I'm a singer-songwriter working on a couple scripts, as a means of personal salvation and service. We all gotta do what we gotta do, and this, it seems most sincerely to me, is what I gotta do.

In specific, I'm working on two projects. One is a secret. The other is a musical narrative titled HAMLET AMONG THE PIRATES, that I mean to perform in a theater in, let's say, August of 2017. Thing is, it's not fully written yet... and some of my best writing happens spontaneously, speaking in performances.

我为什么加入 Couchsurfing

I'm here on Couchsurfing because house concerts seem the appropriate stepping stones on the Path. In the first place, I need to work out the story I'm working on by telling pieces of it, over and over, in the company of new people. I work best through talking, in the crucible of a live audience, in the comfort of someone's gently-lit home.

Plus, I'll be traveling with my 19 year old nephew, as a sort of surrogate father figure (technically known as an "uncle"). I'm bringing him back to the West Coast to give him a new lease on life, during late April and May. It would be a great blessing to be able to open his social, cognitive and emotional perspective along the way.

UPDATE FROM THE ROAD

Truth be told, planning and promotion are not my strong suits. Given this, the last three weeks on the road traveling up and down the East Coast has turned into a tour of open mics. On the one hand, there is a deep sort of nourishment in the unassuming anonymity of it all. I've met some lovely people, and gotten to temporarily be part of other musical communities. On the other hand, simple fact is, it's hard to financially sustain a tour playing open mics.

It's been nice to find that my music might be well-received in many different contexts; and that, for a while, made it all seem very plausible and punk. It seems clear, though, that I need to get a little more strategic about this.

So, I'm redoubling my effort to book at least a few house concerts further down the road, between mid-May and early June.

音乐、电影和书籍

I grew up loving my dad's music collection, in particular, The Beatles, but also Bob Dylan, early James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkel. To that I'd add Billy Joel, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Billy Bragg, Thomas Dolby, Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett.

As to books, beyond Hamlet, I've read and re-read DUNE (Hamlet in Space), Robert Graves' The White Goddess and The Greek Myths, most all of historian Gordon S Wood's books, the dialogues of Plato, Idries Shah's various books on Sufism, American History, Complex Systems Theory. Currently I'm reading Iain McGilchrist's The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World.

我做过的一件不可思议的事情

That depends on what you mean by "done". I read that sentence in terms of accomplishment, though I imagine it's supposed to mean something more like "participated in" or "witnessed". In any case, the things that are most amazing to me are personal, creative, accomplishments, and it feels weird to list any of those here as an amazing thing I've done.

The first time I wrote what seemed to me a real song felt completely revelatory, transformative, amazing. I still get flashes of that feeling. Suddenly understanding something I've been considering for some time often strikes me as amazing.

教，学，和分享

If you wanted to learn about music theory, I'd be a good guest. Or, if you had an interest in symbolic systems, I could be a good guest.

My hope, as stated above, is to put together a trip across the country punctuated by house concerts, wherein I'll get to rehearse the narrative musical I'm working on writing for the pleasure and benefit of others. If you like thoughtful house concerts, I'd be a really good guest!

我可以与沙发主分享些什么

music, conversation, good manners