Hi! I am a creative type, and I have a spent a lot of time in theaters, music venues, art galleries, and other interesting places. Work was always just about paying the bills. I had an interesting time as a freelance writer for awhile, but my favorite work was always getting my plays produced. Unfortunately, the least profitable creative field in this country has got to be theatrical production. Fortunately, I was able to create a great family and develop some security here in the suburbs of Atlanta, and now I've taken early retirement. I have a son who is 14 years old as of this writing in April, 2018, and I would dearly love to go traveling with him. He could learn so much, and it would be so helpful in getting him to deal with people. I would also enjoy helping people who want to visit Atlanta, although the city is pretty much all about sports and business. There is a mildly bustling cultural life for the youngsters, which I don't really get very involved with now - I can't handle the late nights!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

The best thing I have ever done is to raise my son, Elijah. I have also seen that the digital world can suck the life out of young people, and it has been truly frightening to see how many young men are getting online work and never leaving their homes. I am fiercely devoted to preventing my son from living that life, and that means I must wake him up to the joys of an outgoing curiosity about the world. My son needs to get excited about new experiences, about meeting people and seeing new places. He needs to experience that thrills of good traveling!

And of course, while my family is comfortable here in the suburbs of Atlanta, we are not able to travel internationally without losing a lot of income. Financially, the assistance that couchsurfing could give would be a tremendous help.

Interests

• writing
• theater
• performing arts
• politics
• reading
• music
• live music
• hiking
• travel
• art openings

Music, Movies, and Books

I've always been a huge, busy reader. I started reading adult material in when I was ten years old and I never stopped. It's easier to describe what I haven't read than what I have. I avoid Victorian and Edwardian literature fairly strictly, even Dickens. Theology and self-help material is usually of no interest to me, as well. But I've pretty much tasted something of the rest of the printed word. I can read French and Spanish fairly well, but not smoothly enough to allow me to read work in those languages for fun.

My taste in music and movies is eclectic. A little of this, a little of that. I've never had the self-discipline to become an expert on anything, though. Sometimes I get excited by a genre or an author and attempt to swallow their entire body of work. As the decades have gone by, I've become sentimental - but sometimes, silly sentimental stuff is affecting because of what it attempts to appeal to, rather than the way it does so.

I have to confess that in the late 1970's, when I was 25 and very lonely and confused and living in Los Angeles, punk rock saved my life. Since that time, I've always been glad to check out any kind of unusual sounds that I come across.

Teach, Learn, Share

The place where I live, Gwinnett County, is a bedroom community, a true American suburb. While there are several towns in this area that have a lived-in character with a history, Gwinnett is actually an economic zone based on the motorway, Interstate 85, that courses through its center. To see the best parts of my home, you need to get away from the franchises and endless repetitions of the freeway. When you wander into some of the less busy parts of Gwinnett, you find the impressive, huge rock rising up in isolation - Stone Mountain. There is a great park around Stone Mountain, operated by the state, which pays a minimum amount of attention to its role as a monument to the Confederacy and a meeting place for the Ku Klux Klan. Over the past thirty years or so, there has been such a wave of immigration here that Gwinnett now can boast of the largest Hindu temple, or mandir, in the southeastern United States! In addition to these county highlights, there are several small town areas strung out along the railroads of the area. Once busy centers of cotton shipping, these small towns stagnated during the 1960's and '70's. Thanks to immigration and gentrification during the last couple of decades, they have become lively little centers of nightlife. Gwinnett now has commercial area that are filled with Korean-language businesses. The Hispanic community here is large, and the very interesting culture of Bosnia is also well-represented.

Countries I’ve Visited

England, France, Germany

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States