CURRENT MISSION

Legitimize

ABOUT ME

I often talk loudly and get in a lot of arguments with people. I'm reasonably intelligent and funny which has gotten me into and out of several life threatening situations. It is my wish to live through a few more and die before I get too boring or stupid.

PHILOSOPHY

I try to be as much of a pragmatist as possible without being a complete dick, although there is definitely some overlap. I try to live a life I won't be embarrassed of in the future. I seek out strange places and situations, because I think it is the surreal that tests you and your ability to make decisions. I also believe that philosophies are flexible, and that we all are, at best, only attempting to live by any real foundational guidelines. Life is too chaotic and complicated for hardened principles and I would take a hard look at anyone who believes very strongly in the certainty of anything.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I like putting up travelers because I've been in the same spot myself. I'm also a major advocate of Philadelphia as a place to live, and CS lets me talk people's ears off about my home city.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Traveled across North and South America with tons of great CSers. I figured I might as well return the favor. I also enjoy meeting new and interesting people.

Interests

Exploration is the only thing that has kept me continually happy. If it is literally traveling to another country, exploring a city, or simply having new intellectual experiences, it is what I love to do. Bicycling through the (any) city is probably my favorite pastime. talking about urban development, politics and all the aspects of city life is probably a close second. I enjoy consuming and making fine beers, cooking, swimming, camping, canoeing, shooting things with BB guns, and all the other basic pleasures that make life worth living. I also enjoy an occasional hallucinogenic experience.

• arts
• dancing
• cooking
• wine
• beer
• politics
• traveling
• canoeing
• camping
• hunting
• boxing
• swimming
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Books- JG Ballard, Sam R. Delany, Cormac McCarthy, Robert Anton Wilson, Alan Moore
Movies- Angst, Alepis, Snowtown, Cure, In The Year Of The Pig
Music- Fucked Up, Lower Dens, Jay Reatard, Das Racist, Can

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I went to Corsica recently. In terms of physical landscape, this was the most amazing and beautiful place/thing I've ever seen/done. While I was there, I got to work a terraced farm in the mountains for a month, and I learned how to plant strawberries and milk goats. We would sometimes work 10 hour days of long, physical labor in the fields, but would always come home to a hot dinner and wine and be asleep by midnight. It was the best lifestyle I ever adopted, even if it was only for a little while. It was amazing to me to learn that I could live like that.

Teach, Learn, Share

I like living life by foot or bicycle as much as possible. We have lost so much of the art of public interaction in America, and the car is only another layer of separation from you and the people and places that exist around you. I try to be outside and in the street as much as I can, where you can engage all of you senses to the bizarre dance of daily life. As violent and horrid as it can be, it is life nonetheless, and the alternative is much less interesting. I think if you open yourself to it, you will see the same thing.

In the end, I believe we exist in a big black box with only each other to reciprocate our thoughts/being. Isolating yourself from others is giving up your greatest gift, even if there are a lot of douche bags to wade through before you find someone really great. I guess that's why I want to have strangers sleep on my couch.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Argentina, France, United States

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