CURRENT MISSION

Rock and Roll!

ABOUT ME

I am the kind of person who literally stops to smell the roses, or whatever other flower catches my eye. I think more people should do this. I also laugh out loud at things like cheesey movie posters. It takes conscious effort not to dance when I'm listening to music on the train. I sometimes whistle as I walk down the street, which I also think more people should do. I often wear a big grin when I'm walking around because I love this city so much.

Before Chicago I was doing the Peace Corps thing in a little village in Cameroon, which was such a completely different world and such a life-changing experience that I'm still getting used to being back in America, despite being back for over a year now. Before my life in a rural African village I lived in Kansas and worked a number of weird jobs, including tombstone maker. Now I'm doing the Big City Livin' thing here in Chicago, working downtown, sort of Making It After All like Mary Tyler Moore.

PHILOSOPHY

I know I'm not the same person I was, but I haven't yet figured out whom I've become. My personal philosophy is always changing, which is good in that it keeps me from stagnating, but bad in that I'm never really sure what I should be doing or why I'm doing it.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've unofficially couchsurfed before, staying on the couches of friends of friends, as well as hosting friends of friends, and done a bit of the official kind in Europe. It's absolutely the best way to travel, but you know that already, or you wouldn't be reading this right now.

Interests

I dig music, especially rock, but I'm pretty eclectic about it. I'm particularly into live shows. Also, I'm an avid reader and experimental chef.

Like a good couchsurfer, I'm into other cultures and ways of life. I like to learn the history of where I am as well as learning to understand the perspectives of my hosts or guests. There is nothing in the world to me as fascinating as trying to understand things through other people's worldviews and rethinking old ideas with a new perspective. I'm somewhat philosophical and, if encouraged, will talk your ear off (and enjoy having my ear talked off in return) on whatever philosophical idea that I've been mulling over lately.

I have a budding interest in astronomy. I'm an armchair survivalist and am generally into learning how to do things the "old-fashioned" way (if only because I had to learn when I moved to a tiny rural African village).

• dancing
• cooking
• walking
• flowers
• reading
• traveling
• music
• anthropology
• astronomy
• history

Music, Movies, and Books

SUCH a long list. I had a lot of time on my hands in Africa, and read 3-4 books a week. So I'll give some highlights, the ones that have really moved me, and you can guess at the rest. East of Eden by Steinbeck, Huck Finn by Mark Twain, Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky, Tale of Two Cities by Dickens, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, Tess of the D'Ubervilles by Hardy, Candide by Voltaire, Farenheit 451 by Bradbury, the Gormenghast/Titus Groan novels by Mervyn Peake, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, Dune by Herbert, The Once and Future King by T.H. White, The Little Prince by St. Exupery, The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen.
Music:
White Stripes, Deadboy and the Elephantmen, Lady Gaga, The Decemberists, Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, Blur, Gorillaz, Daft Punk, Edith Piaf, Gogol Bordello, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Beethoven, Holst, the original Smashing Pumpkins, Splashdown, Depeche Mode, AC/DC, Sex Pistols, David Bowie, Fionna Apple.
Movies are hard, as sometimes I like to watch just dumb movies that are easy to watch and require no thought, but I'm a little embarassed of it. Other times I like really profound philosophical or political movies (like Waking Life or South Park-- yes it's profound, but it's also fart jokes), or dark, surreal films (like just about anything by Terry Gilliam), as well as campy, so-bad-they're-good movies (like zombie movies).

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I find the simple things in life are often the best: in the village I used to live in, there was no electricity and the air was really clear. On nights of a new moon or near it, I could see billions and billions of stars, more than I've ever seen anywhere else in my life. The milky way actually looked milky. Undescribably beautiful and breath-taking everytime I saw it.

Teach, Learn, Share

Basic astronomy, cooking, lots of random anthropological knowledge, lots of random facts in general, fulah/fufulde/fulani/peule (one language, many names) crash course. Also, if you're into international aid, the fact that I did it for 2 years (with a lot of time on my hands to think about it and anthropology degree to help frame my thoughts) makes me an interesting person to talk to on the subject, if I do say so myself.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Cameroon, United States

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