Thoughts: A Typology of Domestic Violence

In this path-breaking reassessment of thirty years of domestic violence research, sociologist Michael J. Johnson argues the domestic violence is not a unitary phenomenon. Instead, he delineates three major, dramatically different forms of domestic violence- intimate violence terrorism, violent resistance, and situational couple violence- and shows that the failure to distinguish among these types of partner violence has produced a research literature that is plagued by both overgeneralizations and ostensibly contradictory findings. By creating the theoretical framework to differentiate among types of partner violence, this volume represents the crucial first step to a better understanding of domestic violence among scholars, social scientists, policy makers, and service providers.

Okay, so A Typology of Domestic Violence doesn't seem like a read you want to snuggle under the covers with, and probably sounds like something that might be taught in a family violence course. For me, this book qualified in both categories, and happens to be the best late night/early morning cram session book I've ever read (yes, I know, not saying much, but here me out). At a short 86 pages, I read this in one sitting and actually enjoyed it. I thought I would fall asleep after two pages of more domestic violence statistics and research, like other texts for this class, but this book was excellent. It's about different types of violent partners, something that has not been researched thoroughly or enough, according to the author. It does not require you to know any theories related to family violence, and is written for someone who has never studied the topic. And, best yet: It's actually an interesting read!

Now, I'm going to assume most people are not sold on this book, and that's understandable- it's certainly not something I would pick up off the shelf if my grade didn't depend on it. But I would recommend it to anyone who wants a better understanding of domestic violence, for personal reasons or otherwise. It was an enlightening read and was enjoyable at the same time. There is one account given as an example of one typology, and there is a warning before reading- pay attention to that warning! I felt sick after reading it, and it was the first time I had felt uncomfortable after taking a semester on the topic.

Thoughts: The Light Fantastic

In The Light Fantastic only one individual can save the world from a disastrous collision. Unfortunately, the hero happens to be the singularly inept wizard Rincewind, who was last seen falling off the edge of the world...

Terry Pratchett is well known for his comedy/parody/satire series Discworld, and The Light Fantastic is the second in the series. I fell in love with the fist book immediately, and in this one I fell for the characters even more. I couldn't help but wonder how Pratchett creates all the ridiculous situations presented, and the characters reactions are so spot on to their personalities. Each character is like an exaggeration to one/a few human characteristics, and it makes them outrageous and laughable. I love the parody, and hope I didn't miss anything- I would not have caught the Orpheus quip had I not seen Eurydice a weekend or two ago. It is such a talent that he can weave quick details of fantasy, mythology, and science fiction pop culture into his stories.

Anybody looking for a light hearted read needs to look no farther- the books in this series will take a few sittings to finish and you'll be ready to pick up the next one.

Quotes
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Thoughts: Sunny Side Down

I first saw animations from Tales of Mere Existence only two weeks ago, so I was very surprised when a friend handed me Sunny Side Down, a collection of Tales. This 200 page comic series was a breeze to read through- I did it in one sitting, laughing every now and then at the silly protagonist and his thoughts on life past and present. I was expecting more giggles than were expelled from my giggling gland (sorry, I'm usually weary of alliteration), but I enjoyed the light read with depressing undertones. I wouldn't recommend buying it, but definitely check out some of the online animations (I've linked two favorites below). If you got a second in the bookstore, go ahead and flip through. It's a favorite of the friend who owns it. It is my kind of humor, but I can't tell if it's just delivered in the wrong way or if there is just too much stuff like it out there. It could even be that I saw the animations first, and I like how the narrator delivers the narratives in gloom and doom manner. Maybe I was reading it with the wrong voice in my head. Does anybody else make voices for when they're reading?

How I Found Out About Girls

I'm Not Going to Think About Her

Quotes: The Light Fantastic

The Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett

(Light)

When light encounters a strong magical field it loses all sense of urgency. It slows right down. And on the Discworld the magic was embarrassingly strong, which meant that the soft yellow light of dawn flowed over the sleeping landscape like the caress of a gentle lover or, as some would have it, golden syrup. It paused to fill up valleys. It piled up against mountain ranges. When it reached Cori Celesti... it built up in heaps until it finally crashed in great lazy tsunami as silent as velvet, across the dark landscape beyond.

(Staring)

Galder broke off first- looking at Trymon always bothered him. It had the same disconcerting effect as gazing into a mirror and seeing no one there.

(Oh, Emotions)

"Dead?" said Rincewind. In the debating chamber of his mind a dozen emotions got to their feet and started shouting. Relief was in full spate when Shock cut in on a point of order and then Bewilderment, Terror and Loss started a fight which was ended only when Shame slunk in from next door to see what all the row was about.

