"The Hunger Games" Chapters 3-4 Coming Out TOMORROW!!!

Hey guys,

Just another KBC update. I am reviewing chapters 3 and 4 of "The Hunger Games" tomorrow and I hope you take a peek. Last week I did chapters 1-2 and I was pretty disappointed that I didn't get any comments for that post. I just want to remind you guys that KBC is a book club and in order for a book club to really work properly, you need to get some input from other readers, so please try to participate if you can. Thanks guys!

Love Always <3,
Katrina Lowell

When People Can't Act Their Age

Hey Guys,

So I've just encountered someone who just can't ever act their age; her name is Jordan. I mean, Jordan is constantly trying to get a rise out of me by acting obnoxious and disrespectful, saying things that are uncalled for and just acting without a conscience. I wouldn't say that it drives me bonkers or anything, but I find her quite amusing. Sometimes I wonder if her acting out is just her way of finding herself or trying to seem cool, but I just wish she'd see that it does the complete opposite.

I have a high tolerance level because I understand that I can be above certain things; that I'm not one to "stoop down" to lower levels and therefore when I've got grown teenagers like Jordan acting immature it reminds me of how mature I am. In fact, I watched a dog video on youtube where there's this rather large dog (lets say a German Shepherd for instance) laying down, being prestigious and minding his own big dog business and then all of a sudden this cute, little puppy (Chihuahua perhaps???) comes and jumps all over the big dog, barking and acting frisky. What does the German Shepherd do? Look down at him saying in his head, "boy, you CRAZYYY," and continues with his big dog business as usual.

Now, I'm not just bringing up dog videos because I just watched a compilation of them on YouTube, but I bought it up because just how that big dog acts is just how I act. He understands that the Chihuahua was just being a puppy and therefore doesn't respond. Like the German Shepherd then, I look right over Jordan knowing that hopefully one day she'll grow up, even if it's by force.

Imagine I called up Annabelle to say hi and see how her weekend has been and my conversation is rudely interrupted because why? She was at Jordan's house and knowing that I'm Not a big fan of her, Jordan yells, "HI KATRINA! HI KATRINA! HI KATRINA! HI KATRINA! HI KATRINA!" I ignored her and continued with my conversation because I understand that she can't help it. She heard that it was me and felt the need to disturb my conversation to act like a 3 year old, but even 3 year olds get ignored when they start acting unreasonable. At any rate, yeah, I continued and not too much later I hear a bunch of disturbance in the background and realized that maybe I shouldn't talk to Annabelle at that point in time because I was going to be constantly interrupted. I could have stooped to Jordan's level and yelled back, but instead, I told Annabelle, "You know what? I'll call you later when we can have a conversation like grown-ups." With that we ended the conversation and that was that.

Now, what I didn't like was that Annabelle felt the need to call me back to apologize for Jordan's actions. It just made me feel bad. Jordan and I don't have a good relationship, but I've resolved to stay respectful and carry on but Jordan just can't do the same and you know what? That's her prerogative. I feel good knowing that I'm doing the right thing and that's all that matters. At the end of the day, though, we are both close friends of Annabelle's and I feel like Jordan uses her for spite. I don't want to treat Jordan a certain way or say something about her with Annabelle there because I know that she cares for Jordan and that would in turn hurt her, but sometimes it is hard. Being the bigger person isn't always easy; it isn't. Sometimes the way that Jordan talks about Annabelle makes me feel like she doesn't really value Annabelle's friendship but rather uses it to get under my skin. It obviously isn't working, but that's besides the point.

I'm usually the one with all the answers, but that has got me puzzled. What do you do when you want to tell your friend that who they think is a friend might actually be a foe in disguise without hurting their feelings? I couldn't tell you... I mean, look. Jordan reads my blog and she has left quite a few comments and I see them and I throw them in the trash on a regular basis, however, one comment stood out to me. So after the whole post that introduced Annabelle, I got a comment from her saying, "Thanks for the information about Annabelle; It'll come in handy." I laughed, figuring it was just what a 3 year old with internet access would say, and ignored it. Afterwords, though, she kept getting closer and closer to Annabelle and now Jordan has taken it upon herself to join my group of friends because she's friends with Annabelle. Now that she's hanging around my group, she's therefore hanging around me. Now that she's hanging around me, she makes it her daily goal to be as annoying as possible and you know what? Challenge accepted. She can fool Annabelle and whomever else she wants to, but I'm in the know.

