At one point or another, I’m sure every person that blogs gets the good old writer’s block. I do all the time. I mean I could write about the most random stuff in the world, but I’m not sure the world is ready for that yet. So I read a post on Chris Brogan’s site called “100 Blog Topics I Hope YOU Write”, and this is one of them. And just so you know, I wrote down 1-10 and stared at it for a few minutes and thought, how will I ever think of 10!?!? Well, let’s just say my mind wouldn’t stop rolling after I wrote a couple. Anyways, here’s 10 of my guilty pleasures. Enjoy…
1. Reality Shows – Intervention, The Hills, The Bachelor, The Real World, The Apprentice, True Life, Miami Ink… I could go on all day. I almost disregard what the show is about and just like the fact that I’m seeing what these people are like on a daily basis and how their lives are. Maybe I should start a blog called “My Top 10 Reality Shows”. But I don’t have cable at home, mainly because I don’t want to pay for it, but it also keeps me off the couch for hours and hours at a time. Netflix is my new version of cable. We’ll talk about that another day. Back on topic, I could watch any reality show, any time, any day.
2. Taking Super Long Showers – Ok, I’m guilty: I do not take a shower every single day. Call me gross, call me disgusting, call me dirty, call me whatever you want. That fact is, I sit at a desk all day at work. If I was sweating all day, ya, I’d take a shower every day. I try to take one after every workout session at the gym, but sometimes when I get home, I instantly pass out on the couch, then wake up rushing around the house getting ready for work with no time. Anyways, when I do take showers, I could probably be done in 5-10 minutes. But no, I end up just standing under boiling hot water for another 10-15 minutes. Very wasteful? Yes. Great way to clear your mind and relax? Hell yes.
3. Fast Food – Since my senior year in high school, I have always been working 20-30 hours a week. And that was really when I started becoming a fast food junkie. And at just about every job I’ve had, I couldn’t wait for the lunch bell to ring and I could get in my car and escape the prison I called my office. But to get even worse, sometimes I’d have McD’s for breakfast, Chipotle for lunch, Wendy’s for dinner, and then some late night Waffle House. Does that make me more of an American? I think so! Just kidding, but really, anyone on that plan is heading toward an early grave. For the last 4-6 months, I have been eating way healthier and not eating out a lot. Well, my guilty fast food pleasures get the best of me sometimes. Mainly El Caz (local Mexican joint), Domino’s Pizza, Chipotle, and Skyline Chili. Of course I could eat just about any fast food restaurant, but those are the common, usually having a serving from at least one of those places weekly. I’m doing my best to stay away as much as I can, but man it’s hard!
4. Listening to Girly Pop Music – There is a wide range of music that I love (but definitely not country music, sorry). Mainly rock/hair metal and rap/hip hop. But I’m also a fan of people like Rihanna, Katy Perry, Paramore, etc… Of course these women are easy on the eyes, but I just enjoy listening to most of their music. Not that I get around a big group of guys and throw on “Please Don’t Stop the Music”, but I’ll rock out to these songs at home or in my car. They have great voices, most of the songs have a good beat, and I guess they are just easy to listen to. I will say you will never catch me at a bar requesting to sing anything like this during a karaoke night.
5. Black & Milds – Let me start off by saying I can’t stand smoking. Smoking has got to be the most disgusting thing in this world. I hate when people are smoking around me or I end up in a smoking environment. And when I say Black and Milds are one of my guilty pleasures, I really just mean the scent of them. Seriously, I think they smell amazing. I don’t know what that scent is, but Yankee Candle should take some notes! I also like the smell of old school pipe tobacco. But don’t think you’ll find me in the club puffin on any form of tobacco. No thanks. Although, if you find the cologne, I’ll allow you to spray me with it.
