You see, I’m pretty comfortable in the geek world.  To me, being a fan of Mythbusters or Firefly or Lord of the Rings is, frankly, mainstream.  And I’ve noticed that some things that geeks will list as guilty pleasures – like singing along to Dr. Horrible or building a theremin – are not their guilty pleasures at all.  They might not bring it up at work, but for one, they don’t really feel guilty talking about it, and for another, they know it will earn them geek cred.

On the other hand, if I bring up Dancing With the Stars on my Twitter, I get a few crickets and a tumbleweed blowing by.

Yes, somehow, entertainment designed for the masses has become my guilty pleasure.  It always has been, really.  When I was in high school and my friends were listening to Atari Teenage Riot, I had a Savage Garden CD.  I always seem to have one foot in several countercultures, but I never jump all the way into any one of them, and my love for pop culture (call me a modern history buff) has endured.

So here I am, coming out of the closet.  I’m a musician that can go on for hours about Rachmaninoff or Cursive, but when I turn on Pandora it’s usually on the channel for Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.”  I’m excited on Wednesday mornings because I can go on Hulu and watch the previous night’s episode of Make It or Break It. I know that these things aren’t cool, in the mainstream world or the geek one, but it’s the kind of nerd I really am.

And I want to know, really – what are your guilty pleasures?

Well, I realized last week that I’ve done it again – I’ve settled right back into my knee-jerk, resist-what-people-are-fawning-over ways.  And no, I’m not talking about Avatar.

I’m talking about Felicia Day.

It’s not her fault, really.  I didn’t even really know who she was.  My snobbery started with Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.  Everyone, from friends all the way to Wil Wheaton, said I should watch it – and it was usually in the same breath with “Joss Whedon omg!”  Now, I liked Buffy, and I really liked Firefly, but something in my cynical soul has always kept me from really jumping on that man’s bandwagon.  So… I just didn’t watch it.

Then, when I heard about The Guild, it was always in the context of, “If you like Dr. Horrible…”  or “influenced Dr. Horrible!” or “Joss loves this girl!”  So… yeah.  You can guess what happened next – or didn’t happen, really.

So then last weekend I was in the company of lots of people who said I should watch those things.  And I couldn’t get away, and they had laptops.  Up went Dr. Horrible.  Surprisingly, I liked it much more than I thought I would (Whedon’s songs usually grate on me).  Then they showed me the first episode of The Guild.

Oh my God.  I laughed so hard I was crying.  I’ve played World of Warcraft for years, but most of the time I was solo – I’ve only belonged to an actual guild for six months or so.  In that respect, I’m almost glad I didn’t see The Guild until now, when I can appreciate it all the more.  I only saw the first episode that day, but then I went home and watched the rest of it.   All in one sitting.

Now I’m something of an instant fangirl.  One way late to the party, but there just the same – and I’m not afraid to admit it.  And as for Felicia Day herself… I’m not going to pretend I’m as cool as she is, but she’s easy to relate to.  She reminds me of some of my friends.  Now I’m following her on Twitter, and she’s probably my second-favorite celebrity to read, behind Grant Imahara.

My name is J, and I like discovering things on my own, in my own time – but I’m trying to change that.

So tell me: what else should I be watching?  Or reading?