CURRENT MISSION

finish the evil evil doctorate

ABOUT ME

Thirtysomething journalist thing.

PHILOSOPHY

Habermas. Though Gadamer, too.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Erm, I host kind people who inexplicably pass through London. And then when abroad, I sponge off kind strangers, but do try generally to bring them bottles of wine. Which is, I suppose, to say that I'm on this site. Was this meant to be rather more inventive? I also juggle. The last bit was a lie.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Awfully pleasant, all. Stayed in touch with a surprising and charming few of them, too.

Interests

Hobbies include procrastination. c.f. this page. Very occasional stints sitting in library, pushing buttons, and occasionally going to conferences with people who do the same. Infrequent bursts of binge-sobriety.

When not making a pot of tea, staring at a blank Word document, and repeating. Many envy me my exciting life as a journalist.

• writing
• wine
• juggling
• journalism

Music, Movies, and Books

Films: Sally Potter's rather good. Satyajit Ray and Ingmar Bergman. At the moment, Battle of Algiers, Eisenstein and the even-numbered Woody Allen. Anything Iranian, to include the Zahra Amir Ebrahimi sex tape. I would sleep with Dame Judi Dench, but haven't. If I had I would find an excuse to work it into conversation on the second pint.

Telly shows: instead, I will write my favourite radio programmes. Archers. I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. The shipping forecast, a bedtime litany of vast undiscovered countries. Most of which sound cold.

Books: Banville and Tóibín, I claim. In actuality, more likely to be reading Roddy Doyle and Joseph O'Connor. Pleb. I rather like Orwell when he's talking about politics, and Tariq Ali when he isn't. The earlier Kingsley Amis, Rushdie and John Le Carré roundabout the Smiley era. Currently spending too much time with Betjeman and Ted Hughes, since we go for the same type of women. All of Waugh, especially Boot, who convinced me to get into journalism. Apart from the one where he goes mad on a sea voyage. That might get me out of journalism.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've written about a few. This is a terrible cop-out. But my tea's getting cold. These fragments I have shored against my ruin, http://scribd.com/padraigbelton/shelf and http://www.patrickbelton.com/writing. (But only infrequently updated against my ruin.)

Teach, Learn, Share

Always bring a towel. And teabags. One never knows when the earth will be demolished, and tea is bloody difficult to find in the further reaches of the galaxy. Los Angeles, say, or Croydon.

•