I haven't told Annabelle anything about the comment and whatever because I'm a good friend and once again, I'm being the bigger person. I don't want to make it seem like I'm giving her information because I want to pit her against Jordan or whatever, so I'll leave it alone. If it is what I think it is, Jordan's true intentions will come to fruition soon enough. If being friends with Jordan makes her happy, then I'm okay with it. I really do value Annabelle's friendship and if Jordan is truly her friend, then she wouldn't try to jeopardize that either.

If anyone's got tips on how I should move forward, please press the comment button below this post and let me know. Thanks for reading!

Love Always <3,
Katrina Lowell

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Hey Readers,

So I just wanted to inform you guys about the first book being read in KBC. We will be reading, "The Hunger Games," a popular teen read and I'm sure many of you would enjoy it. Take a look at the book description on kbcinternational.blogspot.com (The HUnger Games by Suzanne Collins). Take a look!

Love Always <3,

Katrina Lowell

Why Don't You Try Celebrity Gossip?

Hey guys,

I finally got another Ask Katrina. Here it is:-

Hey Katrina!
So I've been reading your blogs and you know what? I would love to see some celebrity gossip posts from you. That'd be pretty cool...
- Karen

Hey Karen,

First of all, thanks for reading my blog! I'm really glad you enjoy my posts. Second of all, celebrity gossip? Not quite my forte. I do enjoy that occasional "Selena Gomez/ Justin Bieber Drama" headline, but as for writing it, I'm just not that... talented.

When you're doing "Celebrity Gossip," a lot of research and work is entailed in order to do it properly. You've gotta stay up to date with the stars' lives, get details into rumors and scandals, and all that "fun" stuff and I'm not too enthused about that form of writing as am I not too sure that I'd be a good person to write it. Therefore I'll leave that to Perez Hilton ;).

While I never say never, I highly doubt that I would write celebrity gossip on a regular basis. I mean, sure, I sometimes talk about celebrities in my Music Daily posts, but its on more of a light-hearted, non-critical sort of note, if that makes sense.

At any rate, I do appreciate your suggestion. It gives me an insight into what you guys are looking for, what entertains you, ways to make my blog better, and therefore I thank you. I encourage you to leave more comments about what you like and whatever else you'd like to see and even check out my other blog (kbcinternational.blogspot.com) since I'm looking to discuss the movies based on books and their actors pretty soon, so you might like that as well. Thanks again Karen and keep reading!

Love Always <3,
Katrina Lowell

Amanda Todd's Story

Dear Readers,

I heard about this story from my friend Kayla yesterday and I only saw the video and understood what happened a few minutes ago. Amanda Todd was a girl just like us, a girl that was lead down a road- a dangerous road- by people that deceived her or whom she felt she could trust. Many of our peers are making mistakes like Amanda and you know what? It could happen to any of us. I sat here and watched this video, listened to this girl's story, and felt so sad. I wanted so badly to find out more about her, to see if there was any way that this blog could reach her, that somehow she could be inspired to keep going, to keep trying and to know that she wasn't alone. So, I quickly typed in "Amanda Todd" in the search bar and I was shocked by what I saw. Amanda Todd took her life this week and that's when this situation really entered reality. Girls, we need this to stop. Too many of us are ending our lives just as it's beginning and... it just hurts me to think about this.

I've felt alone before; yeah, I was bullied, but I always had the support of my family, teachers, and friends to keep me up and therefore it causes great pain to imagine if, like Amanda Todd, I didn't (or didn't feel as if I) had the support that I needed to keep going. To be honest, I broke down upon learning about what happened to her because I can relate. It's not quite in the same type of problems, but in the struggle to keep her sanity and the struggle to be who she was in a world that was trying to change her.

To top it off, she was being cyberbullied. This is a type of bullying that I'm not too familiar with, but my name has been tossed around on Facebook (and I don't even have a Facebook account) and it doesn't feel nice to hear about the different things that they say about me; but to have someone put up things like, "I hope she kills herself" is insane! Why is it necessary? I mean, what would possess that person to say something so hateful about this girl? When your in certain situations, sure, you might think, "Gosh, I wish that person would just disappear" or something, but I would never have the gaul to vocalize (or even think for that matter) that someone should die or commit suicide. It's just so irrational and irresponsible to say such a thing so someone. What I'm thinking is that I would love to hear from these same bullies and ask them how it feels to have a 15 year old's blood on their hands. She took her life because they made life miserable for her. Gosh, life is full of joys and pleasures and they pretty much yanked it out of her hands. It's so disappointing and heart-wrenching to think about the things that we humans (especially teens) have been doing to each other.

