Since posting about my copyright infringement saga, a number of people have come to my defense, and the entire internet drama has really reached a clamor and come to a head. I want to repost a few things here for the record.

I really don’t want to get into the background of what’s been happening before and after I published my previous post in the mailling community (and I recognize there’s lots of other places other than the maille artisans site) but there is an entire thread on weave restrictions going on here, on the Maille Artisans site, which you can read if you like. I do want to point out a few things in this situation, and in so doing, I’ll just repost a post I made to that thread:

Oddly, I find myself coming to Legba’s defense.

[snipped links to her flickr stream]

In my opinion, I think there are three issues here.

Legal copyright, the maille community, and the strength of said copyrights.

One has nothing to do with the others.

Legally, I don’t believe that Legba (believed she) did anything wrong in registering her copyrights and enforcing them. These are all for pieces of jewelry which she created and she (believes she) holds the copyright on them, regardless of registration.

I think technically (and I am very sorry for saying so, Laura *hug*) Laura copied her design, even without the pearl drop, and as such, infringed on Legba’s inherit copyright. Laura obviously did not think it was wrong to do so and made this mistake in error.

The problem comes with the 2nd issue — the maille community. Over the past 2+ years since Legba posted the original weave, others have made the weave, posted their variations, & Legba herself has posted her designs. Due to the sharing nature of the site, it is quite possible for someone to mistake a jewelry design for something that they can freely make a copy of. In the recent past, from what I’ve looked through, Legba has even posted that such and such design are copyrighted. (Sadly, she turns around and deletes these comments at times.)

Probably the best route for Legba to have taken was to post something initially, saying, “hey I got some of my work published and as such I am going to need to start enforcing copyright on these pieces, just FYI. Here they all are! Cheers!” This would have alleviated much, if not ALL of this mess. There would be no hiding behind shadowy publishing companies and mystery on what is protected and why and “OMGWTFBBQ, can I not make stepping stones at all now? PANIC!?!” etc. Mass hysteria would have never been.

THAT BEING SAID! HOWEVER!

IN MY CASE, however, I believe that Legba copyrighted her design without checking to see if anyone else had actually made something similar, as I had. A simple enough mistake, sadly compounded by her present actions. I tried to point out the fact that my item(s) predate hers, and she sent me the cease and desist, fine. I am through discussing and reject her claims to the otherwise. The ball is in her court if she wishes to persue legal action.

Legally, I don’t think Legba has done anything wrong except in my case.

and now comes the second HOWEVER!

WOULD THESE COPYRIGHTS STAND UP??

Whether or not ALL of those copyrights would/will actually stand up in court is another question ENTIRELY. I think the ones with a lot of detail such as Athena’s Tears and the piece with the X and the pearl drop (again, sorry Laura!) would stand the best chance of that.

The others, including the pendant which she claims I infringe on, is a toss up. Not a lot of, as someone had stated, “artistic STUFF” going on there. This is the discussion that could have continued when these pieces were originally posted, if Legba had been willing to participate in them.

-amy

I just want that little piece “on the record” of my blog, as it were.

Finally, Legba/Sara contacted me again today, and I submit our following interaction.

I admit.. I was bitchy.

(I think I had a tiny right to be after all this, but there you go. Bitchy.)

subject: can we reach an understanding?

Your blogpost is very interesting but shows a lack of copyright understanding. You have actually used my photo from MAIL on it without my permission despite MAIL’s very clear copyright statement, this is another infringement, please link but don’t post my photo on your blog.

I see you have chosen to credit me with the weave design on Etsy, thank you, that was all I asked for in the end so maybe you can now stop pot stirring and post on MAIL that we seem to have reached an understanding (have we?).

If I choose to issue a take down notice against you on Etsy or Flickr, it would then be your job to prove my copyright wrong not my job to prove it is right. However I have no intention of issuing take down notices unless you continue to stir things up. So please let’s get past this and carry on with our jewellery work as ‘comrades’ rather than enemies, it is not healthy for either of us. I am happy with the credit you have given me and I hope you will be happy knowing that I am sorry for causing you stress over this issue.

I would appreciate some kind of acknowledgement to this email even if it’s to tell me to get lost.

She was correct. I removed the offending image.

My reply:

I acknowledge receipt of your email. To sum up: I intend to continue selling my items on Etsy, my own website, http://rainestudios.net, and on any other site as I see fit until a court orders me otherwise. I have no issue with stating, “based on Stepping Stones weave, created by Corvus Chainmaille.” — this verbage is, and has always been, in my page of instructions in the kits I sell (along with a direct link to the Maille Artisans site tutorial) as a courtesy.

I still reject any claim that my pendant/earrings infringe upon any copyright you have registered, any my inclusion of the “based on” language is not intended as any admission or acknowledgment of any infringement or as a settlement of any claim you have or may have later.

See? Bitchy. Lawyerish bitchiness – but again, I think I had a right to be on the defensive. Plus, I was DONE. I had done my research, wrote a blog post about it, drew my line in the sand and in my mind, it was up to her as to how she wanted to react. She could do what she liked, whether it be issue take downs, or talk to her lawyer, or take a nap, and it didn’t need to concern me anymore until I got a notice from Etsy, or papers delivered to me by a sheriff, because I WAS DONE.

