Rant #1,408: Guilty Pleasures

The last two columns here have been about the WWE's Wrestlemania, so let's continue talking about guilty pleasures.

What is a guilty pleasure?

My definition is something that you would admit to enjoying that goes against the norm of what you normally like or what society thinks you should like.

Professional wrestling is certainly one of my guilty pleasures, and I certainly have several others.

For instance, although I don't like today's humor, I have nothing against more "adult" humor if it is well done and taken in context, not thrown into shows just to show how "hip" and "with it" they are.

Thus, I do like the TVLand show "Hot in Cleveland," much of it having to do with the cast, including Betty White and, of course, Valerie Bertinelli.

I have been seemingly watching these two my whole life, certainly growing up with Bertinelli on TV as I grew up myself.

She was the only reason I watched "One Day At a Time," a bit of TV nostalgia that I doubt I could watch with any regularity today.

She has had her ups and downs--in both her life and her weight--but I have to say that she looks terrific right now.

As for White, she has seemingly been around forever, and, in fact, she has been around forever.

Heck, the woman is 93 years old, so she has been around forever.

She had her own excellent career, but she always seemed to be very traditional, deferring to her husband, Alan Ludden, the host of the "Password" TV show.

When he passed away, she carved out her own career full force, and if there is a real TV Hall of Fame, Betty White appears to be that building's version of Babe Ruth.

And yes, the other members of the cast, including Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick, and occasional guest star Georgia Engel, are also very good in their roles.

The ladies all seem to be having such a good time making this show, and that feeling transfers over to the audience.

The show is going off the air after this season, and I will miss it. Each show gave me some laughs.

Another guilty pleasure can be found in the music I listen to.

I love 1960s music. It is really my heart and soul.

But I will, from time to time, move out of that era and listen to music of other periods. I grew up in the 1960s and early 1970s, and I became an adult in the 1980s, so I do have some favorites from the 1970s, 1980s, and yes, even the 1990s that I like to listen to from time to time.

One of those artists who carved a niche for themselves in the 1980s and early 1990s is Howard Jones. I think the guy's pop sense was his biggest draw to me, even though his music is rife with synthesizers and sounds oh so dated today.

Every time I hear "Things Can Only Get Better," it becomes an earworm that I cannot get out of my head. It is probably the poppiest tune that I have ever liked, such an '80s/MTV song that I guess most people turn their noses up at it.

But I have always liked that song, and I have found I like a lot of his other stuff, including "What Is Love," "No One Is To Blame," and "Lift Me Up." As you know, for some reason, I cannot put up videos here anymore, so just go to YouTube and refresh your memory on this guy. 

Now that I think about it, I think the positive nature of his songs really makes me like them.

So there you go, three guilty pleasures, things that I like that convention says I really shouldn't like, but I do anyway.

We all have them; what are yours?