If I'm Visiting
I'm really into music, cultural history, and really absorbing the scenery and culture of a place. I love to meet interesting people and get a view of life from their perspective.

If You're Visiting
I'm pretty knowledgeable about Calgary, and the neat places here. I spend a lot of time exploring the city, and I'm happy to share it. I also worked for Parks Canada for a few seasons, and was an avid scrambler over that period, so I have a bit of Banff and mountain knowledge, too. I would be happy to show you some cool stuff in my neck of the woods.

I'm a passionate guitarist, songwriter, and amateur music historian. I'm passionate about my faith. I'm a passionate teacher. I'm a passionate guy! I tend to pursue my "hobbies" pretty full-tilt. I could be described as a nerd for hip-hop, anime, metal, funk music, 2000s HBO shows, Marvel Comics, and a bunch of other things. But I'm generally also pretty laid-back and philosophical.

I'm always looking to meet inspiring people. My undergraduate degree was in Drama, and it has shaped the way I approach the world. I plan when I need to, and honor my commitments, but I'm generally pretty spontaneous, and tend to improvise a lot.

I've worked many interesting jobs and finally settled on becoming a teacher a few years ago. My last "career" was for Parks Canada as an interpreter in Banff National Park. Teaching music and drama is a blast, and I get to play guitar and piano every day, and write cool songs for/with my classes. When I have the energy, I work on my own songs at night. Life is pretty cool!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

To meet interesting people in different places!

Interests

• singing
• walking
• anime
• movies
• music
• hiking
• snowboarding
• christian
• swimming
• teaching
• psychology
• nature
• theatre
• funk
• longboarding
• heavy metal
• improvisation
• water
• choir
• graffiti
• hiphop
• songwriting
• nature walks
• music history
• musical theatre
• gospel
• wwe
• producing music

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Kirk Franklin, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Beach Boys, The Pet Shop Boys, Aretha Franklin, Vangelis, Joe Satriani, Marvin Sapp, Smashing Pumpkins, Genesis, Phil Collins, Cracker, Shad, The Roots, MC Hammer, Erasure, Anthrax, Periphery, Marvin Gaye, etc.

Movies: Scott Pilgrim, The Muppets, 20th Century Boys Trilogy, Princess Mononoke, Thank You For Smoking. I've watched and enjoyed hundreds and hundreds of movies, probably enough to call myself a movie buff. These days I mostly watch anime, like My Hero Academia, Food Wars, Attack on Titan, and One Piece. The last two movies that I loved were Free Solo and Coco.

Books: The Bible, No Logo by Naomi Klein, How Now Shall We Live? by Charles Colson, Mere Christianity by CS Lewis, What Every Body is Saying by Joe Navarre, Can't Stop, Won't Stop: The Rise of the Hip Hop Generation by Jeff Chang, Gordon Korman's YA and MacDonald Hall books from the 80s, various other music history books. I haven't read comics for awhile, but was big on them for years, and I especially dig Grant Morrison's New X-Men, and Bill Willingham's Fables.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I wrote and directed a musical about manatees called Mating Season. It went up at the University of Calgary in 2012. It was sort of a cross between Planet Earth, South Park, and Disney.

Teach, Learn, Share

Music: guitar, ukulele, singing, theory, popular music history, etc.
Drama: voice, character building, improv, etc.
Stories: I've been an interpreter in Banff for Parks Canada, a server for many years, an outreach worker, a graveyard shift security guard, etc. Many interesting tales!

What I Can Share with Hosts

Enthusiasm, good manners, quality conversation, and considerate demeanor. Good talker by nature, good listener by practice :) I would also probably improvise a half-decent song about them, if they fancied that!

Countries I’ve Visited

South Africa, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada