The Reason She Left on Goodreads

The Reason She Left by Kristen Caven

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What I love about graphic novels and cartoons is the way you can distill ideas and pack emotion into the theater of the page. This was a thrilling project to work on, as I attempted to pack years of learning into thirty pages. I wrote this story over twenty years ago, and was pleased to find how well it's held up. As a matter of fact, it feels stronger, in some ways, to me, as the world has NOT learned the lessons it needs to, yet, and needs more original thoughts and voices.

The most amusing thing to me is how even people close to me call this an autobiographical work, even though the plot, setting, and all the characters are made up. I take that as a compliment that I write convincingly!

I hope this work finds its readership among smart and curious people, especially women who are having trouble feeling like their voice is being heard.

You can order it from Indiebound, Amazon, my website, or get the ebook on scribd.





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Cobbler Cheer, 2011-style

The year of 2011 wrapped up with highlights from our funniest xmas card, the holiday letter I didn't write, and an image of the Caven family Xmas card (Dave took the lead this year).

I cheered about reuniting with my composer, made predictions for my career, and shared a link to a very terrible shirt I made with my son.

Pumped up Kicks

Good morning, KFOG.
I tried to call in during the song that woke me up this morning, but there was no answer.
"All the other kids better run, better run... faster than my bullet."
This is an upbeat song about a kid shooting other kids. I like the catchy tune, but the song is morally twisted, and not in a good way; it's sociopathic and horrible. There is no frame of reference for the evil sentiment. The songwriter said he was 'exploring the mind of a young killer,' but it sounds more like he's glorifying it. At least with A Clockwork Orange there was some framing of the sentiment of cheerful violence, and a resolution at the end. (And songs like Jeremy, I Don't Like Mondays, etc. at least reflect an authentic emotional tone.) This song says, "it's okay and fun to kill other people! I like it!" It feels like the normalization of a phenomenon that destroys the fabric of American lives over and over again.
On the plus side, a comment made on the YouTube video did tip off Phoenix police that a 14-year-old was inspired by this song, and his rampage was prevented.
I'm a big fan of whimsy, even serious whimsy, but this song really upsets me, and I always turn off the radio when I hear it. But I like KFOG, especially in the mornings, and figured it would be worth the trouble to ask: Could you please not play it anymore? The tune gets stuck in my head for hours, and I hate myself. Maybe ask your other listeners what they think.
Thanks,
Kristen Caven
Oakland parent