CURRENT MISSION

To learn how to live and love in my hometown of LA again

ABOUT ME

I am an independent video game developer from Los Angeles trying to make something of myself in the world.

I'm an advocate for diversity in games, and enjoy helping others break into the games industry, fostering the expression of marginalized voices and exploring the spectrum of work-life balance. I have presented my passions at games industry conferences from Seattle to San Francisco, Melbourne, Australia to Montpellier, France.

I actively participate in efforts to reunify and reenergize the local gamedev community.

I transitioned from journalism and public relations into the video game industry in 2011.

snidelyhazel is an anagram of my real name, and quite fitting, too, as I make snide remarks and have hazel eyes. ;D

PHILOSOPHY

We are all linear planes in a three-dimensional space. We make decisions within our plane that tip our planes such that they intersect with those of others, but each decision we make influences our plane's orientation in that space.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have hosted surfers from Michigan to Switzerland to Tunisia to Australia on two continents!

I was lucky enough to learn about CS when I was new to Sydney in 2009. I met incredible people and did incredible things through the CS Sydney community. I was also able to host wonderful CSers in my wonderful house in Marrickville, and I hope I amply shared my love for my second home with them.

Now in Santa Monica, I get a lot of CS requests, way more than I can accept! I enthusiastically share my hometown with as many CSers as my busy schedule can accommodate.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My first CS experiences were with the Sydney CS group. I enjoyed showing CSers around the CBD and Darling Harbour and Newtown, rediscovering some of my favourite aspects of Sydney. I always managed to find another CSer on the ferry on the way to the Thursday night meetups in Manly. And the roadtrip from Newcastle to Byron Bay was definitely an experience!

Since then I've been on the surfing side of CS from San Diego to Seattle to State College--I support Penn State as well as my alma mater USC, and didn't care who won the 2009 Rose Bowl--and I've been lucky to have met hosts as gracious as my past guests.

These days I occasionally host CSers travelling around LA, introducing them to Cuban, Ethiopian and Korean food; taking them to arcade and karaoke bars; and especially urging them to stay away from tourist traps. And I sometimes attend the weekly Wednesday meetups in Santa Monica.

Interests

Video games, sports, writing, reading, photography, Penguins hockey, USC and Penn State football, travelling, road trips, cultural contrasts, penguins, singing, music, movies, the theatre, ten-pin bowling, challenging Western media portrayals of the African continent, you

• video games
• reading
• traveling
• karaoke
• sports
• hockey
• road trips
• penguins

Music, Movies, and Books

I possess a penchant for a variety of entertainment.

I listens to everything from classic rock to country to classical. I've been to some incredible concerts: John Fogerty (x3), Jamie Cullum (x3), Maroon 5 (x3), John Butler Trio (x3), Gin Blossoms and Fastball, Gloria Estefan, the Beastie Boys, A New Found Glory and RxBandits and Midtown, John Mayer, Lupe Fiasco and De La Soul, The White Stripes, and more. I've experienced performances of Holst's The Planets by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Mahler's No. 8 a.k.a. Symphony of a Thousand at the Sydney Opera House.

When people ask what my favorite movie is, I usually say Big Fish. The original script for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is better than the shooting script. I especially enjoy classic films: think James Stewart, Humphrey Bogart and Cary Grant. I'm also a bit of a sook for sassy or sweet romance, like When Harry Met Sally... and The Notebook; I watch Love, Actually every Christmas. My favorite animated film is Happy Feet--probably 'cause of my love of penguins.

When it comes to television, I'm an unabashed Trekkie--especially "Next Gen" and "Voyager"--and sci-fi fan. I think "Battlestar Galactica" had a terrible ending. I think some of my friends who went to Caltech were the inspiration for "Big Bang Theory".

I love most of the catalogues of Joseph Heller, Tom Wolfe and Isaac Asimov. I think my invitation to Hogwarts got lost in the post. The Secret Society Girl books make me wish I had gone to Yale after all. These days I'm reading a lot of nonfiction; right now it's Ed Catmull's Creativity Inc.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

What I've seen and done isn't a big deal in the scope of the incredible things many members of the CouchSurfing community have seen and done; however, moving 12000km away from all I knew in Los Angeles and living on my own--and thriving!--in Sydney is my greatest accomplishment.

Other cool things I've done: I've fed deer in Nara, I've climbed the Masada.

In July 2015 I donated my hair to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program that provides wigs for women with cancer to commemorate my mom's five-year remission anniversary from non-Hodgkins lymphoma. :]

Teach, Learn, Share

We can talk games, sports, music, movies, travels. I'm also a raconteur (or, as Olivier tells me, a conteur; see! I learned something through CS!). Tell me your story.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, France, Israel, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, United States

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