CURRENT MISSION

To hear others stories while creating my own.

ABOUT ME

Well I've changed a lot over the years, but my current self thoroughly enjoys reading, camping, guitar, sleeping, working if you have a good crew, being around my Siberian Husky, meeting people, hearing stories, having a few drinks, etc. When I'm upset or discontented by someone or something I tend to hold it in. Not in a bottling up way I mind you; my strategy is to realize that no matter how offended or outraged I want to be I won't care less (or probably even remember)what perturbed me in 5 years. Its odd describing myself because its subject to some pretty heavy bias, but I'm more on the mellow side, although I do get easily excited and enthralled. Oh, I am also told I have a loud talking voice, but just mention it, and I'm always able to keep it under wraps.

PHILOSOPHY

Nice. I like that this section is included. My philosophy is that everything thats ever been done to you you did to yourself. Did that irate, ornery customer anger you and ruin your day? No, you angered yourself and ruined your own day. Did that girl break your heart? No, your expectations broke your heart. Our happiness is independent of every person and circumstance we've ever encountered. Every thought we have, and the accompanying emotions that whirl us around our whole lives reside within us and are created purely by us. This is of course pretty obvious, but when truly realized you can never blame another person for the way your making yourself feel.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I really haven't done much to be quite frank. I joined the site several months ago, and have had several couchs in my house in Duluth, MN open for visitors the whole time. Unfortunately, no one has sent any surfing requests (not a popular area to visit I suppose, and so I've hosted no one even though me and my roommates would have been delighted to entertain. Shoot if anything its an excuse to have a good time (not that you need one).

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Again I'm a rookie on this site, and haven't had any CouchSurfing experiences yet, but I suppose that's where everyone begins. Starting in mid-July me and a friend will be traveling the country accumulating (I hope)some great experiences along the way, however.

Interests

Hmmm... I accidentally included this section in the all about bit of the profile. So I guess I'll add a few extras: I enjoy being active, and I recently realized that when I lay down to bed at night I crave being able to look back on the day, and have a sense that I truly accomplished something that day. Its that feeling of relief that says, "See you got out of bed today for a reason. Otherwise, you never would have done (Blank)!" Being active in my mind is very general. It includes going for a run (duh), getting a step closer to teaching my dog Luna a new trick, learning something new (especially if it produces those "Ahha" moments where everything inexplicably clicks for a second), or refining abilities I already have or thought I was already adept at.

• dogs
• running
• drinking
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• guitar
• hiking
• camping
• surfing
• astronomy
• biology
• chemistry
• physics
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

I love Tool, Weezer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, John Mayer, The Wallflowers, Oasis, Incubus, CCR, The Gorillaz, Smashing Pumpkins, etc.
Movies: Doubt, Almost Famous, The Big Lebowski, The Departed, Grandma's Boy, Donnie Darko, Blind Spot, The Fifth Element, Super Bad, Happy Gilmore, Man on Fire, Pulp Fiction, 12 Monkeys, Fight Club, etc.
Books: A new Earth, Awareness, The Buddha Said, The Eightfold Path, A Brief History of Nearly Everything, Outliers, 1984, A Brave New World, LOTR, Of Mice and Men, Confessions of an Economic Hitman, The Party's Over, Twilight In The Desert, Who Is My Self?, and many more

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Well as my profile picks will attest teaching young monks and a class of pre-schoolers in Sri Lanka as a volunteer in August 2009 was by far the most unique thing I've done. Other than that, I just got done hiking for 11 days (~140 miles) alone (well it was me and my new dog) when the longest trip I'd previously done was 3 days with 2 other friends. It was an exhausting yet surprisingly refreshing experience.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm good at being able to read people, and use that to create analogies or allegories that will facilitate their ability to fully understand a subject. I'm also very keen and interested in anything in the sciences (I was going to be an astronomer, but then did physics, then chemistry, but ultimately biology was the best fit, but I'm genuinely interested and intrigued by all of them.) Because of this I usually have plenty of interesting things to say because a scientific perspective and analytical method has a way of shining a light in fresh angles that illuminate dark corners. But mostly the fact that I'm easily interested and quite curious about almost anything makes participation in any discussion a fun part of my day.