CURRENT MISSION

I'll show you the life of the mind!

ABOUT ME

I've been desribed by others as a mystery man, quiet, a kind soul, a good soul, and the nicest guy in the world but an a-hole.

My parents met in Europe on a train en route between Paris and Amsterdam. My dad John Butler (b. Jan 1940, Illinois) and mom Leah Koizumi (b. Nov 1954, Japan) were, respectively, a working class bred, Irish-German ceramic artist/architect and a recent graduate in interior design living and working in Tokyo. This union resulted in some cross-cultural misunderstandings. According to my cousin, my grandparents on my dad's side were skeptical of the marriage citing that Japan was the enemy of the United States in WWII. They were "old school." My dad was apparently frightened when he went to Japan to meet her family that her brother would leap out from behind a shoji screen wielding a samurai sword to protect his sister from the strange foreigner. Ultimately, any xenophobic shortcomings were overcome and they settled in Tucson, Arizona where they have been married near 30 yeras, producing three offspring. The first one looked so nice that they had two more shortly thereafter, of which I was the third.

PHILOSOPHY

Where we are is where were meant to be.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I participate by traversing many miles to wherever you are as an ambassador of my corner of the world bringing forth whatever wisdom, humor and capacity to be open, thoughtful, creative or experiential to you (Hopefully).

Interests

I enjoy skateboarding on the top level of empty parking garages, exploring abandoned buildings and other forbidden zones, etc.

• architecture
• design
• interior design
• cycling
• skateboarding

Music, Movies, and Books

"Get Drunk!"
-Baudelaire

Music: Gang Gang Dance, And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, 13th Floor Elevators, Conscious Hip-Hop from the late 90s and early 00s, Brazilian Funk, Afro-Pop, Detroit Techno, Jazz, a bunch of other stuff that I don't feel like mentioning because the list is far too numerous.

Film: I recently watched Robert Altman's "Nashville" on the big screen in a 35 mm print. Being able to see a film in an auditorium filled with other people being projected the old fashioned way on celluloid has become a rare and special event in this age where everything is digitized, on demand, on the internet.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Exploring Brooklyn on bike. I also skateboarded the entire length of Manhattan Island from Washinton Heights to South St Seaport.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Japan

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States