This post was first published on 26 June, 2012.

One of my all-time favourite quotes is from Bertrand Russell who said:

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

I quote him often to anyone who will listen as a justification for my penchant for not doing very much at all sometimes. It got me thinking about things that I call my guilty pleasures: things that make me happy and might surprise readers. I’d be very interested in hearing your guilty pleasures, too!

Watching The Bold and The Beautiful

I don’t watch TBATB every day, but I catch it when I can. There is nothing nicer than getting home from work early on a Friday, settling down with the a nice cup of tea and groaning at the shenanigans of Brooke, Ridge, Stephanie, Bill, Steffie, Hope et al. When I have admitted this guilty pleasure to others though, they have been quite shocked and more or less implied: what’s a smart woman like you doing watching a show like that? All I can say is that it ticks all the boxes: fashion, fun and a showcase of people whose lives and families are more f*cked up than mine. What’s not to like?

Wine and chocolate

Every night after my dinner I always have chocolate, even when I was doing Lite n’ Easy. Most times I have a glass or two of wine: red in winter, rose or white in summer. And I’m not talking the high-brow, expensive stuff here. I have very cheap taste in wine, and I can honestly say that the cask is the best friend of the solo drinker. My chocolate of choice, though, is Lindt but I have been known to enjoy Nestle’s chocolate almonds or Haigh’s macadamias. I have recently discovered Lindt’s peanut butter balls, and they are to die for. I have already told my daughter to get me a box for Christmas. That’s all I want.

Fried pork dumplings

I discovered my penchant for dumplings when I was in China last year, and was worried that I would return to Adelaide and not be able to satiate my recently acquired cravings. Luckily, Adelaide has a thriving Chinese community, and the Dumpling King serves dumplings as good as anywhere in China. My favourite way to eat them is pan-fried, then doused in enormous quantities of vinegar and chilli jam.

Red-penning menus, or anything else that requires it

There is nothing more satisfying than spotting, and then correcting spelling errors. I must admit that was one of the pleasures of being an English teacher, and that habit still continues today. I find that menus, greengrocer and butcher signs are the worst culprits, although I have noticed that newspaper standards are slipping. I was an editor for a while, and found I liked that job, although government annual reports are not pleasant things to work through because of the yawn factor. I can’t do online dating because I am put off by the number of spelling errors in potential dates’ profiles.

Staying in my PJs all day

Some days (mostly Saturdays) I do not get out my PJs and just lie around in bed all day watching DVDs, TV or reading, with the cat right next to me, purring. I get up to make something to eat, but return to my bed to consume what I made. It is the most slothful of activities, but it’s one of my favourite things. After a full-on week at work, the best stress relief is to not think or do and I can highly recommend it. But this non-activity is not for the faint-hearted: not many people can actually do nothing. They experience what I call “Guilt Creep” aka “I really should *do* something”.

Binge watching TV

The advent of box sets and being able to get one’s hands on complete seasons means that one no longer has to wait until next week’s episode to find out what happens. I now watch entire seasons in one or two sittings across a couple of days. It is the best way to watch TV: continuity, no ads, and it’s a wonderful way to get really involved in the story. Often, I will binge watch on a weekend. And preferably in my PJs. 😉