I generally live with families. I love kids but am deathly allergic to cats and rabbits. I am a painter that is passionate about people. My art is generally reflective of my life experiences. I am endlessly curious about culture, religion, and all the little unique quirks that make life strange and interesting. I am an avid outdoorsman, cyclist, long distance hiker, verbal processor(if you can't already tell) and love new experiences. I create public events, curate art exhibits and love to cook. I eat a lot of spicy food. I don't know how to drive a car... but its ok. I thrive without much need for money through the wonderful world of bartering. The places I've lived outnumber my age and I'm 37. My DNA is a blend of Irish, Norman, Portuguese, and Midwest American. My mother was a research librarian and my dad designed airports and highways. Thus I became a traveling conjurer of beauty, chaos, research and imagination.

PHILOSOPHY
Reality is relational. Art is dialogue. Life is discovery.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

My art and life experiences are most often shared through hosting and being hosted. It is the ordinary things that bridge cultures and personalities through the complexity of relationship. I want to be open to the unknown and share in the discovery with others.

I travel a lot and love to meet new people while gaining local insight to navigate the hidden gems of particular places. If you are ever in Kansas City, I would love to share its many overlooked (thus amazingly preserved) cultural treasures.

Interests

-Experimenting in the kitchen
-Live music and dancing
-Long walks in the mountains
-Riding a little too fast on longboards and snowboards (still recovering from my broken tailbone this past winter)
-Microbiology and all of the strange small lifeforms.
-Astronomy and all of the huge spanning forms of the universe
-Conversation about religion, philosophy and anything science fiction especially pertaining to aliens.
-the above conversation while sharing an exceptional beverage

• cats
• rabbits
• arts
• culture
• poetry
• beauty
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• recipes
• clothing
• potpourri
• traveling
• drawing
• music
• live music
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• backpacking
• astronomy
• religion
• science
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

I love that which provokes my imagination or tells a story that is worth retelling. I love the discovery process and am generally willing to explore new forms and media of all kinds.

ART
R. Diebenkorn, O.Nerdrom, M. Tansey, R. Cszielwitz
MUSIC
Appleseed Cast, Radiohead, Russian Circles, Converge, Squarepusher, Philip Glass, Bartok, the Roots, Nomo, Yann Tiersen, Salif Kieta, Jfjo
MOVIES
City of Lost Children, Gattica, Up, Adaptation, Guardians of the Galaxy, Inception, Forest Gump
BOOKS
Station Eleven, Dune, Finite and Infinite Games, The Name of the Wind, New Seeds of Contemplation

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

-Hiked 2610 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail across America in 2007.
-I once created 100 portraits on an Etch-A-Sketch in the subways of New York. My time spent drawing people and inviting them to erase themselves became a catalyst of surprise joy and interaction between strangers while freeing me from the constraints of being simply an abstract painter.
-Biked across Nepal in 2010.
-Hosted weekly meals for homeless and wealthy people to meet while experimenting with food.

Teach, Learn, Share

For ultra light backpacking. Take the clothes you will be wearing in the coldest and most extreme weather. Let your layers be your only baggage. If you're counting weight, never include food and water. Just don't. Duff or Pine needle decay makes the softest bed in the outdoors. Hike at your own pace. Keeping up or slowing down for another uses a lot of extra energy. Fast hikers=longer breaks. Slow hikers=longer hikes.

For drawing a circle on an etch-a-sketch. Imagine doing the wave with your hands. Grip the knobs and with the same movement, mimic and delay with each hand to create a circular pattern.

I am authentically curious and would love to learn how to cook local food and learn the traditions or symbols that may be connected.

I love swapping stories.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Culinary arts, recipes and rituals from 4 continents.

Wilderness stories and outdoor techniques from the Pacific Crest Trail in the US and the Annapurna in Nepal.

Portraiture, poetry, and a potpourri of alliteration.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Ecuador, England, France, Kenya, Luxembourg, Mexico, Nigeria, Poland, Thailand, Togo, Uganda

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, India, Nepal, Senegal, United States