Amy
I did state that the credit for the weave was all I wanted (not at first but later) in an effort to resolve this issue. That is what I’m trying to do, resolve this issue. If you are happy to give credit (not admit infringement) then I am happy.
Am I to understand that that we do indeed have an agreement? That being, that we both made this design independently. Am I to assume that you accept my apology? If so can you please post on MAIL and your blog that we have reached an understanding?
If the answer is ‘no’ to any of these then I will have to speak to my legal counsel again. This is not a threat of any action but you must realise that you have been discussing the issue between us publicly and that could put you in a poorer position.
Please respond.
Sara

She did state earlier that she wanted credit for her design.

At that time, I took that to mean that she wanted credit for her PENDANT design, and to be fair, she could very well have meant the weave in general. That’s fine. I had previously stated on all my pieces, “based on the Stepping Stones weave” and had added “by Corvus Chainmaille” when I re-activated them on Etsy – I have absolutely no problem with that at all.

I was still very much done and seeing red with the entire situation however, and did not see any reason for her to be emailing me, especially if she had the credit she wanted. So read my continued bitchiness below:

For some reason, you believe our mutual agreement will end this issue on the Maille site.

Whether or not we come to any agreement doesn’t mean everyone will say, “oh good, no worries everyone, it’s all OK now!” This is an issue that affects everyone in the maille community and it will continue to be discussed whether you do or do not participate, or if I accept your apology or not (which by the way, I’m not sure I actually ever heard? “Accept my apology, or I’ll tell Etsy/Flickr/my lawyer on you” doesn’t exactly sound like an apology to me.)

I have stated my intentions, and if you can live with them, that is up to you. No further agreement or non agreement is necessary, just your acceptance or non acceptance and your chosen actions thereafter. I will continue to post on the Maille site and my own personal website the details of my experiences and interactions as I see fit.

But since you seem to require it, we do seem to have an understanding. As for the rest, I don’t really care about your apology. Thanks anyway, feel free to tell your lawyer that we didn’t kiss & make up, or hug it out in the end.

Her reply:

Your attitude stinks, you are ignoring my apology which is quite clearly there below “I hope you will be happy knowing that I am sorry for causing you stress over this issue.” there were no buts or ifs after it.

She is dead right about my attitude stinking. It did. I still had a very large chip on my shoulder and was intent on driving my point home until there was a 10 foot hole in the ground. Ah well. She wanted a happy ending, and I was intent on drawing it out.

Oh high road, I bet it’s nice up there! I sure wish I had taken you!

So it is all over – I need to check over all my listings to make sure I have everything proper, but I have no issue with doing so.

I want to make a few things clear though. While I flew off on the defensive when accused of copyright infringement, I STRONGLY believe that designers should have the right of ownership over their designs.

I STRONGLY beleive that Legba SHOULD HAVE AND DOES HAVE THE RIGHT TO COPYRIGHT HER DESIGNS. Absolutely and forever and ever amen. If my previous post detailing this experience has muddled that up at all, I want to make it clear. Designers deserve rights to their property. That is why copyright exists.

Should a copyright exist on a weave? I don’t think it should, no, but far more experienced chainmaillers than I can weigh in on that one.

I think it was said PERFECTLY by CShake on the thread I mentioned above,

If anyone posts a weave to the weave library, it is explicitly there for others to make themselves, including variations. If the submitter wants to keep control over who is “allowed” to use their weave, it should not be in the library – the gallery is the place for that if anywhere, and with a note to that effect. Be aware that someone else may make the weave independently if you don’t post yours (there are only so many ways to connect a bunch of rings), and if there is no entry they can submit it, at which point anyone can make it without fear of being stopped.

But people, if you took significant inspiration from someone else’s piece when you made your variation – Say so! Say “inspired by so-and-so”! If you are so inspired that you want to make the same thing they did with no variations – ASK THEM! The majority of people here will be flattered and say “go ahead”, but then again you may run into someone who says “No, it’s mine, make your own” in which case that’s what you should do.

Very well said. In asking him if I could quote him, he did give me this addendum:

Sure, quote me, I expect that when I post in public

However, the official FAQ here states “All submissions to M.A.I.L. remain the copyrighted property of the original submitters. They just grant us the right to publish their property on our website. If you want to use their work, you need to contact them directly and ask their permission.”, so my part about explicitly granting the right to make the weave may not technically be correct. It’s just how I and many of the board of directors feel. I don’t want to be quoted as stating the official policy, just my opinion on the matter is all.

Well fuck! Oh copyright, how your tenants shall elude us all!

So anyway.

How could all of this been avoided?

I don’t know. I really don’t.

Looking back at the entire incident and putting myself in Sara’s shoes, I really don’t know how I would go about informing someone they are infringing on my copyright. Whether I came up with it independently or not, she was doing her duty, and when you have to do that kind of duty you instantly put that person you are dutying in Super! Uber! DEFEND! mode, at least I certainly was put in that mode.

And honestly, I have not designed anything nearly as extraordinary as Sara has. Have you looked through all those flickr links I posted? Amazing. My modest little pendant is nothing special compared to her talent and I’m sure a ton of people would/will/have/whatever come up with that thing on their own. I wish her the best and hope she will continue her generosity with the mailling community.

I hope that someday I will be as innovative and as STUNNING of a designer as her so I will have to issue my own copyright infringements.

