Been there, done that. Now I enjoy my cup of tea.

I was once an intellectual girl. For example, I loved art. I used to visit art galleries "just for fun" and I often got VIP invitations to see new exhibitions in advance. And I wasn't picky; I enjoyed all art, I liked modern installation artwork as much as I liked old classics. I also enjoyed classical music, especially ballet music by Tchaikovsky. And do I have to mention that I loved opera and ballet too? I saw my first opera when I was about eleven, because I wanted to see it. My family thought I was crazy, but for me it was like the best thing ever.

I was also very into reading. I read basically all the time. I did read the same silly juvenile books as my friends, but since I was a fast reader, I was able to throw many classics into the mix as well. I read the Egyptian when I was a fifth-grader. That book is about as thick as the bible. I read Wuthering Heights, some D.H. Lawrence, books after books after books. And I seriously wanted to become a novelist. I wrote stories. I wrote poems. Miraculously I even got some of my writings published and I kept planning my great debut novel.

But look at me now. I'm far from being an intellectual. I can't stand serious novels anymore. Last year I read Anna Karenina and it was such a waste of time. I hardly read any books nowadays, and if I do, the books I read are usually far from being "quality": if there's no romance in it, it's not worth it. I prefer glossy fashion magazines over books. Cheesy pop tunes over great composers.

And I confess: I'm addicted to reality TV shows. I may have watched some quality TV series, like Lost, in the past, but now the most serious show I watch is Desperate Housewives. I just like the reality of the reality shows, if that makes any sense? If I want fiction, I watch movies. I don't have patience to follow series that are completely made up and never seem to reach the end. In most of the reality shows you can count yourself when it ends: ten competitors left, nine competitors left, eight competitors left... And then the great finale. Works for me. When the rest of the Finland was excited about Flash Forward, I was excited about True Beauty. It's just my reality.

So I do like silly, simple things. They make me amused. I don't think that watching reality shows make me stupid. Nothing actually makes people stupid. I think it's impossible to become more stupid than you already are, you can only become smarter. I just hate to be so ashamed for my choices. What's so bad in chick lit? Why going to a romance section of the library makes me feel like second-class citizen? This is who I am. I shouldn't be ashamed and I shouldn't let people make me feel that way either. I know I'm smart.