CURRENT MISSION

Advance the Great Remembering.

ABOUT ME

I wish I was funny enough and keen enough of insight to be the moral humorist that Mark Twain and George Carlin were. But nope, I'm just me. A pragmatist that still believes in preserving functional ideals. A vagabond scholar who may never really find a home. A chronic reader and thinker still trying to put it all together. I've worked more than enough jobs on the bottom and never seen a day when money didn't get in my way, but I'm generous when I can be to repay the faith others have shown in me.

PHILOSOPHY

Compassion.

The one principle I can't shake. Pledges to abstracts only seem to interfere with happiness and problem-solving.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Right now, I'm just a Fellow Traveler in search of a couch.

Interests

Reading (pretty much anything, but especially fiction or history), writing (mostly fiction), RPG's, world cultures (Asia especially), British comedy and sci-fi, films (especially drama and Asian films), anime, bicycling, webcomics (currently making a very, very silly one), refreshing my rusty Japanese.

• arts
• culture
• writing
• cooking
• politics
• anime
• movies
• video games
• board games
• chess
• reading
• christian
• history
• religion

Music, Movies, and Books

These are extensive things to think about, so here's a snapshot:

Music sampling:

Leonard Cohen, The Immortal Technique, Dropkick Murphys, The Lost Trailers, Tom Pety & the Heartbreakers, Bob Dylan, Arlo Guthrie, Willie Nelson, Weird Al Yankovic, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Eagles, Tori Amos, John Hiatt, Alanis Morrisette, Public Enemy, Steve Earle, The Blues Brothers, Skee-Lo, Seven Mary Three, John Mellancamp, Santana, Metallica, Megadeath, Matchbox 20, Johnny Cash, Live, Richard Thompson, Kasey Chambers, Joan Jett, Me First& the Gimme Gimmes, Nelly Furtado, Lyle Lovett and his Large Band, Louis Armstrong, Lisa Furukawa, Keb Mo, The Beatles, Joan Osbourne, James Brown, Great Big Sea, Cyndi Lauper

Book sampling:

Fiction: Illusions: The Misadventures of a Reluctant Messiah, The Bridge Across Forever: A Lovestory, One, Nothing By Chance (all by Richard Bach); Ishmael, The Story of B, My Ishmael, Beyond Civilization, If They Give You Ruled Paper Write Sideways (all by Daniel Quinn); Sir Apropos of Nothing, The Woad to Wuin, First Knight, Q Squared (all by Peter David); Dragonlance books; the Robotech novels; the Wild Cards series; The Hitchiker's Guide series, Dirk Gently series (all by Douglas Adams); The Three Musketeers by Dumas; Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien.

Nonfiction: Sex in History by Reahy Tannahill; Hyperspace by Michio Kaku; The Rise and Fall of Alexandria by Pollard & Reid; The Way of the Gladiator by Mannix; Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown; The Gods Drink Whiskey by Stephen Asma; Bio of an Ogre, How Precious Was That While, and Letters to Jenny by Piers Anthony; The Road to Hell: The Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity

Manga: Eden: It's an Endless World; Maison Ikkoku; Akira; Comic Party; Apocalypse Meow; Genshiken; Beck; Blade of the Immortal; Nana; Emma; Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

Comics: Kingdom Come; Watchmen; Marvels; Earth X; New Warriors (original run); Thunderbolts; X-Men (anything Claremont); Runaways; Infinite Crisis; Identity Crisis; Infinity War; Top 10; Kabuki; The Books of Magic; Four Women; Harley Quinn; anything by Gaiman or Peter David; late 80's Justice League (bwahahaha!).

Movie sampling:

Knightriders, The Dark Knight, The Blues Brothers, Spaceballs, Road Warrior, Braveheart, As Good As It Gets, Rushmore, Stranger Than Fiction, Don Juan di Marco, Dead Poets Society, Good Morning Vietnam, Seven Samurai, Old Boy, Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Porco Rosso, Spirited Away, Perfect Blue, The Breakfast Club, Casablanca, Clerks II, Dogma, Dark City, Dangerous Liaisons, Finding Neverland, The Gamers, Serenity, The Lion in Winter, Shadowlands, Comic Book Villains, Lord of the Rings, Secondhand Lions, Princess Mononoke

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I have stood in awe of the marble David, and watched a gypsy chalk the Mona Lisa on a sidewalk. Firenze, the city of art no matter where you look. Do not spend a weekend. Spend a month, minimum.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm fairly good at writing, editing, and critiquing. I know: boring.

Go, or igo, or wei chei. The Asian game of stones.

Chess, checkers, RISK, and a wide variety of board games.

RPG's, the pen'n'paper type. Video games, not so much.

World history in general, American politics, and Asian history and culture especially. Pretty steeped in Christianity and other world religions, too.

Some basic Japanese that's sadly quite rusty.

I cook some mean catfish, home fries, and pepperoni pizza burgers.

Countries I’ve Visited

Mexico

Countries I’ve Lived In

Italy, United States