Rewrite
Thursday, 14 August, 2008
Monday 28/7/08
I woke around 6:15 but couldn't make myself get up. I stumbled out of bed, got myself some breakfast and then was out the door by around 6:35/6:40. I was in at work by 7, and I ate breakfast, read my Bible and prayed. Then I powered through my To Do list: email, Sola Panel, doing the final check of the Faithful Writer booklet (sent through by Bec) and calling the UNSW Bookshop to check that everything was right for the conference bookstall (they said they'd check and give me a call back). I had also hoped to start editing Briefing #360 (September) but instead ended up doing the layout—something I'd never done before.
Later that morning, the UNSW Bookshop emailed me to say that there had been a communications mix-up and that they weren't coming on Saturday. I was not impressed and ranted to Bec on IM about it. Elsie showed up around lunch time to read the Bible and pray, and to listen to my further rantings. In the afternoon, I met with Tony who was glad I had done most of tomorrow's work for him with The Briefing layout. We came up with a plan for the bookstall, and I called the UNSW Bookshop again and left a message.
I tried to get into editing in the afternoon but my brain certainly wasn't with it. Bec and I left at 4:30, and because it was bucketing down, we decided to drive instead of catching the bus. I stupidly parked on Lang Road near Centennial Park, thinking it was the best thing to do because they had all-day parking there. But it meant that we had to walk a long distance to get to the College of Fine Arts and we were late for the start my mother's graduating exhibition (Ben was already there).
Considering she had to move house, change jobs and pull the exhibition together all in the same period of time, I thought opening night was a great achievement! Peter wasn't there (he was still moving furniture) but there were a whole lot of other people I knew, including old work colleagues and my Honours supervisor (who also happens to be Bec's master's supervisor). So it was good to catch up with them. And the exhibition was beautiful. I think Ayers Rock was my favourite; I liked how you could see the footprints and scratches in the dirt when you looked closer.
Around 6 pm, there were speeches, and at around 6:30, Hans and Cathy showed up and walked around to look at everything. Our former supervisor encouraged Bec and I to get ourselves published and apply for grants and put together anthologies which was very encouraging of her. Finally it was time to lock up and say goodbye.
Ben, Bec and I walked down Oxford Street towards Wagamama (Bec had never been there before). It was freezing cold and I felt bad because I'd stuffed up the parking and now the restaurant was so far away. Plus I hadn't told Ben about the Wagamama plan and he'd already had it for lunch that day. Oh well.
I had fried udon noodles with stuff plus green tea. We also had their scrumptious sweet potato chips, then ice cream for dessert (coconut and black sesame for me!) It was fun hanging out with Bec: we talked about the acts (music) that we would go see, open mike nights, writing retreats, and so on.
Afterwards, we said goodbye and headed our separate ways. Bec walked to Taylor Square to get a bus and we crossed the road to get another bus to take us to the end of Oxford Street. (We could have gotten a bus from the same place but we didn't know that!) When I boarded the bus, I remembered I'd left by umbrella at Wagamama. Silly me. Ben and I shared his umbrella as we walked back to the car, then drove back to Wagamama so I could retrieve mine. Then we went home, and I did computer things (emailing people, Faithful Writer things, etc.) before going to sleep.
Tuesday 29/7/08
At work, it was email, Sola Panel, Briefing editing (shorter pieces and then onto the lead article) and Faithful Writer stuff. I ended up getting frustrated and feeling really stressed. I think I worked a long day that day. Did Ben make dinner? I forget what happened.
Wednesday 30/7/08
I drove in to work around 8 to do some editing, then went to babysit my mum's exhibition for three hours. Tony was heading out so gave me a lift up to COFA so I could get there by 10. I sat and waited for someone to open the gallery but no one came, so I rang security and they opened it for me. (Turns out that was what I was supposed to do but nobody told me that.) I must have looked somewhat official because students kept coming up to me and asking me where Room E101 was. I wasn't sure but I figured it must be on the first floor, given UNSW's room naming conventions.
During the three hours I sat there, only a handful of people came in to look at the exhibition and my feet got cold. But I sat and knitted most of an Urchin hat while I was there.
