CURRENT MISSION

To reconcile my permanently itchy feet with settling down in the great city of London

ABOUT ME

One of my legs doesn't bend very much from a car accident several years ago. My toenails are always, always painted red. I am a sleep Jedi: I usually sleep 8 hours a night and I can sleep pretty much anywhere - except the floor. I came abroad to write a novel and have thus far not been disciplined enough to crank it out. I think I might have been born 150 years too late. I love the sea but have never lived near it - yet. When I was young I aspired to be a mermaid. I still do.

PHILOSOPHY

"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast." Oscar Wilde

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've met a lot of great people through Couchsurfing. When I lived in Rome I offered female travelers a safe place to crash (and hosted couples and others too).

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've hosted more than I've surfed but that is changing. I have unofficially surfed the couches of a few friends-of-friends... Julia hosted me in Turkey and Dubai without having previously met me! And I hosted my professor's daughter once without knowing her beforehand. Oh, and once my friend and I let two Scottish soldiers crash on on our dorm room floors in London in 2000. Maybe that was risky but they were perfect gentlemen and bought us beer. A few years ago I let two crazy Swedish friends-of-friends crash with me without having previously met them and possibly had most fun in 72 hours I'd ever had. New Zealand and Cuba are next on my list.

Interests

All kinds of music, from opera to electronica to zydeco. Travel, of course. Animals. Art Nouveau. Cooking.

• animals
• cats
• dogs
• arts
• books
• singing
• music festivals
• festivals
• breakfast
• beer
• clothing
• traveling
• volunteer work
• music
• opera
• sailing
• teaching
• volunteering
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Musicians: St. Etienne, Stereolab, Air, Bonobo, Belle&Sebastian, Tori Amos, The Kinks, Yo La Tengo, Zombies, Portishead, Fats Waller, various freak folk, dance, acid house, prog.

Authors: Jeffrey Eugenides, Elena Ferrante, Arundhati Roy, Anita Brookner, Margaret Atwood.

Directors: Anthony Minghella, Robert Altmann, Wes Anderson, Coen bros. And yes, I'm one of those people terminally obsessed with The Big Lebowski.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Just one? No way. Visited the Blue Mosque, the Ishtar Gate, all of Trastevere, the Vasari Corridor, Stinson Beach, Borough Market, the Old Mission Peninsula in Michigan, Inis Mor, Angkor Wat... too many to count, so many yet to come.

Teach, Learn, Share

Rubber gloves remove cat hair from clothing in an instant. If you're coming to London and have time to kill take the bus instead- watching the city sail by from the top deck of a bus never gets old.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Books, a hot meal, storytelling and witty banter.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Cambodia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Iceland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Italy, United Kingdom, United States

•