I picked Miley Cyrus’ “I can’t be tamed!” Stop laughing! I realize I am a grown woman who is choosing to use a Miley Cyrus song to represent her life but what can I say..it fits! I have been many things at many different times in my life to many different people but one thing has always been constant, I have always been me and I CAN NOT BE TAMED! Just ask the big guy. He has been trying for 13 years, as did my Daddy before that. It is simply impossible. I am woman , hear me roar!Happy Mothering!
What is it? Hipstamatic ~ The Portland Hipstapak is a .99 application upgrade for your digital photography Hipstamatic app available for the iPhone, iPod, or iPad. It consists of a lens and a film; the Lucifer VI Lens and the BlacKeys B+W film. I absolutely adore Hipstamatic, which was evident in my original Hipstamatic vs. Instagram post and I love to add new hipstapaks anytime the opportunity presents itself. In fact, I own every one currently available. It’s amazing how simply changing a lens, flash or a film type can change the entire concept of the photo.Or how altering the combination of the three can create a different mood.The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.
What does the Portland Hipstapak say it will do?
Lucifer VI Lens
Burn baby burn. The Lucifer VI is smokin’ hot and creates a flamin’ look that even the prince of darkness would envy.
BlacKeys B+W Film
Straight from grandma’s attic, the BlacKeys Ultrachrome gives your prints a superior monotone look and stamps the month and year directly on the print.
Does it do what it says it will do? The Portland Hipstapak application does exactly what it promises.
Lucifer VI lens allows you to capture your photograph through a variable rose colored glass. You take the photo and an instant red shadow is cast on the photo.It gives a great effect for photos of stills or even candids that you want to add a little extra artistic flair to. I wouldn’t recommend it for,lets say the first photo of your newborn baby because it tends to slightly distort the image.
The BlacKeys B+W film gives the photos very subtle monochromatic changes with variances of whites, blacks and grays. I love it. It’s just like real life. The color scheme creates a very raw and simple photo that packs a powerful emotional punch. I also love that it places a month and year stamp on the photo,giving it that vintage feel. Mine was pretty amazing because it actually teleported me back to 1981, well according to the time stamp anyways.
Do you need to consult a manual or is it “User Friendly”? No manual needed. All you need is to purchase the application,upload it and enjoy taking photos. That is what makes Hipstamatic so amazing, anyone can use it! The Hipstamatic ~ the Portland Hipstapak includes one lens and one film; add them to the collection that comes standard with the Hipstamatic and factor in all the different combinations of film, lens, and flash; the possibilities are infinite.
The Portland Hipstapak~where possibilities are endless.
I love to share great products, such as the Synology DS411j, that make my life better, easier or more enjoyable. Being a mom of small children, my time is precious because it’s so scheduled with tasks, errands and responsibilities. So, I really don’t have time for do overs or heart attacks caused by computer glitches, crashes and screens of death (of the blue or white variety).
*This is NOT a sponsored review. The Big Guy bought this little miracle to save my sanity and it is even more awesome than we imagined. I am compelled to share it with everyone I know.
A Budget-friendly 4-bay Network Attached Storage (NAS) Server for Small Office and Home Use. Synology Disk Station DS411j is designed to provide a cost-effective file storage and backup solution with RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) protection for multi-user home environments. The operating system, Synology DiskStation Manager 3.1, delivers rich features for multimedia enjoyments, worry-free backup, Internet sharing, and energy-saving options. What does that mean to me? For you? It means a LOT of cool things can happen with this Network attached storage system but the most important feature for me is that it is virtually impossible for me to lose my photos, blog, music, videos (MEMORIES) ever again. I have a serious photography addiction and have taken somewhere upwards of 90,000 digital photos of my children and our family in the past 5 years. Needless to say, most are not printed. I have no hard copies. Our entire life is documented in photos that don’t physically exist. I imagine many of you are in this exact predicament. Imagine how my Mommy heart sank when our hard drive got fried. FRIED! Let’s just say, you’ve not seen a hysterical Mommy the likes of this and walked away unscathed. I recollect some pleas to God and threats to the Big Guy. In the end, My Big Guy (AKA my hot tech man) was able to extract my photos from the charred remains of the hard drive. But it was all a little too close for comfort for me. So, the Big Guy came up with this solution…
Synology DS411j
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]It looks so innocuous but don't be fooled, it can save you from a great life loss.
