CURRENT MISSION

Renouncing the importance of having a mission, an agenda, or Big Accomplishments.

ABOUT ME

Quick to laugh. Kind, quiet, grounded, curious about people.
Father of two college-aged boys.
Writer and designer in the software industry for 20+ years. I helped develop InDesign and other apps in the Adobe Creative Suite.
Amateur musician and artist.
Lover of books.

PHILOSOPHY

I believe in listening and paying attention. I'm starting to think that "maybe so" is the wise response to almost every assertion, with some interesting exceptions. Imagination and individuality and creativity are worth encouraging and seeking out, though they are sometimes discomforting (sometimes that is the intention, sometimes not).

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Will host in summer of 2012 after some fix-ups to my dwellings.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

None, using this site, but I have hitchhiked a lot in younger days (all over northern europe) and have shared my land/dwellings with friends family acquaintances and strangers in ad hoc fashion.

Interests

All forms of music interest me as a listener, and as a player I gravitate toward americana/roots music. I sing and play guitar and banjo in a few different projects where I live.
I make paintings (work in pastels and iPad painting apps like Brushes). I enjoy thinking about and experiencing various modern and post-modern artists or art movements that challenge me. Recent interests: Agnes Martin, Marina Abramovic.
Interested in natural beauty and hiking, and insight meditation, documentary film, and cats.

• cats
• arts
• writing
• books
• singing
• design
• fashion
• modern art
• documentaries
• beauty
• festivals
• meditation
• painting
• music
• guitar
• hiking
• software

Music, Movies, and Books

Authors I resonate with: Cormac McCarthy. John Berger. Gary Snyder. Sharon Olds.
Artists: Andrew Wyeth. Wayne Theibaud.
Documentary film especially ones on artists (Goldsworthy, Crumb, Man on Wire).
Well-loved music: Gillian Welch. Joni Mitchell. The Gourds. Bill Frisell. Cassandra Wilson. Arvo Part. Nirvana. Led Zep. Be Good Tanyas. Gustavo Santoalalla.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

+ Visited India (Delhi).
+ After years of resistance, participated in the Burning Man festival last summer. Glad I did, it was at times deeply beautiful and transcendent, and now its future is in question.
+ Hitch-hiked extensively around Europe and the UK one summer.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, France, Germany, India, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, United States