CURRENT MISSION

Make interesting things. Make things interesting.

ABOUT ME

Came to England for a degree and decided to stick around. I work as a freelance web developer, which I love: I get to use weird languages to accomplish things that few people understand, and it's socially acceptable for me to have an unkempt beard. It's the closest thing to being a real-life wizard, really.

I do a bunch of drawing and writing in my spare time. I've been working on this weird comic-book/prose hybrid thing recently. I've got one finished, and three more in the pipeline. The first one is available to read online, check it out! http://apocalism.co.uk/

I've been told I pronounce the word "weird" in a weird way.

PHILOSOPHY

Not sure. You come up with a good philosophy or a way of life and then something happens which changes your mind completely.

I recently read that people are at their happiest when they're "in a state of flow". It might be different for other people, but it definitely holds true for me. So, instead of a proper philosophy I'll say: "keep flowin'".

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've hosted a few people and only surfed twice. I'm hoping I'll get to do more of both soon.

Interests

Good music, good reading, good ideas, good beer, despicable puns. Tea.

Geeky things like board games, nerdy things like open source software, electronics and Linux.

I love walking through nature so quite often I go and do a spontaneous hiking trip around a windy Yorkshire hill or two.

I'm much more of a "sit down with a drink and talk" kind of person than a "party all night" kind of person.

• arts
• writing
• books
• beer
• walking
• partying
• drinking
• electronics
• board games
• reading
• drawing
• music
• hiking
• camping
• freelancing
• languages
• software

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: I've got pretty eclectic tastes. Jazz, krautrock, moshy noisy stuff. Most live music - I'd go to gigs even if I don't like the band's recorded stuff if I think they'll be a good experience. A lot of drony and soundscapey tunes too - they help me concentrate at work.

Movies: Brazil, Dr Strangelove, Grand Budapest Hotel. Twin Peaks is not a movie but is good.

Books: I read a whole lot. Most things by Haruki Murakami, Neil Gaiman, Kurt Vonnegut, China Mieville, that lot. Catch 22 is my favourite book ever. Not sure if it counts but I read a bunch of comics too.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I was part of Light Night 2012, a city-wide free art event that happens in Leeds every year. It involved:

Carrying an antique-looking wardrobe ("the Weirdrobe") with my friend Pascal through the basement of the Leeds Central Library. Taking it to a dusty study room using the public lift, and seeing the faces of people on the floors in between. Stuffing it full of electronics and LEDs and confusing the hell out of people for a whole night. Being able to justify it by calling it "art".

Is it cheating if I add a second thing?

My friend Joey took me wild camping on the Worm's Head in the Gower (South Wales). It gets cut off at high tide, so we walked there, spent the night on an island and then walked back. When we woke up, we could see seals lounging on the rocks.

Teach, Learn, Share

I could teach you some basic programming or how websites work. Not the most interesting of things, I guess, but it's what I do. Plus, computery stuff can be pretty empowering - just think about the website you're currently on, for example.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

Bulgaria, United Kingdom