Does it do what it says it will do? It does what it says it will do. It has fantastic features, the security of my photos and video of which are the most important to me but it can serve as an entertainment center; download station, audio station, DLNA/UPnP compliant media server, and iTunes server. A Back Up to precious data; DiskStaion Manager, Server Backup, and Desktop backup. It can enrich your web presence; by serving as a photo station and a web station. You can access it with your Mobile device; The iPhone® and Android App, DS audio, allows you to stream music stored on your DiskStation with your mobile devices where Internet access is available, while DS photo+ allows browsing and uploading photos and videos stored on DiskStation from your mobile devices. If you own a mobile device running on Windows Mobile® 6.0, iPhone® OS 2.2.1 onward, or Symbian OS 9.1, you can log on your DiskStation to view photos with Mobile Photo Station and read supported file formats with Mobile File Station wherever Internet access is available. And Synology is designed with green in mind. I’m telling you, there isn’t anything NOT to love about this product.
Do you need to consult a manual or is it “User Friendly”? You definitely need to be somewhat tech savvy or read the manual thoroughly before embarking on implementing and understanding this system. But once you do, it will change your life. For me, it just may save my life and my sanity. Unfortunately,I’ve had the misfortune of experiencing Macs Blue screen/spinning wheel of death and Wordpress’ White screen of death. In both instances, I had minor mental meltdowns. The feeling was tantamount to having a fire destroy all of your worldly goods. When I lost my photos, I was at my wits end and when I thought I lost all the data from my blog, I was brought to tears. If I would have had everything backed up on the Synology DS411j, I could have rested easy knowing that it was securely backed up. It gives me peace of mind and that is priceless.
*This piece was originally published on It’s all about teh User.
This past weekend was a little difficult for me emotionally;Gabs turned 4. My baby turned 4! I don’t know if it had anything to do with having a house full of family visiting. I really didn’t get to spend any alone time with the Big Guy.My brother came in that I haven’t seen since Thanksgiving. My dad caught a red eye in from Mexico just to sing happy birthday to my baby, because every single time he called from Mexico in the past 6 months has told him “You better be at my Berday to sing happy berday Grandpa Manny”. Or maybe it’s the fact that we just got the news that my dad’s mom has pancreatic cancer and has 6 months to live.Maybe it was a raging case of PMS. Maybe it was that my middle sister couldn’t make it. Maybe it was that my baby brother was moving out of my parent’s house and my Mom was so heart broken that her baby was growing up..and I could relate. Maybe it was that my baby sister is pregnant and my baby is turning 4. Maybe it’s that the time together was just a reminder of how bad the time apart is.Maybe it was that the end of the school year is near and we will be moving..life will be changing. Maybe it was because my 4 year old kissed my 6 year old’s best friend, who’s a boy. I just feel like life is going by too quickly.
There’s no time to enjoy it, like I thought I would be when I was at this point in my life. Life is flying by at a dizzying pace. Babies are being born, children are growing up, people are growing apart, people are getting married, people are dying and I feel like opportunities are being missed. Opportunities to be together, to enjoy the living. I feel like I should be taking more pictures and video, spending more time playing at the parks, packing picnics for the day, enjoying the laughter of the littles, patiently listening to stories that take longer than necessary, jumping in puddles, more time cuddling and reveling in the love.Playing in the sun, singing at the top of our lungs, spinning round dancing to the music of our hearts. I feel guilty for losing sight of what is REALLY important…the fleeting moments of bliss and newness of every new perception to be seen through the eyes of my girls. Basking in the glory of a new word or sound, or the glory that is the smile of my daughters.
