CURRENT MISSION

Missions are for Jesuits and soldiers. Happily, I'm freer than that

ABOUT ME

I'm from Lancaster in North West England, have lived in a number of places in southern England and now live in San Rafael, California. I studied Marine Biology and Oceanography at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. I don't really like talking about myself - it seems a bit indecent. I'm totally brilliant by the way. And funny.

PHILOSOPHY

From Lao Tzu to Wittgenstein. And Robbie Savage.
To be more abstruse, I don't think anyone can really have a 'personal' philosophy in a strict sense, it's not what philosophy is. Rather, it's is a very long interwoven conversation whose threads don't really have any strength when disentangled from the weave. Generally what seems to happen to people is they come into contact with a certain range of thoughts, actions, feelings, ideas, motions even; and pick up what they can or fancy or must and run with them as best they can. I think this section would be best described as something like 'reflections on being alive' and is always far more social than personal. I don't usually sound like this by the way.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've hosted people in the UK, in Dent in the Yorkshire Dales, in Lancaster and more recently in Southampton. I've been hosted in France when on holiday with my girlfriend, also in Belgium and Catalonia. Last year I hosted people in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and been surfing in the Turks and Caicos islands.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Great Ones! Hosted a lone Austrailian cyclist travelling the length of the UK in the Yorkshire Dales, as well as friends from Barcelona. Had a fantastic holiday with my girlfriend in the Rhone-Alps, France staying with a warm and welcoming family. Hosted quite a few people over the last year in Southampton, including Klaudia who stayed for about 6 weeks.

Interests

If it's under the sun, I try to be (and usually am) interested
Did I mention dancing? I like that quite a lot

• dancing
• running
• flowers
• traveling
• surfing
• biology

Music, Movies, and Books

"Without music, life would be a mistake" Friedrich Nietzsche. Can't say fairer than that. Not so keen on opera, apart from that I find something in most music; from Extreme Noise Terror to Toumani Diabate and all points inbetween, making a kind of ethereal sonic map, a universal manifold perhaps, pervading and sustaining all else. I'll leave it there. When I was a teenager my favorite films were My Own Private Idaho and Betty Blue. I later discovered that liking the latter was something of common experience for boys. Beatrice Dalle, as Betty, is the only person I've ever had a poster of on my wall. And I had two. Haven't had favorite films since I don't think, although I think the rest of Gus Van Sant's (My Own Private Idaho) films are really good. The films of Hou Hsiao-Hsien I like, particularly Flowers of Shanghai. I tend to like slow films, I like to have time to gaze around the frame. Had a phase of going to see quite a few Iranian films some years ago. Not a fan of action sequences and explosions. I'm the anti-Jeremy Clarkson. Currently reading 3 books: Taoist Tales; Bernard Shaw: A Reassessment by Colin Wilson and a 1930's poetry anthology. I love second hand book shops and books with old inscriptions in them that smell a bit musty. Don't read that much fiction however.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Experienced Blakes meaning in the lines "To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour"

Teach, Learn, Share

People do too much of what they are good at, know how to do and enjoy. We thus become lob-sided and stuck in mental routines. I like trying to break patterns.

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Haiti, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Palestine, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Tanzania, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

United Kingdom, United States

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