Married, with baby girl born in summer of 2013. Former high school music/English teacher and currently a graduate student at the University of Illinois.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Pragmatic reason: I'm a broke grad student but I still like to travel. Philosophical reason: I'm a proponent of the gift economy, reciprocity, human connection, and nonmonetized interactions (look up Charles Eisenstein if that sounds intriguing).

Interests

Singing and playing music of all kinds, especially stuff with vocal harmonies. Also guitar, mandolin, oud, baglama, mbira, and a few other instruments. Reading, history, politics, ecology. Writing on occasion. Thinking about the state of the world and getting depressed.

• writing
• singing
• drinking
• politics
• reading
• traveling
• music
• guitar
• ecology
• teaching
• history
• languages
• road trips

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: almost anything, especially choral or forms of traditional vocal polyphony. Also bluegrass, old time, industrial, progressive metal, and nearly anything traditional or modern from the Balkans and Middle East.

Books: epic fantasy (Tolkien, Bakker, Eriksen, Wolfe), SF, comics, graphic novels, mainstream and classic fiction, and stuff I read for school (anthropology, ethnomusicology, history, critical theory).

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Driving the entire Alaska Highway, starting from Edmonton (while I wasn't the only person in the car, I really did ALL of the driving!). Got a flat tire and had to buy a new one in Anchorage, encountered a herd of 100 bison blocking the road, visited Denali National Park, Carcross, Seward, Fairbanks, Dawson City in addition to points along the AH itself.

The following year, after moving (driving) from Edmonton to central Illinois, we drove in the opposite direction and made it all the way to Key West. Needless to say, I don't mind long road trips.

Teach, Learn, Share

Music is not the universal language, it's a whole bunch of languages that should all be appreciated and understood on their own terms.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can teach you some 3-voice Georgian drinking songs if you rustle up a friend or two.

Countries I’ve Visited

Armenia, Cuba, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Turkey, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Georgia, United States