The Real "My Faves" List

I read an article in Salon today* about those ubiquitous lists of favorites you see on almost every blog (including mine). You've got the books, drinks, foods, music, and more all listed in their grandeur on some side column. The author brings up the obvious point that these are really fabrications we exhibit to give people the impression of us that we want them to have. We often have guilty favorites that we would never dare to display publicly.

If you know me, you know that I'm fairly open with my interests and often instead of hiding a guilty pleasure I rationalize it until it becomes a badge of superiority instead of something I should be ashamed of. Still, there are things that I don't always want out there because they go against my preferred image of being intelligent, slightly dorky, and open-minded. I've even briefly considered not listening to certain songs I like on my computer because Last.fm reports what I play on my computer on my blog. Of course, I went ahead and played them anyway, but I almost didn't. To completely out myself and to give you a better feel for the real me, here are a few of the consumerist things about me that I tend to avoid talking about because they don't fit the image I'm trying to sell.

1. I go to Wal-Mart at least once a week. It's true that if I had any realistic option I'd never set foot in the place, but when you live in a small town, there aren't many options. The closest town where Wal-Mart isn't the best option for groceries and many other necessities is an hour and a half round trip away. I still hate the place and the disgrace they call a produce section, but at least they have a lot of the organic products and free range eggs I buy when my chickens aren't laying.

2. Neutrogena Oil Free Face Wash. I've used this stuff religiously since high school. It costs too much, but I don't like the way my face feels if I just use soap. I actually get a little upset if I travel and forget to pack my bottle. This seriously goes against my "personal hygiene is necessary but should never be taken seriously" stance, but I'm ok with the contradiction.

3. Greek on ABC Family. The show sucks. I'm aware of that, but whenever K turns it on I actually end up paying attention and getting caught up in the show. Actually, I don't think she even turns the channel to Greek, but actually tunes in for the Gilmore Girls reruns earlier and then forgets to change the channel. It probably doesn't hurt that the actresses on that show have amazingly beautiful faces. They tend to be sticks so there's no distraction to draw attention below the neck, but there are some seriously hot eyes on that show and I don't mean that figuratively.

4. Krystal burgers. I'm just going to say that I sometimes get cravings for these even when entirely sober. If you're too high and mighty and look down on this, I guarantee if you gave me an honest list of what you eat in a month I could find a couple of you typical food items worthy of much mockery. I've seen some of you eat before.

5. Yesterday's post title was a lyric from a Lynyrd Skynyrd song that I only looked up to make sure I got the wording exactly right. I've got a couple of their albums in my mp3 player and on the CD shelf. I rank their unplugged album right up there with Nirvana Unplugged in New York in the great unplugged albums.

6. I have an addiction to carbonation. Not caffeine, but carbonation. I can go weeks, months, or years without caffeine (and I've done that before), but I start getting weird without at least one carbonated beverage every couple of days. I used Sprites for my fix back in college when I'd given caffeine up entirely. I use Sierra Mist Free to sate that need for bubbles now. And it's got to be that force carbonated fix of a soda. The soft carbonation of a beer doesn't cut it.

7. I buy pre-sliced cheese. I won't lower my standards below the extra sharp cheddar and such from Sargento, but if you look in our fridge, you'll usually find this sort of cheese-like-substance in my fridge. You'll only hear me talk about the stuff I picked up at Whole Foods if you ask me about my favorite cheeses, but this is what goes on the sandwich. I can't bring myself to lower my standards to whatever it is that comes individually wrapped in those blocks of yellow slices, so I guess I can't be made fun of too much.

*If you checked the blog on Friday (or even most of Saturday) and didn't see this post, it was because it wasn't there. I had written this and sent it in to the blog on Friday but had saved the editing and posting until we got to a good hotel. Unfortunately, the place we stayed had no internet connection. I just got back home from my cousin's Georgia Tech graduation a few minutes ago and tidied up this post before writing the post for today.