The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum

The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum isn't the normal sort of book that I review on here, but I've been hard pressed to find time for books that I didn't have to read for a class lately. This book is a crime novel set in Germany - it's very interesting because within the first chapter, the main character has shot a journalist (who apparently deserved it) and has confessed to her boss and then to the police. We also get the gist that she is wanted for a crime that she seems to be innocent for. Then there is another body, but when asked about his death, an alibi is provided from her, despite her words "Why not him too?". The words puzzle the inspector because her response is a question, not an admission of guilt. While the story is written in a very journalistic way, the story is very interesting, especially for a book that was required for a class. If you don't go out and read the book (Contact me, you can borrow my copy!), then at least watch the movie with English subtitles.
(The villain of the movie looks like the older, darker, and longer haired version of my friend Gabe W! I think it's the pretty eyes...)

No Hate, Just Love

Alright so today is speak out against bullying day and as a little kid who got bullied and as a woman who still lets people push her around occasionally until I get tired of it, I wanted to speak out. Bullying sucks. While it wasn't a huge problem at my school when I was growing up, it still existed. Heck, my parents had so many brothers and sisters that you KNOW they know what bullying is - sibling rivalry is definitely a form. However, that kind doesn't really bother me as much because who doesn't like to one-up their sibling occasionally to prove who's smarter, who's faster, stuff like that.
The kind of bullying that bothers me most is playground bullying - most likely because that's what happened to me. There was a guy who used to push me off the swings every day and taunt me relentlessly. He moved away in fourth grade (he might have gotten taken away?) and things improved a lot as his friend didn't see any reason to bother me now that the other guy wasn't there to start it. Either way, I remember crying about it in 1st or 2nd grade when I got home from school eating a snack while my parents were making supper.
The point is, a lot of kids have it way worse than I did and we should speak up for them. Poor kids, this is the age they need to learn to be confident about themselves! That's where it starts! So who's with me? It's time to make a pledge. Stop the violence!

Along with that, it's V-Week at Wartburg College. V-Week is about stopping the violence against women. V-Week is about vaginas. It's about learning to respect other women's vaginas. It's about acknoledging that rape, abuse, and mutilation does happen, and about finding a way to make it stop.
V-week = Pussies Unite!

This is the 15th year of V-Week and as a cast member of The Vagina Monologues, I urge you to come out and see a performance (they're nation-wide) so that you an learn these women's stories. Several of them are very funny, a few a pretty sad, but all of them are real and deserve your attention, male or female. Here's a link to the Wartburg College site:

http://www.wartburgcircuit.org/Circuit-Features/Past-Features/V-Week.aspx



http://kcneal.blogspot.com/2012/01/speak-out-against-bullying-on-feb-3.html