CURRENT MISSION

I'm on a pilgrimage to find the origins of food

ABOUT ME

I enjoy finding the latest cheap local restaurant and grubbing out. I find science fascinating, specifically anything having to do with evolution and the human narrative. I studied screenwriting at ASU before running out of money and changing "career paths." Now I am what some would call an "Aspiring Chef." But I'm quick to tell you I'm no Garden Variety Wannabe Food Network Star. Nooo, I'll tell you I'm a Lifer. A débrouillard, or practitioner of "Le System D." One of those guys who "just gets it done." I'm the "Kind of Cook Anthony Bourdain Talks About Working With," as I say, after heavy following Bourdain's writing. I'll tell you I'm a Believer in the Blues, and you can find me listening to "Low Down Blues on KJZZ Public Radio" every Sunday night, wherever I am. I love sad songs but I'm pumped, and excited, and happy about life. I can make a joke out of anything. I love the flaws in life. I like my friends to be like my car. They've been down the road quite a few times, but they're dependable as ever. Its tough finding a balance between social life, family life, and work life, but I'd like to think I'm doing a good job at it. And I'm super excited to go to Europe. I'm fascinated about the history of Western Civilization, especially the origins of the culinary arts as we know them today.

PHILOSOPHY

Everything can happen.
Anything that can happen, has happened.
Anything that has happened, will happen again.
Anything can happen.
So why not do anything and everything you can, knowing that anything and everything is going to happen?

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Just surfing right now. My roommates and I have a pretty filled house for any surfers (sorry!)

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Don't know yet!

Interests

I love Music and I love cooking, and I'd argue that those are really the same thing. Both involve way more technical skill than the average Joe can imagine. Both require a great deal of spirit and soul to be memorable. Both require a certain finesse, and a sense of art, in which every musician has his or her own way of playing that you can hear in the song if you really listen for it. Both are industries that have to deal with a consumer base that has pretty terrible taste. Both of these industries don't pay well unless you're famous, yet "Normal People" view these industries to be glamorous despite knowledge of the seedy, drug-sex-and-booze filled underbelly. Both are therapeutic, and you can find out a lot about a person (and their mood at the time) by how much pepper flakes he put into that Bolognese sauce (Or he didn't put any because he knows how its done, which still tells a lot about him).

Most of my off-work-hours are spent hanging out with my friends. We'll go to concerts, restaurants, hiking, swimming, drinking and other shenanigans. But most of the time we just hang out and "Shoot the shit." Most of my friends live in the same neighborhood, so you're never really alone unless you want to be.

• arts
• writing
• concerts
• environment
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• wine tasting
• running
• drinking
• gardening
• music
• blues
• hiking
• surfing
• scuba diving
• snorkeling
• rock climbing
• swimming
• history
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Slumdog Millionare, The Fall, Cinderella Man, The Samurai Trilogy, the Zatoichi Movies, The Trip, Once, Open Range.

Music: (I'm always finding new bands, but this is what I've been listening to lately) Ryan Adams, The Lumineers, Head and the Heart, Joe Pug, Shovels and Rope, Delta Spirit.

Books: Anything by Bourdain, Pillars of the Earth, Down and Out in Paris in London, The Sun Also Rises, Fear and Loathing in Lost Vegas, The Book of Five Rings, Dante's Inferno.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Wine tasting in Napa Valley. The food's great, the weather's great, and the wine's spectacular. (A least coming from a California native perspective). The most spectacular place wasn't actually in Napa, though, it was north of Napa in Healdsburg, in a secluded winery (Seriously, we got lost a few times on the way, it was a pain in the ass to get to) called Ferrari Carano. The winery itself is a beautiful villa surrounded by gardens. The villa itself overlooks a valley of vineyards. It's breathtaking. It's as if you're no longer in California, but you've somehow transported to somewhere in Italy. When we actually tasted the wine, we went down to this little "Enoteca Lounge" in the wine cellar. Maybe it was the whole experience, but those reds where the best wine's I'd tasted in Napa.

Hawaii, on the Big Island. I'd have to say everything left me speechless. But not in a Fleeting Ten Seconds of Wonder Before We Head Back Onto the Tour Bus sort of way. It was more like a At Peace With the Universe sort of way. Everything we DID was amazing. Scuba diving, snorkeling, surfing, eating, drinking, Zip-lining! I have never felt more At Peace With The World than the time I was careening 40 feet above the treeline on a thin metal wire at about 25 miles an hour, nothing holding me in the air save a heavy duty rock climbing harness. But Hawaii was more than that. You can smell it in the air. There's something very Taoist about the whole environment. To some people, Actually Living There would take away from the dream of Hawaii, but for me, Kailua-Kona felt like home. The sketchy bottom-middle class-ness of the place reminded me of home in Tempe. It was the attitude "Sure things aren't REALLY that great around here, but we love it! Every little bit of it!"

Teach, Learn, Share

I know how to tell a story, which for this site can be incredibly important. Getting to know the world is about understanding "The Human Narrative." Maybe that's just my philosophy, but understanding how to practically tell a story is important to explaining one's identity
I can cook, and can teach anyone the basics of cooking. (At least at a universal, learn enough how to cook so you can learn how to cook more on your own)

Countries I’ve Visited

United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States