostly my voacation these days, and it's nice to get away from always talking about it. Still, I love what I do--teaching students about the past.

I am also blind. I have been completely blind now for nearly seven years. I do not consider this to be the most defining feature in my life, but it's good to let people know up front, just in case they have issues. I am aggressively independent; I live alone currently; I am a free spirit.

My favorite color is green; I love the outdoors and meditating amidst the deepest of wildernesses My politics are liberal, though I'm open to anyone who is not themselves closed-minded.

I enjoy meeting people from different cultures; peple from whom I can learn.

I try not to get too connected to material belongings.

I grow when I become a self-actuated individual, which is done, I believe, by learning to think beyond yourself. Some days I pray for the death of the ego, but I am coming to terms with mine :)

PHILOSOPHY

Access the inner yarrrrr!!!!! :)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I host; I surf; therefore I am.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've only couchsurfed in the U.S. and in Ireland, but I intend to do much more in other countries in the years to come. In the summer of 2007, I was part of a CS collective that rented a flat in Dublin's city centre, where I had the good fortune to meet couchsurfers by the score.

Interests

I have a wide array of interests, from music to good literature.

I'm trying to squeeze as much as possible into this life of mine, though I realize that one doesn't always have to be on the run to experience the universe. I prefer to be a traveller rather than a tourist; a student rather than a teacher. If I can pass through this world by giving more than I take, I have succeeded--but I know that I have a long way to go . . .

I play guitar and sing, mostly blues, folk, and a smattering of other things. I have travelled across Europe with a guitar on my back, and I intend to continue this type of travelling in the future.

You may run across me sometime in the subway playing and singing some old John Lennon tune, in a public house picking some blues riffs, or on some dusty road

Care to join me?

• literature
• singing
• coloring
• marathon
• running
• politics
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• guitar
• blues
• outdoor activities
• teaching
• history

Music, Movies, and Books

I find myself always returning the the classics of literature--Proust, Joyce, and Faulkner, though I do have a lighter side as well. Tom Robins, for example, can always entertain.

I try to balance my reading of fiction and nonfiction.

My taste in music is eclectic, but some favorites might include Louis Armstrong (Trees of Green--see the connection?), Ledbelly, Beatles, Stones, Nick Drake, The Trifids, Richard Thompson, Sandy Denny, The Pogues, Dropkick Murphy's, Flogging Molly, Mike Mcabee (personal friend and voted second funniest guy in Iowa--check out his web site at )http://www.mikemcabee.com/, and many, many more.

My favorite movies include Being There, Blue by Derek Jarman, The Wind that Shakes the Barley, Michael Collins, among others.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I ran a marathon last year.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Poland

Countries I’ve Lived In

Belgium, Ireland, United Kingdom, United States

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