10 Guilty Pleasures

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Paul, which roaster do you use?

Matt

He uses a Kenny Rogers Roaster

Its an iRoast2 -- until I can pony up and get a Ambex YM-2 and become a real, regional roaster to the stars!

That list minus Mahjong Solitaire.

I share most of your pleasures, but I hardly feel guilty about them. Nope, don't feel guilty at all. As a matter of fact, I think I'll have some scotch right now.

Here are a few that are a bit more guilty for me:

1. Anime. You either get this or you don't.

2. Ice cream.

3. Solitude.

4. Cigarettes. A rare indulgence, and almost always with beer, but something I treasure.

5. Science Fiction. See "Anime."

6. Music. It's only guilty because of the way I listen to it. Sometimes I've got to sit down in the dark for a few hours and play song after song, doing nothing else but listening, basking in the aural bliss of planar/ribbon magic.

7. Pizza.

My list is short. Guess I'm brazen.

1. Smoking - Of all kinds. I enjoy cigars almost daily in the summer and I have a weakness for American Spirit Perique Tobacco Blend. I have to stop cold turkey. You may be able to get away with smoking. You may be able to get away with being fat. However, one does not get away with both.

2. Broasted potatoes

3. Faygo Rock & Rye Soda

4. Sex with strangers

5. Chocolate Donettes - I pop those like PacMan pooping power pellets

6. Sports talk radio - I'm such a Philistine

7. Bit torrent

8. Notebooks/Pads - I have mass quantities of Moleskines, Field Notes, Note pads, etc.

9. Blue pens - Way better than black - black is for drawing, blue is for writing

10. The invention of that ball thingy you pour soap onto to get a nice lather going is cool in my book. I love those things.

Guilty Displeasure: I still hate RSS feeds and readers.

*Note: Don't tell my wife about #4

I'm with you on Sport talk radio -- I listen whenever I'm in the car (ESPN usually); its sad, but I guess it makes me informed enough to have conversations (because I'm equally into music, movies, TV and other aspects of news and life).

Guilty Displeasure -- Politics.

1. coffee - (i.e. my roasting question above) I survive on strong, black coffee in the morning, usually grind some Starbucks from the 2 lb Costco bag, but am piqued by the thought of roasting my own. Could this be the next step?
2. cigars (I love a good cuban. Once you go cuban, you never want to go back).
3. notebooks (me too on this one, when I see a Moleskine, 80% of the time I am buying one).
4. concert and Music DVD's - Bjork, U2, the Wilco movie, Flaming Lips documentary. I would take a live music DVD or music related documentary over a mediocre movie every day and twice on Sunday. (see most Plexifilm releases).
5. Fall - this is my FAVORITE time of year coming up right now.
6. Single Malt Scotch - I can't express my reasons why any better much than you did. But like a complex cigar or coffee, Scotch is another thing in life that like an onion that you want to keep peeling, because it continues to have so much to offer, so much complexity.
7. TV series that are not all that wholesome, why do I like them so much (see Sopranos, Entourage, etc).
8. Traveling - especially to Europe (Italy mostly) - costly, yes, but being out of my element and not being able to understand the background chatter, having to work hard to communicate, not being bombarded with the normal American culture, etc - it's like a drug to me. I can't get enough, always thinking of the next time I might be lucky enough to get back.
9. People - I need my balance of solitude, but I thrive on being around people, connecting over shared interests, laughing with friends, etc.
10. Magazines - I love Wired, Dwell, Paste, and Believer (aka Dave Eggers/McSweeney's)...and many more, but those are my must-reads every month.

(These are in order)

1. Like the posts above, I enjoy the smoking. Ever since I was able to score my first smoke, it's been an insatiable pleasure that would only be exterminated temporarily with the looming idea of a hypothtical trache-tube projecing from my neck. And while we're on the subj. The Truth commercials just make me wanna smoke more. They should try a little reverse psych. It'd be a nice humorous change of pace vs. thier brow beating smoker racism.

2. The Internet. It used to not be this bad. But it's getting really, really bad.

3. Beer. Any shape and size. I'm game.

4. Getting Tattooed. I can't seem to cover enough of my skin. The sound and dull vibration of that gun in my flesh is as soothing as the gentle breeze. - I don't know what that means though.

