Taking the “Guilt” out of Guilty Pleasures--A Guest Post

Inspired by the “It’s ALL McDonald’s” and “Why It’s NOT ALL McDonald’s.”  

Here’s my thing:  It IS ALL McDonald’s, but what’s so wrong with McDonald’s? Just like everything bad for you, MickeyD’s is something that you have to do in moderation. In his stand-up segment, Jim Gaffigan points out that McDonald’s is something that we eat with shame, but can’t give up because it’s just too good and so bad. People act all uppity about it, but the numbers don’t lie. But what’s so wrong with enjoying some delicious, fresh MickeyD’s fries?

Amber has confessed her guilty pleasures to us before. Why do we feel the need to hide our guilty pleasures away and only admit them to people when we’ve had a little too much libation or are confessing a deep, dark secret? Why not embrace other people’s guilty pleasures and remember that we all have some of our own. A lot of us feel the need to pretend we don’t like something when we secretly indulge in it when we are alone. Don’t feel ashamed of something you love, embrace it and enjoy it. Just know that sometimes you may have to defend it—or not, you could just tell people that you could care less what they think of your slight obsession and carry on. Personally, I find that when I’m upfront about things that I like, people will either keep being my friend or not.  If you decide that our differing opinion on something trivial is worth not being friends with an awesome person like me, well, you probably weren’t going to be a good friend anyway.  It’s as simple as that.  

So in honor of Amber’s amazing blog of Pop Culture that brings me a laugh almost daily and her bravery and honesty in said blog, I am confessing some Not So Guilty Pleasures of my own:

Weekend Fat – I mean come on, it’s a little Pop Culture, a little personal opinion (that I often agree with), a little hey, what do you think?  And I love it. I don’t think it’s bad to debate Miley’s hair cut or declare Team Angelina or Team Jennifer. What’s wrong with a little peek into the lives of people who’ve chosen the path of fame? They knew the consequences of putting themselves out there and hey, sometimes they do some crazy stuff.  

Twilight – OK, this is a little different than you think.  There’s backstory here: I worked for Books-A-Million and found myself constantly being asked “Is Twilight appropriate for my (insert number) age daughter/niece/etc.?”  I could only tell these mothers/aunts/etc. what I heard about the books. I was being asked so often, I decided that I wanted to form my own opinion. So I read them. All of them. Meh. I also saw the first movie with my very tolerant husband and I was horrifically fascinated. He declared that he would never watch another one and I was mildly curious. I saw the second one in theaters with some fellow BAM employees and declared I would never pay money to see another one in a theatre. But I wanted to see how they dealt with the rest of the books, so I have seen up to the latest installment (Thank you, RedBox). Don’t love it, in fact I pretty much detest them, but I can’t help but slate my curiosity.  

But then, there's this. Yes, I own one.

Leonardo DiCaprio – This is pretty self-explanatory. I used to be in L-U-V with Leo.  Romeo + Juliet solidified it for me. Titanic, phenomenal. Now that he’s all grown up and actually looks his age, I still admire him and appreciate his amazing acting skills. I enjoy watching him and remembering how I used to cut out pictures of him from Seventeen and collage them together to hang up in my closet. We were going to get married one day, you know. P.S. I did NOT see Titanic in 3D. All that water rushing at me in 3D?  My bladder barely made it at 14, it definitely wouldn’t make it now.  

Drew Barrymore – She has been brought up before on his blog. Lots of people don’t like her, but I’m declaring my love for Drew!  Everything she does—good, bad—love her. I like the way she talks out of the side of her mouth and the way she’s pulled herself out of a life of drugs to become a star. She’s adorable, funny, quirky, and dang it, I like her. Did you know she’s married and pregnant?

Aren't they adorable?

Katherine Heigl / Ashton Kutcher – These two are guaranteed to have my attention. I can’t help it. Their movies are mainstream or bad or good, it really doesn’t matter, and I love them. It’s this weird charisma thing that sucks me in and I can’t help but like their movies (that I’ve seen). Except this one Ashton did with Anne Heche, Spread—I don’t know, it was a little ew for me. Someone once told me that they thought Katherine Heigl seemed like a stuck-up so-and-so and lots of people dislike Ashton Kutcher…. Well, I’m not concerned with their personal lives; I’m talking about their movies. Not many other actors can get to me the way these two do. And if you put Heigl and Kutcher in a movie together—I’m done. Done.

Seriously. Done.

