CURRENT MISSION

Complete Freedom.

ABOUT ME

I planned to attend grad school straight out of my BA program over a year ago, but wanderlust kicked in and after seven months of traveling I've found myself halfway around the world, alone and broke and exhausted but, happily, with a fresh perspective on the world and goals toward which I'll be working over the next few years!

Otherwise, hell, I don't know. I'm a fan of awkward moments that make great stories later on, I have a very short attention span, I like kittens, I read voraciously but have a terrible memory so I retain next to nothing, I people watch and embark on urban safari adventures as a hobby, and I have accepted that I may never master the fine art of living in moderation. Also, I tend to skip polite small talk and go straight for the serious subjects.

PHILOSOPHY

"Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart." "The cautious seldom err." When things go awry (and they often do), I throw up my hands, shrug my shoulders, and say these Confucian quotes to myself...sometimes it helps, and if not, c'est la vie.

"Reality is divinely indifferent."

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I had the pleasure of befriending some fellow CS folks close to home, and CS has been one hell of a resource while traveling. I've gone to meetups in various countries, which has led to meeting tons of new people and having some wild experiences that would not have happened otherwise :) In short, I'm a huge fan of the whole CS thing.

Interests

My interests change often and I love being introduced to new things.

As far as specifics, I'm more of a brew pub, museum, live music (at a reasonable volume), and philosophical debate kind of person...not so much into playing sports and hiking and whatnot.

• arts
• perfumes
• exercise
• pub crawls
• traveling
• music
• live music
• hiking
• sports
• swimming
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Things I've read recently: 'Neither Here Nor There' by Bill Bryson; stacks of travel guides, the advice of which I have completely ignored; 'Arrowsmith' by Sinclair Lewis; 'An Illustrated Brief History of Time' by Stephen Hawking; 'Illusions' by Richard Bach, "The Universe in a Single Atom" by the Dalai Lama...I highly recommend all of the above except the travel guides.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The most incredible thing I've ever seen/experienced is the world under a microscope. Soon-to-be-deadly heartworm microfilaria swimming complacently amongst red blood cells under 10x magnification, thousands of yeast like tiny little footprints tracked all across the slide, or the riotous explosion of colors and designs from an ear infection or malignant tumor...it is nothing short of amazing to see the destruction of the physical tissue and then, taking a small sample and magnifying it, to see the very same substance transformed into a beautiful work of art. Having experienced the world that lies beyond the human visible spectrum truly gives a new perspective to viewing mountains and sunsets and all that other grand scenery.

Teach, Learn, Share

People are fond of saying "live as though there's no tomorrow" and "you only live once." While I understand these viewpoints, I personally espouse a corollary to the concept of eternal recurrence initially posited by Nietzsche. What happens when, rather than viewing each moment as a single occurrence, we instead postulate that we are destined to repeat our lives, beginning to end, exactly as they are, for all of eternity? When one considers the implications of this (admittedly purely theoretical) perspective, our choices take on a new and decidedly more profound meaning. For instance, would you plant yourself in front of the television night after night if you knew that you would be forced to endure that pointless activity ad infinitum? Would you remain friends with someone boring or date someone irritating if you knew that you would then be destined to spend time with that individual many times over unto the end of time, thus exponentially increasing the amount of your valuable time wasted on someone who is not stimulating or enjoyable?

In essence, it changes one's perspective on all the mundane, harmful, or just plain stupid things we do because we think of them as one-time incidents. Consider instead what choices you'd make if you were forced to endure them over and over. You know those wonderful nights you spend in good company doing enjoyable things, the ones that make you wish they'd never end, that make you glad to be alive at that point and time? Actively seek out more of those, rather than killing time while waiting for them to fall into your lap. Certainly this perspective is not universally applicable, but it bears consideration and makes for a great mental exercise :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Egypt, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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