5. Taking up new hobbies. I'm convinced this is somewhat of a disorder and await the prescribed medication so I can regain focus.

6. Record collecting. Granted, I'm still attempting to expand this since the "Great Steal of 02" - but at any given moment you'll find me with headphones on - or music playing. It occupies about 90% of my day. Somehow I can't breathe with silence. It's a problem I'm very aware of.

7. Facial hair configs. No need to explain here.

8. Plain Black & Gray tee-shirts. I can't seem to acquire enough.

9. Apple. Anything product/device Apple Tailor Made. Must have.

10. Picking my nose, can't seem to quit that. I know it's gross, but I just can't.

I don't feel guilty about any of this stuff..

1. Food - I'm trapped in a plane of existence somewhere between going on food tours with Anthony Bourdain and being lifted out of my house with a crane after they saw the walls off my bedroom.

2. Internet - I luh the internets. I love the distractions and the resources. I love easy access to information, music, software and pornography. I just feel guilty that I spend so much time in front of a PC.

3. Coffee - I don't even feel guilty. I have a special place where I buy my coffee beans. I drink coffee at any time of day.

4. Smoking - I'm not a smoker. I own a few pipes, and I occasionally bum a cigarette. I love it for the first few puffs, then it occurs to me that its stupid and I don't do it again for months.

5. Music - My passion for music dwindles every now and then. Occasionally I remember that there was a time when it was all that ever mattered to me. I avoid the topic with most people now, but corner me into a conversation and I will talk your face off.

6. Cursing - I f**king love it.

7. Growing a beard - No explanation required.

8. Puns - I make them regularly. I laugh out loud even if no one thinks they are funny.

9. My girlfriend - Kim and her family have supplied me with a culture that I would never have guessed I'd be a part of.

10. Driving - anywhere, while drinking coffee, with my girlfriend, cursing loudly and making puns.

11. Vice Magazine's Do's and Don'ts.

Justie : Anthony Bourdain is my hero. The man makes eating cool -- and eating the most disgusting things imaginable like being a ninja master. You forgot to add to your #10 - anywhere, while drinking coffee, with my girlfriend, cursing loudly, making puns while stroking the growing beard signing loudly while browsing the internet. But that's overkill. That's overkill.

Luke: You went all out with the nose picking. I chew my nails. A lot. I need help for that, but I don't care.

In no particular order:

1. Toys R Us - I really enjoy walking down the aisles of toy stores by myself and taking my time. Perhaps as a way to hold onto my youth or just the simple fact I still really like toys. Toys now days really blow. Really, really blow.

2. Currently Unhip Music - I gave up on the current music scene a few years ago and it’s something I think my close friends snub their nose at me about. Not cause I’m above current trends, it just does nothing for me, so I started turning to older bands. I act like Judas Priest, Lordi, and Danzig are just guilty pleasures for me, but they’re really not. They’re actually what I really enjoy listening to.

3. Awful Horror Movies - I was never allowed to watch horror movies as a kid and now I eat them up, despite how bad they are.

4. The Unicorn Princess Clan - A group of my guy friends that get together to watch bad movies and rip on them, play paintball, xbox live, and talk about football. We are vastly, vastly nerdy and enjoy each other in a very, best pals hanging out in a treehouse way. They are my favorite people. People seem to freak over the notion of a bunch 25+ year olds roving around in a pack talking about Star Wars though.

5. Sunday Morning Football - Skipping church in order to stay home, eat blueberry muffins, and watch football is something I am guilty of. I need to go to church more.

6. Electronics - I love electronics. I’ve never been as hardcore as needing to have the latest and greatest of everything, but I can’t kid myself that I’m pretty dang close. Electronics and gadgets bring me a lot of joy. Computers, TVs, cameras, etc.

7. The Xbox 360 - I go in spurts with video games. I won’t play them for 2 months at all, and then I’ll go crazy and marathon it some weekends. If I’ve had a really long day at work, nothing helps me unwind like killing nazis or zombies on ye olde xbox.