Now, Amanda's mom has set  up a fundraiser for anti-bullying and mental disorders through the Royal Bank of Canada. I am going to ask you guys to do whatever you can to at least put a penny into that fundraiser. I am so serious about this cause that I am going to work with my school to gather money to give to the Royal Bank of Canada to help out. We need to help each other, girls. Amanda took her life, but she tried saving thousands of others. Let's try to help Amanda save more.

Love Always <3,
Katrina Lowell

Katrina's Book Club

Hey guys,

Yes, KBC International is up and running. I finally bit the bullet and sat down to create my book club. I'm excited and I really hope that KBC will be as successful, if not more, than this blog. I don't have much time left to elaborate, but I encourage you all to take a look. The URL is kbcinternational.blogspot.com and there is an introductory post there waiting for you. Don't forget to vote on the poll, comment and share to all your reading buddies!

Love Always <3,
Katrina Lowell

A Change of Heart, A Change of Direction

Hey guys,

So I know that I haven't posted in awhile and it's just because I've felt the need to... grow up a little. I mean, I read my posts about the "snakes" and "Miranda" and all that crap and I felt sick to my stomach. Not sick for any other reason besides the fact that I realized what I had done; I had become someone I know that I'm not and someone I don't ever want to be.

In the heat of a situation, upon an influx of emotions, in the eyesight of teary eyes, you don't quite see things in a rational light. I mean, you do things that you, on a normal sunny day, wouldn't do and you almost always say things that you probably never meant to become vocal. At any rate, it's wrong and I have needed to take a step back to realize this.

When the school year started, I encountered a mirage of problems that I wasn't too prepared to handle all at once. For instance, you guys were introduced to Miranda quite a few months ago and you may have each made your own opinions of her, unbiased opinions at that. Why? Because I told the stories the exact way that they occurred. However, I've been telling these new stories with an incredible lean towards my opinion of Miranda and her friends by referring to them as snakes. Snakes are animals, not humans. They don't work off of feeling, but instinct; not love, but instinct; not conscience, but instinct. They're animals and I can't expect y'all to see them as anything else if I keep putting them in that light, so I realized that I needed to stop.

As for Miranda, I have my own personal feeling about her and what she's about and I'm sure everyone has different takes on it, but that's not the point. I write in this blog not because I don't have a life or I feel like airing out other people's business to make them feel bad, but to make myself feel better. I started this blog because I felt like I didn't quite have a voice and that I had things to say that others felt shouldn't be heard. At any rate, I will continue to do so, but I realize that unlike my diary, this is public and if them were to come across my blog and make the connections (as they have), I could imagine that they wouldn't feel too good about it. Granted, the fact that these stories are even posted doesn't really please them, but at least my conscience will be at ease knowing that everything said was factual and completely unbiased by my commentary.

Now, I know this isn't an incredibly long post, but I want this to mark my turning of a new leaf, so to speak. I want this to make all of my future posts shine in a brighter light and I just want to work in a new direction.

Love Always <3,
Katrina Lowell

A True Ugly Duckling Story

She had never considered herself "pretty" per say. I mean, she had kinky dark hair, a space between her two front teeth and her sense of style was... well, it didn't include daisy dukes and mesh tops. Her main asset was her brain. At the age of 11 she had an IQ of 126; an extraordinary score for her age. She was always on Honor Roll and her state test scores were amazing.

One thing that she knew was that even though she wasn't the "prettiest" according to society's definition, she was a beautiful girl within. She was hard-headed but sweet and somewhat shy. She hated confrontation, hated negativity, hated hatred. I mean, she did have her moments here and there, but in all, she was just all around pleasant.

One day a new student was introduced to her art class and she couldn't stop blushing. He was very tall, had a deep voice, and he just had this aura about him that she loved. Unfortunately there were three things in her way:
1. He was quite a few years older than her,
2. Her parents didn't approve of her dating and
3. Most of all, she "wasn't as attractive" as most of the girls that these boys nowadays are pining for.

