CURRENT MISSION

To take time to be thankful of the countless things which didn't go wrong, and appreciate the wisdom gained through those that did.

ABOUT ME

Just escaping bastardry, I am precicely ten days younger than my parent's nearly 22 year mariage. I suppose that life never quite got "normal" from that point on.

In my most currious stay on this planet thus far, I have learned to appreciate the beauty of activity, weather it be physical or mental. For mental activity, I enjoy philosophy, especially dealing with ethics, theology and history. Physically speaking, I love to walk, and to practice Brazilian Jui Jitsu. Combining both, I enjoy writing, especially satire, which I don't really hope to have published, merely read, and I am an amateur trombonist. I hope one day to be able to publically perform Dvorak's New World Symphony.

Recently I finished my third year at Shasta Communty College, and have yet to earn my two year AA. Howver, I have some genuinely unusual storis to tell in compensation for my lost time, so I think I may still have the upper hand. Presently, my friend Eric and I are making our long term dream a reality, and after much scrimping, saving and postponing, have obtained backpacking supplies, with which we shall be departing the home of our adolescence in hope of better understanding ourselves, our world, and our fellow man. In that understanding, I hope to glean a better understanding of love, a deceptively simple word which I have already learned, bears many, oft contradictory meanings.

PHILOSOPHY

Those of us who think with our hearts are optimists. Those of us who think with our heads are pessimists. I strive to do both.

I also strive to follow the basic premise of every religion out there. Do good for my fellow man. Of course, when I do do good, I can usually make up a selfish reason, often to comic effect.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'll be honest, I learned about CS last minute before a trip which will (or did) begin 12 Aug 2009, and thus have yet to truly contrubute. As this trip will last for upwards of a couple of years, I'll be focusing durring this time on being the best a guest, or companion, as the case may be, that I can be. this of course doesn't extent solely to people I meet here, but to everybody I meet on this trip. Once I'm done with that trip and have settled down somewhere, I hope to start hosting people wherever I decide to live.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Well, I've more of this than I'd really care to admit on both sides of the tracks (mostly because the circumstances are usually unpleasant). I've slept on plenty of couches, mostly with friends, or friends of friends when things got particularly ugly at my parent's home.

As to hosting people, I've never done it through this site. I have however, housed both friends and friends of friends when things were going poorly for them. Be it taking the car keys one of my coworker's friends who was way to intoxicated to drive, or housing a friend who'd been snowed out of his house. I genuinely enjoy not only sharing my home with people, but the bonds that are shared by the people with whom I've stayed and who've stayed with me. It's good to know that there really are people out there who are good, and do care, because those aren't the people who usually get noticed.

The best hosting experience I've ever had, by the way, was when a blizzard hit my friend's house up in the mountains, and he ended up snowed out from the Beginning of January through mid February. He crashed on my couch durring that time, and in that time, I developed one of the closest friendships I've ever kindled. Eventually, I'll get to his new home in New Orleans, and surf with him there.

Interests

I'd say that I have a vested interest in the propigation of ideas. I like ideas and am interested in cultivating them both in myself and others.

I also have a fanatical interest in traveling. I've been preparing for this trip since my last great sojourn, a month long trip to Canada with my grandmum.

I've a irrevrent intrest in theology, and an unpatriotic intrest in nationalism, as I appreciate both in concept, but don't keenly feel either, nor do I typically agree with the polarized with us or against us mentality that both tend to solicit from people.

• arts
• writing
• poetry
• performing arts
• beauty
• make up
• dancing
• ethics
• cooking
• flowers
• chess
• traveling
• poker
• backpacking
• sports
• divinity
• history
• religion
• beaches
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: This is the one thing to me which makes hearing more prescious than sight. I love music. If it has a rhythm and demands an emotion, with or without lyrics, then it is sacred. Of special interest to me, Vas, Dvorak, Otep, Pink Floyd, the Beatles, John Phillip Sousa, hymns of any religion and tongue, Dath Cab for Cutie and Placebo.

Books: I read them often. Again, sort of ecletic here. Some things worth reading: Toni Morrison, George Orwell, Caleb Carr, John Steinbeck, the Bible, George R.R. Martin, and Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, Ambrose Bierce, HP Lovecraft, and countless more. Also, when I return from my travels, I've dedicated myself to completing the Baghadva Ghita and the Koran.

Movies: Slightly less eclectic here, as I don't tend to watch many. My favorites are Equiibrium, My Fair Lady, and Silence of the Lambs.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I saw a falling star once that burned an image similar to a sword in the sky for 15 seconds or so. It was ominously beautiful.

I saw a water fall that was frozen in mid July. And then got to explain to a Sweedish man who barely spoke English that it was in fact ice. That's when I learned how astoundingly important comunicating is, and how easily jargon and slang can be misconstrued. This is one of my dearest memories ever.

I got to play catch in 7 foot waves at Nantascut Beach. If you ever have the cance to do this, go for it. I haven't ever found a water sport that I really got into before this.

Teach, Learn, Share

I have a wide array of skills and fields of study. I'm not a master of any of them, but i'll gladly share any knowlege I have. Here are my top 5 sharable skills.

1) Philosophy. I have studied a goodly deal of philosophy and theology, and what I haven't learned, I either have, or can and will take the time to ponder when the opportunity or necessity presents itself.

2) Juijistu. I've taught a few friends what little I know. Only one of them has ever used what I had to teach, but I was glad she knew it.

3) Games. I know Chess, Go, Charades, Rummy, Poker, Crazy 8's and a few others. Any game is a great asset, and I'm happy to share a game.

4) Writing. I'm comfortable saying that I do it fairly well, so long as I'm allowed to do so in my mother tongue, English. Whereas I can, and am willing to teach writing, I rather enjoy sharing what is written, stories, poems etc.

5)Cooking. I enjoy it, though again I don't claim to be masterful, I've yet to make anything unbearably disgusting. In fact, I can make something fairly tasty given that I only know how to use half a dozen spices or so.

Top three things I'd like to learn to do, or do better by the time I'm 25.

1) Couple's dancing. I've done a very little of this, but think that it would be swell to know how, as by deffinition, couple's dancing is a way to spend time with somebody else, and get some exorcise in.

2) Whittling. I've been carrying a pocket knife on my person as a useful tool for many years now. I usually end up cutting flowers or chopping ingredients for supper with it, but have always wanted to learn to whittle.

3) Being sociable. There's a distinct art to being able to read a social situation and really make people comfortable around you. I am not bad at it, but I'm no Mark Twain either. Albeit this isn't something that a person can really be taught, but I will be practicing diligently nonetheless.

Countries I’ve Visited

United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States