Afternoon Inquisition

Afternoon Inquisition 12.30

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?

A.real.girl

A B Kovacs is the Director of Døøm at Empty Set Entertainment, a publishing company she co-founded with critical thinker and fiction author Scott Sigler. She considers herself a “Creative Adjacent” — helping creative people be more productive and prolific by managing the logistics of Making for the masses. She's a science nerd, a rabid movie geek, and an unrepentantly voracious reader. She doesn't like chocolate all that much.

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84 Comments

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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…

  4. 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.

  5. Sorry, I meant to say that I wouldn’t rate Sigler’s books out of this world. But still I found them entertaining.

  6. 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!

  7. 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?

  8. 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

  9. 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.

  10. 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.

  11. – 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.

  12. 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.

  13. @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.

  14. 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.

  15. 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.

  16. @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…)

  17. @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?

  18. @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.

  19. @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.

  20. 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.

  21. Oh, yeah. Chocolate, followed by sugar hangover.
    Also, books. I pay for those with piles of dishes and laundry.

  22. 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.

  23. @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.

  24. @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.

  25. 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.”

  26. @jules505: Just commenting here, but it appears to be quite contraversial, even among psychiatrists and psychologists.

  27. @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.

  28. @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.

  29. @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.

  30. @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.

  31. @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 pleasure without our having to work for it.

    It really is not that interesting what you are addicted to, the mechanism is common.

  32. I don’t know if this counts but I have quite a thing for both Ann Coulter and Sarah Palin. I don’t know why, I think it could be a man version of the famous “women like bastards” hypothesis, or like a moth to a flame I am drawn to pure concentrated evil

  33. russellsugden: perhaps its a variation of the “so bad its good” phenomenon?

    Personally I deal with my guilty pleasures by not telling people what they are.

  34. @skepticalhippie: I second that motion, in more ways than one. (that was wrong on at least one level if not more and I apologize for that.)
    @teambanzai:
    Hey, they referenced Greg Graffin of Bad Religion, so they can’t be all that bad.

    For me, my major guilty pleasures are Video games, comic books, World of Warcrack (which deserves it’s own category), and occasionally getting these huge Cinnamon buns with cream cheese frosting that I will consume entirely over the course of a day and a half. Then I go run 12 miles. Running is a pleasure but I would never call it a guilty one. Also, I third or fourth or whatever the vote on House, I’m totally addicted to it, as well as Invader Zim. And bad movies, and good movies. And movies that are ok. And Fallout 3, though I already mentioned video games. And other stuff.

  35. Let’s see. Logically, then, if rubbing your genitals in response to pixels delivered over the Internet does not interfere with normal living or cause stress for family, for friends or in the working environment, it ain’t fuckin’ addiction.

  36. @Protesilaus: or what you could do is, do the exercise and reward your accomplishment with a chocolate shake. If you use low fat milk and icecream to make the shake, and throw a little whey powder in (not too much or else the shake will taste like whey and I don’t care how many awards a particular whey powder has won for taste, they still taste like ass). The calcium is good for weight loss, the added protein helps build lean muscle and that will also aid in weight loss. It’s a win win.

  37. I plan all my meals one day in advance.

    Due to a legal loophole, I am about to eat a HUGE amount of food at the exact beginning of the new year. In my timezone, I have two minutes and 47 seconds remaining. I’m starting to get the shakes.

    I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw such behaviour in the future. Thankfully, it doesn’t take effect for a few days…

  38. @jules505: I am totally going to get some tonight. FWB for the win. I’m a sex addict for enjoying sex, now? And *gasp* admitting that I HAVE sex and ENJOY sex?! Really? Wow. Talk about illogical.

  39. I think none of my pleasures are “guilty” really. Although there are a few things that make me feel guilty. Like slacking off at work to read skepchick, or WTF, or XKCD, or facebook, or whatever online really.

