t n. while we're on our john cusack kick. in high fidelity, the main character, rob, is prone to making top five lists of things. mainly things like "top five songs for a monday morning" but stretching all the way out to "top five worst breakups." while this quirk is interesting and endearing to me, i'm not here to talk about it. in the movie, rob also states that: it's not what you're like, it's what you like. this meaning that it is more revealing to know what a person likes as opposed to what the person is actually like.



i, on some superficial and not so superficial levels, agree wholeheartedly with this statement. i am a man/boy/child shaped by my interests. my movies, my books, my hobbies, my whatevers. i have a strong personal connection to what i like. this isn't even about passions, it's just things that i like. i think that people like things for two reasons. one, they can appreciate the object (using object very generally here) on some level, be it emotional intellectual or personal. two, the more common reason i think, is that they can relate themselves to the things that they like. people see a piece of themselves in the things that they like. additionally, people could like things just for the cachet it gives them, or for the meaning provided by having certain likes.



example. say i like puma the brand and more specifically, puma the shoes. i could like it on a few different levels. i might admire the artistry of flimsy overpriced shoes. i might like the way the design of the shoe conforms to and initiates my outfit. i might like the logo of a bold puma jumping fearlessly across a ravine, or possibly jumping towards a meal, depending on how you see it. i could also like puma because it says something about me. or rather, i might want it to say something about me. puma is currently seen as a sort of retro cool (i could be off on this perception, it's been awhile) and so people buy puma because it's retro cool, or at least imparts a retro cool. in this way, i could say that i like puma shoes. i might also like puma because it reminds me of thundercats, so that could be another option i guess, liking something because it reminds you of something else.



anyway, the point is, the things that we like, really can define us. this is terribly shallow and close minded of me but if i find out that someone likes all the same things i like, i immediately assume that we'd get along. if they happen to appreciate the things that i appreciate for the same reasons, well then, there's a friend to hang onto. this works with strangers as well. if i'm cruising friendster (which is rare since friendster is about to have a terrible, yet economically wildly successful death) i look at what people list as favorite movies, books, hobbies, and make assumptions about whether or not i would or would not get along with this particular person. so pretty much based on an assortment of "like" facts about a person, i make major decisions about whether they seem interesting or not.



don't give me some high brow shit about "but people with different interests are people too!" no. people with different interests are boring. just kidding. different interests are cool, variety is the spice of life after all. however, there is this connection you can establish with people, based upon common interests. actually, some friendships i have are purely dependent on one common interest. i could give a line about "but then it grows from that one interest and then we really get to be friends and blah blah." but you don't want to hear it.



there are certain things that i feel like are "me." if someone asked, "what could i do to know more about you?" i could say, "go read this book, go watch this movie, go listen to the lyrics of this song, go dance to this." and then i would feel like i gave them an adequate description of myself. is this a bit sorry? perhaps. but i'm willing to concede that my life, my ideas, have been lived out by other people and that they've expressed it in mass media form. and sometimes it's hard to explain to people what you feel like, it's easier when you can just point to a movie or a book or a song and go, "this is what i feel." and that to me, is the power of interests.



it also helps to guide you in the making of random acquaintances and friends i suppose. i could go on with this topic for awhile, but i'll save the tangents for later.