Someone came to relieve me at 1. I was hungry and had thought about going for a walk around Paddington, but decided I should really get back to work because I was concerned about The Briefing. I caught the bus from Taylor Square and ran into Mark G and his family on it (how often do you run into people you know on the bus?!) They were going further than I was, and I hopped out at Kingsford and went back to work. After a quick lunch, I got stuck into Briefing editing again and finished everything except for one article. I left at 6 and we had leftovers for dinner.
Thursday 31/7/08
I was in to work early and I finished editing the last article. This cleared the way for me to work on Faithful Writer stuff, Sola Panel and I forget what else. I left at 4 and drove to Officeworks to pick up supplies for the conference: name stickers, pens, spare paper, etc. I forget what we had for dinner but I think we spent the evening watching Law & Order.
Edit: No we didn't. We caught the train to the city and went to Greater Union George Street and saw The X-Files: I want to believe because Simon and Naomi had a free movie voucher which expired that night.
Friday 1/8/08
Ben and I got in to work around 9:30/10:00 am. I worked on Faithful Writer things—making name tags (in colour!), printing signs, going through my run sheets and thinking through logistics. I had a quick lunch and then Ben dropped me at UNSW at around 2:30/3:00 pm. I checked in at New College, got a trolley and then walked up to the UNSW Bookshop who were supplying us with 50 copies of The Little Red Writing Book. They had also managed to source a proof copy of The Little Green Grammar Book for people to flick through (from my preliminary glance, it looked really useful!), and they gave me 120 canvas bags for conference attendees.
I brought everything back to New College and then went thorugh logistics with Trevor which mostly satisfied that things were under control. I spent the rest of the afternoon doing the signage and the photocopying. FOCUS were booked into MCR for the evening and were decorating it with balloons and streamers. New College were a bit concerned, what with the conference being the following day, but Joyce assured me everything would be put back to where it was when they were done. (And it was nice to see Joyce too!)
I finished earlier than I thought I would, so walked back to work and got myself an almond milk tea with mango fruit (not a good mix!) from Easyway. I fired up the computer and did a bit more work, then Ben came to pick me up.
We had been invited out but I was determined to do nothing all evening, so we ate leftovers and watched TV (many episodes of Arrested Development Season 1). Kathleen showed up at around 9 or 9:30 bearing birthday gifts (my birthday never stops!). We had tea together, then retired for the evening to be well-rested for an early start.
Saturday 2/8/08
We were up ridiculously early and got into New College at 7:45. The swipe card I had been given didn't work so Trevor had to let me in. I ordered Kathleen and Ben around, setting up the bookstall and the rego table, and putting up signs. Kathleen and I took the lift to the fourth floor to put up signs, and then found that the chairs hadn't been set up in the seminar room. I called Tony to find out how he wanted his, then Kathleen and I arrange the chairs in a circle, then go to do the same for the other seminar room.
This meant I was late getting back downstairs to greet Mark Tredinnick. Fortunately Ben had already done so, and all the books Mark had brought were all set up. Mark had some copying and printing for me to do, and I ended spending the next 10-15 minutes making PowerPoint slides because I thought that would be more efficient than making 116 copies of everything. I also checked outside, and Guan and Bec were handling the rego and there were no apparent glitches (though there was a big coffee stain on the rego table—I found out later why). Roberta also arrived to look after the bookstall and I gave her hurried instructions.
Finally we got started. Despite my slide to fill all chairs and not leave any gaps, there were still gaps between people and not enough chairs, so we had to pull some more from the dining room. Trevor did the opening proceedings: interview with Mark, his devotion and then some announcements. Meanwhile, people were still arriving, and the students who had been on the doors very graciously got them sorted out. I thanked them as I closed the doors to keep the background noise out.
Then Mark began his keynote address with me on PowerPoint. About three minutes in, I had this niggling feeling that nothing was being recorded, so asked Trevor to check. I was right; turns out no one had been told to look after the recording, just the sound. Trevor improvised, and I turned my attention back to Mark's address. I could see the limitations of having everything on PowerPoint instead of working off a whiteboard for Mark's style; he tended to move organically between topics and I couldn't work out where he was up to on the outline. Close to the end, he worked through his points sequentially, and then finished off the session with the writing exercise.
