While I am new to the CouchSurfing site, I have traveled significantly and have hosted others as well. I am socially aware and politically progressive high school history teacher currently working as a journalist as I prepare to move to the Seattle area to resume my teaching career. I have traveled often and always welcome the connections one makes while staying in hostels, or couch surfing, and far prefer ambling through various neighborhoods of a city over visiting the tourist "attractions." Doing so gives one a more genuine understanding of the city and its culture. I am an LGBTQ advocate, enjoy true human connection through conversation, and I am open to providing any information to a prospective host to increase the feeling of safety and comfort for both the host and myself, as I would expect the same from the surfers I host.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I am on Couchsurfing to primarily find a host in the Seattle or southern King County, Washington, area for approximately one week while I search for an apartment in preparation for my moving there around mid-August. Once established, I will gladly host those who are likewise looking to relocate, or even travelers in general.

Interests

• culture
• humanities
• photography
• reading
• music
• hiking
• history
• urban exploration
• travel
• lgbt
• humor
• whiskey
• conversation
• learning
• sarcasm

Music, Movies, and Books

My analytical mind makes it near impossible to pick one solid favorite anything.

For music, how about I list the four CDs currently in my changer? Tusk by Fleetwood Mac is definitely one of my top three albums and there is always a Stevie Nicks or Nicks-era Fleetwood Mac CD in my changer. The Presidents of the United States of America's self-title debut album, which is the first album I ever bought (on cassette) and was my junior high soundtrack. The Best of the Bee Gees, Volume 1 is in there, as I am big, pre-disco Bee Gees fan. The column that I write for my newspaper is titled, "It's Only Words, And Words Are All I Have," after the Bee Gees song "Words." Finally, Blink-182's self-titled album that accompanies me on late-night contemplative drives.

Movies, ehh, I'm not much of a movie person but do enjoy a good Bourne-style international action flick or something cerebral.

I do read a lot, and given the nature of my work, it tends to be history or biography. One of my favorite history books is Lies My Teacher Told Me, by James Loewen.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Given all of the adversity I have had to overcome, I consider finishing my master's thesis to be pretty amazing. I had to overcome a large file of original, primary sources being lost by the National Archives, the death of the nationally respected historian John Y. Simon, who was my advisor, the meltdown of the laptop where a lot of my research and writing was saved, and full time employment while completing my thesis entitled The Personification and Masculation of Samuel Henry Dalton, which is a biography about a slave from Mississippi who liberated himself in July 1863, joined the Union Navy, served for ten months, and spent the rest of his life near my home in southern Illinois after he was discharged.

What I Can Share with Hosts

The assurance that I will respect their home as my own and at least one meal or drinks on me while I am their guest. Also, immense and lasting appreciation to anyone who helps me escape southern Illinois for the Seattle area.