CURRENT MISSION

My mission in life is to set as few goals as possible and then accomplish all of them :)

ABOUT ME

I'm a free-spirited (read: immature) middle-aged guy. Engaged to be married to the love of my life, aiming for Summer '13. I enjoy reading (I alternate between pulp fantasy/sci-fi and highbrow history books like my current - "History of Rome vol. 1-8" by Livy,) playing games of all types, and listening to/performing music (I sing in a reasonably well-known Seattle-area choral ensemble.) My cat has me wrapped around his little claw, but if you ever met his Immense Cuteness, you'd understand why. I've been working as a wage-slave for an online diamond & jewelry retailer for almost 6 years now, a fact which never ceases to amaze me since I've always been such a leaf on the wind. I love to debate but I hate to argue, so Facebook presents a mighty fine line for me to balance on :)

PHILOSOPHY

Answers to societal problems are complex, and therefore people's simple one-liner answers don't hold water. Answers to personal problems are simple, and people tend to make them needlessly complex by mentally painting themselves into corners. I'm not sure if there's an afterlife, so I aim to enjoy the life I AM sure of. A big part of that is to make sure that those I care about also enjoy it, which is one of the most important things a person can learn, that caring for others is one of the most surefire paths to personal fulfillment. I could go on and on but it'd be better over a glass of wine :)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Newbie couchsurfer vis a vis this website, but I certainly stayed a week or two on friends couches here and there back in the day, and I did hitchhike for a month, met all sorts of cool (or at least interesting) people that way.

Interests

Music. Any games except solitaire or mind games. Tasty food. Tasty coffee. Anything that strikes my fancy at any given moment :)

• cats
• books
• singing
• burningman
• dining
• wine
• coffee
• reading
• painting
• magic
• music
• guitar
• history

Music, Movies, and Books

The Codex Seraphinianus. Donnie Darko. Fantastic Mr. Fox. Anything by Gabriel Faure or most of his contemporaries. Old classic rock and new indie folk rock and most everything betwixt.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've been to Burningman 7 times since 1996, and each time has been amazing. I've proposed to my lady love on a bridge over the clearest pond you've ever seen in the middle of the Hoh rainforest. I've marched in the victory day parade with tanks rumbling along in the line in Red Square during the waning days of the USSR.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can write in norse elder futharc runic, more or less. I can play the guitar and the ocarina, and I can read western-notation music. I can play magic the gathering like a mad fiend. I can fix your computer. I can recite the first 16 lines of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in middle English from memory. I can coax a scared cat from under a couch even if they usually don't go anywhere near strangers.