The Innocence of Guilty Pleasures--#2

Love your quirks--they are what make you YOU! The more eclectic, the better, I say. Just like the diet for the body, our minds and souls need diversity to enable us to maximize our productivity. Our psychic muscles crave the delightful shocks that variety brings, not just the predictable nuances of the humdrum patterns we always resort to, but the NEW, truly new, extraordinary tidbits of unexpected joy that come when we "dare to dabble"!

1. Grandma's magazines--such as Women's Day, Good Housekeeping, Family Circle, etc.; the circle of life has really come full swing around now that I find myself the eager reader of these mags. Can there ever be enough articles like "how to clear the clutter yet again" and "50 more recycled ideas for relaxing and trying to be happy?" I don't think so...

2. Beef jerky--peppered and teriyaki to be exact. Since I read that this is a favorite snack of supermodels, I figure, hey, if it's good enough for the Twiggy descendents, it's good enough for me--yum yum and especially with a little hunk of "pretty cheese" to go with it.

3. Oprah's 20th Anniversary DVD--now say what you may about Oprah, but I dig these DVDs. They are guaranteed for a good laugh, good cry, good round of soul searching, good round of superstar gazing. This woman has had an amazing life and career, and these well chosen highlights hit all the bases dynamically.

'Fess up--it's your turn...

The Innocence Of Guilty Pleasures--#1--a series

Here's a series for us to 'fess up with our tiny eccentric, eclectic, electric sources of enjoyment that are seemingly so out of character, or wildly unexpected, or just dipped in the soupy sauce of innocent wackiness! OK, I'll start...

1. Wilson Phillips - these ladies accompany me via cassette to and from Iowa City, and they let me sing along on every harmony part, bouncing around from high to mid to low. Besides, I identify especially with Carnie, the one most musically talented, yet most likely to be fotoshopped like Ann Wilson next to Nancy in Heart...

2. Danielle Steel movies -- like that one with Melissa Gilbert doing that weird quasi-Frenchish attempt at an accent, or anything with a former Charlie's Angel. They have trials, they have hairspray, they have glamorous fireplace love scenes, with soapy, suspension-of-disbelief happy endings. What could be better?

3. Mandy Moore -- specifically, her last 2 CDs, "Coverage" and "Wild Hope". She's still young, but she is making subtle changes toward musical adulthood for the better. And she does kooky roles in movies, like "Southland Tales" where she was the wife of...

4. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson -- big brute, but in interviews he comes across as amazingly zen and articulate and classy. For me, that's hot!

5. Kathy Griffin -- yes, she gets a little racy--actually even a lot sometimes. But she is so funny and clever and astute in her observational humor, I really can't help but give in to the tabloid giggles once in a while!

And last but not least...

6. Anything and everything Olivia Newton-John -- I owe this lady sooooo much! She has been my psychic friend on many lonely rainy childhood days, including a bout in the third grade with the chicken pox. The beauty of that voice inspired me to find the beauty of my own, and still does today. No longer a commercial blockbuster, she continues to make more beautiful music than ever, more spiritual and substantial. But hey, I dare you to give "Xanadu" another chance and listen more carefully--if you don't get it after that, you just don't have a heart!

And now--your turn to bare your guilty-pleasure-filled soul...