Always exploring. Always thinking. Always learning. Life is a beautiful struggle - so struggle to find the beauty in any situation.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I've always travelled for experience. Couch surfing seemed like a great fit when it was recommended to me, and it was. Three wonderful weeks in San Francisco courtesy of Generous J, a lovely weekend near Manheim with some Scientist Capoeristas... some fun evenings in Athens, and a couple of great CS meetups in Toronto! ... then my Couchsurfing went on hiatus. I lived somewhere nobody wanted to visit, started a family, and had no time anymore.

Now my family lives somewhere more desirable (Leipzig), I'm back :-)

Interests

Without wanting to sound trite, I'm interested in everything. Right now, I'm particularly interested in helping people with lazy eye - working on open-source software to restore binocular vision through neuro-feedback : www.eyeskills.org

• psychology
• science
• sociology

Music, Movies, and Books

In 2018 :
I don't have much time for music, movies, or books. I'm far too busy building things. When I'm not programming, I'm sawing, welding, plastering, and generally making lots of mess.

What I wrote in 2009 for a laugh :
My favorite film of the moment is Paulo Passolini's 'Medea', based on the story of Jason and the Argonauts. Everything by Kubrick, and I was recently surprised by how good 'Zardoz' was (there's Sean Connery as you've never seen him before!). There's so much good film floating around it's hard to know where to begin.

Similarly with music. I've played in various groups, everything from death metal guitar (BC Rich Warlock :-D ), digeridoo (still playing quite often as a form of meditation), djembe's, violin, sequencers ... and and and, because music is a way of expressing so much and there is so much to be expressed and discovered.

But for me, really good music is something you either loose yourself in, in the mind, or something you loose yourself in, in dance. The good a riotous club night can do for the soul is not to be underestimated.

I honestly have no idea where to start on the books. My memory is quite poor and I have read alot ;-) The "Sickle & Moon" travel biography collection is worth getting, that's for sure - the often first-hand accounts of some of the world's true discoverers, and explorers, takes your breath away and teaches a lot of hidden history at the same time.

Aside from movies, music and books, somehow "sport" belongs in here I think. I love cross country skiing, working in the forest (most forms of repetitive manual labor free the mind from the shackles of work), and martial arts. I've experimented with nearly a dozen different styles over the last seventeen years, but have finally settled on a combination of TaiChi Chuan, Qi Kung, and physical meditation, as a way of internalising the reactions needed for self-defense and/or the defense of others, without the unfortunate side-effects of heightened psychic aggression and/or un-necessary training injuries.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I'll give you a dozen examples when we meet. I could happily die today and not be disappointed by life.

Teach, Learn, Share

I love meeting with scientists, engineers, artists, philosophers, musicians, musicians, thinkers, doers, travellers, the young, the old.... it doesn't really matter - as long as you're not just trying to impress me with how wonderful you are, or trying to make other people feel bad about what they're not... I'll enjoy meeting with you, and we'll probably have a lot to share!

What I Can Share with Hosts

When it comes to seeing things from a new perspective, and finding solutions - I'm damn good. I've also picked up a lot of experience with different ways the world works, which I'm happy to share. If you'd like to jam, then that'd also be a treat :-)

Countries I’ve Visited

China, France, Gambia, Greece, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, United Kingdom

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