kubok

Maybe 'Wies' was short for 'Louise'?

I once carved a tangerine with my then two year old son.

Your carved zucchini look pleasantly goofy. :-)

A very old-fashioned Flemish name: Veerle. One of the few bad-ass girl names in the Dutch language. It is derived from medieval times, when 'Veerlen' were travelling warrior women. I do happen to know several men named Fons, some even younger than me. I even know a man named Wies (his full name is Aloysius).

I find it inconceivable that no one has mentioned 'The Princess Bride' yet.

If you cannot chew with your mouth closed and you are older than 6 years, you should not be allowed to vote, operate heavy machinery or have children.

No, you don't have a "challenge" for me. You have a problem and are trying to make it mine.

Bring in the downvotes, but Spotify. I listen to music several hours a day, both old and new and it helps me discover lots of new music and even genres. For me personally, that's worth the money.

Always English. I live in a country where developers are hard to find. Chances are that I will get colleagues who do not speak my native language (yet).

Amon Tobin - Easy Mufffin

I am not sure about 'ever' (I am old and have been reading for over 4 decades now), but a book I hate-read recently was Foucault's pendulum by Umberto Eco. It is meant to be a satire on conspiracy theories and as such it is still a relevant book after 35 years or so. However, the point of satire is to get to the point eventually, preferably within 500 pages. It was pompously written and sometimes felt like a showcase of 'look how much I know!'.

As much as I loved many of Stephensen's books, I could not get into Anathem.

I recently hate-read Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. I had started reading it twice and stopped after a few chapters. I am aware that the book is meant to be satire, but the point of satire is to be to the point instead of having to slog through 600+ pages of drivel.