Gabs turning four was just a painful reminder that the past 2 years( half of her life) have been spent in a life holding pattern. It’s like putting a band aid on a slashed carotid artery. I am feeling this horrible guilt of cheating them out of their father; of only having half a family. The Big Guy is such a wonderful husband and father. I stayed behind to try and keep some semblance of normalcy for my girls; their house, their school, their friends, their life but what if all I did was keep them from their Daddy? Keep us from being whole. What if I should have ripped the band aid off a long time ago? What if when we are in the same place, I realize I’ve irreversibly damaged their relationship with their Daddy? What if I AM a bad mom? The thought of it is sickening to me.
I think it’s a combination of fear of change and letting go. We celebrated and Gabi had a wonderful birthday. She is such an amazing little girl. She is beautiful in ways that I can’t even put into words. She has the biggest heart and her smile lights up my world. She makes me want to be a better person. Her giggle can turn the worst day of my life into sunshine and rainbows. But her sadness at missing her Daddy, breaks my heart into a million tiny pieces. I look at her and I see this gorgeous little girl, with big blue eyes and a mane of hair always asking for forgiveness and never permission. She speaks her mind, she is brave and wonderful in so many ways. There is so much possibility in her eyes. I am so proud of the child she is becoming but I still get a little nostalgic for that little chubby baby with the dark black ringlets of curls and those same big blue eyes looking up at me as if I were the entire world back before all the separation and distance happened in our world. I just hope that I haven’t let her down.
Gabi, you are my sunshine and I hope that I can make up the last two years of a holding pattern with a lifetime of happiness and love. Just don’t grow up too fast. No more kissing little boys thank you for gifts, even if it was a trained reaction to kiss people and tell them thank you for your gift…not little boys. Let’s enjoy the living part of life and experience it together.We’ll be with Daddy soon.I promise. Mommy and Daddy love you…. I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, As long as I’m living my baby you’ll be
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]Yes, this would be Bella's best friend and Gabi's first accidental kiss.No wonder this kid's smiling so hard.
Today, I am truly honored to have the lovely and witty Melissa of Married my Sugar Daddy. She writes with humor and honesty that make me keep coming back for more. If you have not had the pleasure of reading /knowing Melissa (@Madijack) , I certainly recommend that you get to know her. She is snarky and funny and 21 flavors of entertaining. I love reading her blog, I always come away feeling like I’ve been catching up with an old friend. She has made me laugh,cry and think…sometimes in the same post. Thank you so much Melissa for sharing your truth with so much going on right now. XOXO
The TRUTH about Motherhood
I really believed when I was smack in the trenches of arguing with my husband about not wanting him to buy the no-frills diapers-, since my kids ALWAYS leaked through them- that once the stage of them being completely dependent on me for their basic needs was done- I’d be in the homestretch.
I thought those early years- getting up at the crack of 2am to heat up a bottle (which I only realized after my second baby- was as simple as popping a cup of water into the microwave as opposed to boiling hot water over an open flame for 20 minutes) was the grueling part of motherhood. But the thing is- during all those early years- motherhood’s challenges are primarily physical. They test your endurance, school you on how to be a muti-tasker and at times make you feel like you are operating on auto-pilot. But your kids-unless they’re dragging around a soiled diaper- are for the most part, happy, smiling little babes, who let you dress them up and create your very own mirror image in them.
Then they grow up- and of course, no one tells you that the real meat and work begins then. As my kids have gotten older, the questions- that seemingly come out of nowhere have begun to permeate our every conversation at this breakneck pace- and my inability to keep up and juggle all their feelings, thoughts, self-esteem issues, confidence and little egos feels like a balancing act that is simply impossible.
