A mother. A daughter. A topic.
First of all…I really had no idea what the term “guilty pleasure” was until Ally mentioned it awhile ago in a totally different context. I didn’t want her to think that I was out of touch or uncool…or… (God Forbid) OLD, so I didn’t ask and just nodded my head as if I was following everything she was saying.
And then it came up as a topic for She Thinks.
Rather than take a chance on writing an entire post based on my ASSUMPTION of what it meant… I called her to see if I was correct.
“It sounds dirty” I said. “You know…like porn.”
“No Mom, it’s not porn.” (You know the tone)
“Oh good, I thought that would be really embarrassing.”
And then…a pause.
“Well…it still might be.”
OY.
“A guilty pleasure” she went on to explain, “is something that you really like to do, but under normal circumstances (i.e. NOT writing about it in a blog for everyone to see) you would be kind of embarrassed and ashamed to tell anyone else about it.”
Another pause.
“And mom…that doesn’t mean it’s about sex!”
(we told everyone in last week’s post that we don’t talk to each other about sex)
”So for Gods’ sake…keep it clean!”
Great. My kid feels she has to tell me to keep it clean.
So I racked my brain trying to think of something that I really like to do but kind of feel ashamed for doing and have never shared with anyone else (and isn’t about sex).
Baking? No. That’s just something I suck at doing, even though I torture myself by trying to do it every once in awhile.
Cleaning my closets? No…that would fall under the category of Obsessive Compulsive Behavior…certainly not a guilty pleasure.
Oh wait…I think I have it.
I’m actually quite embarrassed to admit it, and it’s harder to admit than you might think…but…
I LOVE to watch “Gene Simmons and the Family Jewels.”
In the middle of the night when I can’t sleep.
OK…it’s not just in the middle of the night when I can’t sleep.
I DVR it. So I can watch it whenever I want.
Don’t ask me what I like about it. I never liked the band KISS or followed Gene Simmons before. But there’s something about the relationship of the family that makes me smile. And they make me laugh.
But now I’m really embarrassed and totally ashamed to have told anyone about it.
So I guess it is a true guilty pleasure. (And it wasn’t about sex…YES!)
I define “guilty pleasures” as those things that you don’t want to admit that you love. I think it should also be something that you’re not necessarily supposed to enjoy.
(And no, Mom, it’s not about sex.)
Like trashy TV. You’re not supposed to like it. You feel dirty just watching it. But ohmygod you can’t stop watching.
I have a few guilty pleasures.
The first is something that I’ve written about before: young adult fiction.
I love books that were written for girls a decade (or more) younger than me. I love vampires and wizards and demigods and crazy awesome books beyond description.
Some of the books I read are silly. Or just plain stupid. But I just can’t quit them.
I read other stuff, too, but the vast majority of my library is pretty humiliating.
(And may I just offer some advice to anyone else who reads embarrassing titles, whether it’s YA or trashy romance or what have you? Get an e-reader. That way, nobody can tell that you’re obsessively reading a book with a cover like this:)
(Seriously, it looks like a soft core porno with a dude who looks like Justin Bieber.)
Another guilty pleasure I have is for a certain ridiculous TV show that defies all logic.
Oh, what to say about Jersey Shore?
Oh. My. God. These people are like really, really disturbing cartoon characters. I don’t know why I like watching them make fools of themselves or why I love when they fight (actually, I’m pretty sure I love the fights because their accents get super thick when they start screaming at each other and it’s awesome).
I don’t know why I find them hilarious and even (dare I say?) endearing. It makes no sense – and it’s embarrassing – but what can I do?
The heart is a mysterious thing, and loves what it loves.
My last guilty pleasure (well, that I’m sharing right now), is Lady Gaga.
I think she’s amazing. I think she’s brilliant. I think she’s crazy and bizarre and a genius.
Actually, she’s so great, I don’t even count her as a “guilty pleasure”. A guilty pleasure should be something that you feel guilty about – not because it’s bad for you – but because you feel like you shouldn’t actually like it.
And I think everyone should like Gaga.
(Actually, everyone should like YA, too.)
(But I’ll admit that Jersey Shore isn’t for everyone.)
