Addictions (Mostly Benign)

Last week I started working with a new group of students for a summer course at the university I attend. One of the things I told my students about is my addiction to email. I can't help but feel that I need to work on this addiction, but as some of my friends have pointed out, I could be addicted to worse things. However, this realization has made me think about all of the things I compulsively use on a regular basis. While most of them are fairly benign but others are just downright embarrassing.

• Email - My addiction to email does not stem from a love of email. I could actually take or leave it. However, I hate having a full inbox or unread messages. As soon as I get a message, I will read it and respond to it if possible. It drives me more than a little crazy to know that I might have a message that needs attention. If I ever get an iPhone, there will be no going back
• Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me! - I listen to Wait, Wait... on a regular basis (particularly when doing office work at one of my jobs). I keep working through all of the different episodes and I listen to the current episode all week on my iPod. However, it is an NPR show, so it can't be an addition that is too bad...
• Books - This should come as no surprise, but I adore books. I would (and have) lived off of peanut butter sandwiches just so I can use money for books rather than food. Unfortunately, this is a somewhat problematic addiction. For one, buying books (which makes me really happy) is expensive; even buying remainders (which are deeply discounted overstocked books) or used books can be expensive. Even though I use BookMooch, I can't always find what I'm looking for. The other problem that comes with constantly buying books is the fact that I have run out of shelf space, and my one-bedroom apartment isn't necessarily conducive to collecting books.
• Magazines - I suppose this goes along with my book addiction. Right now, I'm trying to convince myself that renewing all of my 7 magazines is not necessary.
  
• The Food Network - There's something about this channel, which is really just food porn, that intrigues me.
• Harlequin Presents romance novels - I don't read these, but I do find the titles and plots so bizarrely amusing that I can't help but chortle to myself when I pass a display in a bookstore. What makes them so funny? Well, these books seem to feature an absurdly large number of Greek tycoons, sheiks, millionaires, and virgins. Any book entitled The Spaniard's Defiant Bride is guaranteed to make me laugh.