Confession: celebrity news

Often to unwind at the end of a long day I look at celebrity news sites. How this started and why, I have no idea. I think it is a mindless form of entertainment, and that is what I need at that moment. Television doesn't do it, movies don't do it, reading doesn't do it...celebrity gossip, that's the ticket for shutting off the brain. Until this...the Chris Brown, Rhianna domestic violence story.

In case you haven't heard about it...he's 19 and she just turned 21. They got in a fight leaving a party when she discovered a text message from a woman he had a previous sexual relationship with. Supposedly, this woman is his former manager who is about 20 years his senior...if they were having sex at that time it would amount to statutory rape because he was underage. Anyway, Chris beat Rhianna and the police are filing felony charges. In her initial interview with police Rhianna told them the violence has happened before and is escalating.

When I lived in Kansas City I volunteered with a domestic violence shelter. Everything reported in this story is textbook cycle of violence in abusive relationships, including her willingness to take him back despite the pain and shame he's caused. The one certainty in situations like this is, the violence will continue and continue to escalate.

Rhianna is beautiful, talented and rich. In my experience many women stay and put up with the abuse because they are financially dependent on the abuser. That isn't the case here. She has plenty of money to be independent. So, obviously there is some other hold he has on her. What will it take for her to leave? Obviously public humiliation wasn't enough. I am so glad that domestic violence laws do not require the abused to press charges, the state does it with or without consent, because too often the perpetrator would get away with the crime due to intimidation and manipulation. Chris Brown should be charged. It is never okay to beat another bloody, never. That is not love.

What's been even more disturbing is the response from young people. Boston surveyed their youth surrounding this issue, nearly half believed that Rhianna was to blame for the incident. Fourty-four percent believed fighting is a normal part of relationships. We aren't talking about arguing, but fighting, involving physical altercation. That is not normal! This is greatly disturbing to me. Why do our children not know better than that? Do they think it's normal because that is what they see at home or in media? Who is influencing their opinion?

Have you been following this story? What are your thoughts?

Interesting International Facts: peanut butter and chocolate

Did you know?

The United States is the only place I know of that really likes the combination of chocolate and peanut butter in our candy (Reeses). For fun (my own enjoyment at the expense of others), I like to take Resses on trips and share them to see the reactions. I've done this before in Africa. I did this on my recent trip to Ireland and shared them with travel buddies from Lesotho. Look at all the fun a bag of Easter egg Reeses can bring!

At least there was one person out of about 15 that thought the candy was, "okay." Ruth (not pictured here) took the rest of the bag home. Her teenage son ate them for breakfast. He rather enjoyed the treat. The next morning at our meeting I asked the representatives from Canda, Germany and the UK if they had Reeses in their country. The UK representative said, "yes, but they aren't that popular."

Well, I like them...if I ever move overseas, feel free to send Reeses pieces...one of my favorite candy treats.

Roach, anyone?

I mentioned in an earlier post that my travel companion Hallie ate a roach. I was able to upload the video to Youtube. It took her a while to work up the courage. I have a series of photos of it on her toungue then she'd spit it out. One of the Khmer staff informed her that she needed to pull the shell off and get to the soft underbelly. That's the set-up. Dalya is helping Hallie peel off the shell. Enjoy!

You know you live in a small town when...

I keep attending the public events in our town, hoping to find something that wows me. We've been here since September 2007. Either I'm not trying hard enough and there are some events I've yet to discover, or I need to lower my expectations.

On the first Friday of every month they have an art crawl downtown. It is nothing like First Friday's in Kansas City. I think they call it a crawl for a reason, because that is the only way to prolong the experience...otherwise it's over too quickly. Kenyon and I have attended this event a couple of times. The highlight is always the Turchin Center on the ASU campus...not because the art is good, but mostly because they serve food and drinks. You must remember, my hometown is Santa Fe, NM...roots like that make me an art snob.

We attended this event in March. The Turchin Center had live music playing. I've heard live music in Boone three times - once I attended the summer concert series at Jones House, at the High Country apple fest, and now at Turchin during the Art Crawl. Here's the thing...it's been the same muscician every time. A woman in dreads named Chris who sings blues like Tracy Chapman. I like her stuff, but isn't there other talent available in this town?

Hip-hip-hooray! It's that time of year again...

Every year I look forward to this time of year. I anticipate it. Last year I scheduled my travel plans around it, I didn't have that kind of forsight this year. What is this important event? Well, March Madness, of course. It is my favorite sporting event all year. To me it is way more exciting than the super bowl (though this year's superbowl game was exciting). I've had bragging rights all year because my team won the national championship. Regardless of the odds, and obviously regardless of where I am living, I am a Jayhawk through and through.

What team are you rooting for this year?