At this point, everyone moved off to morning tea in the next room. I sent Dave to get Mark a coffee because he was being swamped with people. I moved his laptop into the office and got Guan's laptop and set it up. I tried to get the USB scanner working but it was being temperamental. I even tried to download the driver but it didn't help. I finally worked it out as writing time began, then, while everyone else was writing, Ben and I worked out the technology for Greg's seminar (Greg had gone home for a couple of hours because he was feeling sick but he said he'd be back in time for his seminar). Then I did more photocopying for Mark's seminar.
12:30 rolled around and everyone submitted their pieces of writing (well, everyone who wanted to). The five of us—Trevor, Bec, Tony, Mark and I—grabbed a stack and proceeded to read through them which was a little difficult in a room full of talking people. We selected our top two—that is, the two that would be the most useful for the mini workshop—and gave them to Mark to read. We realised then that scanning them probably wouldn't work so well because of the nature of people's handwriting, so we decided to type them all in. Bec and I sped to the front of the queue for lunch, pushing past everyone else, and gobbled our food, barely even pausing to chat to the girls who came and sat with us. Roberta came up with the key to the cashbox and said she was going to lunch. (I made her go back and bring me the cashbox before releasing her from her duties.) Then Bec and I rushed back to MCR and, while she dictated, I typed six pieces for the mini workshop into Word on Guan's computer.
After lunch, we had the mini workshop on the big screen. It was really helpful to have Mark go through each piece slowly, talking about the bits he really liked, the things that could be improved, different principles to do with writing (e.g. avoid clichés). Towards the end, I asked Bec to take over running the computer, got the office key off Trevor and took Ben to retrieve the speakers and stuff for Greg's seminar.
When the mini workshop was over, I put up the slide for the seminars and set Mark up with my iPod and recorder. Everyone went off to their nominated seminar. Then it was time for Bec and I to take the floor. Duncan kindly babysat the cashbox for me. We passed out our handout and got started. It really helped we did a dry run at Word by Word the month before; if we hadn't, I'm sure we would have run into problems, especially as we were already running late. We started with a brainstorm about what an editor does, then I interviewed Bec about her work on Salt, then we got two volunteers up (George was one of them) to read the radio play script Bec had written (it illustrated all the things that writers and editors shouldn't do when working with each other), and then we gave people a chance to work on the examples before going through them. I said something at the end about pushing editing to the limits—turning sermons/talks/notes into articles, etc.—and Bec wrapped it all up. I hope people got lots out of it. Certainly the ones who spoke to me told me how much they enjoyed it.
During afternoon tea, I minded the bookstall and was pleased to see that almost all the copies of The Little Red Writing Book had been sold. I also met Jean for the first time (I think I appeared really out of it). I was glad that all the bits I had to be on the ball for were over, and I could relax a bit. The clock was ticking and we got to 4:45 and still hadn't started the next session. I sent Bec next door to find Trevor. Five minutes later, we were underway. Trevor made brief introductions and tripped on Guan's laptop cable. The laptop went flying but didn't suffer crucial damage; it was just dented on one side and my USB drive was bent. Greg read first—some wonderful funny and whimsical articles and children's poems. Bec read her pineapple tart story which I enjoyed hearing all over again. Mark finished up with some poems. I was finding it hard to concentrate but I loved the one he read about the moon.
Then Trevor did the wrap-up and thank yous at the end, and gave Mark the present we'd picked out for him (a Moleskine notebook, a tin of Bookdarts and The Future of Jesus by Peter Jensen). And then it was all over.
Many people came up and told me how much they enjoyed the conference, and thanked me for my efforts. I ordered my friends around to pack up the bookstall and the rego table, to help Mark carry his stuff back out to the car and farewell him, to clean up and pull down signs, and so on. Lastly, I removed my stuff from the office and we were off.
