Everybody loves MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow—her new show is absolutely kicking ass. But I didn’t fall hopelessly in love with Maddow until last night when I read this in The New York Times Magazine. Profiled in the “Domains” column, Maddow answers a bunch of questions about herself and her home in Massachusetts. I swooned when I read this…

Favorite place to shop: Not applicable. I don’t shop.

I know that she’s a lesbian and I’m a fag and the lives-to-shop stereotype applies primarily to boy homos and not girl homos, but reading that made me feel a little less alone. Spending money to go places and do things? I’m always up for that. But going places just to spend money and acquire things? No thank you.

66 replies on “A Woman After My Own Heart”

  1. I do happen to own a TV, but it’s a ten year-old 14″ thing that I only use nowadays to watch my slowly decaying collection of VHS.

    And it’s not that I’m “anti-TV”, there is in fact a great deal of interesting, informative, or just plain entertaining fare on the airwaves – along with even oodles more of absolute drek, just as there’s always been – but, rather, that I seldom have large amounts of TIME to spend watching TV, and frankly, there’s all sorts of OTHER THINGS I’d rather be doing with my precious leisure time; reading, drawing, learning to play guitar, working on theatre projects, going to plays and concerts, hanging out with my friends, etc., etc.

  2. what rachel ACTUALLY means is that her partner does all the “shopping”, as she’s only home on the weekends.

    she obviously shops for “graphic novels”.

  3. @46, If you knew me you wouldn’t state that I do not understand the nuances of shopping. I am a very skilled shopper. I have a wardrobe that people who make many times my salary envy and a creditable art collection which, were it not for my shopping skills would be way beyond my means. I manage at the same time to have absolutely no debt. Why do I do it? Because it is fun and creative. Is it important? Only on the level of a hobby. I like spending time with artists and my tailor is very entertaining. There is nothing in this that makes me less serious an individual than someone who doesn’t care for it and nothing that makes me more worthwhile either. It does however, make me less pompous than those who feel self-righteous about their own perceived asceticism.

  6. I didn’t own a TV until the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in the SF Bay Area (I lived in Oakland). My anxiety levels at hearing about the disaster on the radio and filling in the mental images with my imagination was much higher, and very stressful. I got a TV so I could keep up with the news. And sure, for a time I watched a lot more than I probably should have. But now I have a big TV, satellite, TIVO, and I still only watch three or four hours a week, if that. I gave up on most episodic shows because by the time I got around to watching them, the next episode would be on and I’d see spoilers. So mostly it’s random things like “Simpsons” because I can pick it up at any time, or news, etc. But even though I don’t watch that much, if my TV broke I would run out and get a new one. It’s nice to know it’s there when it’s needed.

  7. this thread has made me love fnarf and dislike adrian – what is happening! i used to love celebrity i saw u.

    i have no idea what’s going on between adrian and non but from the comments i’ve seen, adrian is the one who looks like the insane obsessive stalker.

  8. I knew you’d come around, jrrrl.
    RS, that’s funny, because the Loma Prieta quake was one of those moments when I wanted to chuck my TV out the window — the networks had all gone into full coverage, but NONE of the talking heads had even the slightest glimmer of a clue where anything was. Hearing them repeat inanities about which freeway was located where had me screaming at the set “buy a fucking map, assholes!” and waving my tattered $2 Rand McNally Bay Area around in rage. Seriously, I don’t think anyone at any of the networks had ever fucking HEARD of Oakland before. I was particularly concerned because there was reportedly heavy damage in the area where I had been living just a year earlier, but the airheads on TV didn’t know the difference between 280, 580, 680, 880, or their own asses.

  9. I used to have a black lab, Samantha. We didn’t drive to the dump but she did like taking rides. Rachel is refreshing. what’s the deal with the handkerchiefs?

  10. I have to say, I agree with Fnarf on this. Stuff is neat. I enjoy shopping and I enjoy collecting/having interesting things, even if they’re ‘useless’. And I don’t believe there is anything wrong with that.

  11. I didn’t own a TV when I met my boyfriend. Or a phone. Or a pot or a pan or a dish. I owned three bowls, a couple of spoons, a couch, a mattress. That was about it. Now I own everything.

  14. I don’t have a TV, but I do love to shop, so I guess that makes me both a pretentious hipster AND a materialistic twit. I win!

    I do agree that there’s a difference between people who enjoy recreational shopping and people who hate it and only venture into stores to buy necessities. There’s also a difference between people who watch a lot of TV and people who use the Internet for the same purpose. The difference is called “having different hobbies and interests.”

  15. My issue is not with people who buy a lot of stuff, but rather people who buy stuff and then don’t do anything with it. Like people who want to show off how well read they are by buying a lot of books, and then not actually reading them. Or people who have a huge DVD collection, most of which they’ve never watched. That drives me insane.

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