CURRENT MISSION

My current mission is to surround myself with as many different cultural experiences as is humanly possible before I die. I believe that every person on this earth has a place that is home, and most of us aren't fortunate enough to be born there.

ABOUT ME

This is me: Funny, fun, goofy, a child at heart, an avid traveller, an actress who is obsessed with Shakespeare, stage fighting, and musicals, a brave soul who won't be put off by a few bumps in the road, an extrovert who enjoys some quiet time, too. And I can spend hours in an art museum staring at a good peice of art, or in a park--very content to sit on the ground and read a book.

PHILOSOPHY

"The meaning of life is to live. And to live means to be aware. Joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware." ~Henry Miller

I am a firm believer in this statement. Without awareness, there is no learning. And without growth and learning, what is the reason to live. If we go through our lives in some monotonous, mundane condition, we will never grow as people, never learn who we are, and never have the freedom to taste the wonderous things that surround us every day. We need to spend every moment trying to grow and change and learn, not giving up a second to drab coping with what you are given, but really searching for new experiences and awareness of other ideas, people, cultures, etc. ("I burn the candle at both ends, it will not last the night. But, oh, my friends, and oh, my foes, it makes a lovely light.") This is not what I profess. Sleep is good. I like sleep. And you don't have to constantly go go go to be aware. You can find new things by sitting on a park bench and watching a two-year-old throw crumbs to pigeons. You can awaken your eyes by laying in a field and philosophizing about cloud shapes with a friend. To live is to be aware. Joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.

Что привело меня на Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have been with couchsurfing for a while now and, although I am currently going through many huge life changes (baby on the way, marriage, new career choices), I will always love and embrace the couchsurfing philosophy and way of life. I have travelled all over Europe many times and surfed a fair deal. The friends that I have made thus far will be forever cherished, and the friends that I will meet later through CS are eagerly anticipated.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Previous couchsurfing has included Romania, all over Italy, France, Belgium, and Germany... but I hope to continue to do much more. I am also hoping to start a Richmond group when I get home.

Интересы

I am into the arts (all kinds), I love acting, singing, dancing (I have been ballroom and swing dancing since age 6). I love going to an art museum and looking at the same painting for hours on end, trying to find a new glimpse of the artist's true vision. I am working on becoming a fight choreographer for the stage, practicing weaponry and hand to hand combat (I am proficient in nunchukas and knife work, as well as tai chi sword, bow staff and many more). I love to read and go to the theatre. And, yes, I read Shakespeare for fun. I am a child at heart, and therefore get amused easily, and enjoy playing with play-doh and mud pies. I love walking in the rain and getting in puddle wars, and if I can get dirty somehow, I am as happy as a pig in... well, you get the idea. I still love climbing trees and playing sports. I love the mountains and the beach. Hiking and swimming and diving into 2 degree mountain lakes as well as warm, crystal clear oceans and lagoons. I like trying new foods and doing things I have never done before. I am just a big muddled mix of nastalgia and new.

• animals
• arts
• books
• singing
• acting
• dancing
• swing dancing
• walking
• painting
• hiking
• scuba diving
• sports
• boxing
• rock climbing
• swimming
• nursing
• beaches
• lakes
• mountains

Музыка, кино и книги

Movies: My favorite movie is Kicking & Screaming (and no, not the one about soccer with Will Ferral)... the indy flick from the early 90s with Parker Posey, Eric Stoltz, and Josh Hamilton. I love The Princess Bride and can quote most of the movie by heart. I have a collection of Hitchcock movies that is almost complete. I am addicted to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Alias. And I own over 600 movies. I love cartoons and musicals, and I have far too often scared store clerks over obsessive over-excitement of a good find. (I actually think that I peed myself a little when I found a copy of The Last Unicorn in a local discount store)

Music: Top picks are currently Tom Waits, Ani Difranco, Tori Amos, 40s vocal jazz (including but definitely not limited to Nina, Billy, Frank, and Ella), and all musical theatre soundtracts (with the severe detestation and outright loathing of anything by Andrew Lloyd Webber... except Phantom and Evita... keeping him very far from my collection). The list goes on and on mixing in a bit of country, and the definite need for 80s pop and golden oldies.

Books: For about two years I had a "disagreement" with the complete, unshortened version of Les Miserables. The problem was that I am stubborn, and it was written in the 18th Century. After a long battle I finally got through it, and since then (Sept. 2006) I have read probably around 40 novels. No book will ever get me down! This list of books includes Wicked, all of the Harry Potters, about twenty different mystery novels by various authors, Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and a number of others. I read Shakespeare plays for fun. And my sister, Becca, is the best playwright I have ever read. This is not me being biased, but truly, she is amazingly talented.

Классная вещь, которую я сделал(-а)

The most amazing thing that I have ever experienced happened while I was in Peru with Patch Adams. We had gone to a children's hospital to play with the kids, give them balloon animals and blow bubbles and just love on them. The hospital was dirty, and smelled like disease and rot, yet when we reached the ward, the little faces just lit up. After a while, I wandered into the infant ward. There were five little newborns laying in little box cribs. Most of them were covered in rashes and there diapers (in severe need of being changed) were made of stained rags and torn plastic garbage bags. What should have been sterile pads covering their wounds from the ambilical chords were puss-filled cotton balls that were vicariously dangling off their little dirty bodies. When I first entered the room, I spent about ten minutes staring at one of the little ones and lightly touching his cheeks and feet and back while he slept. There was a woman in the room feeding one of the newborns, and in my very broken Spanish, I asked if I could hold her when she was done feeding. The woman popped her nipple out of the little babies mouth and very roughly handed me the child. She was so little. A premee. And dried snot was stuck on her cheek. She was so fragile it almost felt like I could break her with a wrong move, and yet, her mother had handed her over like she was a bag of potatoes. One of the other girls in our group found me and asked if she could hold the baby. After the mother had handed me the child, she had left the room, not even attempting the "protective mother bird" instinct that is usual to see. Since no one was their to ask, I passed the little cradled infant to Whitney, and began cooing at another that was even smaller than the first. She had barely any meat covering her little bones, with the exception of a little pot belly caused from the infection in her belly from the ambilical wound. While I was gently carressing this little girl, one of the nurses and one of the other native clowns came into the room. I asked the nurse for the little girl's name, and her response was that she had no name. I listened as the two Peruvians discussed the situation. The nurse said two words that still haunt me. "La mama se fue." Se fue. She left. This little angel had been abandoned. Her mother had come in to the hospital, had the baby, and then gotten up and left, without even going to see her daughter. The little girl was sick and weak and completely unwanted. My heart broke. I have never been more sad for the life that you would have to lead to just leave your daughter to most likely die in a filthy hospital without even a second thought. I started silently weeping and held this little girl close to my chest a gave her a long sloppy kiss right on the top of her dirty head. All I know is that this little girl, even if she doesn't remember, or she has already passed on, for one little minute, that little girl new love. I have never been more filled with emotion and love and longing and sadness.

Учу, учусь, делюсь опытом и информацией

I can share bad jokes, good songs, smiles, and laughter. I am good at many things, like dancing and singing and playing with weapons (don't freak out... it is for the stage). I love teaching anything that I know, and learning what I don't (which is a lot). I know a lot about the arts and I am very ready to share.

Где я побывал(-а)

Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Moldova, Netherlands, Peru, Romania, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Где я жил(-а)

Kenya, United Kingdom, United States

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