by Jonathan Hilton

There are a lot of people who look at a book and make a judgement based on the cover and fail to even open the pages and read even a little of the story that is contained inside. That is something that I try to avoid doing all the time and I appreciate it when it is done for me.

The insight about me that is offered here is to let you know what my guilty pleasures in life are. These are defined as interests and likes that you have that may be embarrassing for others to know about because of their low brow or uncultured appeal.  Everyone has these interests, here are my top guilty pleasures in life.

The Big Bang Theory

This is a show that I just recently became infatuated with. It is the tale of four nerds and their good-looking female neighbor.  Pretty basic plot lines, but I seem to enjoy watching Sheldon Cooper struggle through life.  From his fear of birds to being unable to understand sarcasm.  If this is on and I have a moment I will watch it. I can’t stop myself.

The Music of Taylor Swift

I would not mention this anywhere else, but for some reason the music of Taylor Swift that is about nothing I can relate to, I really like. It has been going on for years and I have secretly liked songs as old as Tim McGraw and as new as We’re Never Ever Getting Back Together.  Her act of continually getting dumped is going to have to end eventually. If it never does, that will be fine with me.

Red Sox Baseball

This is not a shock to anyone who knows me but I love the Red Sox. I watch a part of most games and follow the side stories that the team provides.  Even though I have never played Major League Baseball I am like many people I think that I know what is best for the team.  I have always been infatuated with the statistics of certain players and am not ashamed to say there were a few tears when they won it all in 2004.

Duck Dynasty

Another show that I happened to accidentally see and now I watch them quite often. There is something interesting about watching Grandpa Phil try to kill beavers and talk about the old times being , “Everybody, happy, happy!”  I was born and raised in Maine so there is a bit of red neck in me that I can’t escape from. This show touches this. A lot of the situations are clearly created just for television but that is OK, it entertains anyway.

  Country Music

Up until I turned 39 I believed that all country music was really a joke. I was one of those that laughed about playing a country song backward, you get your wife, your dog and your truck back.  Then it all suddenly changed as I was listening to a song once and thinking, “Wow, that makes a lot of sense.”

From that day on I was hooked, and even though I enjoy all types of music, country music is high on my list.  Kenny Chesney, Dirks Bentley, Tim McGraw,  you name it and if they have a good song I probably like it.  I think my rural heritage has a lot to do with this, but there is something about a country girl that is indescribably beautiful!

Romantic Comedies

I hate to admit this but the more of them I see the more I think I am a hopeless romantic. Recently a fellow blogger had been reviewing her favorite romantic comedies which got me to watch a few. The more I watched the more I liked them. Not all of them but most of them.  I did have someone in my past who liked those types of movies and I would watch them with her.  If I am by myself and Sweet Home Alabama is on I can’t help but watch it.  There are a thousand others but lets suffice it to say this is a guilty pleasure of mine. Don’t tell anyone!!

Learning Stuff

This is one thing that makes me kind of a super nerd because I find learning new things fascinating.  Especially in the realm of psychology, human behavior, quantum physics, string theory or any science what so ever.  This is not only in substance but I like learning how to do new things as well, particularly in the field of technology.

I am old enough to remember life before there was an internet and having access for the first time and asking,”What do you do with it.”  Even though no one gave a satisfactory answer back in 1996, we figured it out.  I am not one of those who sees technology as something you fear but I see it as something new to master.  I enjoy learning how to do things from working on new platforms to building websites. Learning stuff is fun!

Reading and Writing are a Good Time

Along with the learning new stuff revelation is my love of reading and writing. It probably wouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who reads this blog, but to people who just know me from any endeavor in my life, it would be a shock.  Reading to me is not done to read a story or something like that, it is done to teach me something. Expose me to a new idea. I can’t remember that last book I read for “fun”, it seems I just don’t have time.

Writing is an ongoing process for me, as I expand my comfort with words and let the emotions and thoughts I have in me, flow freely without a filter.  That has been the biggest challenge of writing for me.  The fact that I have a biggest challenge of writing would surprise many of my “friends” from the past.

I am sure that I can come up with about fifty-five more but I am out of time for this writing experience.  So  that will have to do.  I am sure that I am not the only one who has embarrassing interests.

What are your Guilty Pleasures?