CURRENT MISSION

grow

ABOUT ME

I just got back to the States after about 4 years in Japan and a couple months on the road between there and here. I am a poet in the MFA program at NYU and I'd love to sit down and have a good chat with anyone about literature or the nature of art.

I'm also a snowboarder, SCUBA diver, and adrenaline junkie, fluctuating between social butterfly and loner. I love the outdoors but feel comfortable in the city, and Couchsurfing is the best thing to happen for travel since legs.

PHILOSOPHY

We are both the earth. Lets take care of each other.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Since I moved to NYC and my current roommate is not so keen on the idea I participate by spreading the word and traveling as much as possible. I'll be moving in February and hopefully will then be able to host again.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

This one isn't through couchsurfing.com but I was taken in by a wonderful Japanese couple as I was coming out of the woods in the rain after a solo backpacking trip in the mountains north of Kyoto. I was wet, unshaven, stinky, and generally looking like a vagrant.
I flagged this car down to ask how long they thought it would take to walk to the nearest bus stop, and they wouldn't have it. Apparently I was going with them. So I was ushered into the back seat of their car (apologizing profusely about getting the upholstery wet), and taken along on their errand, which consisted of dropping off fresh fish to all their friends. So we're driving around this tiny mountain town, me in the back seat, my sopping hair hanging down over my eyes, me looking every bit the stray dog who had been saved by these saints at the wheel.
Next it was to their house where they showed me the bath and insisted I take my time and relax (which I gladly obliged). Little did I know, while I was in the bath they were preparing an incredible shrimp and olive oil with fresh basil pasta, white wine, and french bread. So I get out of the bath and follow this incredible smell downstairs, where they tell me that they are not quite finished yet, but oh I must be tired, what with all the walking and how sore my feet must be! So they sat me down in the nicest cushy chair in the house complete with a foot massager and told me to relax until lunch was ready. I had to pinch my self a couple times, as I had just come out of the woods and one is never sure whether they are under the influence of wood sprites or forest gnomes. We must not forget about Rumplestiltskin when gallavanting in the forest.
After a wonderful lunch and great conversation (they were able to speak English as well as German and of course Japanese), they took me and my bags out to the car and commenced to drive me all the way to the nearest train station.
Even though there was no couch involved, the kindness and generosity with which I was treated by total strangers definitely qualifies as a "CouchSurfing Experience".

Interests

Poetry, Snowboarding, Reading, Traveling, Music, Fractals, Climbing, Good Films, SCUBA, Camping, Packing, Teaching, Art, Language, Learning...

• dogs
• fish
• arts
• literature
• poetry
• wine
• white wine
• walking
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• magic
• music
• outdoor activities
• fishing
• backpacking
• camping
• scuba diving
• snowboarding
• rock climbing
• science
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Authors: Herman Hesse, Aldous Huxley, Murakami Haruki, Kurt Vonnegut, Ray Bradbury, Salmon Rushdie, Jorge Luis Borges, Umberto Eco, Franz Kafka, Ishmael Reed, Gabriel Garcia Marquez...

Poets: Galway Kinnell, Charles Simic, Major Jackson, Yusef Komunyakaa, Sharon Olds, Kimiko Hahn, Erin Belieu, Nick Flynn, Gerald Stern, James Tate, Carl Sandburg, Walt Whitman, Miyazawa Kenji, Rumi, Pablo Neruda, David Kirby, Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Frank O'Hara, Yusef Komunyakaa, Dean Young, Octavio Paz, Artur Lundqvist...

Movies: Cohen Brothers, Darren Arrenofsky, Wes Anderson, Charlie Kaufman, Quenten Tarantino, David Lynch, Alfred Hitchcock, Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese...

Music: Death Cab, Bjork, Trip Theory, The Greatful Dead, Leftover Salmon, Ben Harper...I'm just going to stop here but the list continues ad infinitum.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Watched the sun rise from the summit of the Grand Teton, while the wind howled around me and threatened to tear me off and dash me on the rocks at the base.

Solo backpacked/ hitch-hiked/ rode to the northernmost point of Honshu, sleeping along the way at the base of the mountain known for centuries as the Japanese entrance to the underworld.

Teaching myself how to read and write Japanese.

Teach, Learn, Share

If you're backpacking in a leech infested area, sprinkle some tabacco between your socks and your boots, and you will enjoy a leech free experience. Tried and true. Its because of science... or magic. I forget... which one is responsible for the stars?

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Belize, Cambodia, China, France, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Japan, United States

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