This is an archive and may contain old or out-of-date content. Check the date; things may have changed since the time of the original posting. Conversation is allowed on older posts, but be aware that they will not come to my attention as easily.
I’m having a bit of a dillema on another site… I won’t go into specifics, because most of you don’t even have an interest in this kind of thing, but recently I created this great layout. I had an idea in my head, and I was looking around at other sites for ways I could possibly jazz it up.
Now, when you’re decorating a house, and you’re looking for ideas, you tend to look at those interior design magazines, or through wallpaper samples at the local paint store, or watch those “fixer-upper” shows on the home and garden channel for inspiration. Later, when you’re in your own house, planning exactly what color scheme you’re going to use in a certain room, and what couch you’re going to put against the back wall, and what style curtains will look the best on the window over the kitchen sink… inadvertantly, you will use ideas you found in your search for inspiration.
Sometimes, inadvertantly, you buy three pieces of furtiture you’ve been looking at separately, without realizing that you had already seen them in the same living room. I mean, that just happens. The human mind retains this kind of stuff without really thinking about it consciously.
Anyhow, all of this to say that I may be having copyright issues on this layout. Going around different websites, I made a list of things that I liked… a link hover effect here, a color scheme there, a page idea over yonder. Well, when three or four of those ideas were put onto my site, somebody stumbled across it and realized that they had, inadvertently, all come from the same site. They’re commenting on it, saying that I’ve copied it from him and that they’re going to contact him to “see what he thinks.”
I’ll probably have to change the layout (which took me a month of tears, sweat, and PHP error messages) to appease them all, because his site is WAY more professional and well-read than mine… and in the Internet world, that means EVERYTHING.
Anyhow, I started this post to ask a question… seriously, what is Internet copyright? I mean, how can you prove without a doubt that you’re the one that came up with something in the first place? I mean, the guy who came up with, for example, having recent posts in the footer… does he have a document saying he did it first? And if he can’t prove it, why should I have to?
So I guess I’ll start working on another new layout before this gets out of hand. I hate hazy Internet rules… I really do. And I apologize to anyone I just bored to death. Sorry.
Yeah, it’s currently after midnight, and guess what I’m doing? I’m filling up with Dr. Pepper (really, the only caffienated drink I like because I don’t like coffee) and working on this ringbearer’s pillow. Tomorrow is Nikki’s wedding and I’m now doing the pillow that I pretty much had most of this week to do.
Oh, procrastination is a terrible thing!
Edit: It’s almost one a.m. and I can barely see straight… much less sew straight. It’s not like I’ve never stayed up late before… usually I’m just fine, but I’ve been up since six and ended up getting stuck on the grill all day. I have to do this really quietly so this machine doesn’t wake everyone up (trust me, seven year olds woken up at one in the morning is not a happy situation). And to top it off, I think the whole dang thing is crooked.
Edit: Two a.m. and the stupid thing is crooked. I suppose… once I stuff it and sew it up… and have the ribbon for the rings on top… I guess if I tell Steve (my brother’s the ring-bearer) to hold it with the good side out and move kinda quickly… nobody will notice or care. Anyhow, the rest can wait for tomorrow.
Which is, consequently, Nikki’s wedding. I’ll be down in Lawton this weekend… so I’ll talk to you all Sunday!
Hey, in case you haven’t seen, that new theme is up! Now before you start fussing, Shawna, the bit of Javascript is just for dragging the sidebar boxes around, and I’m not disabling them because I like them. Like I said, I don’t have the time to design for my blog, and at least half of my readers don’t even give a darn what it looks like.
Speaking of blogging, I’m going to open that option up once more. If anyone wants their own blog on my site (and preferably, I’d like to already know you or know of you), such as http://YOU.melilyn.com, and just as easy to use as xanga / myspace / et cetera, leave me a comment. I’ll even set it up for you and let you pick out a theme. I feel for you all, stuck on xanga still!
I don’t have anything really deep and thoughtful to say today. I’ve been getting ready for this weekend and have been really busy with work again.
Random bit of news: Spiderman 3 comes out the first Friday in May! Anyone else want to go see it? I do!
Lorelle of WordPress.com (whose site I literally stumbled upon yesterday) has brought something really powerful to my attention with her latest post. I can’t do justice to it, so I’ll let you read it yourself.
A few days before Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) in Israel, I was warned that when I heard the air raid sirens I wasn’t to be afraid. I was to stop whatever I was doing and be quiet and not move for two minutes. My friends told me that all of Israel stops on that day.
I laughed. Getting an Israeli to stand still and shut up is like hoping a penny on the tracks will stop a high speed train. I just couldn’t imagine it. It’s a noisy place filled with too many people shouting loudly all the time just to be heard. Too much energy. This was something I wanted to see, but I didn’t believe I’d see it.
The day arrived and I was out on the streets of downtown Tel Aviv running an errand. I’d forgotten and was startled when the sirens went off. I kept walking for a few seconds until I realized that no one was moving around me.
Nothing. People were standing on the street silent and unmoving. All the cars were stopped and their drivers and passengers were outside, standing next to their vehicles. I froze.
I listened.
Not a sound. Not a shout. Not a honk. Not an engine noise. Not a blaring radio. Silence. No babies crying. No mothers scolding. No shopkeepers shouting their wares. Silence. No airplanes. No motor scooters. No dogs barking. No sound anywhere.
Except the wailing siren. [CONTINUE READING]
She, and others, have proposed a day of absolute silence in the blogosphere (the world of blogs, you might call it) in honor of the victims at Virginia Tech. On April 30th, you’ll not hear a peep from me or many others on the blogosphere. Spread the word.
Good grief, look at me. I’ve been blogging non-stop… and there’s no blogathon in sight!
Got my official wedding invitation from Amanda today. I called her to tell her I got it, but she ended up calling me while I was getting the message from HER phone to leave a voice mail message. Too funny! So… we talked without actually talking. Anyhow, I’m not even sure what my plans are when I get up there. I mean, I’m torn between wanting to spend time with my grandmother (Dearma), because we’re crazy-close, and seeing all/some of my old PA friends.
We’ll see how it goes.
In the meantime, my sister helped me along with this revelation yesterday. “You know, they’re all halfway through college.” Meaning, of course, the class I graduated with. And look at me! Full time job (well, by hours anyhow) at an ice cream place, trying to learn what I can while I save up for classes. My gosh, I feel like such a failure!
PS: Yes, the title is supposed to be “apostrophe” and not “epiphany.” Come on, haven’t you seen Hook?
Smee: I’ve just had an apostrophe.
Captain Hook: I think you mean an epiphany.
Smee: No… lightning has just struck my brain.
Captain Hook: Well, that must hurt.