COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE I've hosted and stayed with many awesome people on CS. A special shout-out goes to Sole in Madrid, my very first CS host, to Steffen from Germany, my very first CS guest, and to Michael Dorsher, the only couchsurfer who stayed with us even though he had already paid for a hotel. I will admit that in recent years, I've been less impressed with Couchsurfing, as it seems to attract a lot of people who just want to get something for nothing. I usually do Airbnb now, but occasionally the odd couch still calls to me...

Movies: The Big Lebowski, Office Space, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Rushmore, Star Wars (Episodes 4-7). T.V.: The Office (British version), Peep Show, South Park. Authors: Jonathan Franzen, A.S. Byatt, Stieg Larsson, Gillian Flynn, Milan Kundera, Michael Ondaatje Music: Flight of the Conchords, Weird Al, Richard Cheese (those are all comedians), bluegrass, New Orleans jazz, Alice in Chains (with Layne Staley, not the new guy).