I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest something that everyone believes but no one wants to admit.
“Urban Cowboy” is one of the best movies ever.
I’ve got more than a handful of guilty pleasures, and that John Travolta/Debra Winger masterpiece is one of them.
A guilty pleasure, as defined by Wikipedia, is “something, such as a film, a television program or a piece of music, that one enjoys despite feeling that it is not generally held in high regard, or is seen as unusual or weird. For example, a person may secretly like a movie knowing that the movie is poorly made and generally seen as “not good.”
I think it’s the window to your soul.
Sure, we can all appreciate, enjoy, even love things and places that are thought to be socially acceptable. You know — “Game of Thrones” and avocados and the Grand Canyon and The Beatles — things of that nature.
But it’s the favorites you keep close to the vest that tell more about you than your love for high-brow Netflix and HBO.
Think about it — let one slip in certain company, and the joy you experience when someone says “You too?” is like nothing else — an instant bond with another person that appreciates the same cheesey things you do. These kinds of admissions are not just ice breakers. It’s validation that it is in fact, OK to watch “Under Siege” every time it plays on TBS. Or to lecture your kids on the greatness of ’80s music and television. (I am still aghast at the “Magnum, PI” reboot. HOW.DARE.THEY.)
My guilty pleasures span the spectrum — if I could plan a day full of nothing but these, I’d start with Ding Dongs for breakfast, Wang Chung on the stereo, and “Knight Rider” on TV. I’d break out my VC Andrews collection and revel in the Dollanganger melodrama that is “Flowers in the Attic.”
Don’t ever let anyone make you feel bad about your “bad” choices — loving Boys 2 Men and Melrose Place is what makes you, you. And trust me — there’s more of “you” out there than you think. Let that freak flag fly!
Day 1: 50 Days, 50 Thoughts, 50 Books. Book recommendation: The Bitch is Back
Day 2: There Aren’t Any Do-Overs, Are There? Book Recommendation: A Place for Us
Day 3: Is Pop Culture Circling the Drain? Book recommendation: Live from New York
Day 4: Perimenopause in the Age of Trump Book Recommendation: Where’d You Go, Bernadette
Day 5: Take A Knee at the Altar of Common Sense Book Recommendation: How Not to Be a Dick
Day 6: Perspective is the Gift That Keeps on Giving Book Recommendation: A Fine Balance
Day 7: The Accidental Editor Book Recommendation: Theft by Finding: Diaries (1977 – 2002)
Day 8: The First Last of the Firsts Book Recommendation: The Little Book of Hygge
Day 9: All Kinds of Tired Book Recommendation: Believer
Day 10: Overthinking is Anxiety’s Bitchy Best Friend Book Recommendation: Let’s Pretend This Never Happened
Day 11: Where Would You go with a Wayback Machine? Book Recommendation: A Little Life
Day 12: Fall in my Favorite Chicago
Day 13: On Having It All Book Recommendation: Lean In
Day 14: Where Were You When … Book Recommendation: The Nix
Day 15: 5 Things to Purge Before you Turn 50 Book Recommendation: The Art of Tidying Up
Day 16: A Labor Day Salute to Bad Bosses Everywhere Book Recommendation: Steve Jobs
Day 17: Do You Validate? Book Recommendation: Less
Day 18: Identity Crisis Code Purple Book Recommendation: Amp’d
Day 19: Character Really Does Count Book Recommendation: Believer
Day 20: Death Before Public Speaking Book Recommendation: The Gifts of Imperfection
Day 21: 15 Things You Should Do Before You Turn 50 Book Recommendation: Drop Dead Healthy
Day 22: Calling BS on “Sticks and Stones” Book Recommendation: Love Warrior
Day 23: My Feet Are My Favorite Part of Me Book Recommendation: Born to Run
Day 24: Self-Help Books Aren’t Half Bad Book Recommendation: The Book of Joy
Day 25: Going for Gratitude Book Recommendation: The Gratitude Diaries
Day 26: Past Self Meets Future Self Book Recommendation: A Wrinkle in Time
Day 27: The Book is Always Better Book Recommendation: Big Little Lies
Day 28: Three Cheers for Volunteers Book Recommendation: A Secret Gift
Day 29: The Social Network Book Recommendation: The Circle
Day 30: 50 People Who Can Text Me Before Trump Does Book Recommendation: Purity
Day 31: I’ll Take My Joy Where I Can Find It Book Recommendation: The Book of Joy
Day 32: Humor is My Sixth Sense Book Recommendation: Sick in the Head
Day 33: Anger Comes Second Book Recommendation: The Leftovers
Day 34: Hypocrisy, Much? Book Recommendation: The Favorite Sister
Day 35: Girl Power Book Recommendation:Girls
Day 36: The Kids are All Right Book Recommendation: Ohio
Day 37: Banned Books Week Book Recommendation: the Banned Books list
Day 38: An Open Letter to Congress Book Recommendation: The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Today’s recommendation: Lordy, I wish Amy Sohn would write something new. I adored “The Actress” in all its cheesetastic glory.
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Filed under: mumbo jumbo