I often feel ill-equipped to be the source for all these pressing concerns- like; who the hell am I to answer all these questions, assuage their fears and am I enough to be able to raise these two individuals and arm them with everything they’ll ever need to become independent enough to feel okay on their own. And I know I’m not alone in these thoughts, in my insecurities about motherhood. But honestly I just wish there was a manual that would fool-proof every impulse I have and make sure it was the correct one. The truth about motherhood is that no one tells you what an awesome responsibility this motherhood thing is- and that there are no guarantees it will all end up the way you want it to.
Free to be…You and Me! Free to be Gender Free! I’m sure by now, everybody in the world has heard the story of 4 month old baby Storm. This is the child born in Toronto to Kathy Witterick and her husband, David Stocker. The couple has kept their baby Storm’s gender a secret. The only people who know are one family friend and Storm’s older brothers, Jazz, 5, Kio, 2 and the two midwives who delivered Storm on New Year’s Day.
An article last week in the Toronto Star profiled the family and their quest to raise their baby unfettered by gender imposed expectations. The couple began this plight by sending out an email after Storm’s birth:
“We’ve decided not to share Storm’s sex for now — a tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation, a stand up to what the world could become in Storm’s lifetime (a more progressive place? …).”
That is the gist of the scenario. A couple of hippies had 3 children and they don’t want them to be judged or reacted to in the world solely on what’s between their legs. I understand that. I really do but I think they are playing God with their children. By NOT assigning their children a sex, they are making such a spectacle that they are assigning them the title of freak. Let’s be clear, I don’t give a shit if a little boy wears a dress or a little girl wants to play in the dirt and eat worms. That is no big deal. In my opinion, both sexes could stand to experiment a little more with their feminine or masculine sides.
I don’t think because your parents tell you that you are a boy or a girl is going to impact the way you see yourself in the world unless of course your parents are assholes and perpetuate the fact that you are defined and restricted by your gender. Perhaps holding the child’s sex from the public will make others not know how to react tot he child and treat him/her like a complete alien but what about the kid who does know what genitalia is between its legs. They know. I think gender gives us a jumping off point, to know who we are. It’s not the only defining characteristic of who we are. I think if the parents want to perpetuate gender-free, they should grow their hair out dress androgynously and conceal their own gender. They are experimenting with their own child. As a society, we stand up for animal rights and against animal cruelty. Testing on children, below the age of consent is worse. It’s barbaric.
I have two girls who, I am not afraid to admit, I had several ultrasounds to check and double check their sex before they were born because…yes, I did want to buy the girly colors and foofoo bedding. They were newborn, I just wanted a beautiful world for them to come home to. There was no malicious intent behind it. I wasn’t trying to force my girls to be princess ballerinas…though they have since somewhat become that very thing.
I have always told them both…you can do and be whatever you want to be in the world. Play sports, dance, be president, whatever you want…as long as you put in the hard work and dedication, the world is yours. You can be anything you want to be.
My 4 year old tells me that she wants to play hockey, soccer and football. My 6 year old wants to be her sister’s cheerleader. One loves pink and purple and the other loves green and blue. They were born girls .I am not embarrassed by that and neither should they be. They are not hindered by that. These parents are saying what is between your legs should not matter and it should not but what’s not between your legs shouldn’t matter either. I think their intentions are good but they are taking a big risk with their children’s lives and place in society. Let them be free to grow up and be whatever they want to be but don’t confuse them as to who they are now.
So, my throat punch goes to the parents of Storm, Kio and Jazz. You asshats are completely jacking up your children’s lives by giving them no place in the world. You have taken away our most primal instinct identifier…male or female. It’s like a big game to you but you are playing with your child. You are supposed to protect them and nurture them not use them as a big Eff you to the world. You two get a ginormous, I hope the DCFS comes and straightens you out, Chuck Norris Monkey Toe roundhouse kick to the back of the neck.
