Guilty Pleasures revealed by Linda Morris

Guilty Pleasures

I can't spend all my time writing (although sometimes I feel like I do), so what do I do when I'm not writing? Like everybody else, I've got some guilty pleasures that I fall back on when the deadline pressure and long hours get to be too much. For some reasons, two things seem to call my name when I'm burned out.

My first guilty pleasure is chocolate. I don't think I'm anywhere close to being alone when I say that I crave it when I'm stressed, tired, or in need of a lift. It's a magical elixir as far as I'm concerned. I love it. Looking at this picture gets my mouth watering:

As a recently dianosed prediabetic, I can't eat much these days: I have to pretty much be satisfied with one or two pieces. And I can't really go for these truffly things either with their sugary syrups and fillings --

I'm more of a dark chocolate kind of girl these days, maybe with almonds or hazelnuts thrown in for extra fiber and protein. (Dark chocolate with nuts, especially in small portions, is a surprisingly healthy sweet fix for diabetics.) Something like this is just what the doctor (or diabetic nutritionist) ordered:

But as I said, I'm limited to a square or two a day, and I have more stress than can be alleviated by just a bite or two of chocolate, so where to turn? To my second guilty pleasure, home shopping.

Let me say up front that I seldom buy things from QVC or HSN, although I have. But I enjoy watching nonetheless. Why? Sometimes it's simple window-shopping. I may not be able to buy everything I like, but I can admire it anyway. Sometimes it's simple entertainment when my brain is tired and the news is depressing, the sitcoms aren't funny, and it's three more months until baseball season resumes.

Other times, though, I find the relentless cheer of the hosts and hostesses kind of amusing, especially in the face of unpredictable live TV. Watching the call-it-like-she-sees-it Joan Rivers bluntly describe the way a model was wearing her jewelry as "ugly" and then hearing the hostess scramble to cover for her through her laughter is a hoot. So is hearing a popular middle-aged clothing designer drop the "sh" bomb on live TV (as in, "I like to get together with my girlfriends so we can talk about what sh*ts our husbands are") as the friendly smiling host tries to stave off apoplexy. Or this classic moment, when a host (very understandably) mistakes a moth for a horse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv5woNs9WRE&NR=1

Well, who can blame him? Horse, moth, they're all the same. Callers bring a whole different kind of fun, like when they're supposed to be raving about how great a product is, but start complaining instead, forcing the host to furiously backpedal and end the call.

Home shopping is my second great guilty pleasure: free, fun, and it doesn't elevate my blood sugar a bit.

Please come back on the 15th to learn more aboout me and my books Montana Belle and Forget-Me-Not