Taste is something beautiful, incandescent, ungraspable, indefinable. I don't know what shapes it, so I can only spend a few words on specific aspects of its shape that make my heart throb pleasantly.

I really like dogs. I like 'em with some character, not too big, but definitely not too wimpy. I've got something against poodles and Yorkshire terriers.

In the summer of 2003 we bought two ferrets, Isis (left) and Zeeba (right). These critters couple the 'convenience' of cats with various characteristics of cats, dogs and monkeys. Until a few years ago I thought rats were cool, but ferrets really are cool! Alas, baby fingers are not compatible with ferrets, so we have had to put the beasts up for adoption.

I like reading. There's not a lot by Stephen King that I haven't read, and similarly John Irving. Other favourite authors of mine include Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Tolkien, Guy Gavriel Kay, Stephen Donaldson and old Hickman-and-Weiss writings. I have recently discovered Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series, which is really well done and impressive. Good stuff. I consider Tad Williams' "Otherworld" series the best I've read in the past 10 years.

For some mysterious reason I really like Commodore 64 Music. Perhaps my music ripping past has installed in me a fondness for the SID sound chip compositions of masters such as Rob Hubbard, Martin Galway and Ben Daglish. The existence of "SIDPlay for Windows" is to me a gift from the gods.