I saw this video this morning and it made me smile! Hope it does the same for you! Sometimes we just need to let our super freak come out and play![/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
Throat Punch Thursday~Bei Bei Shuai Rat Poison Feticide edition
This week, unfortunately, I did not have to turn to CNN for a Throat Punch Thursday’s recipient, Bei Bei Shuai. No, all I had to do was turn on my local news. I generally hate when that happens. It can never be a good sign when someone that close to home does something so equally stupid and heinous. Without further ado, I give you Bei Bei Shuai. Have you heard of Bei Bei? I’m sure that many of you have already heard of her. He story takes place back in March, how she has escaped receiving a Throat Punch this far is beyond me.
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis woman who tried to commit suicide by eating rat poison near the end of her pregnancy was charged with murder in the death of her baby.
Bei Bei Shuai, 34, was arrested Monday and appeared in court Wednesday on charges of knowingly killing a viable fetus and attempted feticide, prosecutors said. The court entered an automatic plea of not guilty for Shuai, who is in custody. She was dumped by her piece of work boyfriend and went off the deep end. I don’t think she was trying to kill the baby as much as kil herself and the baby was collateral damage. Either way, pretty messed up situation.
Shuai consumed rat poison while 33 weeks pregnant, prosecutors said. On December 23, she was taken to a hospital where she admitted to taking rat poison in an attempt to kill herself after her boyfriend left her, according to a police statement.Apparently, her piece of shit boyfriend broke the news to her at 33 weeks that he couldn’t marry her because he was already married. I do understand her disappointment, dismay and even her full on freak out but ingesting rat poisoning is crazy. Sure it’s depressing to see that your entire future was based on a lie and it’s never going to come to fruition.Having a mental breakdown, even contemplating homicide all make more sense to me than going to Home Depot and buying a bag of rat poisoning and then proceeding to eat it.
Bei Bei Shuai Rat Poison Feticide edition
Shuai’s baby girl, Angel Shuai, was born alive on December 31. On January 3, the baby died after being taken off life support. An autopsy determined that the cause of death was her mother’s ingestion of the poison, police said. You see why she deserves a Throat Punch?
Shuai, is the co-owner of a small Indianapolis restaurant, is from China and has no family members in the United States, according to her lawyer, Linda Pence. Pence called the prosecution “mean-spirited” and “horrible” and wants to have the charges dismissed. Oh, they are mean because they are calling her a killer? Well, actually, isn’t that what she is?
“This young woman is truly one of the kindest, most gentle people I’ve ever met,” said Pence. Pence said Shuai’s boyfriend had promised to marry her and help raise the child, and then dumped her, leaving her crying on her knees in a parking lot. Shuai was near a hardware store, so she bought the poison to kill herself. Agreed her boyfriend is a piece of work but she’s the one who made the choice to eat rat poison.Even if she didn’t intentionally kill the baby, she tried to kill herself and didn’t care what came of the baby. Either way, at the very least, she was careless and reckless.
Pence said Shuai had been happy about the baby, and had bought baby clothes. The baby died in her arms after she had rocked it “for hours and hours,” Pence said.
Pence said there is a common law immunity for pregnant women who attempt to harm themselves — or else prosecutors could charge any woman who drank or took drugs. Pence said the law against killing fetuses is meant to target third parties — as in the case of a robber who shoots a pregnant woman. I’m not sure that I want the government to go down this slippery slope but I do know that she needs to be held accountable.
So, this week the Throat Punch goes to the crazy lady having the mental breakdown over a man whose first thought was “hmm, I think I’ll go eat some rat poison”. You, my dear, need a Throat Punch to dislodge your head out of your ass. I am sorry your boyfriend turned out to be a douche but killing yourself and your baby earns you a punch, Bei Bei Shuai.
