CURRENT MISSION

Put the world into context one excursion/adventure/degree at a time.

ABOUT ME

I just finished a graduate program in education at the College of William and Mary. Now I have to find a teaching job and something to do for the summer. Prior to W&M, I worked political campaigns in VA and TX. I substitute taught grades 6-12 in Tulsa, OK for a time.

I love to listen to NPR (even in the shower). I live for good conversation. I recognize the politics in most everything. I use a Mac. I protest. I party. I eat organic frozen dinners. Dinner clubs rock. I need to learn Spanish. I vote. I'm a sucker for syntax. I come to life in the Spring. I despise corpo-radio. I admit to being a librocubicularist. I value the abstruse.

During my European adventure of 2007:
I marched against President Bush through the middle of Rome. I climbed Italy's bell towers. I paid 10€ for an espresso in St. Mark's Square, Venice amidst the orchestral quartet and throngs of stone doves. I hovered in train stations in Italy and Germany. I met an anarchist in Dublin and picked his brain for hours. I held Juliet's right breast in Verona. I took a gondola ride and forgot to tip the gondoleer. I walked through West Belfast to get a better look at the murals. I slept in Bergamo's Orio al Serio Airport 1 night, London Stansted 1 night, Frankfurt International Airport 2 nights and Dublin International Airport for 14 nights. I washed my junk in art museum sinks. I snuck into Trinity College's dorms, drank wine and whiskey with kids from LSU, and crashed on the floor. I slept in a park in Milan with the mosquitoes and dog-walkers. I chased rabbits in the parks of Frankfurt. I couchsurfed through Germany. I drank free Guinness with Iowans on the promise I'd someday return the favor for someone young. I watched John Bock films alone for hours in the Schirn Kunsthalle. I blew out a flip-flop climbing down from a wall that I slept upon in the Italian rains of Lake Como. I found festivals everywhere. I couldn't find anyone to argue politics with...We all either agree, or I'm not familiar with their government. I went to a German Gymnasium (mid/high school) and conversed with 5th and 7th graders (in English and extremely limited Deutsch). My feet are permanently dirty. I looked a lot like Sam Beam. I missed NPR. I visited the Chester Beatty Library at least three times. I slept next to the River Adda in Lido and the River Main in Frankfurt. I flew Ryanair. I had tea at the Temple Bar Amnesty International Freedom Café. I wrote postcards in every park I found. I lost count of how many museums I visited. I finally saw a face I knew after one month. I kept a journal. I attended law school lectures in Oxford. I happened upon banquets at Hertford and Brasenose Colleges. I bought an $8 corduroy suit. I found the Lincoln Imp. I punted the River Cam for 8 straight hours. I finished the Cambridge Gallon Challenge. I hitchhiked across Ireland. I waited 6 hours for the customs office in the FEDEX office of the Frankfurt airport to clear my contacts. And I plan to do it all again...

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I host couchsurfers when I have the space and time, which is most of the time!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I had amazing experiences in Europe. And hosted 3 awesome German guys. I look forward to more of both as the CS movement expands!

Interests

Movies, music, art, books, food, politics, Europe, multiple degrees, anti-globalization, public radio, responsible capitalism (or something better?), protests, Priuses, Molson Canadian, media reform, sustainable living, and the avant garde.

• dogs
• rabbits
• arts
• books
• festivals
• education
• dining
• wine
• partying
• clubbing
• politics
• movies
• music
• rock climbing
• communications
• teaching
• law
• parks

Music, Movies, and Books

Top 25 for 2008:

1. Dresden Dolls - No, Virginia
2. The National - The Virginia EP
3. The Felice Brothers - Eponymous
4. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
5. Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark
6. Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster...
7. Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
8. Born Ruffians - Red, Yellow & Blue
9. Thao - We Brave Bee Stings and All
10. Busia Bulat - Oh, My Darling
11. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
12. Playradioplay! - Texas
13. Does It Offend You, Yeah? - You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into
14. The Tallest Man on Earth - Shallow Grave
15. The Notwist - The Devil You and Me
16. Death Cab - Narrow Stairs
17. M83 - Saturdays=Youth
18. Sigur Rós - með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
19. The Twilight Sad - Here It Never Snowed. Afterwards It Did.
20. Scarlett Johansson - Anywhere I Lay My Head
21. Tilly and the Wall - O
22. Portishead - Third
23. Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell
24. Kanye West - 808s and Heartbreaks
25. Hercules & Love Affair - Eponymous

My top 25 albums of 2007 list:

1 The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters
2 Laura Veirs - Saltbreakers
3 Origami Ghost - Solving My Own Puzzles
4 Once - Original Motion Soundtrack (Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova)
5 Menomena - Friend and Foe
6 Carla Bruni - No Promises
7 Justice - Cross
8 Winterpills - The Light Divides
9 Digitalism - Idealism
10 Iron & Wine - Shepherd's Dog
11 Okkervil River - The Stage Names
12 Secret Mommy - Plays
13 Loney, Dear - Loney, Noir
14 The Go Find - Stars on the Wall
15 Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight
16 Seabear - The Ghost That Carried Us Away
17 Saul Williams - The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!
18 Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
19 Dntel - Dumb Luck
20 Beirut - Flying Club Cup
21 Mirah and Spectratone International - Share This Place: Stories and Observations
22 Bright Eyes - Cassadaga
23 Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
24 Bishop Allen - The Broken String
25 His Name Is Alive - Xmmer

Strunk and White's Style Guide, The Higher Power of Lucky, Chomsky, Zinn, Kafka, Emma Goldman, Adbusters, The Bell Jar, Vonnegut, Artforum, Brave New World, bell hooks, among other journals, periodicals, and fleeting obsessions.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

My choice to skip my flight home from Italy and spend an extra seven weeks bouncing around Germany, Ireland, and England.

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