CURRENT MISSION

Find out which keys fit the lock!

ABOUT ME

For the moment I'm living in Seattle, working and planning to move to San Francisco early next year.

I'm a hardcore cyclist and was a bike messenger for a while; I ride a bike everywhere. I love going to live music shows (Melvins, NOMEANSNO, TOOL, Rollins Band, Tricky, The Murder City Devils and others). I've been taking ballet classes for two years now (still trying to stick the perfect pirouette). Also, I've been modeling lately and building an art bench.

Being around my friends is really important to me and I love building solid, loyal friendships.

PHILOSOPHY

"Kiss your fear" is one of my many tenets (it's tattooed on my arm in German). But the thing that really drives my life is finding humble, tactful and loving ways to challenge myself and others to live better.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I used Couch surfing to meet new people when I was in Europe last summer and I'd like to host folks when I can.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Haven't had any yet through this program, but I did all kinds of couchsurfing when I was Europe before. There just wasn't a website for it back then.

Interests

Growing friendships, reading, going to music shows, writing short fiction, writing in my journal, writing letters, hill climbing on my bike, talking about relationships, dancing in ballet class, improving my moral strength, challenging the wicked, honoring the dead and dying, telling stories, listening to stories, stretching my ears, getting tattooed, working on my weaknesses, geeking out about cognition and brains, editing any writing (I heart APA style), watching movies, my cat Eva, playing Scrabble, discussing morality, obsessing over words on Dictionary.com, taking macro-photos with my extension tubes, working on my bikes, baking lemon meringue pies, talking about art, looking for good perspective to remain humble, independent bookstores . . .

• cats
• arts
• writing
• dancing
• ballet dancing
• baking
• modeling
• movies
• reading
• music
• live music
• cycling
• surfing
• rock climbing

Music, Movies, and Books

MUSIC: TOOL, NoMeansNo, Melvins, PJ Harvey, John Lee Hooker, Bjork, The Gits, Rollins Band, TchKunG, Minor Threat, Neurosis, Peter Gabriel, Bikini Kill, Fugazi, Arvo Pärt, Beastie Boys, Massive Attack, Portishead, Sonic Youth, Tom Waits, Joy Division, The Jesus Lizard . . .

MOVIES: Seven, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Dancer In The Dark, The Shawshank Redemption, Billy Elliot, The Fifth Element, Conan The Barbarian, Castaway, The Edge . . .

AUTHORS (BOOKS): Jose Saramago (Blindness, Death with Interruptions), Mark Z. Danielewski (House of Leaves), Donna Tartt (The Secret History), Guy de Maupassant, Edgar Allan Poe, Gabriel Garcie-Marquez (100 Years of Solitude, Love in the Time of Cholera), Alan Lightman (Einstein's Dreams), Ayn Rand (The Fountainhead), Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird), Franz Kafka (The Metamorphosis), Sissela Bok (Lying), Anneli Rufus (A Loner's Manifesto), Chuck Palahniuk (Choke, Stranger Than Fiction), Mary Shelley (Frankenstein), George Eliot (Silas Marner), Howard Zinn (People's History of the United States), Paul Kivel (Uprooting Racism), Daniel Keyes (Flowers for Algernon), Steven Pinker (The Language Instinct . . . oh good grief, so many more.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I survived a fluke sickness and brain surgery seven years years ago. I now have four titanium plates and 18 screws on the left side of my head.

Countries I’ve Visited

France, Germany, Luxembourg, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, United States