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]Photo courtesy of the internet
Starbucks, Keurig, Diet Dr. Pepper, and Diet coke are all collateral damage of a bad girl gone good.Yesterday was Fat Tuesday. Fat Tuesday! You know that one day of year that all of us Catholics live for.It’s the day ( more like the 5 day weekend) that we go crazy stuffing our faces with rich foods, drinking libations of the most toxic variety,and partaking of any and all activities that may fall under the verboten category on Wednesday. If there is any way shape or form that a particular item can be considered pleasurable, you can be sure, we, devout Catholics, are trying to consume as much as we can, as fast as we can. We are storing up our pleasures to sustain as over our long religious hibernation. It usually consists of a lot of really good people doing some really , maybe not so good things, for beads while stuffing their faces and filling their bellies.It’s a mad dash for the finish line before the game gets reset and we have to go to the back of the line. It should be renamed Sodom and Gomorrah day because unofficially, that’s what it is. It’s the day before the day that we make a great sacrifice for the next 40 days. It’s sort of our annual last hurrah. Because, really….we KNOW it’s going to be a long 40 days and nights. Depending on what you are giving up, it could be longer. I’m no half asser . I tend to give up the things I like the most, my vices.
This morning, as we all awoke in the cold light of day with our Fat Tuesday hangovers, it hit me like a ton of bricks that today was WEDNESDAY. Yesterdays was “that” day, but today is “THIS” day…Ash Wednesday. The official start of our 40 day sacrifice. For my very first accountable Lent, I gave up red meat. Oh No she didn’t. OH YES, I DID! And to prove that I’m no half asser, I was a vegetarian for the next 10 years. I was eventually done in by a McDonald’s cheeseburger, but I digress, that’s an entirely different post. I’ve given up cursing in the past. I realize that I should be embarrassed that cursing is something that any Mommy should be in actual need of giving up, but believe me when I say..I have a bit of a potty mouth. The worse part is that I do NOT realize when I drop the F* Bomb..until I get some gaping mouth look from a fellow Mommy, or worse..my husband. There was the year that I gave up alcohol.This was pre children. I would never willingly relinquish my Mommy juice ever again, unless with child, which I don’t really have any plans of ever doing again. But believe me, when I don’t drink,people ,who know me, automatically assume that I MUST be pregnant. But this year, I pulled on my BIG girl panties. I gave up caffeine. *GASP*
I know, I am as surprised as the rest of you. Why an insomniac prone to migraines thinks its a good idea to give up her number one vice is beyond me. Caffeine is another thing I usually only give up when with child but I feel that my addiction is getting too strong a hold on me. I’ve tried to ween myself off the Starbucks for quite some time. It is only a fabulous treat that I allow myself on occasion. You sexy toffee mocha with a couple extra shots , you really know how to speed up my pulse first thing in the morning.I have also personally been keeping Keurig k-cups in the black with my overwhelming addiction. And let’s not even get started on Diet coke. You evil bitch.I have tried to give you up on multiple occasions. But you and your maleficent sister Diet Dr.Pepper keep luring me back in to your web of self destruction. I am thoroughly convinced that there was no forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden..it was a piping hot cup of pure pleasure..it had to be a Trenta from Starbucks. If not, it was certainly a ice cold fountain diet coke with loads of ice that sent poor Eve, and the rest of us, on our path of pain.
That’s right people. I am doing what Eve couldn’t do in the garden..I’m passing up the caffeine for the next 40 days. It’s going to be hard. Let’s be honest.I’m pretty sure, it’s going to be like Charlie Sheen when he gave up the coke. Maybe even as ugly as Whitney when she gave up the crack , oh wait, bad example. Anyways, I wonder, do they make a synthetic caffeine that I can take intravenously to keep away the DTs?I just don’t think walking around in polite society looking like I have the shakes is going to be beneficial to anyone and probably a little frightening to the countless small children that I encounter on a daily basis. They have electronic cigarettes and nicorette gum for smokers trying to quit. There is methadone for methamphetamine addicts. So what’s going to get me through my withdrawals? Anyone have any words of advice for me?
