CURRENT MISSION

To experience the fascinating world I live in while working towards making the world a kinder more loving place.

ABOUT ME

I like quirkiness and strangeness, also playfulness and witty humor. Not that all that matters, I'm really interested in meeting people whether serious, witty, or whatnot. I like the arts, dancing, music (though I am far from knowing who is the sh*t right now), making things, Bicycling, indoor rock climbing (I've been meaning to try the outdoor kind). I have become interested social movements. I recently moved out of an intentional community called Nashville Greenlands. It was great living around people and have never been so appreciative of community as now. Living there made me interested in organic farming and working for peoples rights locally and globally. I participate in protest actions from time to time but have never actually fully organized one. Kind of a daunting idea for me but I am sure in good time it will happen.

PHILOSOPHY

Personal philosophy seems like a very rigid idea. I've had many personal philosophies in life. At the moment it has to do with honesty and love to oneself and others. I hope I can see the world become a more just place, and if not, to be able to offer refuge to those who don't have it, or receive it if I don't have it myself. I hope I can become a human who is not enslaved by validation or greed. Hence a human who truly loves himself and the world he lives in.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I like to share information about places I am interested in, I like to cook, mostly saute, sharing stories, good conversation. Keep things as they were left before.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My first time couch surfing was in Milan, Italy. I was staying at a hostel to see if I would get an internship and the night before my interview I met this man from Peru. I started talking to him in Spanish, and he started talking to me in Italian. Then I started to talk to him in Italian and he in Spanish, until we both got our languages straight. We ended up getting dinner and drinking and meeting some neat people at the hostel until he got kicked out since he wasn't a paying guest. Anyway, I found out I was gonna have to pay about 1200 Euro for a month at a crappy hostel and he offered to charge me 300 for the month. I obliged to his request and when I came back two weeks from Venice he kept his word and let me stay. I slept on a floor mat and on my off time from my internship would go and drink with Daniel and his cousin, Juan. I was nowhere as skilled as Daniel and his Peruvian friends at playing soccer but I would watch them and hear all their sh*t talking to each other and mostly the Ref (who they nicknamed Gargamel, yes from the smurfs). We became very good friends, but I have been unable to stay in touch having lost their address. Needless to say, I had a wonderful time with these gents and would look to hang out with them if I were in Milan again.
My second experience was with Common Ground Relief in New Orleans. Went there to get away from my city after a break up and was rewarded with wonderful people and amazing adventures. Worked during the day, partied at night. I didn't even know I was going to stay for Mardi Gras until someone convinced me it wasn't going to just be touristy. Still friends with a few of the folks there.

Interests

Bicycling, Movies (arthouse mostly but I dig the occasional blockbuster), Art (no specific genre, though I feel I've had my fill of Ancient Egyptian), Sustainable living, Organic Farming, Languages (specifically Japanese right now), Social and environmental activism, also karaoke, and video games.

• arts
• design
• graphic design
• mardi gras
• dancing
• cooking
• walking
• drinking
• gardening
• movies
• video games
• socializing
• music
• guitar
• karaoke
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• hiking
• hunting
• surfing
• rock climbing
• soccer
• languages
• software

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Adventures of Baron Munchhausen, the Seventh Seal, White Diamond, Planet Earth, Buena Vista Social Club, Open Your Eyes, Let The Right One In, Seven Samurai, The Sacrifice, Nacho Libre, Burn After Reading, Fargo, A Serious Man, Princess Mononoke, Agora

Music: Belle and Sebastian, Radiohead, Paul Simon, Regina Spektor, Beny Moré, Andrew Bird, The Avett Brothers, Van Morison, A Fine Frenzy, Ray Lamontagne, Tito Puente, FANIA all stars, Big Pun, Feist, Ludacris, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Depeche Mode, The Smiths... I like to explore genres I haven't tried before. Usually not into a lot of mainstream pop.

Books: Cat's Cradle, A Short History of Nearly Everything, Siddhartha, The Crossing, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Gilgamesh, The Once and Future King, Beastiary, Graphic Novels by Daniel Clowes, Osamu Tezuka, Alan Moore, Charles Burns, Asterios Polyp,

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Cycling from the Mexican/American border to Panama.

One day me and my best friend from college went hiking at night and as we went back to his car we saw a meteor light up the sky that was about 500 feet from us. We could feel the heat on our faces.

Walking from one end of Milan to the other in 4 hours.

Inadvertently saving a guys life by pulling him to the sidewalk in London. A split second later a bus roared over the spot he was on.

Ended up on Candid Camera and met Dom Deluise when I was 9 years old.

I know it said one but once I started recalling I was having too much of a good time remembering things I remember being cool.

Teach, Learn, Share

Stuff I know: A little bit of bike repair knowledge. Willing to help with gardening. Know graphic design software. Web Design. Spanish lessons. Caricatures. Portraits.

Stuff I'd like to learn: Organic gardening, Wild Mushroom hunting, Exploring abandoned buildings, how to play guitar.

Countries I’ve Visited

Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Spain, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States