I should be looking for a new job

Contumacy:

A. Perverse and obstinate resistance of or disobedience to authority; rebellious stubbornness.

B. An act or instance of wilful disobedience.

I finished Missing yesterday. Not the best book ever but still a good read. It's not really a mystery. Yes, there's a killer and it's a mystery who it is but that's not what the story is about. It's really about Sibylla and her journey out of obscurity and hopelessness. It's about the connection she's made with another human being for the first time in her life. It's the story of her fight for legitimacy. The chapters alternate between the present and the past with a few pages of religious rambling from the actual murderer thrown in for good measure. There is very little investigating. Leads are found right away and they always pan out. It's easy to pick out the important clues but the author doesn't make you wait too long for the character to figure them out. There's a dramatic showdown between Sibylla and the murderer. The whole thing was a bit depressing until the end but I found it worth it. I seem to be reading a lot of books like that lately. I need something more cheerful.

One thing it helps to know is that Sibylla is apparently the name of a fast food chain in Sweden. I had to look this up on Wikipedia because I couldn't understand why she hated her name so much.

I seem to be reading and now watching a lot of things with children being abused both physically and emotionally. How am I finding these things? I need a break. I watched the new The Karate Kid. Jaden Smith does a great job as the protagonist. Jackie Chan reminded me that he's a great dramatic actor. The fight scenes were very entertaining and the story was, well, the same as the original. Boy (Dre) moves to a new place where he meets a girl. Kung Fu kid takes a dislike to Dre and beats him up. Dre meets Mr. Han the maintenance man who teaches him Kung Fu. Dre wins the tournament (hope I didn't spoil the ending). Pretty predictable. However, the way they get there is still well worth watching. The relationship between Dre and Mr. Han is rewarding. There are several fairly emotional scenes and you really feel their weight. The bully is a terrifying little snot. Seriously, he looks like even if he couldn't hit you anymore he'd still attempt to gnaw on your leg. At the end it seems like Dre has learned more than just the physical aspects of the sport.

On the other hand I feel they could have pared it down by about twenty minutes especially from the beginning. It's hard enough watching a nice high school kid get the crap beat out of him but it's even more painful when the boy is only twelve. Still, I recommend it.