Kind friends helped carry things to our car. It was freezing cold! We put stuff in the boot, then went off to dinner. In my email earlier that week, I had asked that someone else make a decision, but I'm of the opinion that people are incapable of making decisions in groups. George too charge and we went off to Ratu Sari which had been my original suggestion. The restaurant threw together some tables for us: me, Ben, Kathleen, George, Duncan, Honoria, Sandra (who was up from Melbourne) and Jess G (who had joined us just for the dinner at my invitation). At this stage, I was really out of it and burbling nonsense, so the others took care of the ordering (I think George drove it mostly). The food was absolutely delicious (but I couldn't be bothered photographing it).
Afterwards, we said farewell. Kathleen, Honoria and Sandra came back with us to the car, and we dropped Honoria and Sandra at Newtown, then continued on to Leichhardt to pick up Fish. I made him sit in the front seat and navigate (I'm so bossy!), then reclined in the backseat talking more nonsense all the way out to Mount Druitt. We got there with plenty of time to spare, and found a park on the roof. Why Mount Druitt? Well, Mount Druitt has TheHalfPipe—the LoveSac cinema—and I thought it would be fun to see The Dark Knight there (and being bossy, everyone else sort of fell in line with my suggestion). And after a very long day, it was certainly very nice to just lie on the LoveSac, eat popcorn and watch Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhal, Aaron Eckhart and Michael Caine do their thing.
Afterwards, we drove back, dropped off Fish and got home around 1 and went to bed.
Sunday 3/8/08
I think I slept in until 10. Kathleen was up early, reading her way through my library. (She told me she wanted to borrow everything!) We had a very late breakfast, and then I took her to Leichhardt to visit BerkelouW where we drooled over books. The café wasn't open and we were running out of time, so we went to pick up supplies for a quiche from Coles. I forgot to get our parking validated—a fact I found out, unfortunately, as I reached the exit gates—so I had to pull into the temporary parking space, race upstairs to Coles and get the silly thing stamped.
At home, we made a quiche for late lunch (I can't remember the last time I made a quiche but I felt like a quiche today for some reason), then drank chai mixed with honey while we waited for the oven. The quiche was ready around 3:30 and it was delicious. Then Kathleen packed up her stuff and we headed off to church.
Greg was preaching once again (poor guy; two talks in two days!) I was finding it hard to concentrate. Afterwards, we went up and chatted with him. We were going to drive Kathleen to the airport then but it turned out Lesley was going that way to pick up a friend, so she gave Kathleen a lift. So we said goodbye to her, then went to have supper in the hall (Indian! So yummy!) I was still feeling a bit angry and upset from the day before, but it didn't twig why until we sat down to eat and I was talking to George. I was also really tired, so after we finished eating, Ben and I went home and I think I went to bed early after reading a bit of Demo.
Current:
Bible: 1 Chronicles (ESV) 28/10/2008 (0)
Bible: 2 Peter (ESV) 25/10/2008 (0)
seen: The Duchess 23/10/2008 (0)
Bible: 1 Peter (ESV) 22/10/2008 (0)
Bible: Jonah (ESV) 20/10/2008 (0)
Bible: James (ESV) 16/10/2008 (0)
Bible: Obadiah (ESV) 14/10/2008 (0)
Bible: Amos (ESV) 13/10/2008 (0)
read: Rapunzel's Revenge (Shannon Hale, Dean Hale and Nathan Hale) 12/10/2008 (0)
seen: Whisper of the Heart 10/10/2008 (0)
seen: My Neighbour Totoro 10/10/2008 (0)
Bible: Hebrews (ESV) 06/10/2008 (0)
Bible: Psalms (ESV) 03/10/2008 (0)
Bible: 2 Kings (ESV) 29/09/2008 (0)
Bible: Joel (ESV) 28/09/2008 (0)
Bible: Hosea (ESV) 24/09/2008 (0)
read: Pastoralia (George Saunders) 23/09/2008 (0)
listening: Kismet (Jesca Hoop) 23/09/2008 (0)
seen: Howl's Moving Castle 20/09/2008 (0)
read: On Chesil Beach (Ian McEwan) 20/09/2008 (0)
Bible: Philemon (ESV) 19/09/2008 (0)
Bible: 1 Timothy (ESV) 18/09/2008 (0)
Bible: 2 Timothy (ESV) 15/09/2008 (0)
read: The Game (Diana Wynne Jones) 14/09/2008 (0)
seen: Mr & Mrs Smith 13/09/2008 (0)
read: Make Like a Tree and Leave (Paula Danziger) 11/09/2008 (0)
seen: Hellboy II: The Golden Army 09/09/2008 (0)
read: Star Wars: A New Hope manga volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4 (George Lucas, Hisao Tamaki, Tom Orzechowski, Adam Warren) 06/09/2008 (0)
seen: Paris Je T'aime 05/09/2008 (0)
Bible: 1 Timothy (ESV) 03/09/2008 (0)
seen: March of the Penguins 25/08/2008 (0)
read: Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi) 25/08/2008 (0)
read: Fables Vol 1: Legends in Exile (Bill Willingham, Lan Medina, Steve Leialoha, Craig Hamilton, James Jean) 18/08/2008 (0)
seen: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels 17/08/2008 (0)
read: The Nanny Diaries (Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus) 16/08/2008 (0)
seen: Stranger Than Fiction 15/08/2008 (0)
Bible: 2 Thessalonians (ESV) 14/08/2008 (0)
seen: The Royal Tenenbaums 13/08/2008 (0)
Comment:
Bravo Karen. Superb writing and illustration (especially the high contrast frames).
