Guilty Pleasures

You all have them. C'mon. Admit it. Most people in my life think I'm pretty serious. Maybe even a little too serious sometimes. But I, too, have some guilty pleasures that are anything but serious. My pleasures...

I love Us Weekly magazine. I tried desperately this holiday to try to get my husband to buy me a subscription. I even had a whole budget-friendly campaign, pointing out to him that I was even willing to accept the lesser substitute of OK Weekly. Nothing doing. And my "hints" were like a Mack truck plowing into a Smart Car. So I continue to buy intermittent copies or rely on my wonderful friend who provides the occasional hand-me-down copy.

Solitaire on my iPod Nano is like a drug. Truly better than any psychotropic I could even consider taking. And it's like gambling because you play it for fake money!! So close to being in Vegas (but not quite). So, at first, it was the lure of building the bank that was the carrot. Now, after achieving 26,000 "dollars" it is more about the crazy challenge of seeing those cards flip into place. It soothes me. I can sit in the middle of a family tornado, the Princess Tea Party DVD playing for the millionth time, and I might as well be on a mini spa break. ahhhh... And my husband brought this probably never thinking I would develop an addiction. Again, a tribute to his go-with-the-flowiness.

The Bachelor has started again. I am not a reality TV person. I have never cleaved onto the American Idol phenomena. I think most situations depicted on reality TV are just painful to watch (Beauty and the Geek excepted which has a wonderful redemption theme). However, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette hook me every time. At first, I am mystified by the premise- what type of person would engage it that kind of competition? Then I get sucked in every single time. And, ultimately, I care about these people! I get vicarious satisfaction out of the fact that Mary and Byron are still together; I know exactly why Deanna and Jesse didn't make it. Jason is back and looking as good as ever. ABC. Monday night. 8-10:00 p.m.

Ultimately, these are all escapes from my usual life and responsibilities (more on that in a later post) which can be both the best of everything and a bit tedious. They allow me to suspend reality for a while. And, after all, don't we all need that? What's your guilty pleasure?