CURRENT MISSION

learn how to RELAX. Life's a game.

ABOUT ME

I'm opening a cafe in the city this spring, and otherwise trying to find time for fun. I'm constantly on the go (many of my friends call me crazy for being so busy all the time), mostly because I hate to feel like I'm wasting my life. I am always happy to meet new people and hear their stories. Everybody has something to bring to the world.

My passion in life is poetry. I don't watch much tv or movies but I can talk for hours about a poem. At the same time, I'm more than just a book nerd. I like to go out with friends to bars and museums and parks for all kinds of different adventures. I'd much rather go on a tough hike than get into an argument about politics.

I'd love to learn more languages (I love translating poetry from Spanish to English, though my Spanish prowess is waning from disuse), and learn really anything new - cooking, culture, etc. I relearned last summer how to ride a bike, and became an official bike commuter in September.

I just try to enjoy life and challenge myself as much as possible every day!

PHILOSOPHY

"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!" - Kerouac

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I couchsurfed through Europe last summer for five weeks, and it was amazing! Hosted and gone to local couchsurfing events since then, but not nearly as much as I would like.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Officially now:

Surfed

Shah (London)
London CS event 7.10 (100 days of Snuggler)
Hosted by Martine in Brugge 7.11-7.14 (plus surprise tv spot about CS!)
Brugge meetup with Bernard 7.11 (bikeabout, Burg festival)
Brugge CS event 7.13 (Cactus Festival)
Cinque Terre unofficial CS meetup 7.15
Traveling with fellow CSer Heather 5terre-Florence
Florence - hosted by Davide 7.19
Ljubljana - meetup with Tamara, hosted by her 7.24
Vienna - hosted by Nora
Prague - hosted by Danny
Amsterdam - hosted by Ramon
Budapest - hosted by Helge
Krakow - hosted by Kasia
Berlin - hosted by Tine
Asheville, then Philadelphia - hosted by Chelsea

Hosted
Chelsea (Asheville/Philly)
Arnas (Berlin)
Tyler (Santa Fe)
Blaire (New York)

Along with countless other CS events both at home and while traveling. I am always thrilled by the incredible people I meet through this site.

Interests

Writing, poetry, biking, dancing, all kinds of music, reading, making latte art, laughing, hiking, philosophy, learning something new, cooking, organic and local foods, good beer, weird martinis, visionary art, driving with the windows down and singing to loud music, photography, renaissance festivals, more, more, more, more

• arts
• culture
• writing
• books
• poetry
• singing
• photography
• festivals
• dancing
• cooking
• beer
• politics
• movies
• reading
• tv
• traveling
• music
• piano
• violin
• cycling
• hiking
• languages
• parks

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: I have extremely varied tastes. Lately I have been listening to a lot of "world" music like Balkan or Indo-Asian. I have an appreciation for any music that requires skill and practice, because I played violin for many years and know that it takes time and effort to make something beautiful. As far as more mainstream music is concerned, I like some indie, alt-country, acoustic singer-songwriter, classical, industrial dance... really anything that either makes me think, or makes me dance. Check out http://www.last.fm/user/mandiferous/ for a better sense of what I listen to.

Books: where do I start? I was an English major in school, so I read quite a lot. Mainly I really enjoy poetry (anything from medieval lyrics to modernist poets like e.e. cummings), but I will read almost anything. I have a soft spot for medieval and renaissance literature, but I'm trying to read more non-fiction, especially about food and travel.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Traveling to Europe alone :)

Teach, Learn, Share

Learn: To cook new foods, play new instruments (played violin for years, taught myself piano, would be happy to to relearn these or new ones!), philosophy, art, foreign language (any!!)...

Teach: Hmmmm, I can teach you about poetry :) I'm a jack of all trades, master of none... but I will surely try my best to teach you what I know and love.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, South Korea, United Kingdom, United States, Virgin Islands, U.S.

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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