EEP, I hope not!

-amy

I find myself in the very interesting position of being accused of copyright infringement.

Specifically, these pieces:

I sell these finished jewelry pieces, and I also sell supply kits, complete with the necessary jump rings, findings, and a page of tips for construction. I was asked repeatedly by other chainmaillers for a kit until I finally did (seriously, if it weren’t for Jessica in Ontario, there would be no kits!!) I also freely give the ring sizes I used to others when they ask – no kit purchase required. I do not however, sell a tutorial, instead, I point to the Maille Artisans site, as I firmly believe that there are plenty of free chainmaille resources on the internet and why re-invent the wheel? (Also – I suck at tutorials.)

The accuser claimed that it is an infringement of her pendant on Etsy (I am not going to put her image here, you’ll have to click to see. Please do click through though, because this post will make much more sense if you see what I’m talking about).

INSERTED 9/1/2010 to add~~~~~~

I have been accused of being “one sided” which, I think is a stretch, but here is the conversations from Etsy, preceding our email interactions below.

Etsy time stamp: 26 August 2010 9:42am EDT
I’m sorry to have to contact you about this but this design is copyrighted. I invented the Stepping Stones weave and copyrighted 8 specific designs using it. This pendant and these earrings:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/36361488/shenandoah-earrings-sterling-silver

are one of those designs.
UKCS Registration Services © 323379
Please could you either remove these from your shop and anywhere else they might be or change the design slightly (e.g. if you replaced the bottom ring with one the same size as the top it would not be one of the copyrighted designs).
I would rather not get Etsy’s legal department involved as this would be stress for both of us so please take this as a friendly ask.
Yours sincerely
XXX

Etsy time stamp: 26 August 2010 10:16am EDT
Thanks for contacting me Sara. Could you please send me a copy of the copyright and the other 8 designs? I would like to see for myself please.

Etsy time stamp: 26 August 2010 10:35am EDT
OK I am not required by law to do this but here are photos of the certificate
[snipped]
with their address
[snipped]

and the 8 designs are
[snipped]
although this is copyrighted I allow people to use it

[snipped]
the one in question here and I have been assured by legal counsel that hanging the other way does not change the design enough.

[snipped]
[snipped]
[snipped]
[snipped]
[snipped]
[snipped]

XXXX

THe next 3 messages were the fact that pictures didn’t come through asking for my email, I gave it, and then she said, “On the way”

Thanks, I will look for them. The pendant and earrings are deactivated, and also the kits I sell in my supplies shop. I’m confused as to why the bracelet is OK? I just would like to read what the copyright is so as to better inform myself.

Thanks again!

