CURRENT MISSION

To learn about myself by getting out of town.

ABOUT ME

I have lived in Grand Rapids since I left home for college in 1997. Grand Rapids has become my adopted home and has many bright shining spots that can go unnoticed if you don't know where to look. It can be small however, so it is good to know where the exits are and travel regularly.

I love collecting, listening to and selling records. The first place I usually go in a new city is the record store. I love zombie movies but am up for watching just about anything.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I just started with this site so I don't know what to expect yet. I am excited about the possibly of staying with people all over the world and knowing new places through local people's eyes.

I live in an out of the way city that probably won't see many visitors, but I am more than happy to welcome new people to the place I call home and I think is pretty special.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have stayed on many people's couches, just never through this website. The most memorable experience I have so far was showing up in Boston with two friends and no place to stay. We went to a show at a small club and I figured that someone there would be cool with us staying at their place. We ended up meeting two nice witches and they were very hospitable. We stayed up late talking about religion, Boston, feminism and anything that came to mind. To me it's what travel is all about.

Interests

Records, good fresh food, farmers markets, biking, seeing new places.

• animals
• cats
• chickens
• arts
• womens rights
• dining
• clubbing
• movies
• traveling
• cycling
• religion

Music, Movies, and Books

MOVIES- Anything by George Romero, Cooley High, Lone Wolf and Cub, The Fountain, anything with Paul Rudd.

MUSIC- Grimey old soul, weird disco, angular post-punk, hyped-up hip hop, anything that sounds raw and living.

BOOKS- The Road, the Thurston Moore compiled NO WAVE book.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

While touring through the Czech Republic with a group of artists some of us were invited to visit an Italian art collector's castle in the countryside. The castles in the Czech Republic had fallen into serious disrepair during the Communist era so the government offered one to anyone who would put a new roof on it.

This collector decided to have his castle renovated for his personal residence but also for his collection and for artist residencies. He left the renovations to live-in caretakers who we were instructed to ask for when we arrived. The nice Ukrainian couple in charge were the nicest people I have ever met. We could barely understand one another but the woman, who managed the house, showed us around the grounds and helped us understand how old everything was and what had happened to it during 40 years of Communist rule.

The grounds were full of animals: goats, cats, ducks, chickens. As we walked past the ducks and chickens we pointed at the hay bales where they were laying their eggs. The woman asked us something in Russian and picked up the eggs. We didn't mention anything about eating them, but she made us some of the most amazing omelettes with those duck eggs. What a world we live in.

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