CURRENT MISSION

what i always try to do: process information

ABOUT ME

i love to think.

understanding, with or without anticipating a behavior or situation before that, is what i care about.

i'm affable, sociable, garrulous, perceptive, somewhat pedantic, open and have a sense of humor rising from self-deprecation and appreciating absurdity in life.

i'm a reader, writer, sketcher; someone, basically, who likes to work with his hands.

i'm an english teacher and i have an affinity for language in general. i will probably ask you about the grammar of your language when i meet you, and ask your help in trying to understand and/or produce it.

i am fitness-minded. i love to run and lift weights. i like to climb, hike, camp, dance and a variety of other things that require intense physical effort.

i smoke in social contexts where alcohol is also present. regarding alcohol, i share the southern gentleman's aphorism that there are only two times when a man should drink: when he's thirsty, and when he's not, as a preventative measure.

i am originally from austin and i have a slight southern drawl which becomes more pronounced the more comfortable or drunk that i am.

PHILOSOPHY

whatever you do, always ask yourself: why am i doing this? which is just another way of saying 'what do i want?'

we only know that we exist, everything else is basically educated guesses, our observations being more or less likely.

i understand there are benefits to lying to others, what i don't get is the reason for lying to yourself.

i try not to focus on speaking correctly, writing correctly or acting correctly. it's about THINKING correctly.

'there are only two things we have to do in life: die, and live until we do.'

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

i like to host, but can't now. i've hosted loads in the past, and surfed as well. i've met great people and i want to start doing that again. i love to cook, especially baking, so if there's a potluck or foodfest i'll be there pie or casserole at the ready.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

hosted more good people in korea than i can remember right now. stayed in berkeley and saw the openness of northern california. been to enough meet-ups that i lost count (i'm definitely not in the single digits anymore)

visited 10 states (4.44%)Create your own visited map of The World

Interests

a plethora of things.

understanding, then learning (are they different?)

history, linguistics, morphosyntax, reading, writing, speaking, laughing, causing laughter, running, lifting weights, dancing, alphabets, set theory, demographics -> population genetics, comparative mythology, etymology, primatology, evolution, sexuality, justice/legal systems, processes in general, drinking and a host of others.

real recently i've been heavy into sumerian, neurobiology, (inter)governmental drug policy, evolutionary psychology and the nature-nurture dynamic vis-à-vis sexual orientation.

• writing
• acting
• dancing
• cooking
• potluck
• baking
• fitness
• running
• partying
• drinking
• reading
• hiking
• camping
• teaching
• etymology
• genealogy
• history
• law
• psychology

Music, Movies, and Books

i like to read frank herbert, larry niven, cj cherryh, michael crichton, pagdett powell, junot diaz, david milch, tom wolfe, john fowler, aeschylus, claude levy-strauss, georges dumezil, marija gimbutas, miranda july and suzanne rivecca.

i like travel literature.

my favorite movies: primer, city of god, cache, apocalypto

i love listening to music, although I'm horrible at making it. i love alkaline trio, belle and sebastian, tribe called quest, digable planets, blackalicious, j5, luna, sportfreunde stiller, steve miller band, the pillows, weezer, jack johnson, loco dice and format b.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

paid off all my school debt. dived from sea cliffs in south africa. got a sleeve tattoo. saw a guy die at the gym.

Teach, Learn, Share

i can teach you english. it's what i've done for work for a little while now and i've gotten pretty good at it if i say so myself.

i can teach how to cook some simple things, like pasta. but not much else. happy to give you whatever counsel i could.

What I Can Share with Hosts

a respectful guest, an attentive listener, a strong, experienced, capable helping hand (in the kitchen, the workroom, the study, the office, generally around the house/school), a sharp mind, an able and willing event organizer, a party buddy, a drinking companion, a source of cigarettes you could bum, a raconteur, an enthusiastic traveler.

i'm an expert in reading, writing, grammar, etc. you need anything like that done, and i'm within earshot, ask me first.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Germany, Japan, Lesotho, Mexico, Swaziland

Countries I’ve Lived In

Mozambique, South Africa, South Korea, United States

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