CURRENT MISSION

Art business homework.

ABOUT ME

I get most of my work in Painting and remodeling. I make about enough to live on, and work hard with good and interesting people. I also make some unique handbags and upholster things, which is my business project. Strong interests in painting and writing, which I never seem to have the quiet time for, which is why I'm getting started in the home buying process.


I am fascinated by music, mechanical and industrial processes, exploration of abandoned buildings, philosophy, visual art, restoration, massage, spirituality, photography, record collecting, nerds, history, esp. of technology.
History:
My fascination with the way mechanical devices work dates back to my taking apart broken appliances and the like at a very young age. I walked in the desert, abandoned mineshafts and abandoned houses in a ghost town in California when I was 5, my dad ended up sacrificing his job for that trip in 1990. Speaking of his job, he had also taken me into a former Chrysler plant where the Sweepster rotary broom company he worked for had operated within when I was 3 or 4, possibly sprouting my fascination for old industrial buildings.

Some projects I've enjoyed: learning reupholstery,
restoring a 1952 AMI D-80 jukebox, and rebuilding my 1983 Honda XL600R enduro motorcycle. I enjoy taking apart old things which are not worth restoring to use for their parts or cool logos as artistic accent pieces for furniture or jewelry.

I'm a fan of Organic and Sustainable agriculture methods. I participate by shopping at New Seasons (supporting local farmers) and composting. It's the least I can do.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=375864

PHILOSOPHY

The decision to be happy here and now.

"Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically. The cataclysm has happened, we are among the ruins, we start to build up new little habitats, to have new little hopes. It is rather hard work: there is now no smooth road into the future: but we go round, or scramble over the obstacles. We've got to live, no matter how many skies have fallen."
D.H. Lawrence

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've hosted a few travelers. When I travel and stay with others, I like to be cooking, cleaning, sharing what I know, and whatever other services I can offer to my hosts. I live to be of service to others, and express myself quietly through visual arts and writing with the quirky perspective imbued upon me by the universe.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

It has been quite varied so far, all kinds of American homes, from trailers to mansions, I met many kinds of people... it is the best way to travel, no doubt about it.

Interests

Art of many types, the decision to be completely happy, the subconscious mind and dreams, science, science fiction, fiction, the contingency of truth, the six degrees of separation, "sustainability", novels, writing, reading, screenprinting, artsy carpentry & metal, metaphors, Abandoned factories, mills, industrial buildings, houses, and junkyards. Exploring, photographing, and scavenge things from them, that ethereal, cool spooky feeling I get during this experience, and sometimes the souvenirs I find. Music, Photography, Film, Weird comic books. Strange nerdy collectors of things. Found art. Slappy upright bass solos. Harmonicas, tambourines, fuzz pedals, odd guitars, drums, and reverb. Tao. Anything spiritual, metaphysical, philosophical, scientific, outer spacial.

• arts
• writing
• books
• photography
• cooking
• running
• shopping
• technology
• reading
• traveling
• restoration
• painting
• drawing
• music
• drums
• agriculture
• animation
• business
• history
• science
• visual arts

Music, Movies, and Books

I want to try out a music listening session with a couple people. Each person gets 10 minutes to play their music while everyone listens with no talking or interruptions. Discussions follow music sets. Anyone want to try it?
MUSIC:
Alvin Cash,
Aretha Franklin,
Alton Ellis and the Flames,
Afghan Wigs,
Beat Happening,
Beck,
Baby Washington,
Betty Everett,
Black Keys,
Black Sabbath,
Black Lips,
Bo Diddley,
Booker T. and the MGs,
Brian Jonestown Massacre,
Broadcast, Bringerer,
Budos Band, Buff Medways,
Cab Calloway,
Camera Obscura,
Chuck Berry,
Chris Cornell,
Clash,
Comas,
Cure,
Cliff Nobles,
Count Basie,
Creation,
Crypt Records' "Back from the Grave" Compilations,
David Bowie,
Dead Meadow,
Desmond Dekker and the Aces,
Destroyer,
Dexter Romweber,
Dinah Washington,
Dirtbombs,
Earl Bostic,
Earl Grant,
Edwyn Collins,
Elvis Costello,
The Fall,
Flat Duo Jets,
Fleshtones,
George Baker Selection,
Gun Club,
Greenhornes,
Gories,
Guided By Voices,
Holly Golightly,
Hollies,
Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions,
Howlin' Wolf,
Human Expression,
Ike & Tina Turner,
Irma Thomas,
Joy Division,
James Booker,
James Brown,
Jimmy Cliff,
Jay Mitchell,
Jimi Hendrix,
Kinski,
Kinks,
Ladybug Transistor,
Lee "Scratch" Perry,
Little Anthony & the Imperials,
The Litter,
Link Wray & The Raymen,
Major Stars,
Mazzy Star,
Melodians,
Mighty Caesars,
Milkshakes,
Millie Small,
Muddy Waters,
Morcheeba,
Music Machine,
New Order,
New Pornographers,
Orange Juice,
Otis Redding,
Os Mutantes Paragons,
Pearl Jam,
Portishead,
Pixies, R.L. Burnside,
Ramsey Lewis,
Ramones,
Remains,
Ray Charles,
Ray Charles,
Reckless Eric,
Robert Pollard,
Richard Hell and the Voidoids,
Rosemary Clooney,
Saturday Looks Good to Me,
Southern Culture on the Skids,
Screamin' Jay Hawkins,
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings,
Shins, Simon & Garfunkel,
Shirley Ellis,
Shirley and Company,
Spoon,
Spyder Turner,
Smashing Pumpkins,
Sean Lennon,
Soundgarden,
Sonic Youth,
Specials,
Stranglers,
Squirrel Nut Zippers,
Sundazed's "Garage Beat '66" compilations,
Superchunk,
Tom Waits,
Toots & Maytals,
Television,
Troggs,
Velvet Underground,
Violent Femmes,
Ventures,
Young Sinclairs,
Willie Mitchell,
Willis Jackson,
Wilson Pickett,
White Stripes,
Woggles,

MOVIES:

12 Monkeys,
American Beauty,
American Splendor,
Before Sunset,
Before Sunrise,
Brick,
Cashback,
Clerks,
Coffee and Cigarettes,
Crumb,
Croupier,
Head On (title in German is Behind The Wall),
Hedwig and the Angry Inch,
High Fidelity,
Jesus' Son
Last Night,
Morven Callar,
Paris Jettem,
Quadrophenia,
Run Lola Run,
Rushmore,
Silence of the Lambs,
Smoke and Flesh,
Stranger than Fiction,
The Goddess of 1967,
Waking Life,
Wallace and Gromit,
What the Bleep Do We Know,
You, Me, and Everyone we Know

Books:
Cruddy,
Desert Solitaire,
Glass Castle,
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,
Journal,
Kafka on the Shore,
Wind up Bird Chronicle,
Norweigan Wood
Teslsa: Man out of Time,
The Time Traveler's Wife
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Saw this country from the seat of a motorcycle, and a few of it's people around the south and west. It's actually a lot of work.

Running into a friend from my hometown while out on my NC-OR trip in Jackson, MS, realizing what a small world it is.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how internal combustion engines work, or to work on simple mechanical things, teach you about the complete process of the making of a vinyl record and other music technicalities, I'm a pretty good illustrator, especially of objects, visual aids & diagram drawing while teaching technical stuff is a strength of mine, handy for communicating ideas to other visual learners), some music history, some culinary skills.

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