Please send an image of your vaccination card. Vaccinated guests only! This section of the profile is supposed to be about me thus the title "About Me", but it may come out seeming more like a pitch for Santa Monica. I moved back to Santa Monica in April, 2018, because I like being near the beach and I like this city. It wasn’t a big move. I just came over from Marina del Rey which is further down the coast. If you spend time here you will get a feeling for why, in my opinion “The Beach is Best”. Let me also explain. It is about the air. Compared to communities even as close as Beverly Hills the Summers here are cooler, the Winters are warmer and the beach air is clean, fresh, and moist. Of course there is more to it than that. The ocean is nice to look at too. Some claim the experience of simply being near the Ocean is spiritual. In keeping with a healthy spirit the city is very liberal as well. Santa Monica is a great community, come and see for yourself.

If you take the time to read some of my reviews you can see many excellent references for me and my former roommate and CouchSurfing Co-Host Bill. The good references continue.

I am an investor with additional interests and passions besides business. My investments are mostly passive and hands off, so I have a flexible schedule. I have a lot of fun and variety in my life. Mostly I spend the days at home riding my desk. One of my interests is commercial real estate. This year I won the lottery to be on the selection committee for the SAG Film Awards. I did some background acting and stunt driving before the pandemic. In October the background acting started up again. Maybe life will soon get back to normal.

I want to be up front, and advise you that I only host female guests. Sorry guys, but I don’t even read your requests. I simply “Decline” and “Archive”.

Good Luck,

Larry

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

It struck me that being a CouchSurfing host is a way to avoid contributing to the GDP, GHG's, GNP, etc. There is a whole lot more to it than that, but that is a good place to begin the conversation. My lifestyle and belief systems are very simple, non-materialistic, green, small carbon footprint, low impact, secular, tolerant, curious, hungry for learning, humorous, sociable.

CouchSurfing guests are quite enjoyable. It is like traveling without leaving home. I learn about other cultures from each guest. CouchSurfers are intelligent, adventurous, and free-spirited risk takers. That's fun!
It is a pleasure to share wisdom, knowledge, and values between myself and surfers. Sometimes I advise on things like where to catch the bus, or sometimes I help to answer deeper questions like: "What should I do with my life?" I really enjoy the friendships I have developed in this way with some CouchSurfers. I enjoy talking to them about life and careers. I feed my brain too. I keep up to date on trends, technology, and pop culture this way. There is very little we won't talk about.

As a young traveler I enjoyed the hospitality of a lot of generous people. That is a kindness I now return. I don't travel much any more, but possibly I will be able to enjoy couch surfing as a guest too someday. I have been getting some warm invitations from some of our guests.

Thanks for reading.

There may be a test, so take notes.

Music, Movies, and Books

Music, Movies, and Books:
Music:
Kraftwerk, Pink Floyd, SuperTramp, Hypno, Pipe Organ, World, Trance, Dubstep, Pop, etc. Really I like all genres of music if it is done well. I am a big fan of the streaming app, Pandora. I have created about 100 stations on Pandora. The count would be about 102 if I included Shuffle and Thumbprint.

Movies:
Loving, Mully, or Mudbound on Netflix. As a current member of SAG-AFTRA I am seeing about one screening a week at the DGA (Directors Guild of America).

Books:
War of Art, Thieves of State, What Happened, Fire and Fury, oh yeah, and the bible...NOT!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Helped to save a life! I was hiking in New Zealand when a man approached me and my buddy. The guy had just had his arm cut off above the wrist by a big boulder that had rolled over his arm. We were 5 miles from the nearest road. I ran ahead to arrange for help while my friend walked the guy down the mountain. The dude survived, but they were unable to save the arm. We visited him in the hospital afterwards, but we never saw him again after that.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach, Learn, Share:
Business, Education, Politics.

If you are a Trump fan please do not apply!!!

I especially like to introduce guests to the work of author Noam Chomsky. He is a famous scholar and brilliant political activist. Here is a good Facebook page to do a little studying in advance: https://www.facebook.com/ChompingOnChomsky/

We could have some good discussions on environmentalism. I once ran for political office at the provincial level in Canada for the Green Party. I am a big fan of living a simple, modest, low carbon lifestyle, and I would be glad to tell you about that. For example in 2017 I ended a 7 year stretch without a car. I chose public transportation, walking, cycling, train, and even car pooling to help reduce Green House Gasses (GHG's). Ask me how!

Fitness is one of my passions. At my last doctor appointment we discovered my resting heart rate was 53 and my blood pressure (BP) was 99/52. If you don't mind or if you request it I may be able to function as your personal trainer while you’re here. If you have a taste for it so to speak I could also include some information about nutrition as part of your training. Hahaha!

I have some experience in business, and I would be happy to talk about that. I was the founder of a successful small business startup, and now I invest more passively. I was the first investor in a Silicon Valley startup that is still unfolding. If you want a good place to start learning about business buy Warren Buffet's book Snowball. It is one of the best business books I have ever read, and he is one of the most ethical people I have ever learned about.

Business can be absolutely creative if you think about it. As long as two entities agree on something you are in business. Of course it should be legal, but that is another discussion. Let’s talk a little about business when you get here.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Business, Education, Entertainment Industry, Technology Investing, Movies, Real Estate, Acting...

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, Costa Rica, Fiji, France, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Thailand, Tonga, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, United States