So... what's supposed to go here?!? Maybe a short life summary.

I grew up in a town of 25K in middle of nowhere USA: Aberdeen, South Dakota. I left for MIT in Boston in 2008. I studied math, for two years there, then a year foreign exchanged to Cambridge, UK. Spent a summer in New York City and then switched to studying computer science back in Boston. I skipped graduation and moved to San Francisco immediately after my last exam to work writing software for a startup.

Seven years later, still in SF. I’ve worked at three startups, lived at four apartments, been in two long relationships, and switched from programming to software management. I started traveling internationally three years ago and have been to Asia three times and Europe twice since.

Right now, I’m taking a break from work to focus on learning and personal growth in a self directed fashion.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I enjoy meeting people, talking, and learning how other's think and do things.

I traveled for a couple weeks in 2010, couch surfing with four amazing hosts. All around a very positive experience. Now, I'd like to meet people and learn by hosting.

Interests

Music
Psychology
Philosophy
Lifestyle
Humans
Science
Communication
Society
Individuals

• singing
• cooking
• fitness
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• guitar
• piano
• hiking
• computer science
• psychology
• science
• conversation
• counseling
• learning
• meeting new people
• making friends
• personal growth

Music, Movies, and Books

Books:
Thinking Fast and Slow
Man's Search For Meaning
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Freakonomics

Music:
Lo-Fi
Jazz
Indie Pop
Danceable electronic
Folk
Classic Rock

Movies:
Anything Pixar
Dramas

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

At MIT there is a tradition called Coffee House. Students meet in the coffee house in the student center at midnight and organize into groups to go "hacking". This shouldn't be mistaken for the rest of the world's use of the word (MIT students use the word cracking to mean what the rest of the world means by hacking). What "hacking" means is either 1) pulling off elaborate and non-harmful pranks such as putting a model lunar lander on the roof of a building to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, or creating a life size Settlers of Catan board on one of the campus greens or 2) exploring the massive system of tunnels and roofs that exist on MIT's campus.

Anyway, I went to Coffee House one fateful evening and joined a group of people who were going to go do some "intermediate shafting". Shafting is in the category of exploring the deep dark innards of campus. Particularly, it means finding large vertical spaces inside buildings and free climbing them.

So we went along our merry way to the shaft we wanted to climb, which was along the outside of an elevator shaft. So it was a seven storey gap between the outside of the elevator shaft and the interior walls of the building. And we began to climb.

The shaft was pitch black, so we had to use flash lights, but the climbing was quite easy since there were pipes running vertically up the shaft. One pipe would branch off at each floor, so you always had something to stop and rest on. It was easy to climb up the vertical pipes. But at the last floor, now seven stories up, there were no more pipes. They had all branched off at lower floors.

My companion, unfazed by this new difficulty, wedged himself between the elevator shaft and the interior wall (the shaft was only about a meter across, so one could easily span it). He could then slowly slide up the last storey. In other words, he was chimneying up the last storey. He reached the top with little difficulty and then climbed back down to be out of the way. Then it was my turn.

I chimneyed about half way up without a hitch, and then I discovered what hackers call a "coffin nail",which is is a nail from the interior wall (we were climbing up the other side of an interior wall) that has been placed incorrectly and is sticking out, in all its deadliness, on the other side. As I pressed my back into the wall, and hence, the coffin nail into my back, my first instinct was to flinch away. The problem was that friction with the wall was the only thing preventing me from falling seven stories down the shaft we had just climbed up. So I had to grit my teeth and let the nail stab me. After a while I was able to regain my composure, and I climbed the rest of the way up, then back down with no more issues. Since then, I've been waaay more risk adverse to chances of injury or death.

Teach, Learn, Share

Happy to teach juggling, or playing piano, guitar, ukulele, bass, or singing, if any of those things excite you. I'm a decent cook.

I’ve worked in Silicone Valley the last seven years: some people are interested in that.

I'd love to learn about how you think. What motivates you? How did you come to be the person you are now? Maybe you can help me figure out how one should live a life.

I think it's nice to share the things that we're passionate about. I always enjoy being motivated by someone who cares about a thing that I have not yet discovered.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I like philosophical conversations, and I’m happy to talk seriously about whatever is going on in your life or interests you.

I can teach some music’ing with a few different instruments, or non-instrument specific music theory.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Italy, Malaysia, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United Kingdom, United States

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