Why did I give up caffeine you ask? I gave it up because if it wasn’t hard it wouldn’t be a sacrifice. It would be easy and everyone would do it. So if you see me on the street and I’m cursing, drunk and shaking like a fool…pat me on the back and say “Way to go girl!You will be kicking that nasty addiction right in it’s big hairy ass and making all right in the world again:)” I dream big folks.Now, since I didn’t have my coffee this morning,I’m off to take a nap..how else do you suppose I’m to get through my days on no sleep!Happy Mothering!
*After reading this,I’m thinking I may need to addend this to be coffee and Diet pop.I’m not sure going completely cold turkey off caffeine all together is going to prove a wise move.Hold me. I’m afraid.
** Oh yes, I had to add this because this blog also serves as my remembrance of my girls childhood. The Big Guy just went to pick Bella up at school and upon seeing her standing there, he promptly went at wiping the dirt off her forehead.He forgot it was Ash Wednesday and not until he looked up and saw the other mother and child sporting their ashes did he realize what he had just done.Damn lapsed Catholic:)
Plagiarism is NOT what I had intended to post about today. Of course, I also didn’t plan on having my posts, blog title (written exactly as I write mine) and philosophy/mission stolen and passed off as someone else’s. This is the third time in two weeks. I am irate.
Let me preface by telling you that I don’t subscribe to the “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” mentality. I believe that if you steal my intellectual property (written verbatim or closely resembling), you are a thief and, as such, you should have to be held accountable. Personally, I feel like you should be strung up and beaten like a pinata but perhaps that’s just because I am the victim of this despicable crime. Have you not read my About page? Oh yeah, of course you have, I can tell because you have copied my philosophy ( and my posts) but perhaps you didn’t read all the way to the bottom. If you had, you would already know that I do not tolerate…
plagiarism.
So, I am going to drop a little knowledge on you, according to PlagiarismdotOrg (see how I just did that? I just gave credit to the site whose information I am about to share with you because it is their intellectual property, their hard work and their talent. Try it, I might like you! )
What is Plagiarism?
Many people think of plagiarism as copying another’s work, or borrowing someone else’s original ideas. But terms like “copying” and “borrowing” can disguise the seriousness of the offense:
According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to “plagiarize” means
to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own
to use (another’s production) without crediting the source
to commit literary theft
to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.
In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else’s work and lying about it afterward. ( * I think if you put your name on it and not mine, if I wrote it…you lied!)
But can words and ideas really be stolen?
According to U.S. law, the answer is yes. The expression of original ideas is considered intellectual property, and is protected by copyright laws, just like original inventions. Almost all forms of expression fall under copyright protection as long as they are recorded in some way (such as a book or a computer file).
All of the following are considered plagiarism:
turning in someone else’s work as your own
copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit
failing to put a quotation in quotation marks
giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation
changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit
copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not (see our section on “fair use” rules)
Most cases of plagiarism can be avoided, however, by citing sources. Simply acknowledging that certain material has been borrowed, and providing your audience with the information necessary to find that source, is usually enough to prevent plagiarism. See our section on citation for more information on how to cite sources properly. (*all you had to do was give me credit for my work.Link to me.Mention me. Something!)
But instead, these people think that my idea, philosophy, blog title, brand and posts are free for them to steal. They are not. If you want to cite @TruthfulMommy or The TRUTH about Motherhood then do so appropriately, if not, I am respectfully asking that YOU BACK THE FUCK OFF MY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY or I will be forced to take legal action.
If you ask me to write for you and I don’t and you “borrow” a post without permission, you are a plagiarist!
If I submit an article for consideration and you decline it but that very article shows up on your site credited to another author, you are a plagiarist.
If my post VERBATIM is on your site without MY permission, you are a plagiarist.
If you are a plagiarist, I hate you!
Plagiarism
*Here is one of the plagiarist post https://t.co/YaD9qpQ compare it to my my post https://t.co/EgXgz9C . Verbatim!!! Feel free to leave comments to let them know how bloggers feel about plagiarist. I have sent them a legal notice to remove my post. We shall see. I will see what happens with the others before I reveal who they are.Plagiarism is NOT a victimless crime.
