CURRENT MISSION

A road trip across the country, all by myself, this April before I am back in school in May!I'd love to travel the world, but I feel I can't really appreciate and juxtapose it to my own experiences until I've truely seen the variability of my own country.

ABOUT ME

I'm a warm, friendly, easygoing dude who loves meeting new people and making new friends. I work for a non-profit in which it is quite literally my job to cut-up dead people who have donated their bodies for medical science, but please realize that this does not mean that I'm a freak of a human being! It's seriously a good cause and someone needs to do it. I will be resigning from this position in April so that I may take the cross-country trip that I had originally planned for years ago!

This trip is going to be a true personal experiment. I will be traveling alone and blogging about my progress, but friends will be flying-in to certain locations to hang out with me when I am there. This is a life-long dream, and I am realizing that due to going back to PA school in May, and with who knows what in store for me after that, this may be my last chance to do it.

I sincerely appreciate any help which any of you could provide!!

PHILOSOPHY

Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind

I don't believe in any deity, karma, nor spiritual origin of life and humanity. Yes, I believe it was all by accident, but what a beautiful accident it was! Over time humanity developed this invaluable ability to feel, and to communicate, and to love. While I do not know what happens to me after I die, what I DO know is that so long as continue facilitating positive experiences for myself and for others, my life will be complete, and thus I search for no origin nor "meaning" behind it all.

This being said, there are certainly negative features of human beings. As I do not embrace any one "purpose" of life, I do not believe in "evil". Antisocial behavior is rooted in our species through the evolutionary advantages that aggression can pose for furthering one's own genes. By no means do I suggest that we should embrace and accept such actions, and as such it is needed that we punish and reject such behaviors both on a personal and societal level, as this must be done in order to prevent such actions in the future. Nevertheless, I feel that we should always maintain the perspective that no individual is inherently evil, but rather the combination of genetic factors and experiences are what mold a person's decision making ability. Basically what I'm saying is that while no, we shouldn't let murderers back on the street, we need to recognize that these people are still humans, and while we disagree with them and condemn what they've done we can understand how we, as a society allowed them to come to be.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I just started here, but am excited to get involved in the community!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have done the procedure of "couch surfing" many times, however it was never facilitated through this site before. This seems like a great idea and hope to have many stories to come!

Interests

Music, of course - My primary genres are extreme metal and industrial, though I appreciate all realms of rock and EDM. While your typical rap or country or bluegrass or whathaveyou might not be my cup of tea, I'll respect and give any subculture a shot.

Guitar - I've been playing electric guitar for about 9 years now. I usually stick to my metal roots with my playing (heavy distortion, blitzkreig solos, facemelting riffage, etc.), but if you give me an acoustic guitar and a couple of beers in front of a campfire you'll hear every song song you knew and loved from the 90s, without exception.

I am currently playing in a rock band called Eye of All. We are actually doing very well and starting to get record label attention! Check us out at www.eyeofalllive.com

Philadelphia Flyers - I AM NOT your typical male sports fan, but ice hockey is a great game and the Broadstreet Bullies are my team.

Microbrews/microdistills - If there's one thing I love about America, it's the pride that the little guy takes in making beer that can beat The Man's tongue into submission.

Coffee - Yes please!

Local foods - To me, food is the great communicator (sorry Reagan). I take a "when in Rome" philosophy to what I eat and I will try ANYTHING twice.

Skateboarding - I was big into skateboarding and other extreme sports in high school and used to be sponsored by a local shop and was on the Vans flow team (if you know what a flow team is, you know that it isn't actually anything impressive), but with age fell out of the sport for many years. Recently I have re-kindled my love for stick-flippin' and go to my local skatepark almost daily.

I am also a very serious health-nut and gym-goer. During my trip I will be surviving very heavily on protein shakes!

• dining
• beer
• coffee
• flying
• shopping
• traveling
• homebrewing
• blogging
• music
• guitar
• surfing
• skateboarding
• sports
• hockey
• extreme sports
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

I understand that people can get scared away from the harsh sounds and dark imagery that genres like metal and industrial may appear present, but try and give them a fair listen and you might just find why it makes so many people so happy.

I rather enjoy cheesy b-list horror flicks, but anything that can make me laugh, think or feel is a good watch.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bahamas, Canada, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States