Disclaimer: July 2005

*Yawns*

What, is it the first of July already?

We just barely got past June, after all. It's been a nasty, emotional month for a lot of people, what with both personal and political situations flying around. (Maybe not as much for me, because it's probably a common fact that Sean doesn't access the wide range of emotions to begin with. Ain't it nice judging books by their covers?)

:)

I've been accessing a lot of artists' sites recently. Artists seem to get excellent return for their effort: In addition to the fact that it's a lot easier for people to look at art than it is for them to read an overly long piece of writing, it's a lot more difficult to plagiarize art than it is to steal somebody else's words.

Somebody passes off a piece of art as their own, and it's easy to call them on it. Somebody passes off a piece of writing as their own, and elders everywhere have to admit that there is even the slightest possibility that the composition is authentic. Sometimes the elders turn out not to care, as events in the last year have shown a number of international writers. It's only writing, after all -- how much effort could these people possibly put into it?

But we writers know exactly when somebody steals one of our babies. We're not quite grizzly about it, but we can come pretty close; You do not want to see an angry writer when you have stolen one of his children.

To all readers of this blog, I give my assurance that everything written here is a completely original work. Works from outside sources may be quoted, referenced or parodied in certain instances, in which case the appropriate notes and sources are always attached. In the event that a dispute arises regarding the reference to an already-written item, I am only too happy to negotiate for its presence in this blog.

My posting of these articles in a public forum legally constitutes informal copyright, which means that anyone who steals any of these and passes them off as their own gives me license to come over to their house and tar-and-feather them. Well, maybe not the tarring-and-feathering, but I do get to sic the lawyers on them, which will make them wish they were running around with the chicken look.

In short, plagiarists: You take my words, I take your eyes.

Have a nice day.