Not Verified
Portland, Oregon, United States
@CLIPBOARD
Member since 2009
CURRENT MISSION To make up for six years of 120 hour work weeks in the white collar high-powered political world by returning to my train-hopping, couch-surfing, art-making roots. ABOUT ME In the course of the past seven years, I went from couch surfer and squatter houses enthusiast to writing laws for the British Parliament and running political campaigns across America. After years of killing myself for crazy people seeking higher office, I'm not out in search of the next adventure. To this end, I just bought a one-way ticket back out to Portland Oregon (my favorite place ever), will be stubbornly avoiding returning to my previous career path, and will be having fun meeting folks and their couches until a more interestesting permanent adventure/job/llama presents itself. PHILOSOPHY Hrm, not sure I have that hammered out yet. But here's some things that seem reasonably True with a big "T" right now: 1.) Not talking to someone because of religious, political, or other beliefs/backgrounds is like not eating different kinds of food. It's easy to always eat something you like, but likely you'll die horribly and slowly from malnutrition. 2.) Giving people things is both polite and altruistic, and also cunningly selfish at the same time - which is great. 3.) Patrick Stewart as Jean Luc Picard should be hailed as the contemporary cultural archetype of what we should strive to be - like Ulysses, Odysseus, Athena, or any other paragon of old.
Interested in Art
Interested in Bars
Interested in Beer
Fluent in English
Why I'm on Couchsurfing
HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING I haven't yet, but am hoping to meet an amazing array of folks through it (or at least their amazing couches/bedrolls/floors) while I find something to do with myself beyond job hunting, beer sampling, and bike rides. I'm also happy to trade tangible or non-tangibles for places to stay. See partial list at bottom under the "Teach. Learn. Share." section. COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE I've spent a lot of time couch surfing with people I know, and have had many folks - from politicians to train-squatters - stay with me, both strangers and friends. Never done it through the internets though. Although not currently hosting (as I am technically without couch or floor), I have hosted enough folks in prior years to know that doing my dishes, cooking dinner, or walking the dog as a guest goes a long way.
Music, Movies, and Books
MOVIES/TV: I'm one of the self-righteous bastards who hasn't owned a TV in ages, and will likely continue to be loud about this until I have children of my own and realize their sedative value. MUSIC: Anything in your playlist that isn't on mine, with the sole exception of music without a beat that wasn't made by monks. Books - I've recently finished an entire medieval fantasy series, one autobiography and one non-fiction work on being a survivalist, am halfway through an Abe Lincoln biography, several Steinbeck novels, and generally love Ann Rand because it's both compelling and so very, very wrong.
One Amazing Thing I've Done
Everything we do is amazing, but some things sound cooler than others - even if they're more boring than the actual amazing things. Some of my "look at me" examples I break out in stuffy social settings that require showing off are: -I helped write several laws (that passed) in England/UK, and sat in meetings with Tony Blair. -I've worked on over two dozen political campaigns ranging from mayor to President -I once bit off my tongue completely (it's back now) -I rode across part of the Arizona desert on a horse -I was part of the giant bureaucracy at a toy company that created all the new Star Wars action figures -I peed out of the turret of a giant castle into a moat -My friend and I, totalling about 250 pounds between us, once beat the entire Dartmouth football team in a drinking contest - which paid our $300 bar tab (that we had no money to cover). -I cut an album with Boston's largest punk rock label and it was distributed nationally, up until the band broke up about a month later
Teach, Learn, Share
Practical things I can teach or do for you: ...wash your dishes ...level a pasture, and mend both wood and stone fences ...clean (I'm a great cleaner, though a tad obsessive once I get going) ...fix / improve computers ...fix / improve bicycles ...lift objects and place them in other places (AKA moving things) ...make parts from aluminum, steel, titanium or other metals within a tolerance of 0.0005 inches (given the proper machines and engineering tools) ...ride a horse (awkwardly) ...how to tend bar Less practical things I can teach or do for you: ...how to run for office (from city council to President, I've run/worked on every kind of campaign) ...how to organize your neighborhood/town/state for an issue (better schools, more wind power, force Bob the annoying neighbor to move that rusted 1984 Camero off his lawn, etc.) ...act as an efficiency consultant for your personal life or business in terms of anything from manufacturing, data or staff management, finances, or general systems. From organizing a list of contacts to restructuring an organization, I love this stuff. ...how to brew beer ...how to raise money or get a grant to start a non-profit, put solar cells on your house, or any other kind of good work ...how to speak basic French ...how to actually get a response from a major corporation or politician rather than a form letter Probably forgetting a million things there; I'm very good at being mediocre to decent at many things, and am even a sort of "expert" at a few.
My Interests
-Politics -Not being involved in politics anymore -Food (growing, cooking, eating) -Drink (brewing, fermenting, drinking) -Interesting people from any walk of life with most any views or background -Arguments about ideas where folks don't take them personally -Drawing, painting, building things with my hands -Bikes -Dogs -Being a yuppie -Being anti-yuppie -Playing many musical intruments badly, and/or singing bawdy old sea-shanties or pub songs -Spreadsheets (no, seriously, I can't help it)
