VCRs were considered hi-tech when I got married way back in the ‘80s so, needless to say, I’ve never seen any of the computer dating sites – but I have friends who belong to several. And it sounds as if meeting romantically online is now as common and accepted as meeting your forever in a bar.

For me, as a former Anthropology major and currently a fiction writer, I find all social e-networking more than just fascinating… it’s positively revolutionary. The way we used to communicate and relate (report, inform, read, speak) is forever altered. So I eat this stuff up.

Recently, I was dining with others at a Mexican Restaurant in a popular ski town where lots of under 30’s spend their weekends.  On the table someone had left behind a newspaper insert full of Mt. Washington Valley slope and snow information. But there in the middle of the ski reports was a column titled, “Romance: The Music-Movie Personality for Online Dating.”

In the article the young writer, Alec Kerr, explains his strategy for finding the best date online and feels it would work for everyone. “I check where the person’s taste in movie and music lies. This may sound superficial, but then again this whole process is a bit on the shallow side. You can learn a lot about a person based upon what [movies and music] they like, probably far more than any introductory paragraph they may write.”

So we had to go around the table and test out Kerr’s theory.  What does a person’s taste in music and movies say about them?  After all, everyone is familiar with music and movies, even if one loathes either cultural art form – that in itself says a lot about you.

But I, of course, had to complicate the analysis and question if you really could generalize in that way. For instance, if you’re talking about a movie that withstands the test of time, I would have to pick either Midnight Cowboy or North by Northwest.  For music, nostalgically, Crosby Stills & Nash still makes my heart skip a beat. However, the last movie that riveted me to my seat (The Reader) may not appeal to me next year, so how can I really list that as a favorite? And same for music – I drop everything when I hear Jason Mraz or John Legend, but lately I’m addicted to the new Dave Matthews album – a band I’ve never been a huge fan of previously (sorry LGag). However I never ever tire of Mozart or Mingus…

I stopped myself and glanced around the table. And there they were – expressions of pity.  Because clearly my rambling explanation had completely proved Kerr’s theory, that you can sum up someone’s personality with the music/movie test. And my online profile would have scared the heck out of anybody, especially my go-with-flow husband… who evidently didn’t know what he was getting into when he plugged in our state-of-the-art VCR J

So what do your favorites say about you??