Guilty Pleasures

Yesterday, Lara over at Literally Speaking ran off to go see Neil Diamond in the big city. Lucky girl. I could tell for her The ol' Jazz Singer was a guilty pleasure. Why I don't know, Neil is fabulous! Gypsy was also owning up to a few of her own yesterday, so it must be in the air. Either that or summer is just a time for a bit of indulgence.

Everyone has got them (guilty pleasures, not Neil Diamond tickets), those little habits or tastes you indulge in with a secret delight that feels like you're getting away with something illicit. These quirky rituals are for you alone, and you don't care how juvenile, tacky, or bad for you they are, you just don't particularly want to have to explain yourself to too many people. Some like to soak in a hot tub and pick their nose, other's like to buy a tub of cool whip and systematically devour it with a spoon. Who doesn't?

Guilty pleasures? Oh yes, I have a more than my fair share, so I thought I'd fess up to a few of them now. I feel so nekkid all of a sudden.

Evanessence - I love this band,the lead singer is just gorgeous, and wonderfully goth in a Grimm's fairytale kind of way. I swear if they had been around when I was in high school I could have avoided the entire Stevie Nicks obsession(but that's a post for a different day). Not to mention I love the lyrics, and her voice is absolutely blow you away phenomenal. I like to crank it up, and sing into my hairbrush. All the while imagining some random man who done me wrong. "Yeah, I'm talking to you, buddy."

Kraft Mac and Cheese - the yellow dye#487 variety. I'm not even sure it can really even be considered "food", but oh my happy ass, how I love it. I don't eat it very often, because of the afore mentioned happy rear end, but when I do, I like to add insult to injury (because I never do these things half way), and eat my Mac and Cheese with the other quintessential non-food food. The hot dog. Don't judge me.

Chick Lit - I've also heard it refered to as Little Black Dress lit, or Red Dress Lit. It's light, fluffy, and reads like a Sex in the City episode, but I love to curl up with a good trash novel every once in a while. Okay, more than every once in a while, but who's counting?

Romantic Comedies. - They're right up there with Chick Lit, but I love to fall into a Sandra Bullock, Debra Messing, Kate Winslet, girlie, this never happens to anyone, romantic comedy. Of course there has to be a certain amount of eye candy in the guise of a leading man (ANYTHING with James McAvoy.. ohh my, he is tasty.), a funny but quirky best friend, a good cry somewhere in the middle, and happily ever afters all the way around. It's total brain rot, but I just don't give a rat's butt.

Bed Days - Not for the faint of heart. It takes a professional slacker to pull one of these puppies off, and it should be noted they are best attempted after a night of heavy, but not overly excessive drinking. On this day, the sacred "bed day", one sleeps until it is no longer humanly possible to keep one's eyes closed. Once fully awake, shuffle into the kitchen to make coffee, and at that point decide; bed, or couch? Once this crucial, but totally personal decision has been made you hunker down. No need to get out of those pj's, oh no, we're going for maximum comfort here. The rest of the day is spent reading, watching bad movies, and ordering take out. If you've planned ahead and have a well rounded supply of comestibles, then you can avoid the awkward moment when you have to greet the pizza dude in your pj's at 4 in the afternoon. There's an art to making a good bed day, there are no rules, you can even throw in a late afternoon bubble bath if you're feeling ambitious. The possibilities are endless.

So now that I've shared a few of mine, it's your turn. What are some of your guilty pleasures. Come on now, you know you want to spill.


Many thanks to the Tapdancer for pointing out an obviously sleep deprived mistake of calling my one true celebrity crush John instead of James. What the hell was I thinking? Obviously I wasn't, but I still like him better than you!

I Got the Music in Me

Music has always been present in my life. My first memories are of the student housing where I spent my first 5 years as my father completed his PhD filled with music by The Beatles, Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, The Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan. There were always people around with guitars or small hand held drums (it was the 60's after all).

Once,my parents went to a production of Jesus Christ Superstar in Boston, and brought back the soundtrack. Much to the bemusement of my mother, I appropriated that album and played it. To death. I knew every word. And would sing it,loudly,in various public places. Little did my 5 year old self realize "The King of the Juice" was not who they were singing about. Go figure, the son of God was not the Hey Kool-aid guy.

High school in the early 80's in a rural Virginia county was a dark time for the musically adventurous(it wasn't even a town,just a county with a lot of 4 wheel drive trucks). If I had to hear Hungry Like the Wolf one more time, and watch my friends dye their bangs blond and don headbands for one more minute I was going to scream. So I held my breath until college. Thank god for college radio! The promised land, and not a head band for miles. There I was introduced to music I had never heard before- Kate Bush, The Talking Heads, REM, Siouxie and the Banshees, and The Cure.

Where is this digression leading? Where else, to my iPod. I was setting up some play lists to get my ass moving when I visit my own personal level of hell I like to call The Gym. And Satan's implement of torture du jour? The elliptical cross trainer. Sounds kind of poetic doesn't it? Well it's not - it's 30 minutes of butt burning, calf cramping, oh my god is that my lung collapsing fun. I need my tunes to distract me from the encroaching coronary and the Access Hollywood crap they show on giant screened TVs. Seriously, do you really need to see a life size David Hasselhoff barfing a cheeseburger 27 times in 15 minutes? In slow motion? I think not,but again, I digress.

Where was I? Oh yes,music. Music is inspiration, whether it be to move, laugh, cry,create or love(ahem Marvin Gaye), it inspires. So,if you're still reading, Id love to hear what you listen to for inspiration. What music moves you?