CURRENT MISSION

figuring out what to do with my life. suggestions welcome!

ABOUT ME

"The man who has gone through college or university easily becomes psychically unemployable in manual occupations without necessarily acquiring employability in, say, professional work."
(Joseph Schumpeter)

I'm currently taking a break--perhaps permanently--from my Ph.D. program, after spending far too long getting far too little done. I have no idea what I'll do next, except that I'm going to try to spend another year+ in Germany, in order to acquire real fluency with the language. So I hope to have a lot of conversations over the next few months, both with strangers and with old friends, about the nature of self-fulfillment, work, pleasure, life, love, friendship--all that big fun stuff. (You've been warned! *grin*)

PHILOSOPHY

"The fact is that a certain kind of gifted irresponsibility, combined with physical stamina and a fair degree of luck--in some respects Trapnel was incredibly lucky--always holds out an attractive hope that its possessor will prove immune to the ordinary vengeances of life; that at least one human being, in this case X. Trapnel, will beat the book, romp home a winner at a million to one." --Anthony Powell, Books Do Furnish A Room

I should clarify that I use this quote for its explanatory power in clarifying my life, rather than as a philosophy that I endorse--naturally, I'm rather embarassed about seeing myself in X. Trapnel...

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'd like to both surf & host. Lately I've been surfing in Frankfurt, in order to go to events there, but more importantly to have people to go to events with.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I stayed with a CSer in Iceland, and met up with another for dinner, which was neat. I'd like to do more.

Interests

Dorky things. Mostly in the areas of: the study of institutions; personal, political, and institutional morality; explanation and the social dispersion of knowledge. Lately I've also been thinking about sexuality, gender, etc.

Oh, as for activities--well, I read; waste time on the internet; enjoy discussing things with friends; do yoga (badly); sometimes go out dancing.

• books
• dancing
• yoga
• surfing
• scuba diving

Music, Movies, and Books

Books, nonfiction: Seeing Like a State, James Scott; Morality Within the Limits of Reason, Russell Hardin; Law's Empire, Ronald Dworkin; Explaining Social Behavior, Jon Elster; Democracy & the Rule of Law and Democracy, Accountability, & Representation, ed. Adam Przeworski.
Books, fiction: A Song of Ice and Fire, George R.R. Martin; Talking it Over, Julian Barnes; the Marq'ssan Cycle, L. Timmel DuChamp; Dawn, Octavia Butler; The Dispossessd, Ursula LeGuin;
Movies: Metropolitan; Barcelona; The Last Days of Disco.
Music: recent- Okkervil River; Frightened Rabbit; The Hold Steady; Shearwater; Florence & the Machine; Drive-by Truckers; The Antlers; Bloc Party; The National; The Decemberists; Liz Phair. Old standbys- Pulp; Concrete Blonde; Garbage; Weezer; Nine Inch Nails; Counting Crows (*blush*). Lately I've been really loving Public Enemy, but I recognize that I'm not exactly the intended audience.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Scuba diving was pretty awesome. Hmm. I'm having trouble with this question, because for me, the most meaningful experiences tend to be ones that are inextricable from interpersonal connections. And these don't always come packaged in discrete events or happenings.

Teach, Learn, Share

See "interests", above. I have no practical skills, alas.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Italy

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, United States