CURRENT MISSION

Stability, progress

ABOUT ME

I am a freelance journalist and book author, cyclist, musician and conversationalist

PHILOSOPHY

"Just How Much Reader-Annoyance Are You Shooting For Here Exactly?"

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Over a number of years, I've hosted and stayed with more than a hundred CSers, and I've learned from every one of those folks.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

A few summers ago, a friend and I biked across the United States, largely with help from generous CouchSurfers. Though I've been doing less hosting and surfing these days, I still consider this site to be one of the best resources on the web for finding fascinating, open-minded people.

Interests

Funny jokes, beer, insight.

• writing
• beer
• technology
• traveling
• socializing
• hunting
• surfing

Music, Movies, and Books

BOOKS: Haley, Vonnegut, O'Connor, DFW, HST
MOVIES: Squash, Spinal Tap, anything nuanced and/or nonfiction
MUSIC: The Paper Chase, The Roots, Queen, Kendrick, Queens of the Stone Age, anything with a driving beat

Teach, Learn, Share

There's a vision -- a facade -- of a United States populated by lazy, disconnected, overfed, unwelcoming fools. And it's easy to see this facade as representing the nation in total. But it doesn't. And the best way to understand this -- to really appreciate that many people do care about each other, and do believe in largely arbitrary expressions of kinship and community -- is to meet people from all over this country who will open their homes and their lives to you, sometimes repeatedly, with no grander goal than to have an interesting conversation or to hear a new voice.

I haven't traveled much outside the United States, but I'm willing to bet traveling much of the world can be described similarly.

What I Can Share with Hosts

A clean foldout couch, insights about Pittsburgh

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Mexico, Netherlands, Scotland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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