Do you want unusual guilty pleasures? I’m here to provide. Let’s start with food.
Peanut butter cinnamon rice: Imagine a treat just solid enough to feel like a real meal rather than a condiment, but just gooey enough to get your taste buds salivating. That’s peanut butter cinnamon rice for me. The hot, fluffy jewels, the silky peanut butter, the 20 or 30 shakes of cinnamon — it’s brought me immeasurable comfort since my First-Year days.
Culver’s mixers: I’ll have you know, I was alive for the end of the frozen yogurt phase, and I survived the Dippin Dots fad. I’ve hit up every old-fashioned parlor in South Carolina. None of these even come close to Culver’s mixers. Oreo and mint, chocolate and peanut butter cups, salted caramel and cookie dough — each mixer offers a perfect pairing of coolness, texture, and flavor. but really, it’s the classic custard base that deserves all the praise. Immeasurably creamy, delightfully light… did I mention I’m (sort of) vegan?
Pole dancing: Hear me out on this last one. I confess, since she set it up in her living room, I’ve grown to love my sister’s pole. Sure, pole-dancing can enhance sexual self-ownership and confidence. But for me, as a dancer, I simply appreciate synchronizing mind and body to access a whole new orientation. To do so with a very thin, vertical object presents an extra vestibular and proprioceptive challenge. My first experience, I was nervous as my hands gripped the metal, preparing to give my outward leg a hefty swing so as to then propel myself backwards. But the momentum did the work, and suddenly I was flying. I was weightless. In my mind, spinning is one of the greatest joys lost with the arrival of the adult world. And for what? Propriety? Hullabaloo. I say get yourself a pole and go at it. Grandma will survive.
