CURRENT MISSION

To write my PhD dissertation and find a "real" job

ABOUT ME

I'm a generally curious and open-minded person. I love to travel and wish I could travel more than I do. But sometimes, I get tired of traveling and would like to have the chance to be able to dwell somewhere for a while. I've been in school for what feels like forever, but have worked between my degrees. What I have liked most about doing my PhD is that it has allowed me to think critically about issues that are important and of interest to me. I take this to be a rare privilege. That I have been given the gift of time and freedom of thought to critically understand and explore these issues as well as be able to write and teach about them is one of the most amazing opportunities I have ever been given.

PHILOSOPHY

I would say my personal philosophy is one of my favorite quotes: "I can't help but dream about a kind of criticism that would try not to judge but to bring an oeuvre, a book, a sentence, an idea to life; it would light fires, watch the grass grow, listen to the wind, and catch the sea foam in the breeze and scatter it. It would multiply not judgements but signs of existence; it would summon them, drag them from their sleep. Perhaps it would invent them sometimes-all the better. All the better. Criticism that hands down sentences sends me to sleep; I'd like a criticism of scintillating leaps of the imagination. It would not be sovereign or dressed in red. It would bear the lightning of possible storms." ~ The Masked Philosopher (a.k.a. Michel Foucalut in an "unauthored" interview printed in Le Monde 6-7 April, 1980)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Just joining CouchSurfing to see what's up.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

None so far ...

Interests

Reading, politics, film, tennis, running, cycling, cooking, etc.

• books
• cooking
• recipes
• running
• politics
• reading
• traveling
• cycling
• tennis
• history
• philosophy

Music, Movies, and Books

I love music. A wide range of music, the list is extensive: Quadron, Late Night Alumni, Kylie, EBTG, Goldfrapp, I Am A Camera, Matthew Dear, School of Seven Bells, many others....

Books: Mostly into reading ethnography and historiography. With regard to social theory, I have affinities for poststructuralism and deconstruction. I enjoy and align myself with certain aspects of Marx's critical theory, but not Traditional Marxist interpretations of his work. I'm not a big fiction reader, but I did enjoy African Psycho (which was my most recent fiction read)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Decided NOT to climb Mt. Kenya after a bunch of friends returned from doing it (one who was airlifted home to the US after breaking her leg, and the others smelled terrible and three or four were temporarily blind from the reflection of the sun on the snow-capped mountain). To me, this was an amazing decision. Instead, I decided to go to Lamu, just off the coast of Western Kenya for sun and sand.

Teach, Learn, Share

I could share with others about my research on the history and cultures of homoerotic desire that I've studied in South Africa for my PhD... I would love to learn new cooking recipes.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, France, Japan, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Netherlands, Russian Federation, Spain, Tanzania, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Kenya, South Africa, United States