CURRENT MISSION

My current missions are to raise funds for www.charity-water.org & promote awareness of dangers of GMO foods & Fluoridation of water.

ABOUT ME

Loving me, they'd tell you I'm bright, friendly, and outgoing American ex-pat, with a generous nature, an engaging personality, artistic, a great host and a brilliant dancer. They'd also say I'm a mediocre cook (hey, nobody ever starved at my table) but that I'm great at hors d'oeuvres, desserts & breakfasts. And I'll add that people rave about my carrot & coriander soup. (Am I sounding a bit sensitive about the cooking thing?)
I'm a bit of an ace at interior design and the penthouse is very inviting and comfortable and I genuinely enjoy having guests about the place. I also enjoy showing off this idyllic little corner of this beautiful emerald isle.

PHILOSOPHY

Life is meant for living and living isn't for sissies. I also wholly believe in a karmic reality--what goes around comes around; and in my experience there's been more than a fair amount of 'instant karma' much of it good, I'm delighted to say.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'm new to CS but have been hosting friends & friends of friends for years and always enjoy the experience. Thought it might be an interesting thing to cast the net a little wider.
And I'll look forward to meeting local people when I go exploring myself.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Many a couch/guest bedroom over the years but not with CS as yet.

Interests

I'm interested in music, dance & film and County Clare boasts no shortage of internationally famous artists in all genres. We have some amazing geological phenomena including the Burren,the Cliffs of Moher and the Ailwee Caves. And then there's Dromoland, Bunratty & Kinnity Castles along with the all the interesting cities within shooting distance--Galway, Limerick, Kerry, Kilkenny, Cork.
Lucky to be semi-retired I spend my time travelling, hosting dinner parties, going to film, art, theatre & music events, singing in a choir, reading, and entertaining & being entertained by the friends who call in quite regularly.
When the sun shines you'll find me taking off for the coast and I meet up with a friend for walks regularly (part of my physio to improve my damaged knee after a bus accident) and enjoy cycling about the village. There are tennis courts nearby (definitely out since my accident) but the pool & steam room at the local hotel is on the agenda.
And there's keeping up with the goings on in my twenty year old son Alex's life over in Bexhill. He introduces me to the most amazing music!

• fish
• arts
• singing
• performing arts
• design
• interior design
• beauty
• dancing
• waltz
• cooking
• desserts
• partying
• boating
• reading
• traveling
• billiards
• drawing
• music
• cycling
• fishing
• hunting
• boxing
• tennis

Music, Movies, and Books

I like a wide variety of film aside from the Dumb & Dumber variety & other teen flicks.
Music tastes run from classical, jazz, R&B, Motown to world and choral. Don't appreciate heavy metal, rap, loud or atonal music but I'm game for a listen to anything else.
Ditto on the book front--and WHAT IS the story with the popularity of Shades of Grey??? Absolute rubbish.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Hmmm. Interesting question. The first thing that comes to mind is a two tank dive I did in Honduras where I recall looking up at the 50' dive boat appearing as a small dark oval on the surface of the water and then looking across at a translucent fish with eyes the size of baseballs and sea fans the size of Iowa. It was a very humbling experience. And quite surreal.
The second is a wonderful experience I had while engaged in a consultancy in Kwa Zulu Natal in South Africa. On arrival my colleagues and I were treated to a celebration dinner in a ceremonial hut located in one of the townships that was an orphanage made up of hundreds of children left behind whose parents had died of aids. First let me say that I was overwhelmed with the physical beauty of the land and impressed with the tidy and colourful buildings. Before the feast began a dozen of the children had prepared a music & dance performance for us--four part harmonies with percussion done on plastic gallon jugs with varying depths of water for tone played with home carved drum sticks. They were amazing and we were a very enthusiastic audience that caused them to add to their repertoire--think a young version of Ladysmith Black Mombazo with girls as well--SENSATIONAL!!

Teach, Learn, Share

I've taught many a friend how to do a basic box step, waltz, salsa or cha cha. I'd be happy to keep the up till I draw my last breath.

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Fiji, France, Germany, Honduras, Italy, Pakistan, Qatar, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Ireland, United States