CURRENT MISSION

Cultivating a well-stocked mind.

ABOUT ME

Can any of us ever really know ourselves?

*cough*

Okay, platitudes aside, I love to read and write, garden and cook, play guitar and basketball, meet new people and maybe--all too rarely--hear said new things.

PHILOSOPHY

Within three weeks of my arrival in New Zealand, I had had at least three conversations about Albert Camus's doctrine of the absurd and whether rebellion was in fact enough to give life meaning.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about Nietsche's contention that we must suffer in order to truly achieve.

I am not quite sure how the two interact, but I'm thinking about it.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

While I am in New Zealand, I am surfing. Depending on where I live when I go back to the U.S., I might start to host.

I would be happy to help any host with cooking, cleaning, gardening, mowing, or any other little thing that needs to be done around the house (time allowing, of course).

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My first surf, I sort of piggybacked with my dear friend Caitlyn, as she invited me along from Akaroa to Nelson, and we stayed with a lovely, charming host named Carla in Christchurch.

I became more interested in Couchsurfing after that (though I am usually horribly late in requesting). I have since stayed with Des in Te Anau, another great experience.

Interests

writing, gardening, guitars, ecology, basketball, boxing

• writing
• singing
• dancing
• cooking
• gardening
• guitar
• surfing
• basketball
• boxing
• ecology

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies - The Apartment, Seven Samurai, Blues Brothers

Music - classic rock, rock and roll, orchestral ("classical"), singer-songwriter, folk, blues, old jazz

Books - Nabokov, Joyce, Salinger, Stoppard, Shakespeare, Cummings, Keats--basically, I like writers who give thought to every word

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Singing in a choir, those focal moments when everything is in just the right place.

Teach, Learn, Share

Englishy stuff, real high-brow literary illumination.
Guitar-repair tips.
How to throw a good punch.

I would love to dance more.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States