I recently asked some trusted friends for feedback about my BI Network blog. If you knew my friends, you'd know how brave that was.

I'll spare you the praise. The criticism was frank: Lighten up. Seems that my blogs are consistently, well... consistent. I describe projects we're working on, cover issues execs are grappling with, relate our lessons learned, and make observations about the general information management Zeitgeist.

"You don't have to try to teach me something new in every blog," counseled one friend. "Why don't you share some personal anecdotes? Try being more news-y. Write about your dog. Or let us in on an existential struggle in your personal life."

I'm thinkin' you'd rather learn something new in every blog.

But I trust my buds to steer me in the right direction. So, here are some factoids that yours truly might as well share for those who haven't already read the bathroom wall:

1: Music: I have bad taste in music. More specifically, I have teenage-boy-comes-of-age-in-the-80s taste in music. I'll take Rainbow over Black Sabbath, and I was an Ozzie fan before reality TV was a gleam in Sharon's eye. I have seen The Scorpions live three times. Pity the unsuspecting passenger when the first few notes from any Def Leppard song ooze through my car speakers. (If it's "Photograph" may God have mercy on your soul.) Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is my favorite song. I have a lighter raised high in the air as we speak.

2: Movies: Anything Christopher Guest touches, with This is Spinal Tap being my fave. In a variation of that, I also liked the coming of age story that was Almost Famous. And anything Monty Python. You've gotta love Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but The Life of Brian is tragically underrated. (Favorite line: "It could be worse: It could be raining.")

3: Theater: Spamalot, of course. I saw The History Boys on Broadway last year and it shattered me. Not a big fan of musicals, but Les Mis kicks Phantom's ass.

4: Books: Anything by Milan Kundera, Reynolds Price, Martin Amis, Joan Didion, or Alice Munro. Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections blew me right off the couch. Classic indulgences include Marguerite Duras and the Bronte sisters, all of whom are spinning in their graves re: items 1-3, above. (Sorry, Charlotte!)

5: Jokes: The Salman Rushdie joke, followed by the insane asylum joke. Ask me next time you see me.

6: Leno or Letterman? Letterman. I am living proof that one can fight over the remote while half-asleep.

What else? Corporate goodwill matters to me. (Our two employee-selected charities this year are The MS Society and Casting for Recovery--Oregon Chapter.) I have a stainless steel rod in my right leg. I support and practice pet rescue. My mother had the longest brain tumor surgery in history. I've traveled a lot, from Bahrain to Bangkok, from Doha to Darwin. I speak fluent French, and lived abroad long enough to have a list of cherished neighborhood bistros in Paris (hint: lived in the 16th but rolled in the 4th). I'll save that list for another time. Perhaps for when the friends get restless.

Now--with heartfelt props to my mates--back to the data!