CURRENT MISSION

My tombstone shall be my diploma - Eartha Kitt

ABOUT ME

I'm pecking away at filling in this description section - I think the entries I include will answer this question better than trying to put together a wittily crafted 250 character comment *she says as she's vainly trying to come up with a wittily crafted method to explain this*

I have always lived in a home that allowed for me to look out the window, and see water (well, there was my place in Halifax, but that was what I affectionately called my treehouse, for obvious reasons!, so I can't complain toooo much!

When I grow up (she says having breached 40), my house must always have a woodstove; otherwise, it won't smell like home.

Despite my fondness for connecting with others and talking about everything and nothing, I feel as though the moments that pass between two people in utter silence that share more than inane chatter are some of the most invaluable moments I have with others... ah, yes - I digress into cliches!

I'm an only child - this has given me an appreciation for being able to do things solo that other people cannot seem to wrap their heads around. There is something refreshing about realizing that you haven't spoken to another person in days. I really enjoy what this does for my writing sometimes (aaand other times, I can really appreciate the company of others, for exactly the same reasons! hehe)

I am really fussy about how my potatoes are prepared. As a kid, I was served boxed whipped potatoes once at kindergarten, and I can still conjure the wretched smell of them to this day. I didn't even have to eat more than a bite, as they kindly made me something else, but the memory remains as strongly as though I had to eat the entire box. Every now and again, if my mashed potatoes have a funny texture, I have to quell the return of that horrendous smell of those damn boxed potatoes... [[This was also the same timeframe during which I wanted a monocle (a la Sesame Street Count) as opposed to having to get glasses, so take this with a grain of salt.]]

While I can talk to the wall, and get along with anyone (and their dog), I readily admit I am not an easygoing kinda gal... the euphemism for this is usually passionate and full of conviction, but somehow it rings false to type such a one-sided view of myself.

PHILOSOPHY

The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together. ~Erma Bombeck

Family is comprised of those we welcome into our lives, and make a home together with. This home can stretch across continents, and have absolutely nothing to do with shared genetics.

If we live our lives in honour and support of those that have held us up - or even knocked us down - and use that as a foundation, as a platform for growth and change, then we have understood what it is to be a part of a family.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING I am happy to host guests when ‘up river’ in Marysville (in the Fredericton city limits). Always happy to engage and share suggestions, a meal, an adventure with anyone visiting my region!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE It has been a pleasure to meet, and to become fast friends and fellow adventurers with some of the most generous and genuine folks on my travels. This includes: season-long voyage in Mexico in 2007; cross-Canada trek in 2010; half-year cross-continent trek of Europe in 2013; on a month-long trek to the Dominican in 2017; a quarter-year in South+Southeast Asia in 2018; two months across Australia, China, Taiwan, HK in 2019 (note the ever-decreasing gap between adventures! I am hopelessly devoted to exploring the world); my grand return after sheltering in place on the east coast of Canada since 2020: a month in Iceland in 2022; a South African winter in 2023; and third time’s a charm returning to Australia in 2024.
Each and everyone I stayed with welcomed me into their home and into their lives for a few days, which is the ideal manner in which to step into the worlds of others. Couchsurfing epitomizes the spirit of the distinction between travel and vacation.

Interests

My own outlet comes in the form of words -- although my schoolwork and workwork (how I make the distinction between the hats I wear) makes it so that my words have become more of a currency than an outlet. The other side of the coin is that I get to research and study, and also get paid to do a thing that fires me up on the inside!

I consider myself to be a patron of the arts. I have played a variety of instruments, participated in a variety of theatre productions, dabbled in a multitude of mediums... however, my ability to facilitate a means to allow for a graffiti artist to paint a mural - and get paid for it! - or a musician to play on an outdoor stage - again, and get paid for it! - allows me to serve my purpose and interests in the arts than to focus solely on creating.

• arts
• photography
• cooking
• traveling
• music
• outdoor activities
• canoeing
• kayaking
• camping
• sailing
• snowshoeing
• philosophy
• political science
• social science
• adventure
• storytelling
• museums
• family
• galleries
• campfires
• critical thinking
• ethnography
• classic movies
• eating new foods
• reading and writing
• critical theory

Music, Movies, and Books

I didn't realize that I listen to Canadian music pretty much exclusively until this was pointed out to me about a decade ago. My work as an arts&culture director and booking shows has sent plenty of music my way, and my preference for buying music from a merch guy at the shows I attend has made it so 90% of my music collection is comprised of bands from my home and native land (for current music, leastaways: classics such as Bessie Smith/Etta James/etc notwithstanding).

Words are my lifeblood. I am never without a book on the go, and I literally (pun intended!) go very few places without something to read. As mentioned, through my schoolwork and workwork and my own blatherings I'm also always in the process of analyzing with my own words. In light of the immense amount of time I spend expressing myself in a variety of contexts through written word, I attribute an enormous verity to the occasion of putting pen to paper; fingertips to keyboard.

There are few things more satisfying than a well-crafted sentence that takes a tiny occurrence and swells it to take up the proper space in the world that it deserves; similarly, enormous, abstract emotions whose essence can be captured in six little words - those moments are times when I feel an attachment to the earth. Words ground me; yet, words free me, all at once (ah, yes - that digression into cliche again! I've been doing research into metaphor as method to analyze and synthesize something, and it's spreading... it's spreeeaaaddinnnnggg!!)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Insert delightful blend of cliche and inspiration drawn from everyday life... That being said: hiking overnight for sunrise on Sri Pada, Sri Lanka; sleeping in a glass igloo under the northern lights in the Lapland, Finland; rappelling down a 160ft limestone cliff into a cave opening in Belize; hangliding in British Columbia; my mother's face at her fiftieth birthday party as she watched a man in a prank gold thong jump out of a giant cake... These are a few of my favourite thiiiings...

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Belize, Bulgaria, Canada, Cayman Islands, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada