CURRENT MISSION

staying alive--in kidney failure for ten years. I'm old and cantankerous so death has been avoiding me.

I AM CLOSING DOWN THE 2019 SUMMER SEASON ON LABOR DAY--SEPTEMBER 2 AND WILL RESUME HOSTING AT THE START OF SUMMER, 2020 . I NEED MUCH ADVANCE NOTICE, AS I DON'T HAVE INTERNET IN YOSEMITE--ONLY IN BERKELEY. I TRY TO HOST MUCH OF THE SUMMER BUT ONLY DURING THE WEEK--NO WEEKENDS. I HAVE LOTS TO DO IN BERKELEY IN JUNE SO WON'T BE AVAILABLE IN YOSEMITE VERY OFTEN. CONTACT ME AS SOON AS YOU START THINKING ABOUT COMING TO YOSEMITE!!
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PHILOSOPHY

no philosophy--I just live day-to-day and try not to die.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've hitchhiked over much of western Europe--and Asia-and stayed with many of the people I met. Never formally couch-surfed as couch-surfing didn't exist when I was travelling back in the 1970's.

Interests

opera, ballet, theater, athletics, art, travel and gardens grab my attention. I'm a foody--as an eater, not a cook. I'm retired and give tours as a hobby in California, Kyoto, Paris, London and anywhere else I find myself with friends.

• arts
• theater
• folklore
• architecture
• ballet dancing
• cooking
• traveling
• opera
• surfing
• swimming
• geology
• tours

Music, Movies, and Books

I go to about 110 movies per year--of all sorts; take two film classes. Attend 8-12 operas, 10-15 ballet/dance shows plus lots of other concerts. Prefer Baroque and Renaissance music but Classical and Romantic stuff is OK too. Read 100-150 books per year--love science fiction/fantasy--collect illuminated manuscripts in facsimile and illustrated art books.
i have 4,200 books in Yosemite, many fewer in Berkeley (no room)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Sitting in the Taj Mahal gardens for a whole full-moon night with 70,000 other people watching the Taj grow and change shape as the moon rose;
sitting on the polished wooden deck at Ryoan-ji in Kyoto watching the rocks swimming in the sand ocean and losing completely all sense of time;
my first encounter with a mature sequoia tree.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm a dilettante--and have no deep understanding of or information about anything--but I love to talk about
urban renewal in San Francisco and the Bay Area Tradition of Architecture--and geology in Yosemite and in Marin County.

Countries I’ve Visited

Afghanistan, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, South Korea, Sweden, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

India, United Kingdom, United States