    Of course, slacking is part of who I am. If I wasn’t a lazy SOB, I probably wouldn’t have ended up in IT, where the mere thought of having to repeat an action more than two or three times is a reason to start writing a script that does it for you in one click. Even if said script takes 10 times longer to write and bugtest than the original actions would have ever taken.

  40. Oops, that was meant to read “there are a few things that make me feel a little “naughty” …“. Otherwise, it doesn’t really make much sense …

  41. @jules505: Yeah, but you’re basically insinuating that those of us who mentioned masturbation (OH NO PEOPLE MASTURBATE) in a “guilty pleassure” post sex addicts. That’s … lol.

    I knew someone who was diagnosed as a sex addict. I don’t know if it’s a real diagnoses, to be honest, but … yeah, talking about masturbation on the ‘net is not sex addiction. Period.

    I find it interesting that you’re on a skeptical site, to be honest, if you think talking about sex is somehow BAD.

  42. @marilove: I’ve no evidence to support this, but I reckon virtually every health adult masturbates at least a couple of times a week, if not every other day!

    The odd thing is that although pretty much everyone’s doing it, it’s talked about in the most scornful terms, if it’s talked about at all!

    When I was 13 I thought I had developed an awful wanking compulsion because I was waxing my plank every night. A 13 yo today would probably think they’d become a sex addict.

    It was only when I told my GP, who told me that pretty much every 13 yo boy was just the same as me and as long as I wasn’t rubbing myself raw or doing it in public I had nothing to worry about. That’s still a good rule of thumb I think.

    The whole “is it interfering with your life” thing is rubbish because pretty much every teenager’s obession with sex interferes with their life and hasn’t everyone opted to stay in bed rather than go to work/have breakfast/do anything else in the first flush of a relationship?

  43. @russellsugden: Well said Russell

    I’ve been dealing with issues around sex crimes, sexual abuse of children and juvenile sex offenders and youth who are designated as sexually aggressive for about twenty five years. These are issues of significant pathology, safety concerns and often involve criminal behavior. Labels and language really do matter and I wholly agree that labeling what is more often than not normal behavior as pathological is never helpful and often exceedingly harmful.

    Many of the practitioners who say they “treat” sexual addictions fail to say that this “disorder” is not mentioned in the DSM (not sure if it will be in the new one, but I doubt it) and IMHO is often nothing more than some form of very non scientific Puritan morality therapy. Just because you may feel guilty about doing something does not mean what you have done is immoral, evil, wrong or pathological. Some rational thought is often the best antidote for (often debilitating) irrational guilt feelings.

  44. @russellsugden: I’m glad to hear this, I really thought I had a problem, I’ll be sure to cancel my electroshock treatment now that I know that masturbation is just a normal part of life.

    On a side note, inside certain circles I’ve noticed that:
    female masturbation= female sexual liberation and a sort of steamy edginess coming from the acknowledgment that women have libidos.

    male masturbation= Ewwww, that’s pathetic, and you have a psychological disorder.

  45. @russellsugden: i’m a girl but i started masturbating pretty young and i always felt guilty about it before my mom was discussing sex with me and was like “masturbating is NORMAL!” i love my momma.

    @skepticalhippie: Inside certain circles that may be true, but in mainstream it’s not. women aren’t supposed to have a sex drive, remember? women don’t masturbate! i have met many (MANY) women who have NEVER MASTURBATED because they think “women don’t DO THAT!”

    with men, it’s normal. with women, well, we women don’t have any sexual desire, why would we masturbate?!

    anyway porn is awesome. that is all.

  46. I’m glad I never felt guilty about masturbation even when I was a fundy christian. I don’t know why, because I felt guilty about everything else. But at least I was spared that! :-)

    Now I only feel guilty when I eat chocolate. Mainly because I know heartburn will be following. It’s like feeling bad that you got caught, not that you committed the crime!

