Sometimes you need an escape. Some place safe you can retreat to that won’t get you upset. Instead, it will hopefully lift your spirits or at least take your mind off your woes.
I’ve been reflecting on movies and music a lot this week. Maybe because it’s the end of the year and it’s a time to reflect. Maybe because I’ve been surrounded with so much music and movies because of the holidays. Maybe because I’ve been extra busy and a little more stressed. Maybe because I’m a glutton for punishment I opened up my journal and read some entries from while I was dating the last guy.
Today I was thinking about how I escape into some pretty awful guilty pleasure pop culture.
Sometimes a fluffy pop culture movie is more than what it seems at first glance. Here are some of my examples of pop culture moments that I am embarrassed to admit, but they cheer me up and make me feel better.
- Anything I have already listened to a million times- old John Mayer or Jason Mraz (their first albums) because I’ve heard it so many times I don’t think about it anymore. I just belt out the familiar lyrics and I stop thinking.
- Katy Perry’s music is bubble gum pop. It’s the definition of pop for crying out loud. But she has written some empowering music, whether it was to help her deal with her divorce or whether it was to lighten the load for the rest of us. Whatever, I love this video, it makes me smile.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so0J90qEdq0
- Taylor Swift. Please don’t judge me enjoying these two pop princesses, I don’t have their albums and their music is not on a heavy rotation cycle in my iTunes. I love what they stand for. I love that Taylor Swift is just a girl that worked her butt off, and she fearlessly puts her whole self out there. She’s freakin’ sassy, silly and fun. I enjoy her more in interviews and a handful of her radio hits (and their spoofs). Not so much for listening to the whole album straight through. Ditto for Beyonce.
- The sexiness of the men of True Blood will always make me feel better. Ditto for Magic Mike, The Tudors and anything with Ryan Gosling.
- Hand me a magazine. Any magazine. I am in heaven for twenty minutes. My mind takes a breather. I had sworn off Cosmo and other magazines like that years ago, but surprisingly I still want to flip through them every once in a while. Then I am reminded why I despise them in the first place.
- Friends With Benefits with Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake is a pretty awesome movie. It cheers me up and makes me laugh, and I think it’s everyone’s fantasy that their friend with benefits would be one of these two actors. Not only are they easy on the eyes — clothed or unclothed — but they are funny and relatable.
- Tina Fey. I am a little late to the game, but I just finished Bossypants and I loved it. I started re-watching 30 Rock so that I can keep laughing through some of the tough memories that I will share with you later this week. I love her self-deprecating humor, I love her improv background (I did a lot of improv myself, and loved it), I love the way she sneaks in her witty comments and snarky comments.
- Garfunkel and Oates!! Not quite pop, but they are hysterical and will make me laugh. Ah, it feels good to relate to snarky single women in their thirties. Someone else knows what I’m going through and is cracking me up over how sad it all feels sometimes.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-gfxjAaZg0
I am sure my list could go on for pages and pages. Sometimes the mind just needs a breather. What are your guilty pleasures? Don’t be afraid, I won’t judge! Share in the comments below.
Single Gal Starting Over 