I’ve mentioned a few times on this blog that I’m a podcast junkie. Today one of my favorite podcast authors, Scott Sigler, releases his second hardcover book, Contagious. It’s the sequel to Infected, and if you haven’t already, you should read both. He’s a fiction writer who uses hard science, not the supernatural, to spin his thrillers into an un-put-down-able frenzy. Trust me, if you’re a regular reader here, it’s just up your alley.
I received my copy of Contagious last night in the mail, and stayed up too late reading. I knew better than to stay up all night on a school night, as it were, but I couldn’t help myself. And today, way too busy to be this tired, I’m only just a tiny bit sorry. Mostly sorry I haven’t quite finished the book.
What guilty pleasures do you indulge in, and how do you deal with the consequences?
Masturbation, usually a few paper towels.
I’m addicted to the show Gilmore Girls which I have just started watching again on DVD, great writing and… Hey I don’t have to justify myself to anyone!
I get a lot of ribbing from my more “action” driven male friends, but the worst is my female roomate picks on me. I thought women liked that show.
Online homemade porn, I usually deal with it with some hand lotion and a towel.
I refuse to feel guilty about any of my pleasures.
@teambanzai: But I usually keep my enjoyment of The Gilmore Girls a secret.
I used to be seriously into professional wrestling. However, watching it was what inspired me to work out and lift weights in high school. I wish I had that sort of motivation now :/
And I’ll confess…I have a sick love for America’s Next Top Model. I deal by pretending I watch it for the photoshoots, to see how pros work with the human form, framing, etc.
My pleasures only make me feel guilty when I indulge in them while I should be doing other, more productive, things. Therefore, as a full time student my enjoyment of video games sometimes leaves me racked with guilt…
All of my pleasure is guilty.
I’ve heard some of his former SciFi podcast books in the past. I would rate them out of this world but I thought they were reasonably descent. Is Infected available as a podcast book? I need something else to listen to now that I’ve finished all the back episodes of SGU.
Sorry, I meant to say that I wouldn’t rate Sigler’s books out of this world. But still I found them entertaining.
Sticky, yummy green. Mmm. Sometimes I have to deal with shady dealers, but that’s rare because I have a solid group of friends that smoke and deal with that end for me. teehee. And of course it’s illegal, so there is always the chance of arrest, but that’s pretty easy to avoid if you’re not a dumbass stoner.
AND BOOKS. I buy far too many books. My poor wallet.
And porn. No real consequences there. Only happiness. :)
Oh and booze, especially whiskey. I have a sensitive stomach, but fuck it, I love me some whiskey. TUMS to the rescue!
House. I’m sure the medical science is awful but I don’t care.
I listen to “Skeptiko”. How do I deal with it? See @marilove
I am a Hedge
Books and staying up to late are not infrequent issues and golf, lots of golf, and single malt scotch and starting projects and moving on to the next one before finishing the previous one, and movies, good wine and good food, and good restaurants, and all the things associated with sex, real and imagined… . The only consequences are associated with time and money so what’s the problem?
Burying the bodies when I’m done is a real chore… ;-)
Ice cream. I love ice cream. The hard stuff like Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s. My favorite was Bailey’s Irish Cream Haagen Dasz, but I think they stopped making it so now I have to settle for dulce de leche. QQ
Lately? This. Licensed fiction is the literary lowest of the low, and Warhammer 40k is already cheesier than a Kraft mac & cheese without the mac, but still. It’s good times for all.
I deal with the consequences by feeling vaguely ashamed and then telling everybody I meet about it anyway. Which is pretty much how I deal with everything.
Pizza. If presented with decent pizza, regardless of quantity, I will attempt to eat until it’s gone. The main two consequences are indigestion and weight-gain, which I deal with using Pepto and bigger pants, respectively.
@braak: You’re right I should have gone with porn, much more socially acceptable.
– Skepchick (and other websites): I read it at work sometimes when I should be doing other things. Actually reading isn’t so bad, but responding can be time consuming. I put a few extra hours in on weekend to compensate.
– Charmed/Hex: I feel better about admitting this since Gilmore Girls has already come up. I have learned to accept much teasing from my wife.
– Alcohol: It makes keeping my weight reasonable all the harder, but it comes in so many yummy forms. More exercise atones and compensates.
@teambanzai: the show got too cutesy for me sometimes, to be honest. i prefer my shows with lots of sex and/or drugs and/or booze and/or crime. hah.
AND OLD SCHOOL MICHAEL JACKSON which just came on the radio here at work. I’m not ashamed to admit this, though, and I deal with the consequences of WANTING TO SING AND DANCE LOUDLY! by … going into the bathroom and doing it (where the music can still be heard).
BRB.
@skepticalhippie:
Masturbation should never be a guilty pleasure unless you are depriving a partner of your attention. Its free, fun, and it gets the blood moving. I think if more kids were taught that in the appropriate circumstances masturbation is a wonderful thing we would have more adults with fewer sexual hangups.
I’d go further. I think teenage boys should be required to masturbate before going on dates. “Before I hand over the car keys, son, I want 10 cc’s in a cup. And it better be fresh!” This way they might actually think about dates other than as the most direct route to sex.
Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour. I never made it as a real musician but for a few moments I get to hear a cheering crowd again. But, as with my real band, is does take up a lot of my nights. I compensate by napping at lunch.
@newageamazon: My wife got me sucked into that, but after Tyrabot I think I may be done.
I spend too much goddamn time reading on the Intertubes, when I should be writing something instead. I deal with it by averaging around 30 hits a day, and trying to remember that “Famous Blogger” would look stupid on a business card anyway.
