CURRENT MISSION

See the world.

ABOUT ME

I'm a sociology professor at Penn State University. I'm game for most things if the company's right. I love good food and beer/wine/liquor and their unfortunately necessary twin, exercise. New people rock. Old friends are even better.

PHILOSOPHY

Say yes.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'm on the road in South America for a while, starting in Buenos Aires then onward. I'd love to meet up with surfers and maybe surf from time to time.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've hosted some, and surfed more. All my experiences have been great. Thought I'd resurrect my account for my current trip in light of that.

Interests

Currently?

Outdoorsy: Biking, tennis, hiking, tennis, canoeing.

General fun: Drinking (with good company), any kind of game. Food.

Intellectual: Biology & behavior and social inequality of all sorts, especially health, and issues of distributive justice. I wrote a dissertation on inequality in the kidney transplantation system. I'm getting back to that now.

• dining
• exercise
• drinking
• shopping
• bouldering
• cycling
• hiking
• canoeing
• tennis
• biology
• genealogy

Music, Movies, and Books

Don't have that much time for these things nowadays, but when I do I do have some opinions on the subject.

Books: I like them and need to read more of them. Generally middlebrow is my thing, but I'm certainly not above a fun page turner. Usually a mixture of critically acclaimed novels, dorky fantasy series, informational books, and sociology books.Recent books I've read: Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me; Rolf Potts, Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel; Geronimo T. Johnson, Welcome to Braggsville: A Novel; Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch: A Novel; Mark Rippetoe, Starting Strength; fantasy series (Divergen series, A Song of Fire and Ice).

Movies: I don't make such high demands here. I'm just not much into formulas or production value for its own sake. I'm not snobbish about it, though - I'll see whatever.

Music: I know I don't like what I used to like anymore, but I'm not sure what's next. Current artists I like: Alabama Shakes, Chance the Rapper, The Decemberists, Father John Misty, Florence + the Machine, Kendrick Lamar, The Mountain Goats, Sleater-Kinney, The Weeknd.

TV: Currently catching up on House of Cards and Always Sunny. There's so much good stuff out there.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Buy a one-way ticket to Buenos Aires and see what happens. So far, so good!

Teach, Learn, Share

I can go on and on about quantitative social research, the nature/nurture debate, and the social dynamics of the U.S. kidney transplantation system.

I'd like to learn to draw well.

What I Can Share with Hosts

A beer?

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Barbados, Cambodia, China, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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