Guilty pleasures

Throughout our lives, we engage in random activities in private - those which we are ashamed of, which we wouldn't admit even to our closest friend.

Well, I am no different.

When I was young, in my birthday parties, we would make swim suit contests, dance contests, mimic REALLY BAD TV shows (like "Big Show Sic", the Portuguese will know this one) and so on. Me and my girlfriends would practice our dance moves for hours! Spice Girls's songs, of course. And we loved it!

Also when I was young, I remember sitting in front of the TV, watching VH1, MTV, Sic Radical (a Portuguese channel) and the like and taking notes of the songs I liked. I also remember watching Disney Channel for hours. No, I wasn't that young - these channels arrived when I was already 14 or so, I guess. The truth is I wasn't that ashamed of it. Well, I guess I am now. What a waste of time!

When I was in high school, me and a group of others in my class pretended we were doing something in gym class, when we were actually just chilling outside. We would only get up when the physical education teacher would come outside. And this was not because I didn't like the class or the teacher. I just hated the way they taught us sports! I also hated doing it in front of others... Because outside school, I was swimming 2 km every day and so on, I just didn't bother to do anything in class. Actually not in any class except Math and occasionally in other classes where the teacher was actually motivating.

Here is a proof: I am a marine biologist, I love it and I can't imagine myself doing anything else; but if you look at my biology grades... Actually, just don't. They were ok, but that's it, just ok. My biology teachers were almost always SO BORING! And the way they were teaching it was even worse. But well, I could make a post just about how bad the standard educational system is, but not in this one. I guess my guilty pleasure here was not making an effort to be better. I don't regret it though. Why would I?

In the University, I guess I was slightly unsocial. Not because I didn't want to go out, but because it's not easy to find motivating people. I hate to waste time with people that just don't have it. Anyway, my guilty pleasure here was spending HOURS watching movies and rating them. I could spend all day doing it and I loved it. The truth is I miss it terribly!

As I grew older, I had less time to watch movies, and fell into the trap: the TV series trap! Marathons of them! My excuse? It was easy to follow and it didn't require much of my time and attention: the characters are the same throughout, I already know the plot, etc. It was an "easy break" for my brain.

Now, with a baby, a full-time job and a man who loves to talk, my guilty pleasure is coming home from work, putting both baby and boyfriend to sleep and watching anything that requires ZERO brain activity - and this can be anything from "Grey's Anatomy" to "Game of Thrones" (yes, GoT fans, it's as bad!).

Sometimes, I even put a mask on my face (one that was given to me by the store where I buy shampoo and the like... Those that know me also know I would never buy these things myself) just because I CAN do it! Just to feel myself again, instead of just a mom, girlfriend, or housewife. The truth is: the baby wakes up sometime between my alone rituals to eat and the mask stays on my face for like 30 min or more instead of just 5 or 10 min like the package says... But who's counting?

And there you have it - my list of guilty pleasures!