I come from a small town just to the east of Chicago in the state of Indiana. I've spent most of my adult life learning or as a paid academic - my big publication is below...

My big publication is this: http://www.pnas.org/content/112/50/15468.abstract

...anyways, you've probably never heard of PNAS and aren't very concerned with the article I just posted, which is exactly why I got out of academia. Fortunately, I have also been working as a tour guide in Berlin for almost a decade now, which pays better (more money and less hours), is more stimulating and challenging (people ask strange questions and my tours cover contemporary politics and social movements), and probably has a bigger impact on the world considering the volume of people I come into contact with and the propaganda that I spew. I am a queer-anarchist-pragmatist-ist with a good sense of humility and the importance of self deprication.

I have also worked in food service, as a live model for artists, and am thinking about beginning climbing instruction.

My favourite things in the world are activities and not things.

I'm a vegetarian (I cheat and eat fish and crustaceans a few times a year, not those damn intelligent octopi or squid though, too smart).

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm couchsurfing for two reasons money and experience.

Money:
I don't like it very much, I never want to have much of it, and while realising its necessity, pragmatically I would rather seek its destruction. I think things like couchsurfing are a step in that direction.

Experience:
We are alienated enough, why seek further alienation on a vacation by staying in a hotel when one can stay with real people and share!

Interests

Food, history, culture, queer politics, anarchism, responsibility, emotional competency, kindness, honesty, science, space, Star Trek, limited series comic books, books, non-fiction books (mostly these), climbing (20 years), acrobatics, meditation, lists

• fish
• culture
• books
• dining
• cooking
• vegetarian
• modeling
• meditation
• flying
• politics
• billiards
• fishing
• rock climbing
• swimming
• history
• science
• tourism
• tours

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Berghain, Post-rock, Indie-pop (eg BSS), Noisey things

Movies: Contact, The Fountain, Chasing Amy, Interstellar, all legit documentaries (especially about cetaceans, cephalopods, and history)

Books: Ursula K. Le Guin, Kim Stanley Robinson, Aldous Huxley, Foucault, David Graeber

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The most amazing thing I ever did was probably the time I saved a fly from drowning in a puddle of water near my families below-ground swimming pool. I was 8 or 9 years old and I saw my death in the little creatures plight. Handling the little guy carefully I brought him inside and put him in a bug cage with a grape that I peeled by hand...by the end of the day he was flying around again so I released him into the backyard...maybe he just ended up back in the water. But, that would be the first noble truth I guess...

Teach, Learn, Share

Acrobatics, climbing, cooking, clinical neuropsychology, critical history, culture studies, musings on "human nature".

What I Can Share with Hosts

Food, delicious vegetarian food. Enchiladas with homemade tortillas. A plethora of currys. Most any italian dish. I've started making Tajine too. So much more...

I am a renowned and thoughtful conversationalist.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Greece, India, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, United States