Katie Über Alles

"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" Book Review

I volunteered to be one of the discussants for @Neamhspleachas' monthly book club.  Here is my review of this month's book: "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."  Discussion takes place tomorrow (Friday, 4/29) on Facebook.  Other reviews will be posted on her blog. 

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I received a copy of “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” as a Christmas present three years ago.  In all that time it sat lingering on my “books I still need to read” shelf.  I’m not really sure why I never picked it up.  It was certainly a book that was recommended by many friends.  I generally enjoy mysteries/crime novels/thrillers.  For no particular reason, I never picked it up, even though I accumulated the other books in the series.  So when Neamhspleachas added it to her book club, I took the chance to review it mostly so I would finally be forced to clear it off my shelf.

It should be the kind of book I enjoy: it involves a family history, a dark mystery, and lots of subplots.  I just couldn’t get into it.  It’s not a bad book, and there are moments of suspense.  I generally enjoyed it, but it didn’t live up to the hype of others.  Mostly I think because in several sections (especially the beginning and end) the book seemed badly in need of an editor.  I did enjoy the characterizations of Salander and Blomqvist (the two protagonists). 

I guess the number one thing that I took away from reading this book was wondering if Swedish culture and the Swedish psyche really is as dark as it is portrayed in the book.  I’ve never been to Sweden, and sadly the most interaction I have had with anything Swedish has come in the shape of gelatinous fish, a 70s pop group, and cheap furniture.  One doesn’t exactly think of dark, brutal misogynists and Nazi sympathizers when thinking of Swedish people, but that is largely the world portrayed in this book.  After finishing the book, I turned to Google to see if I could find out more.  I’ve always thought of the Scandinavian countries as countries where liberal democratic ideals reign supreme.  Apparently, the dark side of Swedish society portrayed in “Girl” is not unrealistic.  I never knew about the long history of Nazism in Sweden, or how prevalent violence against women is. 

Since I own them and they are sitting on my shelf of books to read, I plan to read the other two books in the series (“The Girl Who Played With Fire” and “The Girl who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest”).  However, the most powerful thing I took away from “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” wasn’t about beautiful prose, a well-crafted story, or even interesting characterizations.  It was an interest in finding out more about Swedish history and culture in an attempt to understand how a country touted as “the most democratic in the world” by the Economist[1] can have such a dark undercurrents. 

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[1] http://graphics.eiu.com/PDF/Democracy%20Index%202008.pdf

WBCOOP 2011

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! The WBCOOP is a free online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers, so register on WBCOOP to play.

Registration code: XXXXXX 120758

2010 - A Year in Terrible Quality iPhotos

I really had a lot of fun compiling this post last year.  Always fun to scroll through all the pics you've taken for a year on your iPhone and relive and remember the things you did.  Here's the 2010 version.  2010 started with me taking a New Year's cruise with my parents on their boat.  Mom and I ended up being stuck in Vancouver for a week and a half, but after that we had a great time.  It was really nice having some one on one time with my parents, and we went to some cool places.  Lots of traveling this year, including a 6 week roadtrip with the only person I've met crazier than me, @scsuhockey10.  Year ended with me moving to Vegas.  No clue what 2011 will bring, but this year was pretty fun.  Enjoy and happy 2011.  xxx, Katie

Dad and I catching up on emails at a bar with wifi, Ganges Harbor, WA 1/2010

Mom and Dad and I took a ride in the oldest continuously operating elevator in the world, Victoria, BC 1/2010

Darth Vadar playing violin in Victoria, BC 1/2010

PLO in Baltimore 1/2010

On the bubble of the Borgata Winter Open PLO tourney 1/2010

My car buried in one of the Snowpocalypses. Thankfully I had @alcanthang with me to help me shovel! 2/2010

Pink chip game after getting my stack tossed Columbia, MD 2/2010

The only picture I took on my phone during Mastodon Weekend, Greenville, SC 3/2010

3/6 LHE at Wednesday night before ATLARGE.  I'm in for $200. 3/2010

Me and partner in crime, ATLARGE Smoker Dinner, AC, 3/2010

Pink Chip Game at ATLARGE...yes there is a black chip in there too. 3/2010

Beach at my parents' house where my Dad taught me how to drive stick in his BMW Z4 3/2010

