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shalannaOne of my favorite writers/livejournalers inadvertently alerted me in this cool discussion of PLAGIARISM, HOMAGE, or just SUBCONSCIOUS QUOTING OF TEXT THE CULTURALLY LITERATE SHOULD KNOW that another of my VERY favorite authors and favorite people, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pameladean, has been plagiarized by some nobody called "Cassandra Claire." Aarghh! Had I known, I would have been making a stink before this. In addition, I followed some links and garnered that C. C. Rider-on-Coattails also borrowed from Roger Zelazny.
I will try to be generous: At least this part-time plagiarist has good taste in the prose that she steals. Copy off the greats! Steal from the talented! No sense in stealing from the mediocre, after all. But it's the concept of "Stealing" in the first place that bothers me here.
I hope the situation has been resolved by now. However, I'm not a-gonna buy any published book by C. C. (and I hear she has gotten a contract for a book, albeit not the text that was fan fiction and that contained Roger Zelazny's and Pamela Dean's writing without attribution and with the serial numbers badly filed off) because I am a sulky old be-yotch who doesn't like that attitude of "whatever you can get away with is OK, and do whatever you like as long as they don't catch you." Rowr.
Tell you what, though--rachelmanija and her respondents talk about literary allusions. I love these people. They are obviously my kind of people. They know the Great Conversation and can quote from the Revered Texts (and from Joss Whedon, as well *wink*), and they would "get" all of my allusions. A surprising number of the readers I have recruited to read through my manuscripts (and I am not talking about you, coneycat, dennis_havens, ramblin_phyl, my critique group (the Peeps who have already been unfairly tarred with the brush of Not Believing in Camille, when that wasn't really the case--it was just how it came across to me that day; and note that we ALL knew who Philo T. Farnsworth was without Googling), and all the rest who "get it") have circled such allusions and insider quotations and surrounded them with question marks, even if the allusion makes sense in context. I always just smile and nod, although I couldn't suppress a partial rant when a person who claimed to have graduated from Texas Tech with a "degree in English" had NO idea what we referred to when standing in a long line and saying, "They also serve who only sit and vegetate."*
(* John Milton, last line of the Sonnet on His Blindness. Typically, we actually come out and say, "They also serve who only stand and wait," but that day we felt like a variation. An English lit major SHOULD have recognized that one, even a simple Ramblin' Wreck from Texas Tech. (grumble))
Furthermore, these same people don't seem to be able to figure out the meaning of a word in context, and additionally they won't go to a dictionary to find out the meaning; they just tell me that there's "no such word," or that if there IS, there shouldn't be. *facepalm* And then they'll tell me not to use Big Scary Words. Y'know, Bill O'Reilly* used the word "jackanapes" tonight on his show, and if he doesn't get plenty of e-mail mocking him for using "a funny word" or "some obsolete or made-up word," I'll eat my . . . well, I don't have a hat, so maybe just this knitted wool cap that someone gave me as a joke when she wanted me to look like some pop singer or other. However, my position has always been that THEY should be embarrassed and that THEY should increase their vocabularies and their reading comprehension.
(* WTF OMG WHAT am I doing watching The Worst Person In The World (according to my demigod Keith Olbermann) on TV? Hubby was at the table, in control of the remote [as is Man of the House's Privilege, ha] and watching Bill. I was interested in what the show had to say about the current news stories. I thought some of what he said was amusing. I'm not a regular viewer. However, he did get extra bonus Princess Points for use of the word "jackanapes." Most people would not even know how to pronounce that. Good job, Mr. Worst Person In The World! And I think Bill has recently been de-throned as WPitW, anyway. *grin*)
And speaking of news shows, here's the super-irritant of the day. The powerhouse agent arranged by e-mail that I'd get a call from her on August 21st about that representation deal. So of course Chris Matthews interviewed a guy today who said that the Iranians will attempt to bring about the end of the world on August 22, which is the day their prophet flew to Jerusalem and then to Heaven and back, according to Reginald somebody (I was too freaked out to catch his exact appellation). Isn't that typical! Just my luck!! Naturally! It stands to reason!! *banging head on keyboard #*($&#@^* This way, if (God forbid) the world ends one day after I have landed an agent, God can say to me, "So what are you complaining about? You got an agent the day before the world ended! What's not to like?" **SIGH** And the heck of it is, I won't be able to argue with this . . . I should've worded the prayers differently. **sheepish look**
# # #
OMG, an eloquent, philosophical, fantastic entry about life, the meaning of life, and why we're here (sort of). Go read.
Pet Peeves of the Long-Haired (oh, man, are these ever irritating--and if you can't relate because your natural hair situation is short, imagine that we are talking about people constantly coming over to rub your pregnant belly or rolling up your sleeves to point at your tattoo and exclaim over it when you would prefer NOT TO BE TOUCHED UNEXPECTEDLY AND INVASIVELY BY EVERYBODY WHO PASSES BY) and even MORE irritants suffered by the long-haired. Please, keep your hands to yourself! (This plea does not apply to Val Kilmer. Touch all you want, Batman baby!)
pameladean, has been plagiarized by some nobody called "Cassandra Claire." Aarghh! Had I known, I would have been making a stink before this. In addition, I followed some links and garnered that C. C. Rider-on-Coattails also borrowed from Roger Zelazny.I will try to be generous: At least this part-time plagiarist has good taste in the prose that she steals. Copy off the greats! Steal from the talented! No sense in stealing from the mediocre, after all. But it's the concept of "Stealing" in the first place that bothers me here.