And yes I noticed the transformers poster on the last page! Nice 
Thanks Bec!
Good job, all of you! It looks fantastic!
Heheheh ... Hello Kitty is my muse!
See! I told you they were cute stick-figures - especially when they’re angry!
Kawaiiiiii!
Heheheh ... H, it’s never going to happen! Carpe diem!
Kere: Yes, I own all three of Scott McCloud’s books on comics, but I’ve found Making Comics hard to get through—I guess because, as you say, his primary target audience is artists. But it’s very interesting and helpful all the same.
Very nice
I’ll put this, too, on my list of things to do when I have more time…
Any discussion of the purpose of art is going to huge and unwieldy. And in the end, I suppose, my question would be whether or not it truly matters or if it can be defined in a way that truly encompasses, rather than limiting, the possibilities of art and the roles of the artist. In the end, I don’t have to write (there is no compulsion) but nor do I write for any end purpose (which to me would still involve some form of compulsion). I write because it’s part of who I am, because I love it and would rather do it than not. The process is enough for me, is the enjoyment. It’s not the story or the characters or the theme or message - all of that is about the end product - but the work itself, the way it happens, the word choice and the way its chosen, the way each part works together and how I’m making that happen. It’s said that a work of art is never completed only abandoned and I think that’s true and that this is why: art is about the creation, not about the product.
But that’s just my point-of-view - it’s the importance of art for me - and there are no ends of artists and critics who would disagree with me and do so strenuously. And I don’t know that there is a right or wrong here. For me the end product is… very nice and I’m happy to do something with it. I’d like to think it can express something important to other people and that that message should be to God’s greater glory. Which, as you’ve pointed out, it cannot help but be. But for me it’s about the process which is, to some extent, a view of art for art’s sake.
Well, that was convoluted. I’m planning a wedding! I have an excuse! ;p Hope that made some sense. ^-^
Hihi. The book Jon recommended to me when I started my graphic novel is Scott McCloud’s ‘Making Comics’. I found it quite useful, though a lot of the stuff it says are things you would think of yourself given the moment to do so and he’s very much coming from an artist’s point-of-view and seems to assume that the drawing comes before the writing. Still, he had some interesting things to say and in an interesting manner.
I’m very glad you’ve done some drawing for this. I found it interesting to think in the right way for this kind of static visual form, unlike a form like film which is… *tries to find the word* based in action rather than having all the action happening between images. (Why sue one word when ten will do?! ;p ) It takes some getting used to, though I’ve been doing layouts as I write which helped no end.
Anyway, this is alll shiny. ^-^
Good discussion and reminder, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of this series
It’s something I think about from time to time, and should probably devote a bit more thought to, although I’m approaching art from the point of view of a profession/vocation more than as a vital form of self-expression. But I will often be among people who do, so shouldn’t ignore that aspect.
I wonder if there’s a name for that kind of creative/artistic circularity ...
George, one day I will come and borrow your collection ... once I get through my unread pile!
