Hi! I'm Jamie. I work as a computer engineer in a suburb of Detroit called Southfield. I am originally from Detroit but I have lived in Ann Arbor and Chicago. I recently moved to Southfield when my office relocated from Downtown Detroit, so I am slowly getting used to living in the suburbs for the first time ever.

I'm a very diplomatic person, and I have friends from all walks of life. I think I am pretty easy to get along with. I am fairly liberal and accepting of many different beliefs as long as you aren't pushy or hurtful with them.

I have a two-bedroom apartment and live alone with my cat, Princess Peach. Other than that, I write poetry and prose in my spare time. I've been published in small journals and I do slam poetry around town!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing has been a wonderful experience, and I have connected with so many awesome people and now have friends from all over the world! In general, I am an outgoing person. I love throwing parties. I like hosting and showing people around in general. I enjoy sharing Detroit with people from out of town because it is a unique city and people always have preconceived notions about it. I have had wonderful couchsurfers over the years, and they always tell me that they have never seen a place like Detroit. From showing so many people around town, I have a "patented" "Tour de Detroit" that I usually give to my surfers, haha. Whatever you are interested in, there is something in Detroit for you to see. I think it is important to have a tour guide here in Detroit because it isn't a place with public transit or a place where you can just wander around anywhere and be safe. I basically am a Detroit ambassador! :)

I have also hosted guests in my downtown Ann Arbor apartment, in Chicago, and several surfers in my apartment in downtown Detroit. I now live a little further from the city center, but everyone drives here in the Metro Detroit area, so you will need a host with a car anyway, haha.

I haven't surfed with anyone from the site yet but hope to start doing small road trips soon!

Interests

music, playing guitar, writing poetry, reading poetry, reading, writing creative non-fiction, animals, computers, technology

• animals
• cats
• reptiles
• writing
• poetry
• cooking
• partying
• technology
• reading
• music
• guitar
• piano
• swimming
• engineering
• tourism
• road trips

Music, Movies, and Books

Below are authors I LOVE, and it looks like a lot, but not really because I don't read much else than the work of the following people...I lack the attention span for most fiction, for example.

Creative-Nonfiction Authors: David Sedaris (I met him once and almost died), Sarah Vowell, Susan Orlean, Augusten Burroughs, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Sloane Crosley

Fiction Authors: Chuck Palahniuk, Jim Harrison, George Orwell

Poets: Frank O'Hara, John Ashbery, Robert Creeley, Philip Larkin, Sharon Mesmer, Tao Lin, Brandon Scott Gorrell, Matthew Rohrer, Sylvia Plath, Anne Carson, Sharon Olds, Keith Taylor, Kenneth Koch

Movies: Fight Club, Reservoir Dogs, SLC Punk!...and many others that I don't feel like listing.

Music: Everything but country and opera.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

During summer 2008, I went from Lake Superior to Lake Ontario in a 24 hour period. Being from Michigan, I feel like seeing every Great Lake is a sort of pilgrimage...Lake Superior and Lake Ontario were the last two I had yet to swim in, and I swam in both on the same day. It was a really serendipitous thing.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to act like you have street cred, work most things on a computer, and I know A LOT of stuff about reptiles and arachnids.

I want to learn how to play the guitar better (I know a little but I need some practice/guidance), how to get better at cooking, how to play the piano, and how not to scare men away, haha.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I am good at doing 50's hairstyles and makeup, fixing computers, and discussing poetry. :)

Countries I’ve Visited

United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States