CURRENT MISSION

seeking out experiences that teach, surprise, and challenge me

ABOUT ME

Sometimes I wish I had the ability to experience multiple parallel dimensions at once so I could live a full life in each of the places I've lived with all of the people there.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We've hosted quite a few surfers at my house (mostly via my roommate Billy Epting's profile.) Someday I hope to surf myself! I have a fairly busy work/life schedule, so I usually only end up hanging out with our couchsurfers once or twice during the visit.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I love learning about new places, so one of my favorite parts of couchsurfing is talking to surfers about where they are from and where they've been. Ideally, these talks happen on walks exploring Pittsburgh neighborhoods or over a good beer.

Interests

I read voraciously, write whenever I can (poetry, journaling, essays), walk and bike everywhere for exploration and exercise, and I really enjoy the meditative and social aspects of cooking and sharing a good meal. I used to be a ballet dancer, but I can get down to almost any kind of music and love going dancing in Pittsburgh. I studied Chinese in college and lived in Beijing for a year. I am trying to brush up on my high school French. I work for an arts nonprofit and see a lot of theater and dance performances in the city.

• arts
• writing
• poetry
• theater
• dancing
• ballet dancing
• cooking
• beer
• exercise
• music
• cycling
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: anything by Virginia Woolf, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Dubliners, Cancer Ward, Middlemarch, The Vagrants. Theodore Roethke, Rainer Maria Rilke, Denise Levertov, Lu Xun, Zhang Ailing (Eileen Chang).

Music: Appalachian-tinged music incl Ryan Adams and Lucinda Williams, Girl Talk, Rachmaninov, Neutral Milk Hotel

Movies: Amelie, Do the Right Thing, Thelma and Louise, Brazil, Wall-E

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Sunrise at the Grand Canyon.

Teach, Learn, Share

I edit writing, I've tutored English to speakers of other languages, I can dance if you want to. I love to cook, and can share tips for a good stir fry.