CURRENT MISSION

To learn a little bit more about Planet Earth (and its inhabitants)

ABOUT ME

I try to do a little of everything and am rarely very good at anything (the exception apparently being using Excel spreadsheets - how exciting is that?)

After spending my school years mostly playing computer games, reading Terry Pratchett books, and avoiding physical activity as much as possible, I've spent most of the last fifteen years or so trying to convince myself that I can be athletic, and have done quite a lot of running, walking, cycling, climbing etc.

I still do a bit of that, although more recently I've realised that that wasn't really making me happy, and I needed something more. To this end, I bought myself a ukulele, and this indeed made me very happy. I think everyone should have a ukulele, or possibly more. In fact, I followed this first ukulele up with another two ukuleles, not to mention two guitars, a piano, and a mandolin. I'm not very good at playing any of these, and so I would suggest anyone staying with me brings earplugs.

I'm not travelling the world much myself at the moment, for various reasons, so...happy to host the world here instead...

I've been vegetarian for most of my life, and a few years ago I started to make the transition to veganism. I'm not exactly fanatical about this, still crave cheese, and am waiting for someone to convince me that the dairy industry really is nice and friendly like they tell you it is after all. Alas, so far I've been disappointed, so I guess I'm just holding out hope for the lab made cheese.

PHILOSOPHY

Religion: Pastafarian

Favourite Quotes:
"There are no perfect men in the world; only perfect intentions"
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

"Frankly, I am suspicious of anyone who has a strong opinion on a complicated issue."
Scott Adams, The Dilbert Blog

"One of the indictments of civilizations is that happiness and intelligence are so rarely found in the same person."
William Feather

"The trouble with being an atheist is that it lets God off the hook. You really want someone to blame."
Terry Pratchett

"What our scientist does not realize is that every time he makes a measurement, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is there changing the results with His Noodly Appendage."
Open Letter To Kansas School Board, Bobby Henderson

"Most books didn't say 'And then they refused to give up, no matter how sensible it would have been, because that would've been too embarrassing'; but a great deal of history made a lot more sense that way."
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

"I see little hope for democracy as an effective form of government, but I admire the poetry of how it makes its victims complicit in their own destruction."
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

"What does a government have to do, what do the voters have to do with their democracy, what do the people of a country have to do, before I ought to decide that I'm not on their side any more?"
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

"'Boys,' said Hermione Granger, 'should not be allowed to love girls without asking them first! This is true in a number of ways and especially when it comes to gluing people to the ceiling!'"
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

"By the time good and moral people were done tying themselves up in knots, what they usually did was nothing; or, if they did act, you could hardly tell them apart from the people called bad."
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

"The thing that people forgot sometimes, is that even though appearances can be misleading, they're usually not."
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

"I had a pet rock once. It died."
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

"You only had half a second to go and you made that special noise."
Pat Sharp, Fun House

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Started with a bit of surfing myself while travelling and would love to do more...have met a good few people here in Sheffield through Couch Surfing and hosted a few people.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Have done a little bit of couch surfing in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, England and Ireland. Met some fantastic people.

Interests

These days I spend most of the time trying to learn various musical instruments, with very limited success.

I love cycling, climbing, walking and running - I try to do a bit of everything without taking anything too seriously :)
I like visiting new places, and I find the best way to do this is by bike, so I try to cycle everywhere.
Climbing's really fun, and has helped to build up a bit of strength in my otherwise somewhat neglected arms...
Walking is kind of what got me into everything else - I joined my University's walking club and it started to get me fit and interested in what my limits were...And nothing beats the views from the top of a mountain in clear weather...
Running I started doing out of curiosity to see whether I could.

I also enjoy reading, writing and the odd beer.

• writing
• running
• walking
• reading
• guitar
• piano
• cycling
• rock climbing
• ukulele
• mountain biking

Music, Movies, and Books

Favourite Music: Folk, Rock, Jazz, Blues, Country...generally anything with people playing real instruments...

Al Stewart, Anne McCue, The Blues Brothers, Bob Dylan, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Dan Patlansky, David Gray, Dire Straits, Elliott Smith, Eva Cassidy, Ex-Wise Heads, Fleetwood Mac, Flogging Molly, Gaia Consort, Gerry Rafferty, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Steinman, Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell, Katkhuda, King Creosote, Led Zeppelin, Leonard Cohen, Lucinda Williams, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Moody Blues, The Mountain Goats, Neil Young, Paolo Nutini, Paul Simon, Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree, The Proclaimers, Procol Harum, Queen, Sarah McLachlan, Simon & Garfunkel, Sinead O' Connor, Stephanie Kirkham, Steve Harley, Cockney Rebel, The Tallest Man on Earth, Tori Amos, Willie Nelson, Wishbone Ash, ...

Favourite TV Programmes:

Cold Feet, Mr Bean

Favourite Films:

*Batteries Not Included, Flight of the Navigator, Ghostbusters, Gremlins, Short Circuit

Monty Python's Life of Brian

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Good Will Hunting, Vanilla Sky

Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral, About a boy, Bridget Jones's Diary

Favourite Books:
Neil Gaiman - American Gods, Neverwhere, Stardust, Anansi Boys, The Graveyard Book
Terry Pratchett - Discworld
Markus Zusak - The Book Thief
S. Morgenstern/William Goldman - The Princess Bride
Yann Martel - Life of Pi
George Orwell - 1984
Ken Kesey - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Jonas Jonasson - The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse 5
Yuval Noah Harari - Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Scarlett Thomas - The End of Mr Y, PopCo
Jasper Fforde - Shades of Grey

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Coming around that corner near Broadchalke on the way home from Southampton, to an amazing sunset. And then cycling most of the next 40 miles in darkness.

Climbing the Glacier to reach the summit of the Marmolada. And, just before that, watching the guy who runs the hut at the top run past us.

Teach, Learn, Share

I don't know much, and I'm not a very good teacher at what I do know, but I could attempt to teach you to juggle, or take you climbing...
I'm attempting to learn french. I'm not very good at it.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russian Federation, Turkey

Countries I’ve Lived In

United Kingdom