I have been on Couchsurfing so long it says 'Legacy Profile' on it, and allows old now-defunct editing options. Kind of sweet of them., and that makes me feel really old, when in fact it was around the time I started Couchsurfing that my head and heart exploded with the youthful possibilities for adventure, which still exist. Though these days, after settling in Rochester NY (with my cat!). With less opportunity to travel, I'm finding it harder to make new friends but always open to the spark of new connections.

I try to live an expressive and examined life, injecting irreverence, curiosity, kindness and creativity where I can. If I had to sum up the ideal themes of life on Earth, I'd say they are creativity, love (friendship) and adventure.

I really enjoy helping and working with people experiencing major life changes, whether due to health challenges, international experience, and so on. 'People' includes animals to me; their experience of the world is much more akin to our own than we dare to admit to ourselves.

CURRENT MISSION

To make new friends!

ABOUT ME

Alignment: Chaotic Good

I'd like to meet people intrepid on their inner and outer journeys, whose work (or dream) is not only a means to an end of security or status, even if that work is a hobby, art or an intellectual passion.

I especially like people who don't often complain, care little for social-status, don't boast, live adventurously, say thank you, tell their friends they love them, are kind to all beings, speak candidly (with tact), are always learning and actively reading even occasionally on some general topic, aren't easily offended, stay youthful, are capable of being self-effacing, have strange insights, see humor in unexpected places at socially unacceptable times, and don't make extensive lists of likes and dislikes on the internet, like this one, with the hope of creating a native-American dream catcher of words, through which people might gently filter.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I try to encourage trusted friends to try out Couchsurfing. It's not for every temperament. When I couchsurf I strive to be a helpful and flexible guest and to be as open as possible. I have lived with friends that have hosted but I have not hosted anyone via my profile until recently! And it was great fun.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have couchsurfed in Malaysia, Cambodia, Scotland, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Vietnam and Brazil, and old roommates of mine have hosted people in Philadelphia in the past. I've made lasting friendships through this site with people I feel connected with around the world.

Interests

social science, psychology, nutrition, international education, volunteering/ service-work, animal rehab, drawing/writing, mystical-theology /science/philosophy (especially Ancient Greek), science-fiction, ancient history (mine, your's and the world's), travelling,technology, cosmology, reading, live-music, SCUBA, cooking, gently dark humour that induces a snort (sometimes my own) and helping out my fellows (animals and humans).

• animals
• arts
• writing
• lgbt rights
• education
• cooking
• vegetarian
• instructor
• technology
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• drawing
• music
• scuba diving
• teaching
• history
• psychology
• science
• social science
• volunteering
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: low-fi, ambient, classical, The Cocteau Twins, Crownlands, Greta Van Fleet

Books: Proust, Nabokov, Tolstoy, John Barthe, Teilhard De Chardin, Alfred North Whitehead, Terrence Mckenna, Thomas Mann

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I volunteered for an animal-control officer while living/teaching in rural Akita Japan. Together, he and I used non-lethal means to deter wild monkeys from eating the crops of local farmers. We used camo, fire-works, nets, cages (to capture, tag, measure and release for scientific purposes and land management). Though I'm not generally into anything machismo, it was delight to engage in a battle of wits with Macaque monkeys, for their own sake (they should be eating veggies only in the mountains, to maintain a stable population) and they otherwise aren't open to being persuaded!--their decimation of local groups precipitated an unsustainable population boom the threatened the eco-balance of the Shirakami World Heritage preserve in Northern Japan) and for the sake of the locally grown economy of vegetables. When I read what I just wrote, I feel absolutely absurd, but blessed.

Teach, Learn, Share

"Happiness is beneficial to the body, but it is grief that develops the powers of the mind," -Marcel Proust
(I'm a childhood cancer survivor---it has shaped a lot of my attitudes and ways of seeing/being in the world)

"The wealth required by nature is limited and is easy to procure; but the wealth required by vain ideals extends to infinity."- Epicurus

What I Can Share with Hosts

A shady seat on the bright coast of my heart. I love walks and good conversations.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Austria, Bahamas, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Cook Islands, Czech Republic, Denmark, Fiji, Germany, Italy, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

Brazil, Cook Islands, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Viet Nam

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