CURRENT MISSION

To make the world a better place one student at a time.

ABOUT ME

I'm just a man trying to comprehend a crazy world; I especially like trying to figure out this weird world while sipping on a Guinness. If I were toast, I'd be dry wry. I'm a recovering American living abroad. Many years ago, I made my living as a stand-up comedian. My friends know that I like a healthy, critically thought out, friendly debate. Also, the study of other cultures through the local people fascinates me (I'm an observer), and there is no better way to meet local people than through couchsurfing. And btw, though I belong to Naked Sleepers, I don't sleep naked at other people's houses...unless they want me to. ;)

PHILOSOPHY

Evil, greed, and stupidity have to be conditioned into a human being; at the same time creativity, compassion, and altruism are conditioned out.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

So far, I have only surfed on the continent of Europe. However, I've had such a great experience, I look forward to hosting fellow travellers. UPDATE: I have hosted three delightful young travellers, and I even met local people through Couchsurfing when I moved to China.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Have couchsurfed in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain; Budapest, Hungary; Vienna, Austria; and Amsterdam, Netherlands. And have hosted in Pristina, Kosova. They have all been very positive experiences, except for one. My one hosting experience turned out to be surprisingly positive. Unfortunately, I have not been able to host anyone here in China for the last year, but I have just opened up my couch, so if you are in Nanjing... I'm hooked on a great way to meet interesting people.

Interests

Drinking coffee on the balcony on a sunny morning, reading, sipping on a beer with well-informed and intelligent and articulate friends, writing, researching the truth about the world, thinking, travelling (duh!), hiking, ordering a fine wine to share with a beautiful woman (my girlfriend) over an evening meal, backpacking, water sports, getting lost in the landscape and action of a great novel, scuba diving, sushi.

• writing
• books
• education
• wine
• beer
• coffee
• drinking
• reading
• traveling
• hiking
• backpacking
• scuba diving
• sports
• teaching
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: Anything by Shakespeare, "Gulliver's Travells" and "A Modest Propsal" by Jonathan Swift, "The Odyssey" by Homer, "One Flew Over The Cukoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey, "1984" and "Politics of the English Language" by George Orwell, "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley, "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury, "Resistance to Civil Government" by Henry David Thoreau, "The Underground History of American Education" by John Taylor Gatto, "The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America" by Charlotte Iserbyt, "The Flouride Deception" by Christopher Bryson, one can tell so much about a person by the books a person has on their bookshelves. I will be adding more to this bookshelf, soon...

Music: The Blues, classical music...

Movies: The Matrix trilogy, The Terminator I&II, Sideways, V for Vendetta, Gandhi, Zeitgeist, the Bourne trilogy, The Corporation, America: Freedom to Fascism, Money as Debt, The Great Global Warming Swindle, Operation Hollywood: How the Pentagon Shapes and Censors the Movies,

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Seeing my daughter born.

Teach, Learn, Share

Compulsory education is an oxymoron; the euphemism should rightly be called "forced conditioning." True and relevant learning cannot be forced.

I'd love to learn different languages.

Sharing laughter is the best offering.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, Kosovo, United States