He came and sat down in front of her, turned around and smiled. That's when she saw his glossy, marble-like brown eyes. It was like she was looking into a whole new world. She felt as if she has fallen into a trance; so distant that she hadn't noticed when he introduced himself and put out his hand for her to shake. She shook off all of the thoughts about him and just smiled and shook his hand.

Over a period of three months they developed a close friendship. So close, in fact, that any of the feeling that she had developed on that first day had dissipated and she found that she valued his friendship more than most. It was probably because he was a boy, so no drama had ensued between the two of them that would happen between girls. Besides that, he was older and was able to help out with homework and give simple advice about growing up. He was smart, kind and altogether a great friend. Then it all changed.

One of her friends overheard him tell his best friend that he was gonna ask her out. She panicked because she knew that she would have to reject him and that it would change the whole dynamic of their relationship. She sent out a friend to convince him not to do it, but she was too late. He asked her to not go on a date, but to be his girlfriend because he didn't need to learn anymore about her to know that he had fallen in love. She was close to tears because no one had ever said that to her. I mean, she was the type of girl that would get tagged in a "forever alone" Facebook pic. She swapped phone numbers with him and let him know that she was going to think about it. As soon as her mom got home she told her that someone asked her out. She didn't tell her what he said, who he was or (especially) how old he was. Even then her mom said no and told her to let him down easy. She sat there staring at her cell phone, trying to decide how to do this. Then she decided to wait til the next day.

When she arrived at school, she hesitantly walked over to the boy and asked to talk... in private. He said that anything that she had to say could be said in front of his friends. Although she tried to convince him otherwise, he was intent on staying where he was. Reluctantly, she told him that they couldn't be together, but right as she was going to explain why and everything, his friends started to cry... with laughter, and he was joining in. By then, she had a sick feeling inside; she knew what was happening.

He patted her on the back and said, "thank god, because I was feeling bad for you and thought you could need a boyfriend but I didn't quite want to be the one to do it." she couldn't believe it; I mean, he had just HUMILIATED her in front of everyone! Her eyes became glassy with tears and he saw it. He stopped laughing and started approaching her, but she slowly backed away. His demeanor softened instantly; almost like he hadn't realized what he did to her. Before running off, she looked him in the eyes and said, "do I really look like I need help?" She ran as fast as she could to the bathroom where she wept until the bell rang. At that point she got up, washed her face, and looked in the mirror, thinking to herself, "In this world of vanity and superficiality, do I even have a place?" and with that she went through the school day. The boy hadn't made any attempt to talk to her, but gave her guilty looks from across the way. At the end of the day, instead of sticking around to play basketball with his friends, like usual, he called for a ride as soon as he got out. Soon after then, his car approached the curb and he got in. That was the last day of school, and since he had transferred to another district that year, she never saw him again. Here's when life sometimes flips.

The next year, she was out of that school and into a homeschooling program. She decided to leave that school behind, as it promoted looks and money more than it did the importance of education. She put on some braces to fix her teeth, got a haircut and replaced her wardrobe; not for the people around her, but for herself. Her grades boosted tremendously and she got into extracurricular actives such as a Glee group, roller skating classes and a soccer camp. After a while, most of the drama associated with her old school vanished from her mind, so imagine her surprise when she got a text from an unfamiliar phone number:

"Hey Katrina, It's Chad. I know you probably hate me after what I did to you, but that's why I sent you this text; what I did that day was wrong, but I just couldn't believe that you rejected me. Instead of facing the possible humiliation, I flipped it over on you and now I've felt like I won't ever see you again, and you'll never know how I truly felt. Although you aren't like the others, you're one of a kind and I miss you. Please reply."

Imagine yourself in this situation; I mean, what would you do?
1. Feel so tickled pink that you'd forget everything that happened that day and you text him back saying, "aww, how sweet of you to send me this! Let's start over, okay???"
2. Express your hatred of him and tell him never to talk to you again,
3. Let him know that while you forgive him, you don't want anything to do with him, or
4. Ignore, block and delete?

I want you guys to vote in the poll to the right of this page and in one week, I will send out the continuation of this post so that you can see what I chose to do.

STAY TUNED!

Love Always <3,
Katrina Lowell