They say you can tell a lot about a person by their taste in all sorts of things, such as books, movies, people, cars, food, and music, to name but a few.

If that is the case, then I’ve often wondered what my tastes say about me.

You see, in almost all of the examples I list above, the things I enjoy share little in common.

When it comes to books, then I enjoy everything from thrillers and spy novels, to science fiction, autobiographies, books on my hobbies, computer reference manuals (which I often do read cover to cover!), humour, puzzles, foreign language, the classics, plays, weird stuff (e.g. The Dice Man and Catch 22), business-related books, self-development, esoteric / psychic materials, and much more too.

I clearly don’t enjoy everything in each of these categories – I do pick and choose.

The same goes for movies. I enjoy action movies, almost all of the James Bond films, comedy (e.g. the Carry On series, Bean, Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines), science fiction (e.g. Star Wars), war films, thrillers, horror, and even some musicals, which may surprise those who thought they knew me. And then there are some movies that hard to put in a single category, such as The Blues Brothers.

Unlike many people, I would rarely watch a movie because a certain actor is in it. I often prefer, in fact, to watch movies with relative unknowns, as I find that big-name actors can sometimes get in the way of my enjoyment. For example, I’m a huge fan of Tom Sharpe’s novels, and when they made a film from one of my favourites, Wilt, I found that casting Smith & Jones in the lead roles ruined it for me – they weren’t how I envisaged either of the characters they played at all.

Musically, my tastes are equally catholic, with classical organ music at one end (e.g. Widor’s Toccata), a lot of other classical music, to some punk rock at the other end. In between, there’s rock and roll (e.g. Eddie Cochran), rock (e.g. Status Quo), some blues (e.g. John Lee Hooker), some country, Abba, and a range of songs from many different bands and singers, but few that I would go crazy over.

As I write this and listen to whatever’s currently loaded onto my iPod Shuffle, this is firmly brought home to me when I hear track after track playing that are as different as chalk and cheese – from one style to another, totally at random, just the way I like it.

I guess the only styles I really can’t get into are opera and rap, but I’m willing to be proven wrong there too.

I could go on about food, people, cars, etc. but I think I’ve made my point.

So what does it all mean?

Do I even know who I really am? Does it indicate a wishy-washy character who can’t make his mind up? Or does it represent somebody who is free of the herd-following instincts that seem so prevalent in today’s society?

I’ve always been somewhat bemused by people who get besotted with particular actors, singers, etc., and can’t even begin to understand why, for example, real people send wedding presents to characters in TV soap operas who are getting married.

Then there are those who need treatment for depression when their favourite boy band splits up.

I’m not sure whether it’s because my life is rich already which is why I don’t need this sort of focus, or am I missing out on something?

I’ve always disliked the idea of being pigeon-holed / stereotyped, and the phrase “predictably unpredictable”, originally coined by the creator of Garfield, resonates strongly with me.

This has its downsides, of course.

For example, it probably makes it hard to get to know me well, although I’m not without some good friends.

On the other hand, maybe it makes it easier for me to get on with people?

What I do know is that, if you’re looking to find the real me, you’re probably better off not looking in my book and music collections!