8. If my wife goes away for the weekend I will survive solely on Bush’s BBQ Baked Beans, Ruffles potato chips, and root beer. I eat horribly when left by myself. I am ok with this.

9. I probably have an unhealthy fascination with bags/jackets. I have way more than I need. I have been on a seven year quest to find the perfect bag. This quest ended last week in Pasadena. I now own the best man purse/SLR / laptop / diaper bag you will ever find.

10. phew…stuffed animals. Wait wait wait. Don’t walk away from me. I buy stuffed animals for my imminent child. At least I’m telling myself they’re for her. So far she has a talking Darth Vader, a Mandril, a 6ft boa constrictor, and a rabbit that looks like it’s on LSD.

I have to agree with Justin on the cursing. I love words , and I feel that words denigrated to the status of curse words are the orphans of the english language. They should be given as much loving attention as the pretty words. The prospect of having children, however, has caused a bit of a conundrum for me. I definitely feel that cussing is a grownup activity. I hope to teach my kids that curse words are special and generally inappropriate, rather than dirty or wicked.

And since someone brought up guilty displeasures, I'll have to mention sports. I can't bring myself to really care. Having been brought up without any sports in my life (aside from the football wallpaper in my bedroom, which came with the house and my parents didn't bothered to cover), I was never able to develop an interest as an adult. Another potential parent predicament.

Mike: It inevitably means that your kids will love sports and play all of them and watch them constantly on TV. Just like our kids will probably hate art, hate music, and want to be corporate executives (not that there's anything wrong with any of those, I just don't necessarily identify).

I won't add much here since many of mine have already been listed, but I need to add one that I saw on your fall tv shows comments.... Kathy Griffin. She's much too much in need of attention, she's crass, but, God help me, she's quick-witted and makes me laugh most of the time.

Jean: I was JUST getting ready to list that -- watching Kathy Griffin. She's annoying as all get out, but she's the quickest sharp wit I've ever seen; and she's able to make fun of her self more than anyone could ever make fun of her.

Wow; I loved reading everyone's guilty pleasures! Here's mine; at least the ones that come to mind:

1. Fudge brownies and oreos. I rarely eat them since I'm a frequent organic food shopper/health conscious person.

2. Baby dolls and other dolls - the kind you can play with, not the collectors kind that are off limits. In the toy store, I am the one that takes a quick walk down the doll isle while Abigail and Elliott are looking in the other ones =-).


3. Reading. With two special and active kids, three cats, a dog who is lucky enough to get two half hour walks a day, a part-time job, managing my limited time at home etc. I just don't have much time for it and there's SO MUCH i want to read. So, I have bookmarks in various places in multiple books at a time. My nightstand is a heap of current books I'm picking and plunging my way through in a race before my eyes close at night.

4. Researching on Google. I don't get much down time to get on the computer aside from checking my e-mails which I am better at than my phone messages. I love looking up information on dogs, nutrition, children, medical info. etc. anything that crosses my path in conversation with someone could send me on a search to know something about it. I can't guarantee in my busy and fragmented mind that it will stick all the way though.

5. Watching one of my favorite t.v. shows with paully. I also feel I don't have time for this either since there's so many other things in my mind that beg for my attention: by now maybe it is obvious that I easily feel guilty engaging in anything pleasurable, but I do realize we all need to unwind and take a break, so I try. I do love "Battlestar Galactica" (the new series, not the old 70's one or whatever year), "Curb Your Enthusiasm", "Flight of the Chonchords"(they just are so silly; they crack me up), "The Dog Whisperer" Don't knock it til you've seen it; Cesar Milan is VERY admirable in my book.

6. Watching a movie on t.v. that I've already seen before and perhaps even own, yet being compelled to watch it because, IT"S ON T.V. RIGHT NOW. I love 40 year old Virgin; it makes me laugh so much when they dance at the end.

Okay, that's all for now. I'm sure there's others, but I've shared plenty!!

oops! How could I forget my number one guilty pleasure.........shoes. I've loved shoes since I could talk (my Mom says so).

my mom gave me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich [fixes hair, slinks away]

Bwhahahahaha!