CURRENT MISSION

To be an excellent husband and father, and to help as many people as possible accomplish as much as possible.

ABOUT ME

In addition to the info below, I invite you to visit my page on The Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BigPapaNed

Hi! I am 41 years old, married for a little over six years and the very proud papa of a 5 year old old little girl. We live in Madison, WI (though I was raised in the DC suburbs) where I work for a theatrical lighting and controls manufacturer as a systems estimator and project manager for our rigging gear. I've been involved with theatre since 8th grade and am incredibly pleased to have found a way to make a career of it. In the fall of 2009 I enrolled in the online Masters of Organizational Leadership program at Gonzaga University, and will be graduating in May 2014.

In my "copious spare time" I am a heavy weapons fighter in the SCA (I put on armor and get hit with sticks...getting better at not getting hit, working on doing more of the hitting); I am #1 fan and fire safety for my wife's belly dance performances; I read; I write the occasional filk/parody song; and I've been known to do a little karaoke (running shows was one of the 40+ previous jobs I've had in my life, mostly freelance).

Most of my traveling is related to two periods of my life: the 7 years after I graduated from college and the 2.5 years before I moved to Madison. Right out of college I spent several years volunteering with a youth leadership organization serving in the UK, Germany, Latvia and South Africa. Through some connections I made through that organization I also spent a few weeks working with Burmese refugees in Thailand. Though I am no longer affiliated with that organization (due to some changes in my personal religious views), I am very proud of the time I spent with kids showing them that someone does, indeed, give a hoot. I remain involved in working with teens as a regular guest teacher in the drama department at a high school in my hometown whose teacher is a dear friend of mine. As my daughter grows up, I look forward to the chance to keep investing in young people as I encourage her and her friends to find where their skills and passion meet and to go all out.

The later period of travel was part of my job as a rigging systems installer working all over the US. I lived out of hotels, my car and a storage unit as our crew took on work all over the country. During this time I made a bunch of great friends in Indianapolis and met a ton of really great people in Boca Raton, FL; Jackson, WY; and other ports of call.

Settling down these past couple of years really suits me and I look forward to what a more grounded lifestyle has in store for the next few years.

PHILOSOPHY

I have three rules I try to live by, based on the premise that a) as unique beings in the universe, each of us is of immeasurable inherent value and b) just as electrons, once related continue to affect one another over vast distances, all things (having once been compressed into a single point prior to the Big Bang) remain connected.

Rule 1: Go big or stay home. As immeasurably valuable beings, it is shameful to squander talent or squelch ambition (given an ethical effort to achieve).

Rule 2: Always a pleasure, never a chore. The manager at a pub called CUBA! in Plymouth, England always used to say this and it stuck with me. As we are immeasurably valuable and intrinsically connected, kindness should never require rumination. Don't keep score, it's beneath you.

Rule 3: Don't be poopy, don't be poopy, DON'T BE POOPY. I'm not sure that I need to elaborate but just in case...The first philosophy I learned in my martial arts training was "never fight, never lose" and it was illustrated in a story called The Poo Philosophy. Imagine you are walking down the street and a pile of poo starts yelling at you, calling you names, insulting you, even threatening you. You have two options: engage the poo, or walk away. If you choose to challenge the poo, regardless of the outcome you end up covered in poo and stinking to high heaven. There is no way to win, really. (Replace "poo" with "troll" to get an idea of a practical application.) Not being poopy is always the right choice.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Brand new, still figuring that out. Especially as my daughter gets older and we transition to a house I would really like to host people here in Madison. In the meantime, I really like the idea of using my travels for school or business to meet people other than a series of front desk clerks.

Interests

Music, movies, sci-fi, politics, leadership development & mentoring, SCA fighting, woodwork, sewing, leather working, welding/blacksmithing, stand-up comedy, songwriting, poetry, homebrewing, scotch, COOKING, British comedies, and hockey. Among other things.

• arts
• poetry
• dancing
• cooking
• running
• walking
• pub crawls
• politics
• movies
• traveling
• socializing
• homebrewing
• investing
• woodworking
• music
• karaoke
• martial arts
• hockey
• business
• teaching
• freelancing
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

Far too many to list here, but leaning mainly towards sci-fi and fantasy.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The birth of my daughter. Wow.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bahamas, Canada, England, France, Germany, Jamaica, Latvia, Puerto Rico, Scotland, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, Virgin Islands, U.S., Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

England