hobbies: eating, sleeping, breathing, shopping. i'm currently reading this wonderful book about, of all things, shopping. it breaks down and provides a history of how we became shoppers while at the same time revealing how consumers have been trained to buy their way to status. the book "explores the minds of shoppers in the quest to nourish and feed fantasies, to define individuality, to provide for family, and to satisfy the needs for celebration, power, and choice -- all of which leads us to malls, boutiques, websites, and superstores."

"is our shopping an exercise in freedom and self-definition, a consequence off the expansion of powers and insecurities of the individual that began during the renaissance? or is shopping a kind of compulsive behavior that helps compensate for the fact that our lives are meaningless and unsatisfying? do we fill up our homes with stuff because we are empty within?"

sounds intriguing no? i feel like if you like to shop (and who doesn't), you might as well read all you can about it so that the next time you walk into the mall, you can analyze what's really going on, aside from burning a hole in your wallet. the act of money exchanging hands over an item you'll only wear once has never possessed so much intellectual cachet.

thomas hine's other works read like a laundry list of must-read books: "the rise and fall of the american teenager," "the total package: the secret history and hidden meanings of boxes, bottles, cans and other persuasive containers," among many others. i love this guy already. how does one apply to be a cultural historian? this must be the greatest job ever.

"advertising helps create insecurity by convincing its targets that there is something missing from their lives that only the product being offered can satisfy. but, to a considerable degree, we choose the insecurities to which we care to respond. and we create insecurities of our own that induce us to buy things because we crave change, progress, excitement, and a feeling of accomplishment."
-i want that! how we all became shoppers-