(Sane to Insane)

"No one goes mad quicker than a totally sane person."

Page 99 Test: Let the Right One In

A little over a year ago, I fell in love with Let the Right One In, by John Ajvide Lindqvist. IN LOVE. I let my roommate borrow it earlier this week, and she devoured this almost five hundred page book in four evenings. When she handed it back to me yesterday, I made the mistake of reading the first few pages... and went to bed on page 132. So I guess I'm stuck rereading, and a review will be posted! But for now, a page 99 test...

There was a single wooden chair in the kitchen, nothing more. Oskar pulled it up to the sink, stood on it, and peeed into the drain while he had water running out of the tap. When he was done he put the chair back. It looked strange in the otherwise empty kitchen. Like something in a museum.
What does she keep it for?
He looked around. Above the fridge there was a row of cabinets you could only reach by standing on the chair. He pulled it over and steadied himself by putting a hand on the refrigerator door handle. His stomach rumbled. He was hungry.
Without thinking more about it, he opened the fridge in order to see what there was. Not much. An open carton of milk, half a packet of bread. Butter and cheese. Oskar put his hand out for the milk.
But...Eli...
He stood there with the carton of milk in his hand, blinked. This didn't add up. Did she eat real food as well? Yes. She must. He took the milk carton out of the fridge and put it on the counter. In the kitchen cabinet about the counter there was almost nothing. Two plates, two glasses. He took a glass and poured milk into it.
And then it hit him. With the cold milk glass in his hand it finally hit him, with full force.
She drinks blood.
Yesterday evening, in his tangle of sleepiness and sense of detachment from the world, in the dark, everything had somehow felt possible. But now in the kitchen, where no blankets hung in the window and the blinds let in a weak morning light, with a glass of milk in his hand it seemed so... beyond anything he could comprehend.
Like: If you have milk and bread in your fridge you must be a human being.
He took a mouthful of milk and immediately spit it out. It was sour. He smelled the rest that was in the glass. Yes, definitely bad. He poured it out into the sink, rinsed the glass out, and then drank some water in order to get the taste out of his mouth. Looked at the date on the carton.
USE BY 28 OCTOBER.
The milk was ten days too old. Oskar had a realization.
The old guy's milk.
The refrigerator door was still open. The old guy's food.

So, what do you think? Go ahead, judge by it's page 99!

Thoughts: Tao Te Ching

I have wanted to read the Tao Te Ching for a long time now. For anyone unfamiliar, the Tao is the force that flows through all living things. It is a spiritual book, Taoism being one the main religions of ancient China. It can be eye opening at times, and made me think about how I act. Although each proverb, if you will, is short, it is rather poetic and deserves to be read slowly and thought about. I recommend finding a copy with notes, but not a full a on analysis- think through it for yourself and find what it means to you. Good for anyone feeling overwhelmed by the world in general- the Tao will teach you how to relax and go with the flow. I enjoyed this book greatly, because it's one of those reads that make you stop and think. It's difficult giving a review- I feel like some chapters will receive very different reactions. I wish I had someone to discuss specific proverbs with, it would make the experience (yes, reading this was an experience) all the better.


Quotes: Tao Te Ching

(Harmonizes)

When the sage lives with people, she harmonizes with them
And conceals her mind for them.
The sages treat them as their little children

(Illumination)

Seeing the subtle is illumination.
Keeping flexible is called strength
Use the illumination, but return to the light.
Don't bring harm to yourself.

(Nothing Can Alter It)

Nothing in the world is softer than water,
Yet nothing is better at overcoming the hard and strong.
This is because nothing can alter it.

Other Quotes

Thoughts: She's Not There

It's pride week! Today in my Human Sexuality class we had Jenny Boylan as a guest speaker, author of required reading She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders. Jenny's book is about the first half of her life physically being a male but feeling like a female, and her transition to a transexual.

I enjoyed reading this book- it's funny and personal, but most of all, it helped me to understand how someone can be one sex but feel like the opposite gender. This book was like reading the mind of a transgender person and it was helpful to me in my understanding of transgender people. I think there should be more literature out there like this- a huge reason people are disciminated against is because others do not understand. Fear of the unkown creates prejudice and transgender can sound like a complicated topic to someone unfamiliar with the issues.

This is also a book about becoming who you are. What surprised me the most while reading was Jennys internal struggle when she was a man (James). James said he would wake up in the morning, thinking he was a woman, but then have to force himself to become a man, when physically, he was male. This is something he struggled with until after marriage. It was his refusal to acknowledge that he knew he was female that surprised me. I have never thought about the internal struggle probably a lot of people, including non transgender people, have. This book did a wonderful job in showing that internal struggle and how it can destroy a person.

