Guilty Pleasures

I love it when Leisure Girl posts about her love of YA books or teen TV, because it gives me respite from the shame I usually carry.

I'm surrounded by cool people: people who listen to bands I've never heard of and watch movies that depress me, people who only read books that educate them or push boundaries of social acceptability, people who would totally mock me if they knew I was going to the New Kids on the Block concert next week. From time to time, I harbor some shame that I enjoy pop music, movies with happy endings (old, new, kitschy, whatev!), read books generally reserved for the pubescent populus, and, dare I say it, play video games, but, dammit, I will no longer be ashamed!

I am ever so aware that these are choices I make for a reason. If you notice, I like the things that are easy to come by, positive in nature and free from the over-analytical self-awareness that weigh down the everyday. I am aware of the world around me and of the world within me, but I've already taken the time to measure the lack. I want to be fancy free and to wear my contentedness like a lapel pin.

Please, feel free to do the same, even if your happiness rests in Sufjan Stevens or Chuck Polohniak (or Palahniuk, if you wanna be a big nerd about it - John!).

Biggest Potential Shames:
Jane Austen (books & movies)
Meg Cabot
Twilight
boy bands
Murder, She Wrote re-runs
Pushing Daisies
Wicked & Phantom of the Opera
choreographed dances to Michael Jackson songs
Movie Soundtracks (Thomas Newman!)
Nick & Nora
Fred & Ginger

Wall-E

What a lovely, fun movie!

I heartily suggest seeing Wall-E as a date movie if you're not a kid-toter and, perhaps, even if you are you can leave them at home and watch this without the distractions. (They will watch it a million times on dvd later anyway.)

The plot is precious and the characters endearing. The animation, as is usual with Pixar, sets the standard high above all other animation thus far. For the first act of the show, you may even forget that it's animated.

Go see it, it will be ticket money well-spent.