10 Guilty Pleasures

A friend challenged me to name my 10 Guilty Pleasures, and like her I am finding it hard to reach 10 - but here goes...in no particular order...

1) Crime novels - I was turned onto Rebus when we were studying genre fiction at art school. I am picky though - I like a crime novelist to be a decent writer too. I like writers like Henning Mankell, Ian Rankin, Kathy Reichs, and Tom Ben...

2) Star Trek - but not Captain shirt-off and your original Trekkies. No I am talking TNG. Yes I know it is cheesy, but there is something hugely comforting about the whole Next Generation universe - and it's not just Jean Luc Picard with his uber sexy voice.

3) Cheesy music - you know the kind of tracks that you don't want to your ipod to play when your poetry group is round. I am talking Abba, The Bee Gees, Adam and the Ants, James Blunt etc. and those tracks where you don't even know who the artist is like "Sleep all Day and Party All Night"...oh well it's out there now...

4) Crisps - chocolate is nice, but if it's in the house I do not feel compelled to eat it. Savoury snacks though, are anther matter - crisps, curry crackers, wasabi peanuts...keep them away from me!

5) Pot Noodle - I get the craving for one of these about twice a year - god knows why - they are full of crap - it must be nostalgia or something...or MSG. But when you get the craving only a Pot Noodle will do, and preferably spicy curry flavour.

6) 70s TV series - The Waltons - yes very cheesy I know but I grew up with it, and in what other TV series can you hear entire poems by people like Walt Whitman? I am sure The Waltons set me on the path to being a writer. Other 70s gems I love are The Wombles, Hector's House, Survivors (you gotta love the BBC), Citizen Smith, Butterflies, Starsky and Hutch, The Tomorrow People and of Doctor Who with Jon Pertwee as The Doctor. 

7) Kindle - I said I didn't want one - in fact I was vociferously anti. I was given one as a present and was almost instantly converted. I still buy and read books - and poetry doesn't really work on the kindle, but the kindle has given me a new lease of reading life. It is great for BIG books, it is great for going away, it means slightly less book clutter in my house, you can get lots of free classics, and, most importantly you can make the text bigger which means I can now read comfortably in the evening when my eyes are tired. 

8) odd and retro crockery - I have 70's vortex plates, a Rob Brandt Crushed Cup, and a siletti silver milk carton milk jug -  I love them.

9) My retro style turquoise trim phone - I love it -i t looks good, it feels good and actually it is much more comfortable to hold and talk on than the modern all in one jobbies.

10) 80's films - The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, desperately Seeking Susan...you know the kind of thing. Best watched on your own in your comfiest clothes and under a blanket.