Your typical solo-traveling, cat-loving, organ-playing, autism-having, language-learning, inline-skating, lesbian-bar-documenting, rare-fruit-tasting, djembe-banging, otolith-collecting onion dome appreciator from the 'burbs of Dallas. During my college days in Austin, I sold solar panels door-to-door and got involved with helping street-dependent youth. Wandered around for a while after that and settled in Queens, working in the 911 system, medical side, in the Bronx.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Previously I have hosted people using the platform BeWelcome, but Couchsurfing has more users.

I like hosting people because I enjoy exchanging stories and showing people around. I also love to cook for my guests. Travelers are some of the most interesting people and I love spending time with them and seeing things from their perspective.

I like being a guest for mostly the same reason. Conversation is fun, and I often learn cool things from my hosts. Additionally, I love to get a glimpse of how life is for a local.

Interests

• cats
• guitar
• piano
• volunteering
• solo travel
• linguistics
• tea
• vegetarianism
• texas
• emergency medicine
• inline skating
• surrealism
• nonfiction
• fruits
• rollerskating
• music composition
• autism
• music production
• foraging
• djembe
• organ
• inventing
• memes
• speedcubing
• vermont
• wordplay
• iowa
• erotic art
• carillon
• language-learning
• cherokee
• licorice
• lionfish
• orthography
• lesbian bars
• tonology
• hymnody
• two-dollar bills
• translational symmetry
• language revitalization
• sea slugs
• tang poetry
• onion domes
• latvian postfolklore
• theosophic art

Music, Movies, and Books

I like jazz, folk music from around the world (particularly Latvian postfolklore), Carnatic music, salsa and other Hispanic Caribbean genres including various handdrumming traditions, classical music etc.

Here's a sampler playlist of music that I like and recommend: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6DUmreytzopWROe1qNEetgmJZWEJKmMj

I sometimes watch a lesbian movie and I often read linguistic research.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Back in high school, for my science fair project I built an EEG-BCI headset that converts brainwaves into the Latin alphabet using a Morse-code-like interface controlled by the relaxation and concentration of the user in specific patterns. I was able to use the headset to send an email, which I believe is the first documented case of an email being sent using brainwaves. I used only one electrode due to concerns of cost, so this project was really just a proof of concept.

If I wanted to refine the system to make communication faster, I would use more electrodes and use machine learning to detect when certain "oligosynthetic morphemes" are thought about, so that sentences can be built by compounding these morphemes together, in the style of such constructed languages as Toki Pona.

Oh yeah, I got to visit Pittsburgh for this competition! I fell in love with this city then and this year when I visited again, I liked it even more. So beautiful. Definitely an S-tier American city, along with Savannah and New York City.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to cook good vegan food, especially in the usage of spices and other flavoring, and how to solve a Rubik's cube. I might be able to teach you how to make an ocarina from your hands. I also love sharing Tang dynasty poetry.

I would like to hear your stories.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Stories! I think storytelling is probably the third most important consequence of human intelligence, just under politicking and creating art.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Canada, Cayman Islands, China, Cuba, France, Germany, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Switzerland, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States