Call Me, Maybe? – Probably not after this blog…. So this song has popped up everywhere.  There are endless amounts of videos. My top three picks: U.S. Olympic Swim Team, Marines, and Cookie Monster in no particular order. I’ve heard it a million times and I still love it. Also, I thought it was stupid when I first heard it. Like call me “Maybe,” ok, “Maybe” you’re weird. Now, it’s grown on me. I know all the words, I’ve watched lots of videos, and my husband is a very, very patient man.  

America’s Next Top Model – OK, this one may not seem like a big deal, but here’s the thing; I don’t watch much reality TV. No American Idol, no Amazing Race, no Big Brother, I didn’t even watch Real World or whatever (is that still on?). I watch Project Runway, Face Off, that kind of stuff. The most mainstream I get is The Voice because a) it doesn’t feel like it’s gotten out of hand like other shows b) I LOVE Blake Shelton c) they seem more genuine and they aren’t straight up mean to people. So with my “clean” lineup of reality, why do I watch the “smutty” ANTM?  Because of the pictures. I can take or leave the drama between the girls or whatever rant Tyra decides to go on. I just want to look at the photo shoot and the pictures that come out of them. Some of the stuff they do is so creative, so I guess the artist in me is intrigued. By that time, I have to know who they’re kicking off. Also, I’ve got eyes and Eyes down. ANTM fans, you know what I’m talking about.

So what are your Not So Guilty Pleasures?  

Declare them loud and proud!  It’s ALL McDonald’s, but who doesn’t enjoy a quick stop under the golden arches?

(Vicky is a big fan of Weekend Fat and decided that she had something to say.  Maybe McDonald’s just gets her fired up.  She can relate to “l’esprit de l’escalier”).

A Celebration of Guilty Pleasures a.k.a Confession Time

I missed blogging on Monday. I'd love to say it's because of some fabulous event that swept me up and took my time and attention away from writing, but it wasn't. It was just guilty pleasures. With all the Magic Mike hype, guilty pleasures have been on my brain lately.

Vanessa has never looked like that ever.

I haven't hidden the fact that I watched the entire series of Gossip Girl recently. I can admit it was redundant. I wanted the characters to depart a little from their totally predictable natures. I also wanted the dramedy of erros to stop. If they just let each other finish a sentence, then half of the problems would be quickly resolved. But they are just so fun to look at! Gossip Girl and many other shows fall (for me) into the guilty pleasure category. They really don't add a ton of value or knowledge to my life, nor do they deepen my character. If anything, they feed something very superficial and...fun...in me. It's summer...it's hot...who wants to think!? In the name of true confession, here is where I've been instead of blogging.

Can we crop the "kid" out of this picture?

Last week I watched Cougar Town. I even ordered some legit wine (not Moscato, which according to my friend Joni, should be my most embarrassing guilty pleasure) so that I COULD watch Cougar Town. Seems like a pre-requisite. It struck me more as a suburban Sex and the City. You think it's gonna be about the romantic relationships but it's really more about the friendships. After the first few episodes, the title becomes very misleading, it's not at all about cougars (of any kind). It's slapstick but kind of hip in a really aware of itself being dorky way. For example, they have these moments where everyone says something in unison. Now, I have a lot of friends, and a lof of different groups of friends, and I can't remember the last time we chimed in with some kind of impromptu unison chant. Totally too fabricated, and yet, I like it! The only thing that I hate about it is the mother/son relationship. It's so inappropriate and borderline gross. In fact, I kind of just hate the son altogether. His a man-child with his pale pasty skin and weird attempt at facial hair, and oily hair, no way can I begin to believe that he came out of Courtney Cox.

They should have named them all after cheeses. 

The natural follow-up to Cougar Town, is of course, Desperate Housewives. I have just started it from the beginning. I can't really speak about the show yet, it's too soon. But I've heard that it has some rough and ridiculous patches. I will give you my verdict in a few weeks.

Learning is Funtastic!

Other recent dips into the pool of guilty pleasures have been, GCB. I talked about this one a while back. It hit ridiculousness too early and ended up being cancelled. I also watched Bad Teacher again yesterday. I pretty much just love Ms. Squirrel and want to watch more movies with her. But it only made me hate Cameron Diaz more. The internet here in China is full of guilty pleasure movies. I even re-watched The Hangover last week. I'll admit, I laughed out loud a few times. 


I've never been a huge Jersey Shore fan, but I do enjoy some Real Housewives. New Jersey is of course my favorite, but I like OC as well. I know, I know...total trash.

I should probably let this be a July thing and try to move on to more sophisticated entertainment in August to get my brain back in shape for school. But for now, it's just so fun!

Your turn for Confession Time!!! 

What's your favorite Guilty Pleasure? 

What are you watching this summer?