BEDA 10: Guilty Pleasures

Mary Tyler Moore as Laura Petrie

  
  Last spring and early this Summer I began to feel really convicted about some of my "so-called" guilty pleasures. Certain shows or films I'd watch or books I'd read only seemed to distract me from my walk with the Lord. It may sound a little heavy handed, but I ended up cutting out a lot of those indulgences from my life and have been so much happier because of it. That said, there remain a few guilty pleasures that aren't harmful or distracting so much as they're embarrassing. Some of my media-related guilty pleasures have even been encouraging in regards to my relationship with Christ. Since I don't have any ideas for today's post and I'm about to leave the house to see Complexions at Central Park Summerstage, I'm stealing Ellen's idea and confessing.

(Mostly) Harmless Guilty Pleasures

     1. Starbucks. I support independent coffee shops whenever I can and my favorite lattes and espresso do not come from this corporate giant, but there's something about the familiarity and reliability of this chain that I love. I guess it's the same reason my husband loves mediocre casual-dining chains--I like the familiar. And even though I'm usually a black coffee or plain soy latte kind of girl, sometimes I adore in a ridiculous sugary "coffee" beverage. I can't afford them often, but about once a month I order a soy mocha frappucino light with a shot of espresso, then feel like I need to turn in my coffee purist badge.

2. Cheesy dance/sports movies and TV shows: Ellen said everything there is to say about the artistic beauty (cough) that is Center Stage. I am also fond of the over-the-top genius of Ice Princess, and similar tween flicks. Oh, and I'm ashamed that I've gotten so caught up in ABC Family's Make it or Break It. It's essentially a teen drama, but I love that it showcases a Christian character (played by the lovely Candance Cameron Bure) in such a positive light. It's full of gymnastics/elite athlete cliches, but I'm impressed with how they're handling an eating disorder subplot. The character with disordered eating behavior develops it over several episodes and the writers really focus on the psychological makeup of the issue rather than zeroing in on the physical symptoms. I mean, the ED is hardly the main focus of the show, and they still have plenty of time to screw it up and make me mad, but I give them kudos for now. Wow, I just rambled way too long about that.

3. This song. Whitney Houston was sort of the soundtrack of my high school dance experience. So many memories of singing this song at the top of our lungs in the parking lot before shows, or dancing along in the car after late night rehearsals to get rid of some stress. I still need to dance around to Whitney every now and then.

4. Romantic comedies. I'm a sucker for 1990s rom-coms, usually starring Meg Ryan or Sandra Bullock. I blame my mom.

5. The Dick Van Dyke Show. I have a little crush on Dick Van Dyke and I kind of want to be Laura Petrie. I love how the show incorporates variety acts and song and dance with a situation-comedy format. I invariably watch entire seasons on Hulu whenever I'm sick. And I own seasons 1 and 2 on DVD.

6. Boy Meets World. Actually, no. I'm not apologizing for this. 


6. Chinese take-out. I cook most of our meals at home and don't really like most greasy fast foods, but every now and then, when we're feeling lazy, we pick-up some deliciousness from our local Chinese takeout joint. The hole-in-the-wall down the block has some of the best Chinese dishes in Upper Manhattan, in my opinion and it's ridiculously cheap. I justify my indulgence in sesame bean curd, by pointing to the vegetables swimming in outrageously rich sauce next to my tofu and rice.

7. Eating chocolate chips from the bag. Due to my baking habit, I almost always keep a bag of semisweet chocolate chips in my cupboard. Inevitably, I end up eating at least some of the morsels by themselves while reading or studying. Pretty unhealthy, especially since it's quite easy to look down and suddenly realize you ate half the bag. Yuck. But yum.

8. Christian Indie Films.  I admit it. I watched Fireproof and liked it. I may or may not have teared up at the end.

9. Playing Dress-Up. Graham doesn't understand why, every couple months, I try on every dress in my closet, do my hair, and twirl around the living room pretending to be a princess. I'll never grow out of playing dress-up. 

Care to share your guilty pleasures?