People are my passion. By day, I am a cloud performance engineer—but the technology cloud, not literal clouds. I drink dark roasted coffee and take it strong and black. That's also the way I prefer beer.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

“The world is a book, and those who don't travel only read one page.”
- Augustine of Hippo

My hosting experience has been pretty amazing; the Couchisphere has landed some awesome people on my couch.

Additionally, the local CS communities I've had the privilege of being able to associate with (especially Ann Arbor!) provided much insight into different locales, amazing companionship, and the raddest roommates ever (at different times), Dan (sasfail) and Frank (frankmb)!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Most of my surfing experience has been arranged outside the realms of the Couchisphere solely because a) I know a good number of people throughout the states and the world and b) the owners of the couches have yet to convert to CouchSurfing.

Regardless, I'm eternally grateful for all the couches that were open to me during my college days and since, whether they were places to stay during weekend trips or times when, for some reason or another, I found myself without a place to stay for the evening.

Interests

The list of interests is too long to count, but I'll have a go:
People
Diners/greasy spoons and their coffee
Drinking coffee at diners into the late night with friends
Sleeping in public
Mana Foods in Paia, HI
Yogurt
Exploring cities in the pre-dawn hours
Being outdoors, and really, doing anything outside

And here's a list of key terms just to aid in Couchsearch: Royal Servants, Whitworth, WorldTeach, World Teach, Changsha

• hawaii
• casual
• muppets
• the muppets
• 4 wheeling
• maui
• late-night diners
• bronco

Music, Movies, and Books

Anything visually fantastical or that leaves me in awe, loving life and humanity more. Certain docs and cartoons fit really well into that category.
If you wanted some examples of the movies: Big Fish, Spirited Away, the "Dashboard" music video, Man on Wire...
I really do love Grizzly Man.
Has anyone notices, though, how TV is kicking Hollywood's butt? Breaking Bad, Fargo, Archer, True Detective
As for books, I take suggestions. A good memoir is particular satisfying. I usually find myself reading three books simultaneously — one fiction, one creative non-fiction, and one non-fiction. It's not that I read a ton but that three books at the same time helps to keep things interesting.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Most recently, I traveled to Antarctica
I literally gasped when I saw the Taj Mahal.
Sunrise from Poon Hill in Nepal...and a couple pretty epic ones from Haleakala, Maui (but that's old hat, already!)
Transcended in Spokane, Washington and, in doing so, learned the meaning of life, or at least the meaning of life according Harold Balazs.
A van was repossessed out from under me when I was in Bangalore. And I laughed. What's awesome is that we were able to get the repo guy to drive us to where we were going and then the van company came back with a replacement van.
Swam in the fountain at the Spanish Steps in Rome.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Greece, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Macao, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Nicaragua, North Korea, Northern Ireland, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, United States

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