CURRENT MISSION

Biking everywhere.

ABOUT ME

I've lived in Canada and the US (and Europe when I was very young). I work in urban planning, and have (if I do say so myself) very good knowledge of Toronto, and the Great Lakes region in general. I'm happy to point you in an interesting direction.

PHILOSOPHY

Characters in fairy tales often get unusual gifts (a fiddle that forces people to dance, shoes that walk by themselves, a bag that holds infinite volumes, etc.), and later find that these are precisely what is required to carry out some task. I think the world is made by combining unexpected things, pulling experiences out of your memory and then turning them to some pressing purpose.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

By sleeping on your couch? But I'm a friendly and considerate bum. I'd also like to chat you up and buy you a coffee or beer, if you're up for it.

Having just moved to a new apartment, I'm now also available to host.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've couch surfed a number of times, as well as using the touring cyclist equivalent, Warmshowers (www.warmshowers.org).

Interests

Aside from biking, I love camping, hiking, cooking (especially baking, and mostly vegetarian), writing and sketching and model building and Scrabble. Coffee, beer, good food...

• arts
• writing
• architecture
• sketching
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• beer
• coffee
• baking
• vegetarian
• modeling
• shopping
• politics
• traveling
• cycling
• hiking
• camping
• surfing
• track and field
• tours

Music, Movies, and Books

Some fairly random and incomplete lists:

Movies: Metropolitan, The Last Days of Disco, The Loneliness of a Long-Distance Runner, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Hands Over the City, La Strada, The Belly of an Architect

Music: Yo La Tengo, Billy Bragg, Ewan MacColl, Sufjan Stevens, Tribe Called Quest, The Smiths, Morphine, Simon and Garfunkel, Lou Reed, Gogol Bordello, Jonathan Richman, Kraftwek, Depeche Mode, Blonde Redhead, Beirut

Books: Fiction by Christopher Isherwood, Ben Lerner, Murakami, Dostoyevsky. Poetry by Auden and Rilke. Non-fiction by Rybcznsky, Kunstler, Sieverts, Harvey.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I biked over the Alps a few years ago. Coming down from the Furka Pass into the Rhone Valley in Switzerland, I must have done over 50 km without turning the pedals... Beautiful weather, beautiful views...

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Monaco, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Switzerland, United States