Pg 99 Test: Hyperion

For the past month, my boyfriend has shoved Hyperion in front of my face trying to get me to read it. It's not that I don't like scifi, but I got plenty of other books to read. But I've given in. About 60 pages in, and it's quite good. And he's already pushed the sequel into my hands.

Let's take a look at Hyperion, page 99:

see him." Hoyt struggled upright and clawed at his own cheeks. His eyes were wide, the ultramorph obviously forgetten despite the pain. "About three kilometers into the flame forest... big tesla... eighty, a hundred meters tall, at least. Quiet then, but still a lot... a lot of charge in the air. Ash everywhere.
"The Bikura wouldn't... wouldn't go too close. Just knelt their goddamened bald heads bowed. But I... went close... had to. Dear God... Oh, Christ, it was him. Dure. What was left of him.
"He'd used a ladder to get three... maybe four meters... up on the bole of the tree. Built a sort of platform. For his feet. Broken the arrestor rods off... little more than spikes... then sharpened them. Must've used a rock to drive the long one through his feet into the bestos platform and tree.
"His left arm... he's pounded the stake between the radius and ulna... missed veins... just like the goddamned Romans. Very secure as long as his skeleton was intact. Other hand... right right hand... palm down. He'd driven the spike first. Sharpened both ends. Then... impaled his right hand. Somehow bent the spike over. Hook.
"Ladder'd fallen... long ago... but it was bestos. Hadn't burned. Used it to climb up to him. Everything'd burned away years ago.. clothes, skin, top layers of flesh... but the bestos pouch was still around his neck.
"The alloy still conducted current even when... I could see it... feel it... surging through what was left of the body.
"It still looked like Paul Dure. Important. I told Monsignor. No skin. Flesh raw or boiled away. Nerves and things visible... like gray and yellow roots. Christ, the smell. But it still looked like Paul Dure!
"I understood then. Understood it all. Somehow... even before reading the journals. Understood he'd been hanging there... oh, dear God.. seven years. Living. Dying. The Cruciform... forcing him to live again. Electricity... surging through him every second of those... those seven years. Flames. Hunger. Pain. Death. But somehow the godamned... cruciform... leeching substances from the tree maybe, the air, what was left... rebuilding

And that's all. You want more? Read the book! I'm glad the page stopped where it did, it was giving away information I don't want to know just yet. So what do you think about Hyperion? Go, ahead, judge by it's page 99!

Quotes: America's War on Sex

American's War on Sex, by Marty Klein:

(Last Refuse of Scoundrels)

Concern about the "secondary effects" of adult entertainment is the last refuge of scoundrels.

Quotes: American Gods

American Gods, by Neil Gaiman

(Shuffled)

Shadow felt like a pea being flicked between three cups, or a card being shuffled through a deck.

(Worrying About What Is)

"This is the only country in the world," said Wednesday into the stillness, "that worries about what it is... the rest of them know what they are. No one ever needs to go searching for the heart of Norway. Or looks for the soul of Mozambique. They know what they are."

(Frozen Moments)

Shadow turned, slowly, streaming images of himself as he moved, frozen moments, each him captured in a fraction of a second, every tiny movement lasting for an infinite period.

(Sight, Touch, Memory)

All we have to believe with is our senses, the tools we use to perceive our world: our sight, our touch, our memory. If they lie to us, then nothing can be trusted.

Quotes: The Color of Magic

The Color of Magic, by Terry Pratchett:

(Divine Plan)

"Precisely why all the above should be so is not clear, but goes some way to explain why, on the disc, the Gods are not so much worshipped as blamed."

(Captain Death)

"If words had weight, a single sentence from Death would have anchored a ship."

(How did Death Watch?)

"Death watched impassively."

(The Drunk Artist)

And whoever had done those carvings on the wall, Twoflower thought charitably, had probably been drinking too much. For years.

Quotes: Neverwhere

Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman:

(Uncomfortably Female)

Jessica didn't like Richard's apartment: it made her feel uncomfortably female.

(Angels and Candles)

Then it stood up, and walked away, back through the Hall, the way it had come; and the candles went out as it passed, as they had done for tens of thousands of years.

(Lack of Redeeming Features)

"When you don't have any redeeming features, you don't take particularly kindly to disappointment, do you, Mister Vandemar?"

(Sunny and Delightful Disposition)

Mr. Vandemar showed them his teeth, demonstrating his sunny and delightful disposition. It was unquestionably the most horrible thing that Richard had ever seen.