26 August 2010 10:51am EDT

~~~~~~~ END INSERT.

I was at first aghast, but then grew a bit suspicious. You see, I learned the Stepping Stones weave right on the Maille Artisans site.

For the non-maillers out there, the The Maille Artisans site is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in chainmaille, and is self touted as “an international community of artisans and volunteers dedicated to the advancement of the chainmaille art form. We aim to encourage the sharing and spreading of information, archiving as many techniques and weaves as possible.”

A weave is a pattern of rings linked together in a certain way. The weave can be used alone, or it can be tweaked with different ring sizes or embellished as the weaver sees fit. Chainmaille weaves can be used for jewelry, armor, clothing, accessories – the list is endless. The Maille Artisans site hosts a weave gallery, free tutorials, member galleries of photos, and forums for chainmaillers.

I have seen the Stepping Stones weave used countless times on the site and off with no mention of any copyright or wrong doing, so when I made up my own Stepping Stones pieces, I had no thought of copyright violation. In fact, I prided myself in creating a piece that actually differs significantly in look.

Here is a picture of the Stepping Stones weave as is posted on the maille artisans site:

[Click to see the Weave Photo - removed due to copyright issues]

Here is a picture of my bracelet, based on the same weave. I do credit the weave itself in my product description (“based on the Stepping Stones weave”):

(linked to my blog post from my very first attempt at this weave. Later renditions show small changes from this one, mostly in the fact that the small rings meandering in between the large rings connect in TWO places instead of ONE, as is shown in this photo.)

You can see that the ring sizes I chose makes for a very different look to the bracelet, which I why I choose to name my piece “Shenandoah” – it has the look of a winding river. After I made the bracelet, I completed the earrings and pendant as well.

It is also worth noting, that my accuser had NOT tried to enforce her copyright against my bracelet — ONLY the pendant/earrings. This is NOT because she did not hold a registered copyright on them, but because she chose not to.

Back to the subject at hand, you can understand my suspicion when a weave tutorial is posted on the Maille Artisans site, freely available to all, and then the creator of this weave, all of a sudden begins enforcing her copyright. [9/1/2010 INSERTED] I am not claiming that it is not within her rights to enforce her copyrights, it just seemed fishy to me and it roused my suspicions enough to investigate rather than rolling over.[/END INSERT]

I asked the accuser to see the copyrights, and while I was waiting, temporarily took my Etsy listings down. She acquiesced, and sent them to me. She sent me the copy of the certificate along with photographs of 8 designs, including the Stepping Stone weave in general. Again, as I mentioned before, she stated that she is not enforcing the copyright for the generic Stepping Stones weave.

The UK copyright certificate was dated August 12, 2010, which she explained this way:

… The registration date is 12th August this year but intellectual property copyright is legal from the first recorded instance of the design which can be found on my Flickr account.

The [pendant] in question [is] here and I have been assured by legal counsel that hanging the other way does not change the design enough.

She included photos of the 8 registered designs, which did include the general Stepping Stones weave. (If one is curious as to which designs she has registered, they can look in her flickr stream as she has indicated the copyright on all the photos in question, as of this blog posting.)

The registration date was an instant red flag. The registration had just been done in the past 30 days. The weave has existed on the Maille Artisans site for over two years. What is up with this? She has registered her copyright on a weave that has been circulating on the internet for over two years, and then turns around and tries to enforce it?

Now, now Amy, hold on — while she registered the general Stepping Stones weave itself, she stated in her email that she is NOT enforcing that particular copyright, which she must know is impossible. Not only could it not be enforced without an army after all this time — it’s been made hundreds of times (maybe thousands?) by maillers internationally — but the question of whether the copyright would actually hold is in question. The Stepping Stones weave is based on the Japanese 12-in-2 weave, and has close ties to Hodo as well, what if someone had used different ring sizes as I had — is it really even copyrightable? She chose to sidestep all these questions quite neatly by stating she is not enforcing the copyright on the weave.

Well, very good then.

So what about the design in question? The other designs she included in her email were very specific, they were stunning, in fact, designs using the Stepping Stones weave. Some pieces had a very specific look and use gemstone drops. Surely these are copyrightable? I would venture to say (though I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV) yes, absolutely!

But what if someone else had never seen one of those designs?

What if someone used different sized jump rings?

What if her design is for 14 gauge rings, and someone else’s is 16 gauge?

What if, say, someone else’s pendant used 11 doubled jump rings around the outside instead of 10, as hers does?

What if someone else worked for hours piecing together, taking apart, and then reconstructing, trying one size, and then another, finally deciding on using TWO different sized connecting smaller jump rings — one size connecting to the inner big ring, and then another ring only .25mm smaller than the first to connect the outer jump rings, so that no rings bunched together from the rings being too loose, and so the pendant, when finished would be super stiff and not at all floppy? (Sorry for all the non-maillers that I just totally lost!)

What if that someone (OH, OK, I ADMIT IT, IT’S ME!) shed blood and tears over getting those pesky outer rings THROUGH those super tight connecting rings, causing frustration and profanity and I am not too proud to admit, the hurling across the room of said pendant/earrings?

OK, I’m not sure how much a courtroom judge would care about the throwing across the room part, but my point is — I worked hard at my pendant/earrings, I determined my own sizes, I used my own construction method, and this part is key —

I HAD NEVER SEEN HER PENDANT BEFORE, EVER.

I don’t claim to be a copyright lawyer and so make no claims as to whether these are legitimate legal grounds in a copyright case, but the fact that I independently came up with my earrings and pendant, having never seen HER pendant before seemed pretty compelling to me.

