ESFJ. Although lately I've been exploring my introverted side.

In love with the impractical. Also in love with ideas.

I love being with people. I also get anxious easily. I recently read on Salon.com that these are related.

Learning to love life on an island.

Other loves: art of all kinds, music, midcentury modern, books, postcrossing, crafting, photography, beachcombing, sarcasm and thrifting.

Speaking of music, I also volunteer extensively at KMXT, the local public radio station. I am officially an award-winning DJ. :)

Free spirit.

Band geek for life.

Mind perpetually in gutter.

Intrigued? Curiouser and curiouser? Feel free to ask.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

When I get a a little money, I buy books and cute vintage things. If there's any left, I like to get off this island I live on every once in a while to find new sources for books and cute vintage things, and take artsy-ish photos for my instagram.

However, as much as I like hotels, being a broke twenty something means I have to do some crazy things to be able to stay in the places I'd like to go to. I also enjoy making friends. Plus I crashed on plenty of couches in college, so it seemed a natural segue into adulthood.

Interests

• writing
• photography
• civil rights
• thrifting
• reading
• music
• karaoke
• urban exploration
• social justice
• feminism
• geocaching
• percussion
• vintage
• public radio
• postcrossing
• clarinet
• collage
• coast guard auxiliary
• euphonium
• urban gardening
• midcentury modern
• postcard collecting
• snail mail

Music, Movies, and Books

This changes all the time, and covers a wide range. Still, here are some of the bands, genres and stuff I've been into lately:

Red Hot Chili Peppers, BØRNS, Florence + The Machine, Adele, Walk the Moon, Beirut, Bastille, Erasure, Lesley Gore, Idina Menzel, Josh Groban, Kerry Ellis, No Doubt, Green Day, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Amanda Palmer, Weezer, Muse, Jason Webley, Sxip Shirey, ABBA, Alanis Morrissette, Foo Fighters, B-52s, Talking Heads, Bratmobile, The Cure, Spoon, Pet Shop Boys, Pink Martini, Pink, Jack White/The Raconteurs/The White Stripes, John Cale, Rufus Wainwright, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Carolina Chocolate Drops, The Wailin' Jennys, The Good Lovelies, Irish folk songs, Sousa marches (and others from that era), ragtime, Dixieland, gospel, show tunes.

My list of favorite books is also long and random. Here's a sampling.

Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson
Winesburg, Ohio - Sherwood Anderson
Dubliners - James Joyce
The Art of Asking - Amanda Palmer
Furiously Happy - Jenny Lawson
Escape - Carolyn Jessop
The Lord of the Flies - William Golding
The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Franz Kafka's short fiction
trauma memoirs
biographies
religious topics (Mormonism, evangelical Christianity)
self-improvement books

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

This summer, I'm growing the most successful cherry tomato plant I've ever had. It's currently seven feet tall and counting.

Teach, Learn, Share

Depression and anxiety are very real disorders, and should never be taken lightly, as just a fleeting "sad" or "angry" or "antisocial" feeling. However, they don't have to run your life. The trick to living with any chronic condition, particularly an invisible one that people may not be able to instantly detect or believe (because "visible" conditions for some reason tend to come across as more valid to the average person) is to know your own limits. Push them when you feel you can, but never feel guilty or ashamed for stepping back when you need to. Know how many spoons you have – that number is different for everyone.

What I Can Share with Hosts

A conversation, a cup of tea, a meal, a hug. And an unconditional appreciation for a brief glimpse into another person's world.

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States