6. The Apple iPhone – Is this a guilty pleasure? I don’t know, but let’s just say I’m on it a good majority of every day. And unfortunately, I’m known to be seen texting while driving. I know it’s unsafe, and maybe one day I’ll learn, hopefully not the hard way. I wake up from my iPhone alarm (alarms actually, I’m a snooze-aholic, sorry Sammy). I listen to music sometimes while I’m getting ready through my nightstand iPhone dock/speakers. I plug it in to my car stereo (coming very soon) for music when driving to/from work. I listen to my iPod/Pandora all day at work to make the time pass faster. Throughout the work day and during my lunch break, I’m reading the news, playing games, starting blogs, etc… I do my banking through my phone, I buy stuff off eBay from my phone, I browse/post on forums from my phone, I update my social media networks all day, and really, I don’t know what my phone can’t do. Has the iPhone taken over my life? No, but it keeps me entertained, in the know, aware of what’s going on in the world, and keeps me connected to everything that my computer would do except it allows me to do that on the go.
7. Lifetime Movies – Again, I don’t have cable, but when I did or I go to someone’s house and I have the steering wheel called the remote, I usually see what’s on. There is always a good movie on there, and just reading the one sentence description, it pulls me right in. Something like “Woman meets a man who is the perfect guy but turns out to be a serial killer. How will she survive?”, man that has me on the edge of my seat. I’m glad I don’t have DVR!
8. Driving On Empty – Why do I do it? I have no idea. Almost every single time I get gas, the light is on. Maybe most people do this, but how many of those people actually run out of gas on side of the road somewhere? How many of those people own several 1-gallon gas cans? How many of those people have had random friends and family have to come help them when they were stranded? Yes, that’s me exactly. I really have no idea why I do it. “Oh, I can make it til the next stop.” “I can usually drive another 50 miles once the light comes on.” I say these things to myself all the time. Maybe one day I’ll learn.
9. Gambling – Looking back, I’d actually say it was more of an addiction rather than a guilty pleasure. Gambling away money that I didn’t have. Canceling exciting plans to sit at a card table for eight hours. Taking a trip to Vegas to have fun with a bunch of friends, losing everything, then being pissed the whole vacation. Pretty sad, I know. But I’ve got to the point where I value the importance of a dollar more than I used to. Call me a cheapskate now, or tight with my money, but I am still trying to pay off my credit card debt, and I can guarantee you some of it has to do with gambling. My gambling drug of choice has always been poker, laced with a little bit of roulette. I rarely play anymore, but when I do, I get so caught up in it. It’s a rush. But I feel bad every time I get involved, so that’s why I consider it a guilty pleasure.
10. Fruit-Flavored Alcohol Drinks – I am a beer drinker. I always have been and probably always will be. Moderation is the key. I would not say I’m an alcoholic by any means. Maybe I used to be back in the day, but I think I’ve learned that blacking out every time you drink is not fun, nor is it safe. The main reason is I’d drink too fast and too much, and then mixing in liquor just ruined all the fun. So these days, I take it pretty easy. But one thing I will always love is a good, fruit-flavored, frozen margarita (with a rim of sugar). I do seem like our roles are reversed when my girlfriend and I go out to a restaurant and she gets a huge beer and I get a margarita. I’m sure I get stares. But ya, I could drink anything fruity like that. Maybe it’s the idea of not tasting the strong alcohol, or maybe it’s just because I love all sorts of fruit-flavored stuff. I’m not big on spending more on the alcohol part of the bill at a restaurant, and I rarely go to bars these days, but I’m a big fan of fruity mixed drinks. Although the cheapskate part of me ends up ordering a pitcher of beer and splitting it with a friend or two. And the new big things to do are drink a Four or Joose, which usually help black me out, so I stay away from those (but they do taste good!) and Bros Icing Bros. Maybe it’s humiliating to be down on one knee in front of a big group downing a Smirnoff Ice, but I must say, they aren’t the most terrible tasting things in the world.
I told you this was a small novel. I hope I didn’t embarrassed myself too much. Maybe you already knew all these things about me… Wait, are you stalking me?? I think everyone needs a couple guilty pleasures in there life, it makes us human and keeps life interesting. So leave me a comment below and tell me one of yours. Thanks for reading!