Early morning out my window at Harrahs AC 4/2010

At the Beach with my sister, Southern NJ 5/2010

Playing Heads Up Chinese with @uaegreg in Philly 6/2010

2/5 NLHE at Harrahs AC 6/2010

1/3 NLHE at the WSOP this year 6/2010

6/12 mix at Venetian with ARGers 6/2010

Coming into Day 2 of the $1500 HORSE...my bag looked a lot better than the year before. 6/2010

Watched 7/4 fireworks at Harrahs AC with my sis and her bf. We ended up getting pelted with fireworks shells due to wind. 7/2010

Playing drken Apples to Apples with @dmfarley @neamhspleach @fuzz4000 @sumohurdler et al. Duct tape is what I need for my mouth! 7/2010

My favorite restaurant's cheese tray, National Harbor, 7/2010

Most Friday nights in 2010 were spent with me dealing the Pink Chip game in Maryland with @Bmore_Billy, 7/2010

Summer boat trip with the family.  I had an allergic reaction to UV rays AND threw my back out. Still a good trip. 7/2010

Sisters! 7/2010

Me and John in the dinghy after taking it through some rapids. Canada, 7/2010

On the boat trip, we found a German restaurant where the owner had this handy shot holder. Canada, 7/2010

This is why I love my parents' boat. British Columbia, Canada, 7/2010

This is the Summer salmon catch, British Columbia, Canada, 2010

After a long day fishing with Sarah and John 7/2010

BARGE banquet Vegas, 8/2010

Playing the first ever game of EFQ at the Goldman's, Vegas, 8/2010

I'm in for $200.  This is a 1/2 NLHE game in Glen Burnie, MD. 8/2010

Yes, I ended up with little green armmeni n my purse after a night of drinking with Dan and Molly, DC, 8/2010

Me and Molly showing off our shoes, DC, 8/2010

First day of Vegas-Connecticut Roadtrip.  There is a story about Texas Station.  Ask Jeanne or Bob.  ;) Vegas, 9/2010

Dbacks game on the roadtrip, Arizona 9/2010

Starting to get in the middle of nowhere, Arizona 9/2010

On one of the longest bridges in the world, Crossing the Atchifalaya Basin in Louisiana, 9/2010

Remnants of a crazy night in NOLA, 9/2010

Nights like these were how we both ended up gaining OMG weight on the roadtrip, Wafflehouse, Biloxi, MS, 9/2010

Drinking with Chic in Tampa, 9/2010

Kennedy Space Center, 9/2010

Can't believe we got away with this... NL 2-7 SD SNG at the BBar at Borgata during the Fall Open. AC, 9/2010

Drunk and stupid clowning on the AC Boardwalk, 9/2010

Todd playing the LHE portion of our stack during the FARGO pairs tourney.  We min-cashed. LOL, Foxwoods, 10/2010

The PokerStars chipset I got when I won the PLO shootout to OE final table Sunday FARGO tourney.  We played EFQ in the suite LDO. Foxwoods, 10/2010

On my drive to Vegas, I crashed in Chicago with @zymm and ended up making friends with her cat.  Chicago, 10/2010

Ahhhh... new home! Vegas, 10/2010

9/18 mix at Aria, Vegas, 10/2010

Halloween!!! Vegas, 10/2010

Sweating the November Nine at the Rio, Vegas 10/2010

Parents took me out to Mohegan Sun for my birthday where I got this awesome red velvet brownie! Mohegan Sun, 11/2010

Evidence that slot machine themes have jumped the shark, Vegas 12/2010

First night of WPBT.  Karaoke.  Vegas, 12/2010

My new fav VP bar and drink at Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas, 12/2010

Happy New Year!!!! Vegas, 12/2010

You don't get me because you're not (fill in the blank)

It was brought to my attention that I have been letting this space die.  And it's true.  I haven't been doing it purposefully.  Quite frankly, I've had a lot of great adventures in the last half of 2010.  But I'm lazy, and I also don't want my parents to read some of that stuff (Hi Mom and Dad!).  ;)

I've been thinking about some stuff lately that is shockingly world appropriate.  And I was nagged to start writing in this space again.  So here I am. 

