CURRENT MISSION

To share in the exchange of awesome knowledge and help everyone relax.

ABOUT ME

I grew up in quiet New York suburbs where I developed an appetite for some things that connected me to the wider world: software and music. My favorite thing to do is to sit with clever friends and talk and argue together.

I have a silly sense of humor but it's picky and that has gotten me accused of "hating fun" (but it's not true). I think people dealing with everyday frustrations are hilarious.

I am outgoing when I am in the mood, but I slip into listening mode a lot if I'm with people who like to talk. I tend not to talk about myself unless prompted, but I'll sometimes pin down a close friend when I need to talk about the good or bad. I love to hear stories and am extremely content to curl up in a ball on a couch and smile and laugh and share experiences.

In the end, friends trump nearly everything: with the right people I'll go (almost) anywhere.

PHILOSOPHY

Do whatever I think is amazing and awesome until people show me how I'm wrong. Try to derive my ideal self from first principles.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Find me for fun in San Francisco. I'm always open to meeting travellers.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I showed up homeless and broke ($10) one morning in Oslo with my bank card frozen. I didn't starve and had a wonderful weekend.

Interests

awe and wonder, collective intelligence, dancing, decentralized computing, digital publishing, free software/culture, harmonic distortion, maps, nighttime, skiing, sound manipulation/mangling, timbre, waves

• arts
• culture
• dancing
• cooking
• yoga
• drawing
• coding
• music
• skiing
• cartography
• economics
• physics
• software

Music, Movies, and Books

I was a classically trained pianist for 10 years, but it didn't mesh with my musical interests. Alt-rock from 8 years old turned to indie rock in my late teens, but nowadays anything synthesized with detail, musicality or brutality really catches my ear. Currently braindance/idm, darkpsy, ambient and math rock are top of the list. I've done some production on my laptop and some installation pieces but write code more than music. I find I'm really creative when I'm moving on planes and trains or in public stations.

I am usually working my way slowly through a growing backlog of fiction and non-fiction books. The non-fiction tends to be about human behavior and ethnography, while the fiction is all over the place.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I watched the sun rise and then disappear into rain clouds off the coast of Tallinn, Estonia while huddling under shelter in an old prison. An artist gave me comments on my conté drawing of the barbed wire and old walls we had spent the night behind while the DJ raged out harsh and distorted drum and bass.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach
-Programming (C/C++, Python, Java, Erlang, JavaScript)
-Music production (Ableton, synthesis, mixing)
-English, of course!

Learn
-German/Spanish
-Social Theory
-Physics
-Economics
-Yoga or other contemplative arts
-Supercollider/Chuck/Live-coding
-Data visualization
-Cooking

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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