I had initially removed my listings when I received her copyright claims, and so the first order of business seemed to be to investigate further into the dates of each of our pendant/earring designs. Going by what she told me — that the copyright is from the “first recorded instance of the design which can be found on my Flickr account” — I went there to go looking.

Mine weren’t easy. I hadn’t posted my first instance of my earrings/pendant in my jewelry set, but I had uploaded a few crappy iphone photos straight to my photostream. A little careful looking in the archives by date and I had found my first earrings:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/crazymokes/3877310209/in/dateposted/

These are dated September 1, 2009 (taken and posted to flickr on the same day). I can also corroborate these photos with posts made during the same time frame to another chainmaille group.

Then I took a careful look at the pendant in her flickr account. The obvious photo that I saw was dated December 8 2009 (taken December 8 2009, posted to flickr December 9, 2009):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/redcrow/4170865099/sizes/s/in/set-72157611096575542/

This is several months after my own photographic evidence. Still, I had to go hunting in my own archives to find my picture, so I gave her the same benefit of the doubt, looking through each month carefully to see if any sign of this pendant had been missed.

I found nothing.

Many of her other designs were created in 2008, but this one, even with careful picking through the archives of her photostream, did not appear until December 2009.

After all my poking around, I grew more and more convinced that my pendant/earrings actually predated hers, and so I emailed her to that effect:

Thank you for forwarding [the copyright information] to me, I appreciate it, especially as I could not find the designs by the number you referenced in the UK design search.

I believe my pendant/earrings design preceded yours, as mine is dated October 2009, and yours dates December 2009.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/crazymokes/3877310209/in/dateposted/

Did you create this piece previous to December 2009? I see others dated in 2008, but not this specific piece.

Her response to this was a generic link to the Stepping Stone weave:

yes all the pieces were originally made in the same year as the Stepping Stones weave was submitted to MAIL. http://www.mailleartisans.org/weaves/weavedisplay.php?key=803
Dated February 2009

She had not pointed to any proof that her pendant came before mine. Regardless, I really wasn’t sure what to do at this point. I thought about posting my dilemma to the Maille Artisans site, but I am not an active poster on the Maille Artisans site and was afraid of being lampooned as a relative upstart compared to the maillers who have been there for many years (my accuser included).

I thought maybe I could let it go.

I tried to let it go all weekend, but it festered and would not stop. She hadn’t answered my question. My pendant had been created first. Hadn’t it? Wouldn’t my copyright predate hers?

Finally, I decided I couldn’t let it go. Even if she had created her pendant before mine, I had created my earrings/pendant independently, with no reference to hers (which is easy to prove, since I couldn’t find any record of her pendant before December 2009).

I went looking on the Maille Artisans site also, where she has shown a history of posting her designs in the forum.

I think she may have initially posted this pendant in this thread:

http://www.mailleartisans.org/board/viewtopic.php?t=14641

But then afterward deleted the photo and her comments due to others wondering about the legality of using “Twilight inspired” in connection with her jewelry. This thread date matches the date of the pendant appearing in her flickr stream, as early December 2009.

This strengthened my resolve, and I emailed her one last time:

XXXX, I don’t see any photos of that specific piece made before December 2009. I’ve looked through your flickr stream carefully and the Maille site. If I am missing it, please point it out directly to me. If not, then my pendant predates it and you are violating my copyright.

I will be reposting my listings on Etsy.

I immediately reposted my listings on Etsy — both for my finished jewelry, and also for my supply kits — Again, please note, that I do not profit from selling tutorials of chainmaille weaves that are largely available for FREE all over the internet. I feel quite strongly about this. I instead point customers to these resources, rather than charging for my own tutorial. (I would love to take credit for this noble act to forward the art of chainmaille — (which I do faithfully believe), but the fact is I’m just too lazy to even make a free tutorial. There are gorgeously done tutorials out there if one would care to google cough cgmaille.com ahem.)

After my email was sent, she responded in kind:

Just because I don’t have a photo on Flickr of that date does not mean that it wasn’t made before yours. If you relist on Etsy I will be forced to issue a take down notice and inform my legal council.

I did not respond.

She soon emailed me a cease and desist form letter, giving me 30 days to act, or face dire consequences. I did note that she quoted U.S. law, whereas before, she was acting on a UK copyright registration.

[INSERTED 9/1/2010:

Here is the exact email she sent me:

It has come to my attention that you have made an unauthorized use of my copyrighted work entitled Stepping Stones pendant (the “Work”) in the preparation of a work derived therefrom. I have reserved all rights in the Work, first published in December of 2008, and have registered copyright therein. Your work entitled “Shenandoah pendant” is essentially identical to the Work and you have, by your own admission, used the Work as its basis.

As you neither asked for nor received permission to use the Work as the basis for “Shenandoah pendant” nor to make or distribute copies, of same, I believe you have willfully infringed my rights under 17 U.S.C. Section 101 et seq. and could be liable for statutory damages as high as $150,000 as set forth in Section 504(c)(2) therein. Violation of copyright law is also considered a federal crime when done willfully with an intent to profit as set forth in 17 U.S.C. Section 506(a)(1)(A) and 17 U.S.C. Section 506(c) therein. Criminal penalties include up to 10 years imprisonment and fines of up to $2,500 under 18 U.S.C. 2319.

