CURRENT MISSION

cook lots of food, help lots of people, live my life

ABOUT ME

I'm an art from Iowa. basically I spend most of my time cooking, thinking about cooking, arting, thinking about arting, and occasionally I read books. I am also passionate about caring for others and working toward a world more accepting and embracing of those commonly considered disabled. I am also interested in food on all sorts of levels, not just cooking, but growing, and loving. I no longer like cows.

PHILOSOPHY

I like a mix of stoicism and optimism. I want to maximize happiness and joy in my life and keep suffering under control. I feel like everyone is great and that life is so precious and valuable and beautiful and I just try to be grateful every day that I am alive. That said I tend to lean toward egalitarian and liberal ideology. I feel like community is important and the key to a happier life.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I have couchsurfed a bit, mostly through friends and not through this website, but I love to travel and meet new people. I have visited many states, but most of my travel has been in the midwest, Colorado, and spots of the east coast. As I have grown in the past few years, I have realized how important it is to build community even if fragmented. The only way true communication flourishes is through meeting as many people as possible, and my intention is to foster community wherever I go. Couchsurfing seems like a beautiful vehicle for that goal.

Interests

cooking
art
banjo
organic agriculture
american gothic literature

• arts
• books
• literature
• dining
• cooking
• traveling
• agriculture

Music, Movies, and Books

I wrote an amazing paper on Washington Irving's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow," which has become my favorite bit of literature ever written. I also love Aimee Bender, Neil Gaiman, Lorrie Moore, andChina Mieville.

I enjoy folk and blugrass (I attempt to play banjo) as well as various other musics ranging from Kanye to punk. I find Broken Social Scene to be the greatest musical act of all time.

I think Jurassic Park was the defining moment in contemporary cinema, and a beautiful allegory for our current agricultural and economic systems. Also, I will get on board for anything Coen Bros.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I lived for two and a half years on a farm serving folks with special needs, while there I lived with a variety of wonderful men and women with developmental disability and I got to herd cattle, pick apples, press cider, and plant trees. Working with the special needs population has become a vocation of mine after four years of working with the population in Iowa, Texas, and Pennsylvania.

Teach, Learn, Share

I have taught a couple people how to do a basic clawhammer strum on a banjo.

I can make any food taste amazing, and I can cook good food from seemingly incompatible ingredients.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Games, games, games. I can facilitate any sort of game, and often travel with a couple small and quick games. I can also facilitate a session of D&D if requested. Elsewise I love cooking, conversing, and telling painful stories involving the perils of dairy farming.

Countries I’ve Visited

France, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States