CURRENT MISSION

to draw the world

ABOUT ME

(some of these statements are truer than others...)

i often travel with beaker, my seeing-eye ninja-cat. she could beat your dog in a fist fight OR a game of poker.

i once thumb wrestled a shaolin master until our pinkies fell off.

when i was ten, i fought off no less than 64 angry, rabid spider monkeys with naught but a toothpick and several Miles Davis albums.

i can probably eat more ice cream than you.

i learned korean from Naruto and japanese from Bleach.

i can disassemble, clean, and reassemble a '99 chevy blazer in under four minutes.

i rock climb. UPSIDE DOWN.

i only wear toe shoes or flip-flops, which i honestly believe are stylish.

once, a heavily armed crackhead tried to attack me in a chicago back alley. i knit him to a mailbox and left him for the police to find the next day.

i bathe with THREE rubber ducks at a time, sometimes more.

PHILOSOPHY

whatever floats your duck.
don't be an asshole unless absolutely necessary.
if necessary, do it with flare.
be careful with sharp objects.
be kind to animals, cherish the environment, and eat tacos.
appreciate things.
try, always, not to lie to yourself.
knit when you're angry -- and if that doesn't help, kick something.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

i always look forward to surfing.
my couch is often full, but when it's not, i'm open to hosting, too!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

it's been surreal -- to be welcomed into a stranger's home with arms open wide, to find fast and fantastic friends in the surfers who flicker in and out of our guestroom... it's been wonderful. :)

Interests

music, food, athletics, martial arts, "the" arts, history, memory, and cultural studies, and tea, which falls into its own, glorious category.

• animals
• cats
• dogs
• arts
• environment
• dining
• yoga
• boating
• traveling
• knitting
• drawing
• poker
• music
• surfing
• martial arts
• cultural studies
• emergency services
• history
• logic

Music, Movies, and Books

all three, and sometimes all three...while simultaneously knitting.
... blindfolded...
...with both hands tied behind my back.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

took a blissful, intensely sublime nap on some sunny, tucked-away shelf of Angkor Wat.

did a wobbly ashtanga practice to a sunrise on the deck of a vietnamese junk in the middle of Halong Bay. (boat yoga = The Shit.)

hugged a tiger. twice.

dogsled. sledded. dogslid? anyway. rode a dogsled over a coldass minnesotan lake.

rocked some naked sun salutations mid-winter in a pristine natural hot spring bath nestled in the side of a mountain in Kusatsu-machi, Japan.

baked a batch of magical oatmeal cookies that would make your grandma cry.

tag-arted the entire outside wall of my office while teaching at an uptight, übersnobbish university... and didn't get in (much) trouble.

taught my partner to put the toilet seat down.

Teach, Learn, Share

i enjoy being around those who have truly, honestly struggled to form their own understanding of life and meaning. ...people who have some sort of internal logic to the way they live their lives, who continue to challenge that logic, build upon it, shape, reshape, and deconstruct it... people who think, people who live, people who are willing to change their minds...

What I Can Share with Hosts

tea. i'm usually traveling with a small set or at least a handful of leaves, so i can steep you up a treat!

i also appreciate the generosity and inherent risk taken by hosts as they welcome random people into their homes. i am not a total freeloader; if there is housework or something that needs doing, i'm happy to help! or if you'd like a language lesson, a logo designed, or your portrait sketchily drawn, i'd be happy to lend those skills, as well!

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Cambodia, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mongolia, Thailand, Turkey, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, South Korea, Thailand, United States