O is for Onyx
O is for Onyx. I have no makeup on, and my hair was still wet from the shower. Also, I love patterns. Did you notice there are three on my body right now?
This isn’t a skirt. It’s a skort! Ah, memories. I used to have two or three skorts. One of them was red plaid, and had little black terriers all over it. Another one was green and had kittens on it. Those were the days.
Of course, I was only eleven then, and those skorts were the dorky mullet skorts- you know, skirt in the front, shorts in the back? Yeah.
So I’m staying in today to reply to emails. Although I really would love to go to the store and get Naked. (Part of me can’t believe I really just typed that. The other part is laughing hysterically. Naked, for those of you that don’t know, is an all-natural, no sugar added fruit drink that comes in many delicious flavors and brings out the teenage boy in me who snickers at the name and thinks “I’m getting Naked at the store” every time I buy it.)
Aren’t my fingernails lovely?
26 Comments
Sonia
Ha. I found the story.
Mara
Did you, now? 😀
Bethly
Hehehehehehehehe. You make me want to go to the store and get Naked myself. 😛 That is so me. Snickering to myself about product names and putting them in an awkward context.
I’m really sorry about all this crap you’re dealing with. I guess I should be grateful that hardly anyone reads my stories online, and I don’t have enough posted that would be worth stealing. But hey, I got your back, friend. So if you want to send in the flamers with pitchforks, count me in! I love to defend a friend with my Jane Austeny ire!!
Mara
I thought for SURE I had replied to your comment. That’s the second time today that I’ve thought I replied and I hadn’t. But then, I’m not surprised. My brain has overloaded.
I can imagine that if we ever went to the store together, we’d just be standing in front of the juice display giggling and everyone would look at us like we were crazy. 😀 It would be fun. And of course, we’d have to go in full costume, because… that’s just how you do grocery shopping. And I could bring my unintentional British accent and people would excuse me for my weird behavior on account that I’m foreign. (only I’m not.)
Tomorrow, if she hasn’t taken it down, apologized profusely, and banned herself from the website, I’m going to give up the link to the public and let them decide what to do with it. On one hand, I wanted to deal with this in a civil manner. But on the other hand, it doesn’t seem like they’re going to BE civil. So there.
Thank you. Get your pitchfork and Jane Austenicity ready. 😀
Bethly
That’s okay. It’s insufferable, the length of time comments sit in my inbox unreplied to. Apparently unreplied is not a word and my automatic spell check is putting red squiggles under it. It should be a word! Like unrequited!
That would be a trip well worth remembering! Have I told you about the Safeway escapades? I have almost never been to the Safeway by my best friend’s house in normal clothing. Let’s see… I have a silvery tunic, reminiscent of a semi-upscale Firefly character that I haven’t worn out of the house yet. 😀 Oh, and speaking of costumes, here’s a site to get lost on…
http://www.pyramidcollection.com/ShopCategory3.aspx?id=51,1818&dispRow=1818
Warning: You will drool all over your keyboard. 😉
They are prepared and at your disposal!
Mara
Unreplied SHOULD be a word. Although I like unrequited better. 😀 It reminds me of the phrase “unrequited love” which… is… y’know… always good.
I think I’ve read about your Safeway adventures on your blog once or twice.
OH that site is amazing!!!
P.J.
Welcome to 2011.
As much as I hate to say it, this is the world and society we live in. Believe me, I’m not going to stop fighting against it, but we’re there.
People think because things are on the internet, they are free to do whatever they want. Someone did it not too long ago (I wish I could find the link to the article I read about it) and the author sued, won and got paid because of it.
Plagiarism is a very serious matter. For people who are into their words, even more. The problem is the younger generation don’t realize that. Unfortunately, many teachers don’t stress it hard enough.
It’s sad. I might have to blog on this subject myself soon. Some of the things I’ve seen teaching Freshman Composition classes make me wonder where our next generation is going.
I hope this all ends for you soon and you can just move on.
Mara
Best welcome to a new year ever. (not.)
I know, it’s really sad to have to agree, but yes. This is the society we live in, and it’s… terrible. Intelligence seems to have gone down the drain. Then again, there have always been several forms of stupidity in the world. I think that the internet may have just brought out the… erm… less-than-smart people and given them a bigger forum to parade themselves on.
I don’t know where the next generation is going. Down, so far. Let’s hope it’s just a temporary dip in intelligence and that they grow out of it. 🙂
Thanks. I hope so too!
Joy (aka collegestudent)
I just found your blog! Wow…I cannot believe the nerve of some people to say copying and re-posting someone’s story (without permission/proper crediting) is “just sharing” and there’s nothing wrong with it. Unbelievable! I had to chuckle at the spelling of “romantic” though…it is just laughably pathetic. What is the world coming to?!
Mara
Neither can I. Which is why I’m not really angry about it, just annoyed that I have to involve myself in such a ridiculous situation. I know I’m right, I know they can’t prove me wrong, and I know I do have the option to take legal action against them should they refuse to remove my story. I just hope they realize those things before I do have to do something serious, for their sake.
