I am a camera artist, writer, drawer. My work plays with the edge of our vision, skirts through false memory to explore the borderland between fact and fiction. I love wandering around unfamiliar cities and feeling a slower pace, empty hours full of possibility. I also like to talk with people, share coffee or drinks, go to music and art shows and watch films.

I studied history at Stanford University, African Studies at SOAS and Photographic and Electronic Media from the Maryland Institute College of Art. I have worked as a teacher, a picture framer, a photo lab technician, a technical writer, a web designer, a video editor, a culture-news columnist, an events photographer, among innumerable other gigs, contracts and projects.

I am based in San Francisco, though I have strong ties to my native Baltimore, and to Tanzania, which is where my boyfriend grew up.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I want to meet real people who live in different cities, and to connect in a deeper way with culture and place when I'm traveling.

Interests

I love art, literature and storytelling. I am an experimental filmmaker and photographer, so I like to go to screenings and shows.
I like to go for walks, either in the city or in nature. I'm a cyclist and I love to go on bike explorations of urban landscapes.
I like to drink beer, relax, listen to live music, meet people and have adventures.

• arts
• culture
• writing
• books
• literature
• design
• cooking
• beer
• coffee
• drinking
• news
• movies
• traveling
• socializing
• drawing
• music
• live music
• cycling
• communications
• teaching
• history

Music, Movies, and Books

Ursula K LeGuin, Rebecca Solnit, Jhumpa Lahiri, Toni Morrison, David Foster-Wallace, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Neil Gaiman, Ryszard Kapuscinski, Marguerite Duras, Chimananda Ngozi Adichie, Zadie Smith //

The Big Sleep, Alphaville, Killer of Sheep, Sans Soleil, Miss Lovely, Mulholland Drive, Spirited Away, Stalker, Mystery Train, The Big Lebowski, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation, Being John Malkovich, Pan's Labyrinth, Jules and Jim, Solaris, Blue, White, Red, Rashomon, Pulp Fiction, The Seventh Seal //

Ali Farka Toure, She Keeps Bees, Little Dragon, Baaba Maal, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, The Black Keys, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Velvet Underground, Shilpa Ray, Toro Y Moi, Devendra Banhart, Cocteau Twins, New Order, Sade, Sly and the Family Stone, Fleetwood Mac

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I wrote a bilingual children's book in Swahili and English. It's called Mama Ana Kazi/ Mama Has A Job, and it's published by Mkuki na Nyota press in Dar es Salaam.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I am a photographer, an artist, a good cook and a writer. I can make you a photo or a drawing, cook you a meal, or write a prose poem for you. I can also show you how to make a website, or teach you to say a phrase of your choice in Swahili.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Canada, Ethiopia, France, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe

Countries I’ve Lived In

Tanzania, United Kingdom, United States