(Do Not Trust Reasonable Voices)

Somewhere inside Richard a small, reasonable voice pointed out that there never was an Atlantis, and, thus emboldened, went on to state that there were no such things as angels, and that, furthermore, most of his experiences of the last few days had been impossible. Richard ignored it. He was learning, awkwardly, to trust his instincts, and to realize that the simplest and most likely explanations for what he had seen and experienced recently were the ones that had been offered up to him- no matter how unlikely they might seem.

(Darkness is Happening)

"What's happening?" whispered Richard.
"Darkness is happening," said the leather woman very quietly. "Night is happening. All the nightmares that have come out when the sun goes down, since the cave times, when we huddled together in fear for safety and for warmth, are happening. Now," she told them, "now is the time to be afraid of the dark."

(A Place of Things that Are)

Metaphors failed him, then. He had gone beyond that world of metaphor and simile into the place of things that are, and it was changing him.

Quotes: Tao Te Ching

Some favorite quotes from the Tao Te Ching, by loa tzu:

(Mysterious Virtue)

Pacify the agitated material soul and holding to oneness:
Are you able to avoid separation?
Focusing your energy on the release of tension:
Can you be like an infant?
In purifying your insight:
Can you un-obstruct it?
Loving the people and ruling the state:
Can you avoid over-manipulation?
In opening and closing the gate of Heaven:
Can you be the female?
In illuminating the whole universe:
Can you be free of rationality?

Give birth to it and nourish it.
Produce it but don't possess it.
Act without expectation.
Excel, but don't take charge.

This is called Mysterious Virtue

(Absence Equals Usefulness)

Cut doors and windows to make a room
It is because of its emptiness that the room is useful.
Therefore, what is present is used for profit.

But it is absence that there is usefulness.

(Keep Stillness Whole)

Effect emptiness to the extreme.
Keep stillness whole.

(Perfect Continuity)

If even Heaven and Earth cannot force perfect continuity
How can people expect to?

Quotes: The Stand: American Nightmares

Favorite quote from The Stand: American Nightmares, by Stephen King, script by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa:

(Sacrificed Babies and Locked Basements)

Nick had the feeling that the normal world was skewing into a place where babies were sacrificed behind closed blinds and stupendous black machines roared on and on in locked basements...

Quotes: Three Cups of Tea

Some favorite quotes from Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson:

(Cement Details)

Balanced unsteadily on a toy stool, Mortenson blew on his fifth thimbleful of green tea and tried to decipher Abudls conversation with a trio of aged tea-shop customers, their white beards stained yellow with nicotine. They seemed to be conversing with great passion and Mortenson was sure the details about cement were pouring out.

(Fabric of Twilight)

After dark, fortified with strong green tea and three plates of dhal chana, a curry of yellow lentils, from a roadside stand, Mortenson lay back in his nest on top of the truck and watched individual stars pinprick the fabric of twilight.

Quotes: Three Men in a Boat

Some favorite quotes from Three Men in a Boat, by Jerome K. Jerome:

(Also my Ambition)

Montmorency's ambition in life, is to get in the way and be sworn at.

(The Halo of Age)

I wonder if there is real intrinsic beauty in the old soup-plates, beer-mugs, and candle-snuffers that we prize so now, or if it is only the halo of age glowing around them that gives them their charms in our eyes.

451 Challenge

I've seen a million different book challenges and wanted to do all of them- but I think I'll stick to this one. It's called the 451 Challenge.

Here is how it will work: between January 1, 2010 and November 30, 2010, participants are challenged to read books on the 451 master list. There will be several levels of participation:

Spark - read 1-2 books from the master list
Ember - read 3-4 books from the master list
Flame - read 5-6 books from the master list
Blaze - read 7 or more books from the master list


Re-reading is acceptable, as are crossovers with other challenges. Audio, print, and e-books are all acceptable. Each month, participants will be encouraged to post their reviews on the challenge blog, and each review posted will be an entry into a grand prize drawing for a $25 gift card to the online bookseller of the winner's choice.

I'm going to try for the Blaze Level, because there were quite a few books on the list that I've wanted to read.

1. Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
2. Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
3. Geek Love - Katherine Dunne
4. Greengage Summer - Rumer Godden
5. Interview with the Vampire - Anne Rice
6. Les Miserable - Victor Hugo
7. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
8. Perfume - Patrick Suskind
9. The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
10. The New York Trilogy - Paul Auster
11. The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
12. The Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu
13. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffinegger
14. We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver

100+ Reading Challenge

Pretty self explanatory- off to a slow start this year, just wait til summer comes around...

100+ Reading Challenge

Books I've read will be posted to the page "Read This Year" in the side bar... let me know how I'm doing!