hiya
i'm from the states (virginia), and i've lived mostly in virginia for the majority of my life thus far. i went to university in halifax, nova scotia, (ostensibly studying philosophy and classics) for a few years after high school before i dropped out, went to southern california with some friends for a while, lived in NYC, back to virginia, back to NY, virginia again, and then this summer i was in paris for almost two months, through a french immersion program. i've traveled a little bit besides all this, but not nearly as much as i'd like.

currently i'm in norfolk, virginia, where i work as a bar back in a restaurant and read books about history and global capitalism and think about how to best undermine said histories and economies. i'm living with my friend in her apartment (which is why i can't host anyone right now), and finishing a BA in sustainability through Goddard college, which is in vermont - it's a self directed low-residency program, which means i go to vermont for a week at the start of each semester, then spend the rest of the time sending emails and papers to an advisor. it's a great school, as it allows me to travel (or be wherever, so long as i can use the internet) and it's more about figuring yourself out and finding a place in this messy world rather than temporarily accruing information for tests and essays.

anyway, that's pretty much me and what i'm up to -- oh except for what i'm about to be doing, but i guess i'll put that in the next box...

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

so yeah! i'm about to head to london (UK, not ontario) this march, where my friendy-partner-person is getting their master's at UCL. i can stay with my friend (Suzahn) for a few weeks at a time, but i'm planning to find elsewhere to stay as well, so i don't crowd them and because they're living in student housing and can only have guests for a few weeks at a time.

i've been trying to find work-stays or cheap sublets, but what i'd really like is to find some rad collective[s] i could join for the two months that i'll be in london. or, you know, just some friendly folks to hang out or quietly crash with for a few days or a week or however long.

plus! i like meeting people and hanging out, having a drink or a bite, and hearing some new perspectives.

Interests

after the two months in london, at the beginning of june, i've signed up to attend a three month permaculture apprenticeship on a farm in Indre, france. i'm really stoked for this, and this is also another reason i'm heading to Britain.

aside from "permaculture" in general, i'm interested in natural building, subverting capitalism and the state, and cookies (though i suppose that could go without saying). i like to play music, and make music, and record music, and listen to music, and i also enjoy drawing occasionally, and surfing and being outside, camping, hiking, climbing, walking, etc. i like thinking and talking and reading about civilisation and history and thinking and talking and reading, and spitefully considering patriarchy and racism and contrived hierarchies and the like. but i also like not always talking about those things, so whatever's clever!

i'm also very interested in collectivism, or communalism, or whatever you want to call it, and i think couchsurfing is pretty cool in that respect. anyway i just generally want to be a person.

• animals
• cats
• dogs
• humanities
• books
• cooking
• walking
• drinking
• shopping
• politics
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• drawing
• music
• hiking
• camping
• surfing
• boxing
• rock climbing
• economics
• history

Music, Movies, and Books

well right now i have on ghosts and vodka, which is an instrumental album from some of the guys from cap'n jazz and the owls and so on (they're all in so many bands), and i like that stuff.. i got into all that kinda stuff during high school, 'emo' i guess, so like the appleseed cast and elliott smith and i dunno.. you know. i really like sufjan stevens, for example. but i also like to listen to heavy stuff sometimes, or really pretty stuff, or electronic stuff, or hip hop, or spacy atmospheric stuff, or political stuff. recently i was listening to the 'new country' radio stations with my friend and looking for tropes and playing bingo with some things we came up with like 'her bare feet on my boots' and 'drinking' and 'party' and 'truck' and 'blue jeans' and 'modest reference to sex' and so on. ..oh, i like alt-j, for an english reference, and crass! and mogwai and cocteau twins for a decidedly less english reference (hehe)

right now i'm finally reading Howard Zinn (a people's history of the united states) and (very painfully) enjoying that. i just read 'shock doctrine' by Naomi Klein (really well researched and good to read) and 'inventing western civilization' by Thomas C. Patterson. i also like comics and historical comics and lit'ra'ture, poetry, yis yis...

and i like cartoons. and sci fi or space travel or slow thinky movies, or whatever you know, i like movies haha (though honestly most of the recent releases i've seen have been crap. hollywood, amirite?)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

hm... survived this long!

also i managed to do that as well as bake cookies sometimes.

Teach, Learn, Share

this is the part of couchsurfing that really makes it interesting, i think. i'm not exactly sure what i can teach anyone, but i know that i love to listen to people who have honest things to say, and share my own experiences and beliefs, in turn.

i do know a little (actually a little, not being coy) about politics and economics and history and those types of things, but at any rate i almost always have something to say about just about anything. sharing experiences with people -communicating - is, i believe, paramount to human existence

What I Can Share with Hosts

i can cook and help cook and clean up and help with projects or your grocery shopping or taking care of dog[s] or cat[s] or other animals. i can chip in for bills and rent and help with chores, and i can talk about what i know about a few things, like music theory (i mean, i could help someone learn to play music) or the idea of civilisation, or we can practice french, or english, for that matter!

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, France, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Scotland, Switzerland

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, United States