I demand that you immediately cease the use and distribution of all infringing works derived from the Work, and all copies of same, that you deliver to me, all unused, undistributed copies of same, or destroy such copies immediately and that you desist from this or any other infringement of my rights in the future. If I have not received an affirmative response from you by September 20th, 2010 indicating that you have fully complied with these requirements, I shall take further action against you.
XXXX

I did not respond.

She followed up with this final email:

Just to prove my point I have uploaded the originally made pendant to my Flickr as you know the date of when the photo was taken cannot be changed (it’s a rubbish photo which is why I didn’t use it before), it is dated Feb 2009, predating yours and this is when the copyright came into being. The date of the registration of the copyright has no bearing on this.

I was instructed by my legal council to send the last email but I do not expect you to abide by all the demands set out in it. However if you are going to continue to post/sell the design and sell kits credit should be given to me for the original design. If you fail to do this I will take further action.

Here is the uploaded photo that she is referring to.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/redcrow/4944800152/in/photostream/

I do not accept this as any sort of proof, as EXIF data is easily changed through a myriad of downloadable freeware. Regardless, seeing as how she had to upload it to prove herself, it wasn’t on the internet anywhere September 2009, when I created my pendant.

The entire episode is interesting, especially in light of the 5 pointed maille flowers copyright fiasco — which I will not comment on.. Oh, how I wish to comment on, but I will refrain.

As for me — I won’t be responding to my accuser via email any further. Aside from this blog post (which I admit is a response of some kind) if she would like to prove her claims of infringement, she is welcome to do so in court.

-Amy

My kids are pretty good readers, in that they enjoy sitting down and reading, you know, when they have to. Or when Mommy hid the Legos and Barbies. OK, I don’t do that — those legos are very small and difficult to pick up, you know, and when I pick up Barbie, I am overpowered by the need to style her hair.

So no, seriously, they do enjoy books and have always enjoyed books. Jocelyn has taken to reading in a scary way this past kindergarten year, and many the time James and I have looked at each other with eyes wide and said, “Did she really just read ‘Transcendentalism?’” I know you’re not supposed to compare your children, but dude! She is *way* better at reading at this age than Ethan was at this age!

Reading has been a little trickier for Ethan, mostly because he prefers to look at the first letter of a word and then take a while guess if he doesn’t know it, rather than, you know, that pesky sounding it out and all. This however, hasn’t dampened his love of reading at all, and this past 2nd grade year when the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” movie came out and the craze swept the elementary school, he read through all three books within, and I swear I’m not making this up, 15 minutes.* There just may have been a few words in there that he took wild stabs at, and when asked, he has no idea of the names of the characters — this is due, I’m sure, to just not having heard them said out loud.** Don’t worry. He can tell you word for word the fart joke told by said character.

*OK, I made that up.
** This coming from a person who pronounced, in her head, the word ‘gigantic’ as “guy-gan-tick” all the way up into jr high because she had only seen it spelled. Not judging here!

I have actually totally longed for this. I have always had a great love of books, and growing up, always had a book in my hand or in my backpack waiting to be in my hand. I devoured children’s literature and then young adult literature and never really outgrew any of it. I still have many of my books from my teenage years on my shelves, and steadfastly refuse to get rid of them — especially not NOW, not when we’re RIGHT ON THE CUSP of our own children being able to READ them!!

A lot of my favorite books are geared a tad more for girls than boys, Noel Streatfield with her “Shoe” books (Ballet Shoes, Dancing Shoes, Skating Shoes are my top 3), Frances Hodgeson Burnett with “The Little Princess” and “The Secret Garden” and of course the complete works of Lucy Maud Montgomery, of “Anne of Green Gables” fame. Jocelyn, while a great kindergarten reader, is still a few years away from these.

But there are plenty children’s books that would be perfect for Ethan, and for years James and I would say, “Is he old enough for X?” “No, probably not quite yet.” And so we’ve stuck with the Junie B and Magic School Bus, and Nate the Great. Oh and Star Wars, let’s not forget the 1,472 Star Wars EZ readers that grace our shelves.

Until we introduced Harry Potter.

We drove out to Utah in June, a decision that must have been made in delirium for all the sense it made. My brother and his family were going out, and when 1 member of a 6 sibling family decides to go visit (that’s right! I am the 2nd youngest of 6 children!), a mob mentality often kicks in and other siblings will try to make it as well. We didn’t really have the time to go for very long, which makes this decision to DRIVE TO UTAH even MORE daft, but there you have it. We drove to Utah, spent 4 days, and then drove back. That was 6 days of driving, for 4 days in Utah. Like I said. A decision made in delirium.

Another decision I made, which actually turned out OK, was to forego the portable DVD player. It always has cords everywhere and switching DVDs is a pain and Jocelyn always gets bored of it after 10 minutes anyway. We didn’t forego movies all together, we just skipped the VISUAL of movies. I played movies from my ipod over the car’s audio instead. They have all the movies pretty much memorized anyway, so it worked out fine. I think I did hand over my phone once or twice to let someone who was particularly irritable watch a movie to “just watch this and quit asking Mommy where the hotel is already!”

It was when we were about a day away from Utah that we decided to put in the audio version of Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone. At first, we had no cooperation from the pipsquirts in the back seat.

“Mom, there’s a MOVIE of this.” Ethan informed me.
“Yeah, so?” I replied.
“Don’t you know, it’s better to WATCH something than to have to READ. You can see it better in a MOVIE.”

Oh, words have never cut me to the heart quicker! Luckily, I think he’s since seen the error of his ways.

“Have you seen the movie?” I asked gingerly.
“Parts of it. At daycare.” he replied.

I’ve shielded him from my favorites all this time only for him to catch parts of it at daycare? Oh, my tattered heart! Next someone will just show Jocelyn the good parts of The Last Unicorn!

