CURRENT MISSION

A combination of decadence, radicalism, and occasional apathy.

ABOUT ME

My contradictions: I am a pacifist, but I love exploitation cinema and hard-boiled detective novels. I don't create music, but I am a DJ on the student radio station at UT. I identify with anarchism, but only because its the only political party that has never been in control of anything. I have an absurdly high student workload and practically zero work ethic. I prefer the world to be interesting, rather than happy. I have nostalgia for the sixties, and even more nostalgia for the 1930s. I am a history major, mainly to avoid thinking about the future. I love culture, intellectual and popular. I am a woman of ambiguity, yet strong opinions. My heroes are Emma Goldman, Hannah Arendt, Rosa Luxembourg, H.L. Menken, and my mother.

PHILOSOPHY

Pragmatic idealism, combined with a healthy amount of time spent outside of the world and in my own imagination. Humanistic delsm. Rituals without belief as comfort.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Although I am just now creating a profile, I have been participating in the couchsurfing project for three years, since my roommate created a profile. I have received many couchsurfers through her (Tamilla Mirzoyeva - check out her reviews!) and have couchsurfed myself in New Orleans.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have been on the periphery of couchsurfing for quite some time - I have helped to show many of my friends' couchsurfers around Austin and made some beautiful friendships through doing so. I hope now to become a more active couchsurfer. I began my involvement with this website when my roommate my sophomore year of college started inviting visitors to stay on our lovely green couch. Unfortunately, the couch became subject to a few too many wine stains and rabbit poops and got thrown off of a balcony (not onto a car, but if you want to imagine the tale that way, by all means do so) but the dream still lives on.

Interests

I generally like to engage in intellectual rather than physical pursuits, although I am prone to walking for long periods in cities, especially when there are enough dark alleyways to make me feel like I am in a mystery novel. I read a great deal, watch a great deal of films, listen to a great deal of music, and cook a great deal of food for my friends and fellow coopers. As per what kind of films and books I enjoy, I will say that I have always appreciated a philosophy in which each product of a genre or time should be appreciated as that product - if an artistic product remains true to itself, I will appreciate it.

• culture
• books
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• walking
• partying
• movies
• music
• history

Music, Movies, and Books

German expressionist art. Post-punk. Folk/bluegrass/gospel/blues. Delta blues. New orleans jazz. Blaxploitation films. Philip K. Dick. Screwball comedies. Roman noir. Roman dur. Deeply humanistic Russian novels (really, just Life and Fate, and a couple others). The Velvet Underground. Hazel Dickens. Doc Watson. Charlie Huston. Italo Calvino. Edgar Keret. Emma Goldman. Hyperion. Cyber-punk. William Gibson. Raymond Chandler. Arthur Koestler. Ryu Murakami. Television Personalities. Warm Leatherette. Miller's Crossing. Come and See. Cthulu. More listings to follow.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I managed to shove a safety deposit key so far into a car door lock that I had to call a locksmith to open it. The safety deposit key was not even from the same keychain. I also recently managed to stub both of my big toes at once. I consider that quite an amazing feat.

Countries I’ve Visited

Azerbaijan, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Serbia, Spain, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States