  47. @writerdd: That’s interesting to me, because in the Catholic diocese(s) (WTF is the plural of diocese, anyway??) I had the misfortune of growing up in, that was one of the things the priests and nuns were very, very harsh about. They seemed to work hard on the idea that sex was bad and just a necessary evil to propagate the race, and even married couples shouldn’t enjoy it too much. :-( They never actually came out and said that sex was a “necessary evil,” but it sure seemed like they felt it was that way. This coming from a bunch of celibates (supposedly). Then again, could have been envy, eh?

    At any rate, there are lots of Catholic and ex-Catholics out there that are feeling tremendously guilty about sex, either way. That’s a terrible thing to do to people. It’s very hard to shake off any any “programming” that one gets in one’s youth.

    What a warped view of the world… :-(

  48. Wow! I didn’t think that comment would cause such a stir. I never said masturbation was wrong. I never said people shouldn’t look at porn. I do both on occasion. I was not “equating masturbation with sexual addiction.” I was equating the compulsion to speak about masturbation on every single AI with sexual addiction. What made me feel concerned is that nearly every discussion here is interrupted by a comment about sex or masturbation, (usually by the same participants) which makes me suspect a preoccupation in the minds of those people. Or maybe they ARE teenagers. If so, I apologize. They can’t help it. It was funny at first, but now it’s just frustrating to me because I’m here to discuss issues we skeptics are facing in our world and I think there are so many more issues to debate about other than sex!
    As to the debate about whether sexual addiction even exists, wouldn’t you agree that people who engage in such activities, like masturbation, at inappropriate times (such as at work or in the car-yikes!) may have a problem? And I am speaking of adults, not teenagers.

    I do think that sex should be open for discussion. Just not every discussion. How did anyone glean from my comment that sex shouldn’t be discussed with children? Really? You guys wrote me off as a real prude, which is quite hilarious. However, as a mother of three who has been married nearly 13 years, perhaps I may just be too far removed from the hormone-driven ages to relate to any of you. Which makes me curious about the age of the average Skepchick reader. Does anyone know what that may be?

  49. @James Fox: I don’t know if this is true of the U.S. but in Britian, as late as the 1980’s, Women were locked up in Mental Hospitals for being “Promiscous” (which usually ment a 17 yo middle class girl having an 18 yo working class boyfriend) and/or having a Baby out of wedlock. My home town of Dewsbury had a special “Mental Hospital” just for “fallen women” which didn’t close until the early 90’s. A lifetime’s incarceration had driven many of the women if not mad, then certainly unable to survive outside such institutions. The younger one’s who’d been locked up a few years previously were able to leave, but the older ones who’d been inside since the 1920/30’s were too messed up or frail to leave so they ended up staying put. It caused quite a scandal when the local paper uncovered it all in the mid-80’s, it’d been going on for more than 100 years but hardly anyone in the town knew about it because no one ever spoke about it.

    @skepticalhippie: Yeah why is that about women wanking and men wanking? I’ve heard some feminists say that men who masturbate and have fantasys have an imature sexuality. Which must mean 99% of the male population (gay, straight or bi) don’t develope a mature sexuality until they reach 85. It’s a weird Phallophobia that seems to have developed: any experession of desire or preferance on the part of men is, without question, inherently bad (not dissimilar to the Catholic Church’s position)

    @marilove: I went to an All Boys Catholic School and it was made clear to us “the sin of impurity” would not only damage your eyesight (I started wearing glasses aged 12 so there may be something in that) but stunt your growth and drive you mad. When a classmate of mine in our Moral Instruction Class asked Father Eugene (all the teachers were Christian Brothers or Ordained Priests) if girls did that he said; “Now what a ridiculous question, why would a women do that?”

    He wasn’t even angry, it was as if he’d asked if fish prefer Bach or Mozart. It was only after I left school and went to college at 16 I had the life-changing epiphany that “Sweet Christ in Heaven, Girls want to do it just as much as us!” and ran off to tell my pals from school

  50. @QuestionAuthority: Oh yeah. I think that idea has caught on so much that part of the reason there was some reluctance to have all girls vaccinated against HPV (although uptake is now 95% in the UK) was because of the idea that VD is the price people must pay for enjoying sex in or outside of marriage.

