CURRENT MISSION

reinventing the powernap

ABOUT ME

I recently left the rat race to go back to grad school, which is quite a change after 5 years of not having to cram for tests, wake up for 8 o'clock lectures, or stress over why a certain MatLab code won't compile. But knowledge is power, so I figured it was time to become more powerful before I blinked my eyes and was at the same job 30 years later wondering if I had more potential.

I'm an engineer by trade, but for some reason I find myself caught up in word games/play/discussions all the time. Cases in point, I love crossword puzzles and playing Scrabble, and learning about new languages. I consider myself pretty good at Spanish and Portuguese, and am working to achieve Borat level competency at Swedish. That one's hard since all the Swedes speak English quite well.

PHILOSOPHY

If it's on Wikipedia, it must be true.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

In my current living situation I'm renting a room in a house in Gothenburg, so I can have people stay over as long as they're friends or family, but you might imagine this precludes me from participating in the hosting strangers aspect of couchsurfing :(
I'm always game for hitting the city or whatever concert might be in town. I couchsurfed a bit and went to some CS events as I traveled through South America this year, and had a great experiences.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Ramdomly deciding to go to Uruguay with a person I met at a Buenos Aires CS event only about a day after having met them might have been my strangest CS experience, but also one of the best. Sometimes the best plan is to have no plan at all!

Interests

Learning languages, photography, Scrabble, crosswords, keeping up with Longhorn football (the college, American kind), watching movies and then browsing imdb.com to see how my opinions compare to the "learned" movie critics, frisbee golf, volleyball, brewery tours.

• photography
• concerts
• movies
• puzzles
• coding
• soccer
• volleyball
• golf
• engineering
• languages
• tours

Music, Movies, and Books

Books:
I read books in Spanish or Portuguese whenever possible...moreso than in English most of the time, since it's a way to enjoy a story and pick up some new words. In Portuguese I try to stick to translated versions of books I've already read in English in order to be able to follow along better. I like 100 Years of Solitude, Of Human Bondage, I Am Charlotte Simmons, Lolita, Catch 22.

Music:
I can listen to anything from rap to techno (I know I'm from Texas, but no country please). I can appreciate singers that I know are talented, even if I don't necessarily like their songs. I get excited about mashups of songs I like. I think some rappers from Houston have a lot of talent. I went to a really expensive Swedish music festival (everything is really expensive there) just to see Bon Iver. I like The Knife, Wilco, Ben Kweller, Portugal the Man, Beirut, White Denim, Phoenix, Z-Ro...

Movies:
The Usual Suspects, Adaptation, Borat, Bruno, Traffic, Waltz with Bashir.
I've read a few books since I enjoyed the movies, such as Let the Right One In, and Rosario Tijeras.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I just saw the Queen of England 3 days ago...I had been in Cambridge for one day and the next thing you know "hey, it's the queen."
I saw a dead body in Rio, but I think that's like saying I saw a windmill in Holland.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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