When I was in my MA program, I concentrated pretty heavily on bureaucracy.  Within the bureaucracy literature, there is a debate as to whether one needs to be "like" someone in order to accurately and adequately represent their views and desires.  This is the old "you need to walk a mile in my shoes before you get me" argument.  When I first found this argument, my gut reaction was to say "no, of course not."  After all, if you need to be exactly like someone to represent them, the whole idea of Democracy is probably flawed.  However, the more I contemplate this, the more I wonder if it's not true.

Thoughts welcomed.

Judgment and Societal Norms

I've been very delinquent posting here recently.  I've been running around with sporadic internet access lately and that's part of it.  The other part is that a lot of the interesting stuff in my life is not necessarily public appropriate.  I also think it's probably pretty boring to read about the stuff that is public appropriate.  At any rate, I digress.

I'm back in MD after an extended period away.  I've been catching up on conversations with a lot of friends.  It might not surprise you to know that many of my friends live "alternative" lifestyles, considering I myself live an alternative lifestyle in some ways (though I tend to think of myself as pretty normal).  For whatever reason, several of these recent conversations have centered on societal norms.  I've been doing a lot of thinking about the subject.

Why the hell are so many of these norms still "normal" in this day and age?  I'm not talking about societal norms that exist for obvious reasons.  I mean, it seems pretty clear why murder is inappropriate in any society that expects to function.  That is clearly a rational norm.  But what about other things?

In one conversation, the topic that jump-started confusion over norms was marriage.  Two of my friends who have an unconventional relationship recently got married.  The decision to legally formalize their relationship had more to do with legal practicalities than anything else; they are not the kind of people who need to follow the expected conventional path in terms of marriage.  Nor did they have a traditional wedding, reception, etc.  For some reason, this seems to bother many people they know.  Why?  Why would this have any bearing on other people?  It doesn't.  And yet other people seem to feel the need to interject judgment on them for not doing it the "right" way.  This behavior eludes me.  Why does it matter if someone does all the traditional stuff?  How two people choose to live their life together is really only relevant to the two people involved.  So what if YOU want a traditional wedding...are you so unwilling to accept that not everyone might want the same things you do?

In another conversation, I was discussing the fact that I am not a traditional romantic.  Don't get me wrong, I love romance, but what most people think of as "romance" is not me.  I don't need a big engagement ring or elaborate proposal.  As a matter of fact, I'd rather have the proposal be private than some big public declaration of the intent to marry.  And as for the ring, it seems like there are better things to spend money on than a piece of bling.  I don't need material gifts.  I'd much rather celebrate special ocassions by, you know, actually spending time with the people I love.  Spending time is more important to me than material goods.  And yet so many people seem to think it means you don't love them if you don't buy someone roses on Valentine's day (I'd rather have you buy me Gerber daisies on a random day when you know I'm in a bad mood).  Why do people judge other couples as "not in love" if they don't all engage in the accepted relationship practices?  I have yet to figure this out.  How the heck do you know what two people feel for each other or what is meaningful to them?  Is it so hard to understand that people might be different?

I was very much raised to think that adults should be able to do their own thing.  People celebrate life, death, happiness, and sadness in different ways.  People grieve differently.  Why should I force my understanding of any of these concepts on you?  I'm so happy my family looks at life with this attitude.  You don't want to come to so and so's funeral because you want to grieve alone?  Great.  No one is going to judge you.  Let us know if you need anything.  No one that I care about is going to get snippy because I chose not to have a garter toss at my wedding, but hey, if you want to do that at your wedding, I'm not going to look down on you.  Do your own thing.  Do what is important to you.

There are so many important things in the world.  Life and death things.  Perhaps the world would be a better place if people focused more on the important things and less on the bullshit.  Perhaps people should focus more on what is important to those who they care about than what society thinks those people should or should not be doing.

This is one of those things that I don't think I'm ever going to get.  There seem to be a lot of those things, and most of them have to do with social traditions and norms that do not seem to be based on any kind of rationality.