A fan of the semicolon. Mindful; silly. Quiet; friendly. Clever; kind.

I love getting to know people and I love making art.

I believe that the key to social progress is sympathy--radical, revolutionary sympathy.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I bought a one-way ticket to Lisbon, Portugal leaving 9/27/17. I got on the plane with no plan and no particular destination in mind. Vaguely eastward, probably?

I want to bear witness to the wondrous variety of human experience. I want to learn more about who I am and who other people are. I'm looking forward to sharing some good times and meeting some new people. Plus I'm on a fairly tight budget. So Couchsurfing seems like the perfect place for me!

Interests

• arts
• writing
• performing arts
• design
• graphic design
• photography
• running
• meditation
• movies
• music
• guitar
• philosophy
• web design
• video editing
• creative writing

Music, Movies, and Books

I love all kinds of music. Some names include: Talking Heads, The Mountain Goats, Goat, Guided By Voices, Built To Spill, Krill, Moondog, Bach, Why?, Run the Jewels, Wolf Parade, Mulatu Astatke, John Coltrane, The Budos Band, Musi-O-Tunya, WITCH... I'm also really interested in trance-y crossrhythmic traditions at the moment, like gnaua and gamelan.

As for books, it depends. I'm into sci-fi--"The Illuminatus! Trilogy," Sorokin's "Ice" series, "Neuromancer," "Hitchhiker's Guide"--but fantasy doesn't really move me. Writers I love include Tolstoy, Murakami, Robbe-Grillet. And I love books that challenge my patience--I've read "In Search of Lost Time," "Infinite Jest," "War and Peace," and "Godel, Escher, Bach". For philosophy, I favor Kierkegaard and Schopenhauer.

Taste in movies is similarly artsy, with the occasional popcorn flick thrown in for good measure. Before I left on my backpacking adventure, I held a self-shivah-style movie marathon. We watched Tarkovsky's "Stalker," "Wizard People, Dear Reader" (which is basically a guy making jokes over the first Harry Potter movie), P.T. Anderson's "Boogie Nights," and Kurosawa's "Red Beard." Then I fell asleep about an hour into "Andrei Rublev."

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've written and produced two full-length plays. I also taught myself to play the guitar, which feels like a big amazing deal to me because I grew up in a small house and it made me shy about making too much noise.

Teach, Learn, Share

Let's make music together! Let's practice our language skills or swap some design-related tips and tricks! Need help with your website? No? Well, maybe you can show me a thing or two!

Or, let's grab coffee or a beer and talk about life and our experiences thereof!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'm willing to share my skills and interests in gratitude for hospitality. Added to which, I'm an earnest conversationalist and an eager listener.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Laos, Malaysia, Morocco, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Thailand, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States