When I fired up the old laptop today I was a little ashamed to notice that when it came to brainstorming a topic for today's discussion, I was coming up empty, and since I never like to complain about a slow news day, I was fresh out of good excuses for my lack of creativity. But luckily for me, it never takes long for my mind to wander, and as my eyes traveled to the bulging bookcase in the corner of the room that is my 'entertainment center' I wondered, if someone who didn't know me were to walk into my place right now and head straight for that shelf, what kind of person would they think I was?

Our pop culture tastes say a lot about us. If you don't believe me, take a look at dating profiles or a social networking page, and the one question they always ask is: what are your favorite films, books, or bands? Our tastes act as a 'shorthand' to explain how we like to see ourselves and how we want the world to see us. But we all know there is the image and then there is the reality, because hey, nobody wants to be 'on' 24hrs a day..OK, maybe Lady Gaga. But us regular folk don't, and when it's all said and done: we like what we like, and when it's just us and the DVD player, we all have our dirty little secrets.

After the jump; a little arm-chair psychology and what I think my shelves say about me...
Now if you noticed the photo at the top of the post, (by the picture quality if nothing else), that is a slice of my honest to goodness personal collection. Obviously it isn't the whole kit and caboodle, but it's a sample, and after a little navel-gazing here's what I've come up with: My tastes are all over the place (I've got classic dramas, sci-fi, gangster films, screwball comedies, superheroes, period pieces, and documentaries a-plenty ) and any movie can catch my fancy. Thanks to the world of discount DVDs, I'm willing to give anything a chance, and sure, sometimes the results are disastrous, but I least I gave it a try.

Now that's the good news, but the bad news is, I'm also kind of a dork, and some of the lows in my collection range from embarrassing (Muppets from Space and Spring Breakdown) to the downright inexplicable (Babylon A.D. and Underworld: The Rise of The Lycans). As it turns out when it comes to my inner movie-nerd, I've got no shame. But on the upside, I guess it means at least I'm proud to wave my geek flag high.

But enough about me. Now I'm going to ask you to engage in a little self-reflection: take a long hard look at your shelves and tell me what your DVD collection says about you.