@Gabrielbrawley: Awww, it’s sad if all your pleasure is guilty. Unless you find guilt pleasureable, I guess.
@skepticalhippie: Infected is available as podcast. Re-recorded from the initial release when it was Infection.
@KingMerv00: I’m right there with you. I loves me some Hugh Laurie.
@James Fox: Can I be your new best friend? I don’t know a thing about golf, but everything else sounds dreamy.
@davew: I hereby absolve you of any guilt for reading Skepchick. It’s secretly keeping you sane. (oops, I’ve said too much…)
@a.real.girl: Nooooo problem there, the more friends the better the party! The whole golf thing started with my grandfather over thirty years ago and is far and away my most expensive and time consuming activity/guilty pleasure/addiction. I walk and carry my clubs so do I get some exercise points. The best thing that ever happened to my golf game was when Ms Fox got back into riding and eventually got a horse seven years ago. She listens to my golf stories and smiles and I listen to her riding stories and smile. Which all helps with the sex thing.
The food thing all started with my grandmother who owned a kitchen cookery store back in the 70’s before it was all the rage. Mom was and is an incredibly avid reader who got me hooked on books at a young age and my dad was an intelligent smart ass skeptic type back in the day. So I suppose I have my family to blame for all my favorite interests, activities and guilty pleasures. And did I mention really dark chocolate and big bad ass red wines?
@davew: It doesn’t really deprive my wife per say. She’s a graduate student so I’m lucky if I can get it once a week. I suggested she multitask and take it from behind while writing papers but she felt it was more trouble than it was worth, so basically I’m pitching solo during the work week. My only complaint about masturbation is the looking at internet porn. Some how when I start looking at porn my whole evening disappears.
As far as masturbating before dates as a teenager, I seem to remember doing that as well, though I can’t remember why. Oh yeah, it was because I was a teenage boy and was constantly masturbating.
@a.real.girl:
@KingMerv00:
I am not sure how accurate these are, but they maybe helpful in enjoying House and exploring the medicine in the show:
http://politedissent.com/house_pd.html
My only guilty pleasures are food and Christmas.
I relieve my guilt with food, on Christmas, I enjoyed a lot of sweet, and some great seafood. As for food, I really should find a new way to relieve guilt, like exercise, but it doesn’t have the same kick as a Chocolate Shake.
Isn’t it interesting that in this day and age it has become socially acceptable to be a sex addict? I’m astonished at the amount of personal information people are willing to divulge via websites and discussion lists. Seriously guys, I really don’t want to hear about how much you masturbate. Go now, and buy a book by Patrick Carnes.
Oh, yeah. Chocolate, followed by sugar hangover.
Also, books. I pay for those with piles of dishes and laundry.
Also A, is there a place I can get the list of Podcasts you have. I listened to my 43 gigs worth of Podcasts and am looking for new material. I work a 9-5 in front of a PC and can listen to everything, so I work through stuff pretty fast and am always looking for good audio entertainment.
@jules505:“Isn’t it interesting that in this day and age it has become socially acceptable to be a sex addict?”
Has it? I’m still waiting for some scientific proof that it is an addiction on par with , say , alcohol, cocaine, heroin, etc.
Just because something’s fun and you want more of it doesn’t make it an addiction in the medical sense.
@Steve_Degroof: I, too, am a pizza’s natural enemy. Unless it has anchovies or hot peppers on it. Then I let it escape for the next pizza predator.
It can indeed become an addiction. As Carnes states, “Sexual addiction is defined as any sexually-related, compulsive behavior which interferes with normal living and causes severe stress on family, friends, loved ones, and one’s work environment.”
i’m addicted to pratchett :) can”t get enough discworld.
@jules505: Just commenting here, but it appears to be quite contraversial, even among psychiatrists and psychologists.
@jules505: “Isn’t it interesting that in this day and age it has become socially acceptable to be a sex addict”
Thanks for illustrating my point. Equating masturbation with sex addiction is exactly the sort of Victorian thinking I’d like to see educated out of existence.
As to the appropriateness… I figure masturbation rates about a 6 on a scale of 1 to anal bleaching. I leave it to the Skepchicks to set the tone for the site and after lurking for a while I realized I have experienced very little that would shock or offend this group.
@QuestionAuthority “Just because something’s fun and you want more of it doesn’t make it an addiction in the medical sense.”
Exactly so. Anything, including drinking water, can be done to excess.
I would add that if we don’t educate our children about all the relevant aspects of sex then we are leaving the job to some random partner in their future. Yikes.
@jolly atom: Clearly you are in need of a Pratchtisty belt to curb your wicked ways.
@jules505:
I’m more concerned about this other addiction I have that’s intervening with my life and work and that is eating. Three times a day and sometimes more, I have to stop what it is I’m doing and eat something. I end up spending hours every week cooking and eating and doing dishes. Everyday, Everyday I have to stop work for 1/2 a freakin hour to eat. Sad really, if I could only overcome this addiction and learn to not eat I would be able to do so much more with my life.
@Protesilaus: heh. I can probably send you a list, but it’s not pretty. Although they don’t all update weekly, I counted 142 subscribed this morning. I’ll e-mail ’em to you.
@QuestionAuthority:
The addictiveness of Internet pornography is not a metaphor. All addiction involves long-term, sometimes lifelong, neuroplastic change in the brain. For addicts, moderation is impossible, and they must avoid the substance or activity completely if they are to avoid addcitive behaviors. … By hijacking our dopamine system, addictive substances give us ple