I hope the situation has been resolved by now. However, I'm not a-gonna buy any published book by C. C. (and I hear she has gotten a contract for a book, albeit not the text that was fan fiction and that contained Roger Zelazny's and Pamela Dean's writing without attribution and with the serial numbers badly filed off) because I am a sulky old be-yotch who doesn't like that attitude of "whatever you can get away with is OK, and do whatever you like as long as they don't catch you." Rowr.
Tell you what, though--
rachelmanija and her respondents talk about literary allusions. I love these people. They are obviously my kind of people. They know the Great Conversation and can quote from the Revered Texts (and from Joss Whedon, as well *wink*), and they would "get" all of my allusions. A surprising number of the readers I have recruited to read through my manuscripts (and I am not talking about you, coneycat, dennis_havens, ramblin_phyl, my critique group (the Peeps who have already been unfairly tarred with the brush of Not Believing in Camille, when that wasn't really the case--it was just how it came across to me that day; and note that we ALL knew who Philo T. Farnsworth was without Googling), and all the rest who "get it") have circled such allusions and insider quotations and surrounded them with question marks, even if the allusion makes sense in context. I always just smile and nod, although I couldn't suppress a partial rant when a person who claimed to have graduated from Texas Tech with a "degree in English" had NO idea what we referred to when standing in a long line and saying, "They also serve who only sit and vegetate."*(* John Milton, last line of the Sonnet on His Blindness. Typically, we actually come out and say, "They also serve who only stand and wait," but that day we felt like a variation. An English lit major SHOULD have recognized that one, even a simple Ramblin' Wreck from Texas Tech. (grumble))
Furthermore, these same people don't seem to be able to figure out the meaning of a word in context, and additionally they won't go to a dictionary to find out the meaning; they just tell me that there's "no such word," or that if there IS, there shouldn't be. *facepalm* And then they'll tell me not to use Big Scary Words. Y'know, Bill O'Reilly* used the word "jackanapes" tonight on his show, and if he doesn't get plenty of e-mail mocking him for using "a funny word" or "some obsolete or made-up word," I'll eat my . . . well, I don't have a hat, so maybe just this knitted wool cap that someone gave me as a joke when she wanted me to look like some pop singer or other. However, my position has always been that THEY should be embarrassed and that THEY should increase their vocabularies and their reading comprehension.
(* WTF OMG WHAT am I doing watching The Worst Person In The World (according to my demigod Keith Olbermann) on TV? Hubby was at the table, in control of the remote [as is Man of the House's Privilege, ha] and watching Bill. I was interested in what the show had to say about the current news stories. I thought some of what he said was amusing. I'm not a regular viewer. However, he did get extra bonus Princess Points for use of the word "jackanapes." Most people would not even know how to pronounce that. Good job, Mr. Worst Person In The World! And I think Bill has recently been de-throned as WPitW, anyway. *grin*)
And speaking of news shows, here's the super-irritant of the day. The powerhouse agent arranged by e-mail that I'd get a call from her on August 21st about that representation deal. So of course Chris Matthews interviewed a guy today who said that the Iranians will attempt to bring about the end of the world on August 22, which is the day their prophet flew to Jerusalem and then to Heaven and back, according to Reginald somebody (I was too freaked out to catch his exact appellation). Isn't that typical! Just my luck!! Naturally! It stands to reason!! *banging head on keyboard #*($&#@^* This way, if (God forbid) the world ends one day after I have landed an agent, God can say to me, "So what are you complaining about? You got an agent the day before the world ended! What's not to like?" **SIGH** And the heck of it is, I won't be able to argue with this . . . I should've worded the prayers differently. **sheepish look**
OMG, an eloquent, philosophical, fantastic entry about life, the meaning of life, and why we're here (sort of). Go read.
Pet Peeves of the Long-Haired (oh, man, are these ever irritating--and if you can't relate because your natural hair situation is short, imagine that we are talking about people constantly coming over to rub your pregnant belly or rolling up your sleeves to point at your tattoo and exclaim over it when you would prefer NOT TO BE TOUCHED UNEXPECTEDLY AND INVASIVELY BY EVERYBODY WHO PASSES BY) and even MORE irritants suffered by the long-haired. Please, keep your hands to yourself! (This plea does not apply to Val Kilmer. Touch all you want, Batman baby!)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-08-11 05:29 am (UTC)I love reading your posts!
no subject
Date: 2006-08-11 11:13 am (UTC)Oh, Shalanna baby, I'm not laughing at you...
At least--you're laughing, right? Because (assuming the Apocalypse doesn't happen after all) that really is pretty funny.
Regarding long hair--I haven't had really long hair in a few years but I find whenever I go to a show by The Tragically Hip I come away with terrible hair envy.
I have no patience whatsoever with people who don't even try to figure out a word from its context. I remember saying "Social Insurance Number" instead of "Social Security Number" once or twice when I worked in Dallas and having people literally gape at me as if I was speaking Swahili and/or they had no contextual clues whatsoever to assist them. I used to feel like telling them it's not cute to be intellectually inert. I mean, come on!
Yeah, there are times when it's distracting to use a five-dollar word where a ten-cent one will do fine (and that's why I try hard to make my stories look less like they've just lost a fight with a thesaurus) but seriously? The English language is rish and varied. Don't tell me I'm only supposed to use a tiny portion of it!
Shalanna W. Bush?
Date: 2006-08-11 01:08 pm (UTC)I now really, REALLY want a T-shirt that says, "They also serve who only sit and vegetate." At last, in my dotage, a slogan!
All is progressing nicely on El Scripto. The only slowdown has been that Mike S. sold his house (it went in 2 days, for 1.5 million) and now he is in a panic to find a new one within the 60-day escrow period.
Worry not about the Iranians. If they bring about the end of the world, how can they say, a la Nelson on "The Simpsons," "HA-HA!"? And who will run all the 7-11 stores?