    In Africa the Church is quite happy for women to die of AIDS rather than use condoms with their husbands. Bastards.

    Given the number of Priests who turned out to be Nonces (at least in the UK) it’s not suprising almost all of them had a warped view about sex as being an “unavoidable duty”, when they were litterally Buggering the Choirboys

  51. @jules505:
    I was planning to give a well thought out, mature, and articulate response to your statement, but seeing as I have to do some actual work before I leave for the day all you get is the following.

    1. I disagree that “every discussion here is interrupted by a comment about sex or masturbation ” I don’t think that is at all accurate.
    2. I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve talked about masturbation.
    3. The question was, “What guilty pleasures do you indulge in, and how do you deal with the consequences?” That was an underhand slow pitch, and I knocked it out of the park. Had I not done it someone else would have.
    4. I’m 26
    5. “wouldn’t you agree that people who engage in such activities, like masturbation, at inappropriate times may have a problem?”
    Yes but not with masturbation, rathier some other underlying psychological problem.
    6. masturbation=funny
    7. BOOBIES!!!, yes I’m that immature.

  52. I am 40 and i think masturbation is deadly serious but think that boobies are delightfully funny.

    For the record I am an ex Catholic and I don’t really feel that guilty about sex and am willing to prove it with whoever challenges me! Well almost anyone….please include a recent pic in your challenge….

  53. @skepticalhippie
    1.You’re right. That statement would be inaccurate. That’s why I said “nearly every.”
    2. I wasn’t directly accusing you.
    5. Exactly, and that underlying psychological problem would be, you’ve got it! Sexual addiction!
    Here’s my next question. Do the men who read Skepchick come here to flirt or to insert their Skeptical $.02? I’m not judging, just curious.

  54. I don’t feel guilty (or sorry) about anything I do. If I would feel guilty (or sorry) about it, I would feel guilty (or sorry) beforehand, and thus, I wouldn’t do it in the first place. My head’s bad enough off from Catholicism without me beating myself up intentionally.

    “Bad” habits I have today?

    Pot. It’s not my fault it’s illegal, and I do support NORML.

    Molson Canadian (“An honest brew makes its own friends”. – John Molson, 1786).

    Lurking more than I think I should. The thing about that is either someone already says what I would say, or I don’t think I have anything significant to contribute. I’m better at verbalizing than (non-technical) writing, but I’m working on it.

    “Yanking My Crank”. Something like 92% of men and 68% of women in the US and UK occasionally masturbate – I don’t recall where I read that. Also, my mom caught me when I was 13, and firmly (no pun intended) explained that it was a “Mortal Sin” that gOD wouldn’t forgive me for (i.e. I would be sent to hell) if I did it again, so I think it’s part of my rebellion against Catholicism.

    Free internet porn. See the above.

    Nude snorkeling. Always done away from the crowds. Yes, there is the potential problem of not finding the piece of coral that holds my shorts on the bottom. However, I never do it at low tide or when when shore conditions are not calm. I also keep a spare pair in my beach bag to minimize anyone’s embareassment (pun intended).

  55. @Many Comments: It seems our culture is such that other than (as George Carlin put it) “Man on top, get it over with quick”, sex, includnig discussion, is a bit of a taboo. Strange, since humans are one of the few creatures on the planet that are always sexually active.

  56. @jules505:

    1. I apologize for leaving out the word nearly, my bad, but still I disagree, I don’t think “NEARLY every discussion here is interrupted by a comment about sex or masturbation.” I could go back and actually do a tally but I’m going to pull a figure out of my ass (after I remove my butt plug, ok that was inappropriate and adds nothing to the discourse) and say it’s less than 1 in 10.
    2. I accept your apology
    5. I googled “Psychiatric Public Masturbation” and found this gem, “Compulsive or public masturbation may also occur in people who suffer from severe psychiatric illness, severe mental retardation or dementia. This behavior can be a special problem among male patients with chronic brain illnesses who require nursing-home care.” Sex addiction is suspiciously absent.

