CURRENT MISSION

To indulge my curiosity and sense of wonder. To be wayward gladly.

ABOUT ME

I am a bookworm who loves good conversations; I also love tromping around in the woods. Having grown up in a flat place, I am in awe of mountains. My first two idols were Maria in "Sound of Music" and Sherlock Holmes, and I think I am still working that one out.

Teaching writing in community colleges in San Francisco changed my feeling of connection to the rest of the world, because I had students from everywhere. I love to make connections between different people, places and ideas, as one does in a classroom or in a poem; for me, traveling more has been an extension of the same feeling.

PHILOSOPHY

Laughter, delight, fierceness, quietness, good good friends to keep me honest.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Portland has some of the best coffee and music in the world. And beautiful river canyons. And more brown rice and tempe than you can shake a stick at. I am just learning to cook vegan. Come and try some.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I am a newbie but I have heard really good things.

Interests

History. (Industrialization, American, Civil War-WWII-present/future. Henry Ford and the ways in which he was crazy. Why we have suburbs. The Columbia river, and turning rain into aluminum (planes) and uranium (see also "Trinitite"). John Muir and why he did not end up managing a carriage factory. What is visible and what is invisible to each person based on his or her imagination. What are we thinking. What are we doing. Who are we--from as many different perspectives as possible.)

Poetry. Impossible to paraphrase. Music. Impossible to summarize.

• writing
• poetry
• cooking
• coffee
• vegan
• traveling
• music
• history
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Anne Carson. Simone Weil. Lisa Robertson. Rosemarie Waldrop. Jeremy Scahill. George Packer. Tolstoy. Matthias Svalina. C.D. Wright. Homer. Flannery O'Connor. Garcia Lorca. James Buchan. Jamaica Kincaid.

Loch Lomond. Leonard Cohen. The Be Good Tanyas. Neko Case. Steve Earle. Lucinda Williams. Bruce Springsteen. Damien Rice. Emmylou Harris. Johnny Cash. Silvio Rodriguez.

Sadly I live under a movie rock.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Watching my 6-month-old and 2-and-a-half-year-old housemates learn from everything around them. The brilliance and unpredictable X-ness of human beings.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Spain, Sweden, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Spain, United States

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