CURRENT MISSION

burn bright

ABOUT ME

I enjoy people and storytelling, the exchange of ideas, swapping of knowledge and trivia and ways of life. I like to write in long-winded, breathless prose brimming impossibly with the mundane and adverbial. Life without spontaneity would be dull. Why not be caught unaware, surprised? There is little I think I am not interested in (except, perhaps accounting?)...

PHILOSOPHY

Time quivers.
A diaphanous thing.
Tied around memories
Both future and past.

These moments,
They are meant to be shared.
These words,
Exchanged.

Life is a digression.
And its story,
The inevitable trace
It leaves behind.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Offer my couch, my advice, and my presence to those who make it to this side of the Atlantic; and will hopefully get to sleep on a few couches myself.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

CS is a rabbithole that opens doors to people and minds and lives in unexpected ways. Ive learned and loved and laughed... and cant imagine another way to travel.

Interests

Writing, learning, tango, rock climbing, outdoors, biking, gardening, being socially responsible, living humbly, contemplating ideas and ourselves.

• writing
• tango
• gardening
• trivia
• traveling
• outdoor activities
• cycling

Music, Movies, and Books

/// THE LAST BOOK I COULDN'T PUT DOWN: Rushdie's Midnights Children. I used to wonder... what's all the hype about, anyway? And then, I read one of his novels. Lets just say I dont wonder anymore. Rushdie writes in metaphors fecund like a multiparous matron. He tears apart time and history and memory and identity and weaves it up again nimbly into his kaleidoscope fiction. You will fly through his world of the Midnight Children and wish you didnt have to leave when the curtains close. I dont know how he does it, but im glad he does.

/// OTHER FICTION WORTHY OF MENTION: Kuzhali Manickavel, Charles Bukowski, Hunter S. Thompson, Borges, Arundhati Roy, Mordecai Richler, Murakami, Ishiguro (I could go on, but the list would be indecently long)

///NON-FICTION THAT WILL MAKE YOU SWOON: Carl Zimmer, you rock. Read his "Parasite Rex" and "Soul Made Flesh" and your world will never be the same. Richard Feynman is my inspiration. If only God had given me his brain; he didn't, but at least he left me if his auto-biography. Oliver Sack's "Seeing Voices" inspired me to learn Sign...just as soon as I master my German.

///MOVIES: (shit, there's too many..but here goes anyway) In the Mood for Love, Afterlife, Man Push Cart, Turtles Will Fly, City of God, Mr. Lazarescu, Cloverfield, Otik, Elling, M for Murder, Clerks, Juno, Bladerunner ...okay, that's enough. In short, if it's black and razor-sharp, gritty, non-conformist, sincere, insightful, Japanese, East European, Scandinavian, indie or documentary, i've probably gotta see it.

///MUSIC: Electronica and lounge like DJ Shadow, Beast, Kruder and Dorfmeister, Theivery Corporation, Sigur Ros // heart-wrenching vocals like Jeff Buckley, Mazzy Starr, Soap and Skin, Lauryn Hill Unplugged // world music like Samba, Tango, Fado, Bueno Vista Social Club, Lhasa, Cesaria Evora // blues, jazz and swing, Nina Simone, Madeleine Peyroux, Django // classic rock like Floyd, Zeppelin, Beatles

Countries I’ve Visited

Egypt, Germany, India, United States, Yemen

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Saudi Arabia, United States

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