CURRENT MISSION

to satisfy my curiousity

ABOUT ME

I quit my job in 2010 and proceeded to hitchhike 12,000+ miles back and forth across the US. I settled in Alexandria, VA and started baking vegan cupcakes in DC to pay the bills. It was then that I fell in love with a school teacher. Susan Danh is the beautiful girl in the photo above. What she was thinking settling for me? I'll never know. But, my wandering solo days are behind me and now Susan and I are about to embark on a cross country road trip to our new home in Vancouver, WA. Of course, we're taking the long way and stopping in Florida, Texas, California, and Alaska before finally stopping to rest. If we could meet some amazing people along the way it'd be all the better.

I've studied fine art and commercial aviation (dropped out, so I never got my pilot's license), dealt blackjack, craps, and roulette, graduated culinary school with a baking and patisserie degree, worked for Disney World, tended bar, and made custom cakes of a sculpted nature before settling for making vegan cupcakes in DC. I seem to have a pattern of collecting skills, but not following through on any particular avenue. I want to be okay at everything, without ever excelling. Seems like a reasonable goal to me.

visited 43 states (86%)Create your own visited map of The United States or Like this? try: Eddie the DJ

visited 8 states (3.55%)Create your own visited map of The World

PHILOSOPHY

Still working on this one. Until I figure it out I'm just going to keep seeking out new experiences, people, and cultures. There is a vast world out there that I have barely begun to explore.

I was in a small "mall" where the Greyhound ticket agent is located in Muskogee, OK, waiting seven hours for my bus to Tulsa, recently. To call it a mall is silly. It has a church and some random stores downstairs, with a bus agent and a country music station above. It was a Sunday and every store and office was closed down. The church was hopping with its twelve members, but after eleven I was all alone, excluding the random homeless individual sleeping on a bench downstairs. I waited and perused a magazine shelf. It was full of entertainment themed magazines and catalogs. There were ones about dvd releases, new high-def cameras, backstage news, how to produce a movie, and everything you could want to know about the movie industry. The only problem was the newest one was from 2006, with most dating back to 2003 and as far as 1998. To put that into perspective: I was reading an interview with David Duchovny from when the X-Files movie was about to be released. The show was only in its fifth season, and still going strong. During the interview he was asked a question:

What depresses you?

How I don't seem to have enough energy to do all the things I want to do. Life seems to be long enough, I just dont know if I can stay awake.

I kinda like that. Thank you, David.

So, I suppose the lesson here is: stay awake.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

In the past I have taken advantage of the kindness of strangers and set up camp on floors, couches, or spare mattresses. I've even slept in a yard or two. It definitely beats finding an isolated location on the side of the freeway or a cemetery in Maine. Eventually, I will open up my home to fellow travelers, but don't currently have the ability.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've been taken in by some very incredible and generous people on my travels. I've relied on chance meetings and happenstance a great deal, but there is definitely something to be said for knowing you will have a roof over your head come nightfall. The couchsurfing community has welcomed me with open arms and I am eager to meet as many fellow travelers as I possibly can. I have had nothing but positive experiences with the people I have met through couchsurfing and gained several friends for life.

Interests

I love amazing food, cheap unhealthy food, gin martinis, sake, scotch, cigars, silent movies, classic cinema, downright lousy films, random trivia, cribbage, the company of interesting women, cake design and construction, lazy afternoons spent accomplishing nothing when there is everything to do, change, travel, new people, old people, incredible stories, being a part of incredible stories, hookah bars, pastry shops, and anything likely to get me into trouble.

• arts
• design
• dining
• baking
• vegan
• aviation
• news
• trivia
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• music
• country music
• camping
• teaching

Music, Movies, and Books

Any film starring Harold Lloyd, Humphrey Bogart, or Cary Grant.

...and Die Hard.

I'm afraid I've always viewed music in the same way I do football. I can enjoy a game, but don't follow the sport. I love good music and enjoy discovering new and old talent at live shows, but I rarely pursue it on my own. I will appreciate a song, but am rarely able to name the artist. That seems unfortunate and is something I should work on. I have an idea: help me out. If I'm in your area, let's check out a show. I have very eclectic tastes. If it's good, chances are I'll like it. Bring it on and aid in my musical education. Be it bluegrass, indie, hip hop, classic rock, metal, orchestra, chanting monks or klezmer music, chances are I'm probably game.

I find myself reading far less than I used to. So when I do make the time I try to make the most of it and stick to books that can actually be classified as "literature" or that fall in the realm of nonfiction and run the risk of teaching me something. Of course, I usually just toss the book aside and fall victim to the latest episode of Dexter, Breaking Bad, or This Old House. I should work on that, too. Seems that I have a fair bit of self-improvement to tackle. Maybe tomorrow...right now I'm going to watch Flight of the Concords on my phone.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm not sure what I can teach, but I'm happy to share anything I can.

I have recently started carrying a small jar of sourdough starter that I intend to nurture throughout my travels. If you host me for at least a couple of days (allowing enough time for me to feed it and bring it to full strength) and have some bread flour on hand, I'd love to throw together a fresh loaf. I love to play with my bread formulas and am always excited to share the results with others. I just need an oven and a bit of understanding if my experimentation goes awry.
...this is, unfortunately, not currently the case. The starter is lying neglected and most likely dead in a fridge in Virginia and is no good for anybody.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Portugal, Slovakia, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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