24 (soon to be 25) years old, ex-film studio employee traveling through Europe (2017 edit: Australia/New Zealand) trying to eat everything I can possibly fit in my mouth.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

The things I like to learn about a place aren't usually part of the bus tours. What're the cliques like in high school in Rome? What was the JAM in Lisbon around 2007? Does everybody really dislike the Kardashians as much as they claim to? If so, how are they so popular?

Also, I don't surf I'm terrified of the ocean it's so dark oh god why is it so salty??

Interests

Everyday I wake up with a song in my head. It sounds poetic and corny, but it's not. It's a curse. At work I write music, even though I don't get paid for it. It distracts me from my day-to-day tasks with incredible efficiency. Do you need a melody? I will find one for you. A set of chords to go alongside that melody? Got you there too! A jazz reharmonization that's completely unnecessary? Perfect! That's what I do all day!

...but I also read books, watch films (both high-brow and pop-corn flicks with no discrimination) and TV (single cam sitcoms! multi-cam sitcoms! dramas! food shows! Sketch shows! News!) Most of all I enjoy laughing. Here let me prove it:

Hahahahahaha

Music, Movies, and Books

I studied vocal jazz in college, so let's scabiddily doo wop bop together to some Manhattan Transfer and sight read vocal arrangements by Kerry Marsh. Pass, Corea, McFerrin, oh my!

Jazz not your thing? I played flute, tuba, and percussion at school. John Phillip Sousa? Check. Gustav Holst? Yup! Satie and Stravinsky? Si. Do you like Schoenberg?

You're weird...

Growing up in the oughts (the 00s), I'm a huge fan of emo-rock. Paramore (still into them) Fall Out Boy (so many memories to thank them for).

With that time frame also comes Eminem, 50 Cent, and Yeezy. Who doesn't love College Dropout.

Nowadays I'm listening to James Taylor, Gabrielle Aplin and Billie Marten (2017 edit: Joseph and Gordi) I've gotten soft in my old age.

I run the gamut on films too.
I can't lie, I'm pretty heavily invested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Could Brie Larson's Oscar for Room put in her starring role of Captain Marvel? Marvel's first female lead film since they began this quest in 2008?? (PLEASE NOTE: This sentiment was established June 2016, MONTHS before Larson was cast)

(In relation to the note above: I am slightly prophetic)

Did you also watch all the Oscar nominated pictures last year and determine that Bridge of Spies should've been replaced by Sicario for the best direction nominee spot? (2017 edit: Manchester by the Sea should've won everything and La La Land deserved nothing)

(Ok maybe it deserved best original song)

Have you gone back through time to determine if the academy was correct when it gave the Best Picture to Rocky in 77 by watching all the other nominees that year?

Are there too many questions in my profile??

Regarding books: I'm always reading one. Some I forget because they're awful. Some I remember. Of the ones I remember I think Willa Cather's My Ántonia was entertaining in a non-traditional way. So was Heartburn by Nora Ephron. So was Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Just kidding. I'm HP nerd and will go toe to toe with you on trivia!

Lately I've been reading selections by Ursula K. Le Guin, Isaac Asimov, Terry Pratchett and Shirley Jackson. Notice, all but one of these are fiction. Please recommend to me your finest nonfiction.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

My Grandpa's brothers fought in WW2, one as a kamikaze pilot. I helped my mother transcribe and proofread her father's accounts of his childhood during an era of Japan that was so destructive. It's amazing to me fighting in such a horrendous and unfathomably evil war was a given for him. He would've given his life for his country if he were able, and to hear why was nearly beyond comprehension.

I also backpacked alone through 13 countries and ate homemade Pakistani food in Galway, Ireland. So that's TWO things I've done.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you to read music. To play music. To sing in Italian. To thump your neck with your middle finger with a closed esophagus so it resonates at an E-flat below middle C.

I can also teach you Japanese. I will show you Japanese comedians. I will watch you watch them because they are bizarre and I will laugh with you when you laugh for the wrong reasons. It'll be great.

I can teach you Japanese calligraphy as well. Thing is, I'm not very good at it, but that's never stopped me from doing it. Poorly.

If you need to I can teach you how to skateboard or play guitar or basically anything any teen did in any movie between 2003 to 2008 because I am he.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I didn't bring much with me. You're welcome to my roll of fine American duct-tape and lip-balm but most of all it'll be my presence and my curly hair falling in your couch cushions.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Scotland, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Japan, United States