CURRENT MISSION

To make the most of each day without letting yesterday or tomorrow or the monkey between my ears get in the way too much.

Jesus Christ is my God. Love and grace is my religion. As an ELCA Lutheran I'm proud to say my pastor is gay and people who think gay people are sinning have the same approach to the Bible as people who used to justify slavery with Biblical passages.
I gave up on trying to be cool years ago but am very comfortable being goofy most of the time. I care deeply for family friends and those going through hard times. I love good conversations and adventures of all kinds. Although I got sober 8 years ago, I still love to party and have a good time, but might be even happier sitting by a river or hiking to a mountain lake and having a campfire under the stars especially if there is anyone there who likes to sing and dance. Plays guitar and does a great Johnny Cash set. Open minded and easygoing; not at all someone I would consider high maintenance, he's clean and tidy in a living space and very respectful to others and always tries to be a gentleman.

PHILOSOPHY

Love is best when it is a verb; it is patient, kind and unselfish and not rude. Nature abhors a vacuum. Never use another life simply as a means to an end. Bullshit detectors are needed more than ever and very hard to find sometimes. It's better to be kind than to be right. Treat others as you'd want to be treated. We're here to be connected to each other because we already are and every living thing is vulnerable.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'm just getting started actually so my participation as a newcomer has been limited to filling out this profile.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

With this online community- none. However, couchsurfing experiences elsewhere without internet assistance has been extensive where I've lived and traveled. Just try to be the kind of guest my family would be proud of, remember to share my gifts when they are welcomed, and that nature abhors a vacuum.

Interests

Lately it's been Rumi's poetry with a handful of others, riding out into the country on my scooter either to the beach or a mountain waterfall where I you can swim and even sit under the falls for "waterfall massage." Supersweet. Traveling around Taiwan as much as my teaching schedule will allow and can't resist a good movie. Seeing movies in theatres in Taiwan has been interesting, but then again, the last year in Taiwan has been one of the most interesting experiences of my life. It's definitely different and without a doubt engaging. With a different language, immaculate and otherworldly old temples kitty corner from 7/11's you'd have to be asleep not to be engaged. It's more like sensory overload and exactly what I was looking for to change the pace of what I'd known for the last 10 years in Southern California. Music is my soul's favorite food I think and whenever I can I sing and play any guitar I can get my hands on. I volunteered with the Peace Corps in Uganda from 2013-2016 and will move to Berkeley in the fall of 2016 for seminary at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary.

• arts
• poetry
• singing
• dancing
• dining
• walking
• partying
• flying
• movies
• traveling
• music
• guitar
• hiking
• swimming
• social work
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

True Romance. The Shawsank Redemption. Into the Wild. Cool Hand Luke. Dr. Zhivago. Last of the Mohicans. V for Vendetta. Across the Universe. Just about anything put out there by Chris Nolan, the Cohen Brothers, Clint Eastwood, Ridley Scott, Quentin Tarrantino and a majority of Speilburg and Scorsese's Canon.
The Beatles, Johnny Cash and Nirvana comprise the triumvirate sitting atop a foundation laid by old church hymns (my dad's a Lutheran Minister) and my mom's lullabies. Bob Dylan, Ben Harper, tons of singer songwriter stuff, anything I can dance to. We could spend a lot of time on music. Classical music is my medicine of calm and concentration. Billie Holiday and Elliott Smith almost never get old. Radiohead is very special. I love the sound of the Cello.
I always like to be reading a few different things that cover, metaphysical, literature and poetry. I read slow and my favorite recent read is Shantaram. Read a lot of Stephen King and John Steinbeck when I was younger. Not to mention Gary Paulsen. At the top of my list would have to be The Giving Tree and The Little Prince though.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Watched the sunset on the roof of our apartment tonight. The sky was doing at least a dozen beyond beautiful things while just being still. I'm easy to please that way. Staring out at the Grand Canyon. Walking through the ruins of Angkor Wat and the smiles of the locals when you remembered them from the next day and tipped them. Holding a newborn that you are related to for the first time. Standing where Babe Ruth used to land home runs in Yankee Stadium with my dad. That kind of stuff. I've been lucky to do and see some really cool things and hope to do and see as much more as I can. It's good to be left awestruck, right? Life is sweet and the world is an awesome place.

Teach, Learn, Share

Any special knowledge I have to share is a direct result of the life experiences I've had thus far and everything my parents have passed onto me. My folks are social workers who taught me to love, laugh, learn, be kind, work hard for your own way and be of service to others whenever possible. Born while they were at Seminary in Oakland, I was raised in rural America, but as a teenager was a ferry ride and a half hour drive from Seattle. Encouraged to follow dreams in the arts, I spent 15 years performing mostly onstage and a little in front of the camera and working a healthy variety of manual labor jobs through college in California and in the years since. Got sober 4 years ago which has changed the way I view and experience life in the best of possible ways.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Botswana, Cambodia, Canada, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, France, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Rwanda, Tanzania, United Kingdom, United States, Zambia

Countries I’ve Lived In

Norway, Taiwan, Uganda, United States