CURRENT MISSION

Help work to create the best world humanity is capable of through exploration, dialogue, writing, reflection, introspection, creation, imagination, play, and study.

ABOUT ME

I grew up in rural Wisconsin and have since lived in a variety of places from the East Coast to Hawaii. My lifestyle is fairly simple, and I don’t need much to be comfortable. I haven’t eaten meat in the last decade, and it’s pretty uncommon to catch me drinking anything other than water. People often tell me I seemed quiet and reserved when they first met me. I have a degree in philosophy, but enjoy working with my hands as much as my mind. I also enjoy curious children, the outdoors, making music, and really getting to know people. I dream of writing science fiction novels, traveling beyond Earth, and creating a future for humanity that doesn't suck.

PHILOSOPHY

I think life is partly a series of decisions that can be thought of as votes for how one thinks the world should be. I try to cast my votes for increased consciousness, understanding, and empathy. I think a plurality of forms of human expression like art, science, and religion are valuable, and much can be learned from them. I think war, debt, anger, slavery, exploitation, over-consumption, ignorance, and individualism are interdependent phenomena which are unacceptable and beneath humanity. My position is that horizontal, collaborative, directly democratic ways of being in the world and building institutions provide us the desired and increasingly necessary alternative.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I don't see hospitality as a commodity.

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

After years of travel spent in hotels, upscale restaurants, and tourist traps, it occurred to me that more meaningful travel would include staying with locals, eating with locals, and doing things that locals do with locals. The fact that it took me so long to discover hospitality networks is proof enough to me of just how disconnected I had become from the society around me. I see hospitality networks as a remedy to this disconnection and hope to both host and surf as often as possible in order to build more authentic human connections back into my life and the lives of others.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My first CS experience made a profound impression on me. We had sent out a half-dozen last-minute requests for a place to stay after our plans had changed, and one woman responded almost immediately, graciously offering her hospitality for the night. Walking into her kitchen, I felt just as at home as I do at my own place. We cooked a delicious meal, had some good conversation, picked some raspberries, and learned more about CS. I couldn't believe how much in common I had with someone who had previously been a complete stranger.

Interests

philosophy, politics, history, art, reading, writing, thinking, Philosophy for Children (p4c), cooking, gardening, swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, tennis, racquetball, soccer, ultimate frisbee, contact improvisation, going barefoot, conversation, people, music making, role-playing games, documentaries, schools, and making things with my hands

• writing
• documentaries
• cooking
• vegetarian
• vegan
• walking
• electronics
• gardening
• politics
• reading
• dumpster diving
• hiking
• spelunking
• scuba diving
• snorkeling
• tennis
• racquetball
• swimming
• history
• philosophy
• mountains
• last minute travel
• contact improvisation
• roleplaying games
• barefoot

Music, Movies, and Books

Music:
I'm a recovering addict of all sorts of rock. I also enjoy Debussy, Chopin, Satie, Mozart, Gershwin, and John Williams, along with some swing, pop, electronic, and radical folk. My preference these days is mostly for music that has some real meaning to it. Since learning guitar a few years back some of my favorites are Neil Young, Jackson Browne, Tracy Chapman, James Taylor, Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, CCR, and David Rovics. And yes, if it's what you're into, I will still listen to the latest four-chord over-produced chart-topper with lyrics filled with maladaptive notions of love and relationships.

Films:
12 Angry Men, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Au revoir les enfants, Baraka, Blade Runner, Crash, Donnie Darko, Dr. Strangelove, Etre et Avoir, Gattaca, Harry Potter, I Heart Huckabees, Interstellar, Jesus Christ Superstar, La Bataille d'Alger, Le Ballon Rouge, My Dinner with Andre, the Qatsi trilogy, Rent, Solaris, Stalker, Star Wars, The Butterfly Effect, The Lion King, The Man from Earth, The Matrix, The Spirits Within, The Island, The Lord of the Rings, Time Expired, and With Honors

Books:
The Dune series and everything else by Frank Herbert, Stranger in a Strange Land and most everything else by Robert Heinlein, The Sparrow, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Lord of the Rings, Brave New World, Island, 1984 and most everything else by Orwell , The Dispossessed, The Foundation Series, Siddhartha, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Myst, short stories by H.P. Lovecraft, and Harry Potter.

Philosophers that I enjoy: Dewey, Pirsig, Lipman, Dussel, Nietzsche, Sartre, de Beauvoir, Heidegger, Foucault, Habermas, Hegel, Honneth, Wittgenstein, Rorty, Plato, Aristotle, Jesus, Chomsky, Einstein, Marx, and Zizek.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

After a long day of hiking and getting lost in some Greek mountains with my brother without food, any means of communication, or a flashlight, we decided to go caving with a dying camera flash.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach:
English, math, dumpstering, reading music, piano, drums, guitar, driving, swimming, and games.

Learn:
languages, games, musical instruments, technical climbing/mountaineering, history, non-Christian religions, shoe-making, electronics making/repair, and gardening.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bahamas, Cambodia, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Laos, Monaco, Myanmar, New Zealand, Panama, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, New Zealand, United States

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