CURRENT MISSION

To expand, discover, explore and eat lots of yummy food along the way!

ABOUT ME

Kathleen: This always seems like the hardest part. I am...okay let's start with what I do. I am a Costume Designer, Costumier, and College Professor. I work in the areas of Theatre, Film and Dance primarily but am always looking to expand my horizons. I am always torn between the city and the country. I am currently living in a small city that feels like a small town, which I love. But I itch for the excitement of the pulse of somewhere like New York City to visit, not to live. I would like to be (and believe I do a decent job of being) kind to the world but I always see the inconsistencies and wierdnesses of the world that make me cringe. There is a fearlessness that is inside of me but it is sometimes shrouded in shyness. I can hang out with a Budweiser drinking truck driving foul mouthed republican and a Pinot drinking Volvo driving intellectual liberal. I have parts of both within me, well except for the Budweiser drinking, I can't do that, but I can appreciate the desire.

Luke:
Honest and sincere. People that know me say I am a good man. I think that it's those people that are good and they see their own goodness in me. In light of that I guess you could say that I am humble. I can get excited about certain things, like the first drink of a glass of Green Flash West Coast IPA, but I will rarely show excitement as I have a fairly contained personality. I want the world to be a place where people can be safe and healthy and have what they need. Even the homeless dude that comes into the deli regularly which is why I always give him a glass of water instead of the coffee he asks for and a biscuit with sausage for a dollar when it actually costs a little more. One of my simple pleasures is saving a cicada from one of our household cats...when I pick it up and carry it outside it's really cool when I let go and it just takes off flying from my fingertips.

Together: We strive to live simply in order to leave an ever so slight carbon footprint on the world. We are each others buddies always sharing new discoveries and insights and uplifting one another on every possible occasion. Our favorite thing to discover together is food which we do with a great passion. We work hard together in the garden, sometimes while neither one of us ever really knows that much about what we are doing but always problem solving together. We really like each other. And we both want to share that with the world.

PHILOSOPHY

Kathleen: Can "why I live my life" be summed up in just a few words? If only it were that easy. How about this, to simplify, to see the perfection in this imperfect world, to ascend.
Luke: On the road to find out.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We have a guest room and lots of couches. Have hosted a few couchsurfers through CS. We have a lot of unofficial couchsurfers throughout the year on account of Noise Projects that travel through Dayton while touring the country. We are currently planning a trip to Europe, including stops in Berlin, Finland, Belgium, and Madrid. Hoping to both stay with some couchsurfer comrades and to perhaps just meet up with some like minded folks in search of an authentic traveling experience.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Have couchsurfed and mingled with other couch surfers as well as hosted couchsurfers galore. My (Kathleen) first experience was in Austria and from the first moment I arrived I knew that this was a genius creation. I was treated to a true local Viennese experience from enjoying the local wines, to the Vienna Festival Opening night as well as a Mother's Day celebration with my host, all things I would not have experienced if traveling on my own.

Interests

Kathleen: Wandering (through the city, through the woods, through the shops, through my mind and consciousness), watching people wandering, just hanging out, chatting and chatting (over a beer or a bottle of wine or while relaxing somewhere in the sun), exploring and discovering, getting a pedicure, Flight of the Concords, Costume Dramas, The Office, Wine, Chatting, Doing Nothing, Macaroni & Cheese (homemade, duh!), Songs about Jesus, Limoncello, Cowboy Junkies and the most important of all interests...that interest that sustains me...producing food for our household...flowers to adorn our home...and a place to observe the wild insect kingdom...gardening...it's always gardening for me...the activity I love to do more than any other...the activity that sustains me and heals me.

Luke: Listening, witnessing, playing and recording music; drinking, making and learning about beer; exploring the vast display of the human experience through travel, eating delicious food that my girlfriend cooks, eating delicious food with my girlfriend that someone else cooked, building structures for our organic urban garden, watching movie films, meeting new and interesting people who have experienced life in a much different way than me, fast cars.

• cats
• design
• festivals
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• cheese
• beer
• coffee
• drinking
• flying
• gardening
• clothing
• flowers
• movies
• traveling
• cars
• music
• scuba diving
• teaching

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies:
Kathleen: My Life Without Me, The Princess and the Warrior, Personal Velocity, Juno, Sex and Lucia, Any film by Pedro Almodovar, Pieces of April

Luke:
2001, A Clockwork Orange, Taxi Driver, Bottle Rocket, Pulp Fiction

Books:
Kathleen: Portrait of a Lady, The Time Traveller's Wife, Poisonwood Bible, Ahab's Wife, Marie Antoinette (by Sena Jeter Naslund)
Luke: A Confederacy of Dunces, The Road, 1984

Music:
Kathleen: Cowboy Junkies, Aimee Mann, Sinead O'Connor, Kate Wolf, Gillian Welch, Classical (Mozart and Glazunov), Greg Brown, Leonard Cohen, Patti Smith

Luke: Velvet Underground, Aphex Twin, King Tubby, Scientist, Noise, Harsh Noise, Experimental Music, Techno, House

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Kathleen: Witnessing my friend Leslie give birth to her first child. There is no greater miracle in my opinion.

Luke: Scuba diving at the bottom of the ocean in Australia.

Teach, Learn, Share

Kathleen: I am always willing and able to discuss spiritual matters. My relationship with the Divine is my main motivating force. However, Let me just say in light of this reveal, I will not impose my beliefs at all, ever.

I can sew, which a lot of people find useful to learn. I can teach you quite a bit about sewing and fabric and clothes. I also have a lot to learn, if you have something to share.

I am always wanting to learn more about cooking. I like to cook with people while exchanging techniques and tastes. That's fun.

I like to learn how life's experiences have altered one.

Luke: Beer knowledge. Car knowledge. Music knowledge. Music recording knowledge.

Countries I’ve Visited

Aruba, Australia, Austria, Canada, Costa Rica, Fiji, France, Greece, Guatemala, Italy, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand, Russian Federation, Spain, Turkey, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States