Ben Sander, an interior designer, crafter, and television personality, brings all his talents together in his drag character, 60s housewife Brini Maxwell. Maxwell hosts a regular craft night at New York City's Club Cumming.
Morning Routine and Lunch
I get up around 10 or 10.30. I went to the gym – I have to maintain the instrument. In the afternoon I produce videos. I have been doing videos documenting my shoe collection, so a couple weeks ago, I got a “baby foot” treatment mask for my feet.
I have a regular diet that I eat every day, except for two cheat meals a week or special occasions. For lunch, it’s a turkey sandwich on sourdough bread from a bakery in Massachusetts, a slice of cheddar cheese and a glass of diet A&W root beer. While I’m eating lunch, I’ll go through all my eBay alerts for vintage clothes and appliances.
Challenges and Hobbies
It was our annual tag sale to raise money for craft supplies I buy for the club. It’s a big commitment and a lot of logistics. One of the regulars, Marty, has a car and helped me cart everything down. But it was actually very successful – we made over $1,000.
I have made all of my hobbies my profession. I don’t have anything that’s just for fun. But I definitely have time for socializing. My favorite thing is going up to a house in the country with a group of people for an entire weekend. I’ll also go to dinner with friends or my father, who is 90 now – he lives on Roosevelt Island.
Evening Routine
I am a late-night person, so I have a very strict routine. I spend the evening meditating and studying German, because I’m a German citizen. In 2019, my father and I both regained our German passports, which is a nice thing to have in this day and age.
Then, I will read, make dinner and watch YouTube. After dinner I go through eBay listings for vintage fabric and wallpaper, which I collect. I watch a couple of episodes of Match Game, which I am going through in chronological order – I’m up to 1976. I live in a studio, a la Mary Tyler Moore, so I pull out the bed and turn the living room into a bedroom. Usually I am in bed and turning out the light at about 2am.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