We listened to Harry Potter, and the kids slowly grew more enthusiastic and enthralled in the story. We listened as the troll almost got Hermione, and Harry got troll bogies (British for boogers! See, it’s educational!). We learned how to “swish and FLICK!” and of course, “ALOHAMORA!” and witnessed a dragon being hatched in Hagrid’s hut — Ethan and Jocelyn went from bored to tears to on the edge of their seats. We reached the beginning of the climactic ending of the first book late at night in the car, and I stopped the tape and informed everyone we’d listen to the ending the NEXT day, as I didn’t want to worry about Jocelyn waking up at 3am being scared. (The girl has watched The Nightmare before Christmas over 100 times, but you never know how she might react to something scary for the first time.)

There was MUCH protesting and whining and promises to not be scared, promise! Which was a far cry from when we had started the book! We finished it the next day, re-listened to bits and pieces whenever we were in the car through our days in Utah, and then went through book 2 on the way home.

That was in June. Since we got home, Ethan has commandeered the CDs to book 2 (we only have book 1 on tape) and has been playing them NONSTOP. The second we get in the car and before I even have my seatbelt fastened, it’s, “Mom, can you turn on Harry Potter?” I will pause it to ask how something went and it’s, “Mom, can you turn on Harry Potter?” We get home and second Ethan’s set down his bag he’s turned on Harry Potter. At night after reading time, he goes to sleep listening to Harry Potter. And in the morning? How I know he’s awake? He’s downstairs playing legos and … you guessed it. Listening to Harry Potter.

I think since June, we listened to book 2 approximately 1 meeeeellion times. You know. Approximately.

Now, let me make sure this is clear. I love Harry Potter. I’ve purchased the books the minute they were released and read them in 24 hours. I’ve seen every Harry Potter movie. James and I even attended a midnight party for the release of book seven. I even listened to a Harry Potter podcast for a while! Sh*t, JAMES AND I listen to Harry Potter when WE fall asleep and have for YEARS!

All this and I never thought I would ever say these words….

I am totally SICK of Harry Potter!

Ethan has even started to read through book one each night during our “reading time” — OK in my book, even though he’s heard it on tape already. We own the movie to the Sorceror’s Stone, which has been on repeat as well, mostly on the weekends.

Finally, in response to book 2 brain overload (it’s been playing every day since JUNE!) I ordered books 3 and 4 on CD so we can listen to them as well, and got Netflix to deliver the book 2 movie. Maybe now we can finish up our Harry Potter summer without Mommy and Daddy going batsh*t crazy

I only hope that this is only the beginning, and someday Ethan and Jocelyn will be just as nutty over some of my other favorite books as well.

One of the things we did for James for father’s day was make superman t-shirts. One for daddy (SuperDaddy!), one for Ethan (SuperBoy!) and one for Jocelyn (SuperGirl!).

Ethan didn’t want to wear his on Father’s day, but Jocelyn was more than game. A shot of SuperDAddy and SuperGirl at SuperSweetWaterTavern where the supers get their Father’s day sustenance (not to mention beer).

I also made a print of this image and framed it for James:

It was a nice father’s day, even though near the end I did have to say to James, “I realize it’s father’s day and I should be watching the kids so you can relax and all, but you may have to step in in order to keep me from strangling them.”

In other news, summer camp is in it’s first week, which means lots of fun activities for the kids at school. Ethan usually goes somewhere for a specific activity (bowling, pool, mini golf) in a school van in the morning, and then comes back in the afternoon more open playtime. He is also allowed to take his Nintendo DS to school (which wasn’t allowed during the school year by us or the school) and he usually is playing it when I pick him up.

Wednesday as I was tucking him in to bed, he said, “My neck hurts.” Now, James has been sick for the last three days so I immediately checked his forehead for any signs of fever and felt his glands. All fine.

“Is it inside your neck, like your throat? Or more on the outside, like your muscles?”

“It’s on the outside.”

Hmm. I told him he’d feel better in the morning and left it at that.

Yesterday when I picked him up at school, again, he was playing his DS. I tore him away so he could you know, say Hi or give me a hug or something, and noticed his eyes were red-rimmed and somewhat bloodshot. Suddenly I realized what his “sore neck” was from.

“How long did you play your DS today?” I asked him on the way home.
“A LONG time,” he answered.

We have a gamer-boy on our hands, who has strained neck muscles from hunching over and bloodshot eyes from peering at the screen for who knows how many hours a day.

I told him when we got home, the DS was done for the day. I also stressed the importance of taking BREAKS and that there were LOTS of OTHER things he could do at summer camp, he didn’t have to JUST play his DS all afternoon. I also talked to one of the counselors and asked her to maybe encourage him to do some other things this afternoon. We’ll see.

Gamer-boy.

It has been a really nice week.

Children-wise, I mean.

The kids have been so happy go lucky. Last Friday was the last week of “school” and this week was designated as “daycare only” at their school, which means Ethan has gotten to bring his Nintendo DS to school with him and play to his little heart’s content, and probably not much of any change for Jocelyn.

Next week summer camp starts, which is filled with much more exciting things, especially for Ethan, since he is in the “big kids” summer camp. He gets to board the school’s vans each day and head out to the pool, skating, mini golf, & bowling. Jocelyn gets to have game day, splash day, movie day, and imagination station day (all at the school).

So I was kind of afraid this might be a blah week for them, but they’ve been so cheery and happy I am looking back at the week, kind of amazed. In fact on Wednesday when I picked them up, they were so lovey dovey and happy that I commented to them, “You guys are happier than a pile of puppies!” which made them laugh and giggle with even MORE happiness.

We all had so much fun at the pool last Sunday that I promised I would take them after school on Friday. Yesterday Ethan asked, “How many days until Friday?”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because Friday we’re going to the POOL!”

“Well, you should be happy because TOMORROW is Friday!”

“WAHOO!! I’m going to swim under water again! And I’m going to show Daddy this time!”

These kids. So cute. I hope the “happy” streak continues for a LONG long while.

Happy Memorial Day.

