CC from The Life and Times of a Confused Twenty-Something tagged me over Thanksgiving for what could potentially be a very risque meme named Six Guilty Pleasures. Dedicated readers of SKOS (which should be all of you since my blog’s very addictive) will recognize CC as the inspiration behind my Dear Reader: A Three Hour Tour? post from September.

So do I have any guilty pleasures? No, of course not. But read on anyway.

Name six guilty pleasures no one would suspect you of having:

1. I like Mandy Moore. No, not as an actress (although she’s not bad). And no, not for her looks (although she is very pretty). I like her music. Okay, that is a slight exaggeration – I like one song of hers.

2. I like to watch the Food channel. Specifically, I like Alton Brown of the show Good Eats and Giada De Laurentiss of the show Everyday Italian. I like one for being funny and witty, the other for being easy on the eyes. I’ll let you figure out who is who.

3. I tell people I have them because “ladies like them,” but the truth of the matter is my home is filled with vanilla candles because I like them. Don’t judge me, people. They smell good.

4. I liked the group Blessid Union of Souls and wish that they’d make a comeback.

5. I like blondes. And brunettes. And red heads. Basically, I like any cute female with hair on her head. And to be perfectly honest, the hair probably isn’t necessary.

6. I have a pair of snake-skin cowboy boots in my closet that I bought my freshman year of college. I’m not a cowboy. I do not like country music. But I do believe the definition of coolness is yours truly, wearing snake-skin cowboy boots, walking down the aisle of a grocery store.

Name six pleasures you once considered guilty but have now either abandoned or made peace with:

1. In the 90s, I liked the song The Sign by Ace of Base. As a rock guy, I tried to remain immune to its poppiness. But alas, I failed. It was too catchy, too disposable, too Swedish. The lyrics were just too deep:

I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes
I saw the sign
Life is demanding without understanding

Makes you think. Life is demanding without understanding.

2. Coffee. I don’t care if it stunts my growth – I’m going to drink it anyway!

3. Some time ago, I made peace with being a “cat” person. Most guys like dogs, but not me. Dogs are loud – they bark any time they hear a noise, which is every ten seconds. Dogs are also dumb – they bark any time they hear a noise, which is every ten seconds. Dogs are also annoying – they bark any time they hear…

Cats, on the other hand, are laid back. They’re easy going. And, in certain cases, they are the very definition of awesome.

4. I like all Kevin Costner movies. All of them. Yes, all of them.

5. When I sit down on a couch, I have to have a pillow. Sometimes I keep it in my lap, sometimes I put it to my side, and sometimes I just hold it. But I have to have it. It’s been argued I use the pillow to strategically hide holes in my bluejeans, but that’s not true. I just need a pillow. Why? Beats me.

6. Sleeping in on Saturday mornings is one of life’s great pleasures. Many a time have I considered throat punching someone after being awakened before nine o’clock in the morning on a Saturday. To quote Bruce Banner, “you’re making me angry… you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”

Thanks for the tag, CC. Okay, I will go the lazy route and tag everyone who reads this. What’s that? You don’t wanna? You’re not chicken, are ya? Are you sure, because you’re exhibiting major chicken-like tendencies right now. Just so you know…