five guilty pleasures.

bloggers form a community that follows its own rules of conduct. cross-linking and mutual commenting are some requirements, but there are other little quirks are well. one curious habit among bloggers is to give each other awards and challenge each other with memes. essentially these circulating questionnaires are innocent – they are the modern version of chain letters and friend notebooks.

as of late i have pondered my relationship with the blogosphere: the virtual communities' rules strengthen little bubbles for socializing, and awards play a part in this creation. oftentimes it seems the grasp on reality among bloggers becomes warped by the internet community: the internal communication takes place on another, reality-ridden level altogether. the bloggers i feel the need to extend more than a virtual shoulder pat towards are a rare few, but i know many socialize offline, as well, and meetings are not uncommon. many of these habits seem to feed the bloggers' need for peer support, but also create the illusion of there being an enviable blogista world out there somewhere that readers cannot become a part of, but bloggers should. let me assure that there isn't one.

nevertheless, approaching people one feels affinity towards is something i will concentrate on, and i will continue to hold the ones i find endearing close. i also think forming offline bonds with genuinely interesting people can be extremely satisfying, and believe i've made real friends through blogging. grand, now ain't it?

one of the more recent acquaintances is kamicha, who gave me the divine award that comes with a meme. i am to list 5 guilty pleasures of mine.

as kamicha, i hardly live my life regretting or feeling guilty over what i choose to do. as a self-proclaimed hedonist i have many habits i probably could or should feel guilt over, but my rationalizing skills save me from falling into self-induced emotional torture. pleasures, especially, are not something that i feel guilt over, but since i do recognize some discrepancies, i will try to list them here.

1. elitist contempt. my only real guilt inducing pleasure is to read discussion forums, especially the forum of helsingin sanomat. the sheer stupidity and ignorance of people is entertaining and ego-elevating. cheap thrills if there ever were any... the guilt is derived from the time i waste there because there's nothing newsworthy in many people being ignorant and prejudiced and needing reassurance by laughing at people makes me rather stupid, right? however, i do not comment, because that takes the guilt level a notch too high to my liking. generally speaking, i have no interest in communicating with people who are not capable of the standard i expect – my life's just too short for stick-figure explanations. and there are aplenty of people that deserve my precious benevolence (haha, sound smug enough yet?) and more than a few i consider worthy of pure admiration. therefore, this is one habit i am seriously working on rejecting.

2. shoes. although i cannot really say i feel guilt over shoe purchases, i have felt momentary regret (and nausea) over the revelation that i have spent ridiculous amounts on shoes i cannot walk in. here's an example of a pair i bought, pondered over for a while and arranged a strategic meeting with two friends i knew would never say "return them!" to back me up. stupid, because they require a completely flat surface for (very. careful.) walking and were, let's just say, several hundred euros. as one of the friends said i can always use them as bookends...

platform sandals by miumiu.

and for this to be a genuine guilty pleasure, i am willing to confess that this pair is not alone: this row of shoeboxes is just what came out of a closet we sold. there's more in other closets and in the storage. woops.



3. cheese, eaten plain. generally speaking, i don't feel guilty over eating: i eat as often as i want and what i want, and you won't find me divulging deploringly the amount of chocolate or pizza i crammed into my body – it is a part of women's socializing culture i fundamentally do not understand. nonetheless, i was brought up to believe that my favorite food, cheese in any form, should not be eaten plain, but accompanied with bread. the reasoning behind was simple: in a family of six, cheese consumption was significant and expensive, and i alone could have finished a block a day.

i am also aware that cheese is one of the most consuming food products: in many cases it is ecologically as devastating as meat production. another reason to feel guilty for my love of cheese. hence, i still feel slight guilt whenever i eat cheese plain. which is daily. gulp.

4. intoxication in great company. sitting down for a bottle (or two) of wine or five pints is something i definitely love in the right company. although i don't feel guilty after drinking because i'd screw anything up or thought socializing wasn't worth the expense, i do realize that leaving after a few less would be better considering the next day: i hate days that just pass by inefficiently if choose the leisure mode for the night before and not for the day following. the fun compensates the hangover guilt, though.

5. clothes. well, yes. the necessity argument is without basis in my case. every single purchase i make, whether old, new, borrowed or blue, raises issues of guilt. and comes with a significant dose of pleasure. much of this blog is about this particular guilty pleasure, so i'll just leave it at that this time.

there you have it. to act according to the blogger code of conduct, i shall pass this on: jaakko is simply divine, and so are salka, anna, petra and anu.