So now that I have ostracized all ELEVEN of my readers (i know, a gross exageration) by NOT POSTING A THING FOR WEEKS, let me just slay you know with the WORDS WORDS WORDS!

….. WORDS!

No pictures, either, not even if you beg!

Some assorted thoughts and happenings from my mother’s visit (my dad did not come at the last minute, doh!).
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GARDENING
We planted some peas, but other than that, no garden planning has been done this year. Last year I sweated blood and tears over my sweet little indoor starter seedlings, and then I promptly killed them when I tried to harden them off outside (and it wasn’t the hardening. it was the not watering. i suck). So all the grow lights stayed in the closet this year and we’ll just be putting things directly into the ground.

I won’t be growing zuchini or cucumbers, because a) no one ever ate any but me, and b) the zucchini grew to GARGANTUAN sizes before I could pick them, which makes them less yummy.

The raspberries look like they are going to take over the world, the roots have REALLY spread out, and the strawberries are all intermingled with the raspberries. I should have done something about them last fall and now it’s too late. Note to self: Move the strawberries somewhere ELSE next fall. We already have a TON of little green baby strawberries growing. I can’t WAIT.

We’re doing sunflowers along the deck again – I LOVED those. We planted them on Sunday. I may also plant a pumpkin, because our mystery pumpkin was so much fun. Will definitely plant it later in the spring/summer though, as the pumpkin was ready long before October, and we’ll want some for halloween, o’course!

GOALS
I’m totally screwing the pooch on some of my new years goals, so I need to go over that. Blech.

KIDS
Soccer and tball season is upon us. Ethan’s games are going well, and I think he is really having a ball. Jocelyn love, love LOVES her soccer practice/games and even if she is a little clingy during them, afterward she always says, “I had SO MUCH FUN!” We had a vague repeat of the first game from last spring and I had an eerie deja vu feeling. It’s fun, but it really does run us ragged. Our menu planning is going to go SO downhill. I am the manager for Jocelyn’s team, so far I’ve only forgotten 1 thing. ERr, 2 things. At least I’ve come a long way since our first soccer game. Maybe.

EASTER
i have very cute pictures that i need to do something.

PHOTOS
It’s a shame that I fell off the 360 photos thingee because now the camera is sitting there, getting dusty. Someday I should pick it up again.

MONEY MONEY MONEY!
OK, not really money, but budget. The more I use YNAB, the more I LOVE it and I want to wax philosophical about that and see if I can’t get some of you to USE IT!

THAT’S ALL, FOLKS!

First of all, I”m glad to hear that I am not the only one with a holy terror of the parental visit. Thanks gals for all your comments (is it weird that it is only GIRLS that commented? I THINK NOT!)

So yesterday, the note on the kindergarten board that informs parents what their kids did that day, held huge news. The kindergarteners had compiled and were taking home – their Kindergarten Phone book, with the names and phone numbers of everyone in their class.

Ethan was, to say the least, excited. He also held a little scrap of paper which he said was Austin’s phone number. As to why this number wasn’t in the phone book, he couldn’t say.

While I was picking up kids, James had arrived home and was starting dinner when Ethan received his first phone call. James was somewhat disconcerted, not knowing that kindergarteners everywhere were doubtless phoning up their buddies all over the prince william county area. He made sure a parent was near, took a message and then promptly called me.

“You’ll never guess who just called.”
“Someone for Ethan?”
“YES!”

Tee hee. I should have placed money on it.

“You got your first phone call, Ethan! Sean called you!”
“What did daddy tell him?”
“He told him you’d call him back when you got home.”
“ALL RIGHT! I’M GOING TO CALL HIM BACK!”

When we got home, Sean received his return phone call, Austin was also called and not being home, a message left for him. Then Lucy was called, and they discussed plans for meeting at the park in the near future. Other things that were discussed: Ethan’s upcoming birthday party and Austin’s upcoming birthday party.

After each phone call, Ethan usually beamed with pride and declared, “MY VERY FIRST PHONE CALL!!” (even if it was, at that point, his 3rd or even 4th.)

Jocelyn was not to be outdone, and wanted to make some phone calls of her own, so I let her call Grandma and Grandpa. They weren’t home, so she left a message for them. Ethan got a return phone call from Austin while he was in the bathtub (which was a fantastic way to get him out of the tub, which is always a chore). Grandma called Jocelyn back in about 10 minutes, and Jocelyn said “Hi Grandma! BYE!” and then passed the phone to me.

Yes, indeed, I’m surprised that the phone lines were able to manage all the extra usage as many 6 year olds (AND THEIR SIBLINGS!) tied up lines everywhere to call their friends they had just seen hours earlier.

This morning before getting dressed, he wanted to call Jenni. I managed to forestall that one, by saying she might be at school already.

Boy oh boy. OH boy.

It was just an ordinary working at home sick as a dog with a sore throat…

When I finished up work at around 4pm and started going through my long neglected Google reader and it was about the time when I *should* have gotten up and gone and picked up my kids, when I got caught up on Arjewtino, a fellow DC blogger, who was running a contest for whoever is the 100,000th visitor to his blog.

Suddenly, I wasn’t going ANYWHERE. I could smell VICTORY!

So I kept my ass on that couch and clicked. AND CLICKED. AND clicked!

What would my efforts yield if I won? Why several items featuring Sir Arjewtino himself, the first being a baseball card from his time at the Dodgers fantasy camp, and the second being a picture of his buttocks. No… not just any picture of his buttocks… An AUTOGRAPHED ass picture. NOW WE’RE TALKIN’!

THERE WAS NO GIVING UP NOW! Because you know, I HAD to have those buttocks! There is a deep dark corner in my closet, which I keep locked, because all the porn, guns, and crack is in there, and yes, that corner is just BEGGING for a framed butt picture!

So yes… I did win. I sat and watched the stats climb up to the 99,999 number, and then swiftly loaded up the site. That’s right people, if you want to WIN, you’ve got to PAY ATTENTION AND DO WHAT IT TAKES.

And so, I give those that did not win these parting words.

SUCK IT, LOSERS!

I asked Arjewtino to please shoot the non-fuzzy side.

When I told James I had won a MAJOR AWARD! he asked if it will say “FRA-JEEEE-LAY!” on the side when it arrives.