10 Guilty Pleasures

We all have our secret indulgences that fill us with joy and shame in equal measure.

Here are 10 of mine:

My musical tastes are diverse. I like anything from pop to classical to New Age. Yes, that's right, New Age! There I said it. I am definitely a fan of Enya and Yanni, apparently the musical equivalent of a long elevator ride. People just don't understand. I love Barbara Striesand, Ennio Morricone, oh - and I adore Barry Manilow, (something I definitely keep to myself). I have endured much ridicule over my musical inclinations, and while I delight in this undercover pleasure (alone in my car) with the volume pumped, I still turn down the volume as I approach each stop light.

Donuts. What's not to like about donuts? If it magically turned out that donuts were good for you .. I'd pull up a chair at my local Tim Hortons daily for dinner.

Trashy novels - I mean real 'rot your brain' trash. Guaranteed you'll hide the covers of these books while reading in public. Novels where the nasty, secondary characters outshine the hero.
I'll cough up that I've actually read a Jackie Collins novel or two.

Celebrity gossip. I can't help myself. I read it wherever I can. Standing in line at the grocery store, why pick a short line when you can line up behind the woman shopping for a small army and relax with a few tabloids? Who really doesn't want to know who's boobs are fake, who never showers, or who has injected what into where?

People Watching. Ok this one is ridiculously gratifying for me. It can be done very discreetly and just about anywhere. It's no secret among my friends that I generally find people very perplexing. People really do the most peculiar things when they think no one's watching. Stop lights are great for this. Aside from the familiar nose pickers and flickers you can spot make up appliers, shavers, plucker's and singers. Although I must divulge the absolute best place to people watch is in a shopping mall. Truly the most fun you'll have on a rainy day.

Online Games. An absolute sinful waste of time, but oh so addicting. Crosswords, Mah Jong, trivia, logic puzzles and my favorites.. "Escape the room"games. Oh, the hours I'll never get back with those ones!

Reading books for hours at Indigo or Chapters and never buying anything.
Does anyone else feel guilty about this? Coffee in hand, I can curl up on a chair at Chapters, read till I'm dizzy and an hour or two later walk out with nothing. How are these people still in business? As enthralled as I am in my reading, I often find myself wondering that very thing just sitting there.

Sushi. I kid myself here believing that Sushi is the healthy alternative for dinner. I dispense the hard sell to anyone who will have dinner with me... "Well it's not fried, you can eat as much as you want!" I don't think they're buyin' it, and frankly neither do I. But it makes me feel better.

Baked Brie. What can I say here, other than order your baked brie with a side order of angioplasty. I hate that I love baked brie. I hate it even more that it's a hundred times better with puff pastry around it. (wince)

Hot Dogs. Love 'em. Love 'em even more when bought off a cart. Simple, yet satisfying. Brings back wonderful childhood memories. A food that never goes out of style. Do I tell people I like them? Of course not.
**I just looked up hot dogs. " Hot Dog's - usually made from mechanically recovered meat or meat slurry."
(I may have just cured myself of this pleasure)

Oh don't judge me... you know you hide that can of Spam in the bottom of your shopping cart.