10 Things I Love About Rachel

Last September, thanks to the rollercoaster ride that was the presidential election, I developed a sudden, intense interest in politics and current events. At about the same time, a cheerful, snarky lesbian named Rachel Maddow became the official Fresh New Face in cable news, getting her own primetime news show on MSNBC.

One year later, The Rachel Maddow Show is a hit. It's one of the few TV shows I ever watch, and the one show I never miss. So in honour of TRMS's birthday, here's my take on why she's so important.

1. She's my daily affirmation that women can be intelligent, analytical, calm under fire, assertive, ambitious, and successful - all while wearing sneakers.
2. Like me, she taught herself to read when she was a child. (Unlike me, she was four, and she taught herself using the World section of the newspaper.)
3. She hates fashion, which makes it okay for me to hate fashion. Seriously, ever since she's been on the air I've been so comfy. And she's unconventionally beautiful, which is my favourite kind of beautiful.
4. She's a proud, patriotic liberal in an age when liberals are still accused of hating America.
5. She debates conservatives (when they're brave enough to come on her show) without yelling, interrupting, or being rude. The worst she'll do is laugh at them, which is enough to drive some of them nuts.
6. She taught me the meaning of the word "cogent". I love the fact that her arguments are always to the point, thoroughly researched, and persuasive. If you agree with her, she's an invaluable resource; and if you disagree with her, you can have a truly constructive debate about it.
7. She's a dork. She reads comic books, watches EuroVision, is fluent in lolcatspeak, and devotes a regular segment of her show to science breakthroughs.
8. The shoes, obviously.
9. Sometimes during her show, when she is interviewing someone, you can hear her emphatically underlining things and scribbling notes with a pencil. This is adorable.
10. She's gay, and it's no big deal - which is a huge deal.

Fire With Fire

I'm always reading at least one book at any given time. At the moment, I'm reading Naomi Wolf's Fire With Fire: The New Female Power and How it Will Change the 21st Century. As the inside cover puts it:

"Why, asks Naomi Wolf, has feminism become a dirty word, even among women? A chasm has opened up between the feminist movement and the lives of most women. Feminist orthodoxy is out of touch with the real world. In this passionate and incisive new book, the author of The Beauty Myth calls for a new kind of feminism and new female attitudes to power."

I've been a feminist for a long time, but I've only just started exploring feminism as a community and a political entity, particularly on the blogosphere. One thing I have gathered is that Naomi Wolf isn't always popular among her fellow feminists. So her claims that feminism needs to move away from a victim mentality and claim the power of capitalism and government - and that we only have ourselves to blame if we don't - undoubtedly raises some hackles.

Wellington

It's very easy to love Wellington, as long as you don't mind the weather. Personally I think the wind is one of the best things about it, even while I complain mightily along with everyone else. It's a city shaped by wind, by the harbour, and by the hills, and so it's a city full of cheerful sturdy strong-legged people.

Reviews

I write book reviews for an online film & arts journal called The Lumiere Reader. It's not a paying gig, but it's good writing practice and a great way to get acquainted with the local arts scene.

My difficulty with writing reviews is that I have a strong tendency to sympathise with the author of whatever book I'm reading. If I get bored or confused, my initial reaction is not "This could have been written better," but instead, "Maybe I just don't get it." Plus, if I can see that the author is trying to do something clever, I give him/her all kinds of points for the effort. It's another thing entirely to figure out if the author did it well, much less to decide whether he/she did it better than someone else.

My last review, of The Love School by Wellington writer Elizabeth Knox, is here. I'm also going to be reviewing her latest book, The Angel's Cut, sequel to her internationally famous novel The Vintner's Luck, which has been made into a film. No pressure or anything.

Only in New Zealand

Sitting in bed reading a book one night, I felt several slight jolts rattle the house, just enough to make my door squeak a bit against its hinges.

Apparently, this was the feeling of New Zealand lurching 30 cm closer to Australia.

Everyone in the country is now obliged to make a joke about how this won't lead to cheaper airfares.

Hi!

Behold the new blog! This will be an account of the books I'm reading, the writing projects I'm involved in, and the journeys I'm taking. I'll be writing about my travels, jotting down notes, joining discussions about literature and politics, taking photographs, doing interviews - basically exploring the world around me and learning how to make up stories about it. I'm writing a novel and it's taking forever, so I'll probably do a lot of complaining about that. I'll also write about New Zealand, where I've been living for the past two years.

We'll see how this goes. Judging by the way I've neglected my old LiveJournal, there's reason to be skeptical about my chances this time around. All the same, it could be fun.