    And for your last question, I’m married so I don’t come here to flirt, and I wouldn’t say throw down my .02 dollars but rather I just get off on arguing…. and internet porn ….. with black chicks.

  57. @jules505: I come here because I enjoy the sense of community that I get from being here. I never thought of it as an exclusivly female club.

  58. @jules505: I’m 52 in Earth rotations, with two grown daughters and two grand-units. I’ve been accused of being a 10 year old, at times, like when I’m watching the Animaniacs. :-D In other words, if someone has a problem with me, it’s their problem, not mine. I’m too old to give a shit what other people think anymore. ;-)

    @russellsugden: “VD is the price they pay for sex out of marriage…” That’s almost funny in a sad sort of way. How do they explain all the innocent partners given STDs by their unfaithful partners? Same question comes up when the fundies claim that HIV is what gays deserve for homo-sex, not to mention, “What about the babies, surgery patients and hemopheliacs that get HIV via contaminated blood or medical equipment? Yeah. Exactly.

    Perhaps the Skepchicks community is a bunch of horndogs(horndog-ettes)? I come here for the skepticism, the banter and the thought that I don’t have to hold back my skepticism for fear of retaliation or hurting someone’s feelings.

    Somehow, I find it very demeaning for a deity to be reduced to watching to see if anyone is masturbating or not. It offends my sense of proportion. Doesn’t the onmipotent, omniescent doG have anything better to do in the unlimited time and space of the cosmos than to stare at our genitals? You’d think a Grand Designer would already know more about them than we ever will…

  59. My two guilty pleasures are: Chocolate Covered Bacon with Country Gravy. mmmm (thanks A)

    The other guilty pleasure is my love for the Grateful Dead (a band which carr2d2 cannot stand for some strange reason).

    To compensate for listening to Grateful Dead, I give carr2d2 massages every day.

  60. 1. mac + cheese –> “bootylicious” cut jeans
    2. letting my two 60 lb dogs sleep under the covers in my bed. –> promising my boyfriend i will wash the sheets frequently :]

  61. if its not clear, my guilty pleasure is BEFORE the arrow, and the way i deal with the consequences is AFTER the arrow. ..(i definitely dont find washing the sheets every other day pleasureable :] )

  62. @a.real.girl:
    Thanks A. I am pretty sure you can get my email address from my user information. I am not sure how the admin privileges work. Plus we exchanged emails a long time ago so you might still have it (right after you joined Skepchick).

  63. @Blake Stacey:

    Let’s see. Logically, then, if rubbing your genitals in response to pixels delivered over the Internet does not interfere with normal living or cause stress for family, for friends or in the working environment, it ain’t fuckin’ addiction.

    “Billy, what are you doing in there?”

    “Uh, rubbing my genitals in response to pixels delivered over the Internet”

    “Thank christ! We thought you might be masturbating!”

    @Tim3P0:

    The other guilty pleasure is my love for the Grateful Dead

    I can respect a Dead fan who acknowledges they have a problem. It’s all those oblivious unrepentant stinking hacky-sack zombies I can’t stand! (Joking! Kind of.)

  64. And FWIW, I always assume “Guilty Pleasures” refer to a fondness for unfashionable music, literature, movies or cuisine and not “things that increase the humidity in your shorts”.

  65. @jules505:

    Here’s my next question. Do the men who read Skepchick come here to flirt or to insert their Skeptical $.02? I’m not judging, just curious.

    Why can’t it be both?
    Actually, personally I come here to insert my skeptical 2 cents as well as the occasional pun and/or joke. More frequently the former than the latter ’cause my jokes aren’t always funny. But funny enough apparently that they still condone my presence here …

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