Haha, yeah. The misspelling has been going through my head all day. You know that song “Isn’t it Romantic?” Well… I’ve been humming that, only in my head it’s “Isn’t it romentic…”
It might drive me mad.
Sarah
AHHH im so sorry i havent been here for a while!!! That is REALLY bad about those people stealing your story…thats insanely wrong and UGH it would be frustrating to go through that. That is YOUR story. And the fact that no credit was given means its stolen. Some people will try to reason with their actions. And you know what I thnk about your outfit 🙂 You are gorgeous and I loveee your skirt and poses x
Mara
It’s okay! I hadn’t been around your blog either until yesterday!
Yeah, it’s… at this point, it’s just annoying that I have to involve myself in this “argument” and try to get it through their heads that no matter what they want to call it, it’s still plagiarism. It’s just one of those things where you know the other person has nothing to argue about, yet they’re still arguing.
Oh well. 🙂
😀 Thank you!
Avra-Sha Faohla
Some people are just . . . wow. If there are people in this world obnoxious enough to say, “Oh, it’s just sharing,” then I do wonder how they live with themselves.
Did you notice that Ellipses Lover didn’t get your name right either?
Mara
Haha! No, I didn’t.
Did you notice the little joke I had with ellipses? (“I do love me a good ellipsis… but…”) Hehe. I was wondering if anyone would get that I was having my fun with punctuation just there.
Avra-Sha Faohla
No, I did not notice! Perhaps because you used them correctly, so the sentence didn’t stand out like E. L.’s did. 😀
Rebekah
Apparently I HAVE been living under a rock. I need to complain to Kalen about my living conditions. Grr.
Anyway…I just browsed her posts and to be fair, I do think she put them up with the intent to ‘sharing’ (i.e. not passing them off as her own), and has no idea what plagiarism is…but it’s obviously still unacceptable. I’m just surprised I haven’t heard of it until now.
I see that Katie already posted the violation on FPWatchers…but the question now is: Who is going to go through and let people know? I gulp at the task ahead.
…maybe I’ll begin after my shower. (Yes, it’s pertinent you know I’m on my way to wash my hair. :D)
Hang in there chica!
– Rebekah
Mara
You know… people should know better than to copy and paste anything to a new website, especially when it’s a password-protected website. Sharing any story on the internet means first asking the permission of the author, and also including a link to the story. If you really are sharing.
I mean, I’d like to give benefit of the doubt, but um… yeah. Especially with the comments from the other people on the site, I’m not too sure that there is something to give benefit of the doubt FOR. I’ve gotten an email and a PM from someone that I suspect is her, and she only wants access to Beloved. Plus, I’ve received absolutely no reply from the girl OR the website administrators, which… makes me wonder what’s up.
I dunno.
Katie was working on notifying people last night. 🙂
Hahah! Yes, I totally needed to know that you’re off to wash your hair. 😀 It’s key to my living a happy life, knowing that. 😀
Rebekah
(I’m done. Washing my hair that is. :D)
And I definitely wasn’t making excuses for her plagiarism. I was merely saying they come across as…um…(stupid)…over there. Judgmental? Me?
I wonder how far Katie got…I don’t want to start and cover the same ground. 🙁
Mara
Hahahaha! We say “Less than smart” around here. 😉 Buuut yes. I agree.
Perhaps we should ask her. She started a new email address (and tag line) for it so that she wouldn’t have to give away her real address (but actually the final address and tag line were things I came up with because I was loopy. email: plagiarismfightersincorporated. Tag-line? “Fighting crime, one plagiarist at a time” (It RHYMES!))
Rebekah
Well…the loopy part came across loud and clear. You might be more on the mark if the tag-line was “Fighting crime, one plagiarist at a time…after we dip into some wine.” Sorta.
Oh, and I tried to piece together the Hindi/Urdu bit out of sheer boredom/procrastination, and I think it’s a saying.
I ended up with something like: My chicken (LOL?) remains in a safe place…something something something…robber…something something something.
Yes, I clearly gave up. 🙂
Mara
Oh my gosh, between you and me, we could up with some pretty cheesy stuff. 😀
HAHAHA!!! My chicken is remains in a safe place. Oh my gosh. I’m… wow. How did you figure that out?
Rebekah
It kind of makes sense…right? LOL, well I tried word-by-word Google searches and guestimated it all together:
apni – my
murghi – chicken
sambhal – place where one gets peace (so I figured ‘safe’?)
raho – remain
chor – robber
kaho – say
na – don’t (although ‘he na’ is ‘right?’ or ‘isn’t it?’)
Err…remember that part about procrastination? 😀
Rebekah
P.S. I love how squishy each new post in this thread is getting.
Mara
hehehe. I see. I’m glad one of us was curious/persistent enough to at least figure out part of it. 😀
I love how squishy the new comments get, too. Hehe.
Rebekah
(Squish.)
Comy
Oh my God. I know that you’ve been plagiarized, but I had no idea that there were people who supported it. When someone takes something that doesn’t belong to him/her, without permission of course, that’s stealing. Anyone who thinks differently is either not very bright or a thief.
What is a “Maranwe”?