CURRENT MISSION

Peace. Quiet. Occasional adventure.

ABOUT ME

My wife and I are both artists, parents to two adults. We live on the outskirts of Austin, so having a car is best, though we can help with access to public transportation and occasional rides. We enjoy giving haven to travelers, and have made many lifelong friends that way. I am a film and music enthusiast.

I enjoy conversation, but have a somewhat limited threshold for it. So keep an eye out for my eyes glazing over, and don't feel like you're being a bad guest if you're not recounting adventures for hours on end. (My wife will often bail me out on those occasions, but truth be told, she's susceptible to overload as well.)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I did some traveling in my younger days (pre internet). I always enjoyed finding homes away from home. Hosting couchsurfers has been a great way to meet people and inject a little excitement into our twilight years (haha). AND we now have friends all over the world, many of whom we visited this summer in the UK, France and Italy!

Interests

Visual art, film, music
You can see my massive visual art output here: http://www.flickr.com/paulsonnenberg
You can see/hear my music here:
http://youtube.com/sonnenberginexile
http://youtube.com/sonnenbergbossa
http://youtube.com/sonnenbergcovers
You can see my wife Dianne's mosaic art here: http://wwwdiannesonnenbergmosaics.com

• pets
• arts
• traveling
• socializing
• music

Music, Movies, and Books

Avant garde classical music, music from other cultures, jazz, progressive rock, etc. I especially like to hear music I haven't heard before.

I like art films. I spend many evenings at the Austin Film Society, and always have a spare free ticket for a visitor or a pal.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Raised two kids who don't hate me (as far as I can tell). Translated 38 songs from Portuguese to English without speaking either (just kidding; I speak English). Created 4000 collages in the last few years. Published a book of 365 postcard collages with accompanying haiku. Invented 'pencil dust painting'.

Teach, Learn, Share

We can help you find your way around Austin, and find interesting things to do as well. We're happy to talk about our art work if that's of any interest, and our house is a visual extravaganza of interesting art.. I'm very good at finding interesting and unusual things to do in Austin. Less adept at (and interested in) navigating the partying scene.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I haven't actually surfed yet myself. That part of this seems like a young person's game (though I'd love someone to prove me wrong).

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, France, Italy, Jamaica, United Kingdom