Irony Is Here

Saturday, Aug. 06, 2005 - 4:35 p.m.

Somebody else took my banner artwork.

So far, this time, I'm writing a letter to the person who's done it, and am now waiting for a response. Here is part of the text of the letter I sent:

I don't really mind what you have said about my blog. Everybody is entitled to an opinion.

But I *do* mind that you have decided it's perfectly okay to take my banner artwork without asking me first.

Please re-route your link in this post so that the artwork link goes directly to my blog.

The link you will need is http://brininsf.diaryland.com/images/dearal.jpg

That way, you are not guilty of theft.

Thank you very much.

I do think it's rather interesting that somebody -- who thought nothing of hoisting my work without asking first -- will refer to my banner as 'racist' when in fact, it's merely derogatory. I've mentioned no races whatsoever in that banner.

Frankly, I'd rather be called names than die in a skyscraper.

Of course everybody on September 11 didn't really have an option, did they?

In case this point is not clear yet, let me say this: al-Qaeda is the most racist organization on the face of this planet. They do not adhere to beliefs like peaceful co-existence with other religious groups. Their sole purpose of existence is to wipe anybody and everybody off of the face of the earth who does not believe exactly the same things they do. They especially take great delight in killing and beheading innocent American civilians who live in Iraq and have no part in the current conflict. You can find this kind of video all over the web if you'll just look.

I'm sorry if the truth about this organization is something you don't want to believe, but that does not change the fact that it's the truth.

And taking ONE POKE at them in the form of a banner advert? That in no way balances the fact that three thousand people are dead on our home soil because of them. It sure as shit does NOT make me a "racist." If this banner were so terrible, Andrew never would have approved it.

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Oh, and the rest of you all, I love you dearly, but please leave that person alone until they have responded to my request.

I'll tell you what happens. Please give him a chance to do the right thing.

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UPDATE:
Good news! Within ten minutes of sending my email, I received a very gracious and prompt response, and my request is being honored as we speak. He's redirecting the art URL from his site to mine.

Like I said, and will continue to say, I really don't give a shit what people think of my writing. I'm not here to entertain people, anyway. This is MY work for MY enjoyment, and if you all also happen to like it too, then more power to you. All I wanted was to protect my intellectual property.

I consider the matter closed. :-)

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7 of my readers commented on this entry

candoor
ok, obviously it needs some code corrections... but it's a thought :)
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candoor
being the troublemaker I can be, I opened the matter again... here, this might be a future entry (with line breaks and stuff to make it more readable): in a move that gives Looking for Mr. Goodbar a whole new meaning, I was inspired to contemplate comedy... I mean, what is comedy?... what is funny? (Mr. Data, please report to the bridge)... I think about that particular android character on ST:NG (that's Star Trek: Next generation for all you non-Trekkies out there) and his quest to understand what is funny?<.i> and the various aspects of being human... obviously, Mr. Goodbar did not see the humor in the banner or the diary it came from or the person he attempts to eviscerate... it might have been more or less funny to substitute Dear CIA operative for al-Qaeda and some equally mundane tasks the CIA operative's wife and kids want to have done around their house while the CIA operative is busy blowing up some other country or spying on some other man's wife and kids... I'd have laughed either way... the point I got out of the humnor in the banner was that men are all over the world taking their hate for other men more seriously than the supposed love for the families and porperties and homes they claim to be protecting... kind of like throwing the baby out with the bathwater... anyway, my concern is that any apparently intelligent and creative person would miss the very serious point behind the humor based on his own bias or prejudice... mocking racism and hating someone because they are a different race are two very different, even polar things...

Dear President Bush: Your oil wells are mucking up the environment and we're still waiting word on those weapons of mass destruction. Also, please stop spending our tax dollars on your personal vendettas. Get your rocks off at home.

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