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Overview
About Me
#### Can only host occasionally and only one person at a time, but will try and host people who send me a meaningful message as often as I can. I have a cat called Huxley (he is smart, but quotes below are author's, not his!) so you must be OK with that. Not likely I can accommodate a last minute request, my schedule is usually pretty full, sorry about that. ####
Experience is not a matter of having actually swum the Hellespont, or danced with the dervishes, or slept in a doss-house. It is a matter of sensibility and intuition, of seeing and hearing the significant things, of paying attention at the right moments, of understanding and coordinating. Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him. - Aldous Huxley, Point-Counterpoint
'PATRIOTISM IS NOT ENOUGH.' But neither is anything else. Science is not enough, religion is not enough, art is not enough, politics and economics are not enough, nor is love, nor is duty, nor is action however disinterested, nor, however sublime, is contemplation. Nothing short of everything will really do. - Aldous Huxley, Island
Why I’m on Couchsurfing
It's another way of meeting interesting people.
Interests
- arts
- culture
- dancing
- recipes
- politics
- traveling
- economics
- history
- psychology
- science
Music, Movies, and Books
//in no particular order//
books are my favourite art form. llosa, huxley, cortazar, thomas bernhard, marquez, thomas pynchon, kurt vonnegut, crnjanski, toon tellegen, baricco, calvino, gerald durrell, steven pinker, karel čapek, douglas adams, ilf and petrov, solzenicyn, shalamov, shota rustavelli, somerset maugham. some graphic novels, such as persepolis, maus or v for vendetta. plays - from shakespeare and bekett to tennessee williams. poetry, mostly in my native language.
movies: not so much a movie person. under the impression that it's way more difficult to find a really good movie, than a really good book or music piece. enjoyed bergman, some from herzog (fitzcarraldo), the pillow book. of the more recent ones birdman. but i appreciate genuine, non-pretentious attempts to say something about the world, which these days i more often see on youtube than in any movie theatre.
music: largely depends on the mood and here's where i have the biggest range of things i enjoy... on a daily basis, being very busy nowadays, i'd probably listen to indie and classical, quieter stuff as a background for work. but every now and then i could spare a few hours on some of the other stuff i enjoy, and that's where no list would do the justice. jazz, tango and zamba, music from ex-soviet countries (deti detei, nol, gaidamaki...), electro swing, ethnic (world) music like mexican, calypso, african...; satie, didier squiban or chopin for late nights...
and panel shows, such as would i lie to you, QI or just a minute.
One Amazing Thing I’ve Done
Referring back to Huxley's quote, it's hard to put my finger on one or two particular things. It's the totality of life experience, good and bad ones, that makes it truly wonderful.
Teach, Learn, Share
mostly stories, really. i can talk about "life" for hours. i have a passion for creative output and obscurity, so sharing knowledge about that is something i thoroughly enjoy.
i could talk about psychology and science in general at any time of day or night.
for more hands-on things, i could teach some tango dance, frisbee tricks or amazing serbian recipes.
i would like to learn things about your country that affect an individual - from politics, history, economy and culture, but with a particular emphasis on how it affects you as a person and your everyday feeling of life.
Countries I’ve Visited
Belgium, Bulgaria, Cameroon, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Portugal, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States
Countries I’ve Lived In
Serbia, United Kingdom
Old School Badges
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10 Vouches