Kathleen: no, not yet. It’s sitting pristine in a ziplock bag ;P
Hee hee, yes I did! And today I found some blue pencils so I’m going to have a go at using them.
We will have to collaborate some time in the future ... I will keep thinking up more ideas for four-page comics ...
And that Copper tutorial was great - informative and funny. Did you hold the pencil the right way?
So glad you went for it! I was going through my notebook the other night and found my sketches and thought, I wish I had had time
It’s so lovely, like something made out of spiderweb! My “string” illustration was based on a sketch I made of you knitting it (although I didn’t know it at the time).
By the way, I have every Georgette Heyer book (all the romance ones). She’s one of my favourite authors.
That was such a funny, enjoyable read especially the thing about the knitting needles. Funny stuff and sad but true
I love going to Brizzy. I like how laid back the city is, there’s little aggro, and I love the weatherboard architecture. I have a friend who lives near St Lucia (actually Kenmore) and I always love going there… Ah! I miss it.
Yes, but there’s a difference between following the rules and trying to convince people they are reasonable
It was a very excellent chair, Karen - and your photos all turned out really well. I’ve got some sketches up on Flickr (but they don’t look like you!).
Used the sketchbook yet?
About the bamboo knitting needles, they follow rules as a requirement of their job. As with most people, keeping their job is most important so regardless of how silly the rules are, they must be followed as she would be well conditioned to do so.
Tea Inn! And freezer section of Asian supermarket.
Thank you again - it’s lovely!
the last spray bottle I got I got from woolies (in australia). I would be suprised if they have stopped selling them. Maybe you should try looking in the gardening bit? I can’t remember where it was.
you have inspired me to get a wii fit too! I am rubbish at the soccer heading game. but I like the ski jump!
alison 8-)
Ooh, where do you get dessert dumplings? Hang on, I think I might have had them in some Chinese restaurant. Not with the soup though.
1. Dessert dumplings!! Have you ever had them? White on the outside, filled with peanut sauce or black sesame on the inside. You have it with a sweet watery soup. Also, you can get ice-cream type dumplings (if that’s stretching the definition of dumpling a bit far 
)
2. Duck gyoza?? Yum! Wanna try that!!
Wow! That is amazing!!
Sorry about that! My blog must be rather hungry, eating comments like that ...
So glad you’re still reading Been praying for you.
Hi! *I’m* still reading your blog!
sounds like you had a nice time!
the last comment I left got eaten (i.e. never appeared) so better luck this time??
Alison P.
Thanks for this. I have it all sorted! I wonder why all that other html stuff comes up whenever I look at other rss feeds, when it’s that simple ...
Regarding Google Reader:
Click on “Add subscription” (LHS menu).
Copy and paste the relevant feed URL. My blog is complicated because there are four:
- If you want full posts, use http://hippocampusextensions.com/karen/rssfulltext/
- If you want full posts and my del.icio.us links, use http://hippocampusextensions.com/karen/rssfulldelicious/ (at the moment, however, the del.icio.us feed isn’t quite working because there’s this one thing I don’t know how to do).
- If you prefer just reading headlines and excerpts, and then clicking through to the full post if it’s interesting, use http://hippocampusextensions.com/karen/rssexcerpt/
- And I also have a feed for all the comments that get submitted to my site: http://hippocampusextensions.com/karen/rsscomments/
Click “Add” and you’re done!
This has nothing to do with your post, but I am clueless as to what to do with your feed things on here up there in the corner, and can no longer get this blog in google reader. So, can you enlighten me as to what I might do with that html stuff up there?
Everyone automatically gets copyright on work they produce and publish. You don’t need to (C) 2008 the work, its automatic law.
You can release that work under a license otherwise it defaults to the normal copyright law. A license can give certain permissions and apply certain restrictions in the use of the work.
Often people release works under more than one license, for say a commercial license and a free license where free may have some restrictions such as preventing re-sale of the item.
Patent law only applies if you obtained a patent, which only applies to inventions which are new and original. Unfortuantly people can patent too many things these days such as DNA and thereby own living organisms.
*struggles to express thought coherently* What Kathleen said. ;p If your enjoyment of the activity is suffering because of the pressure other people’s suggestions place on it, then perhaps you should cut back on accepting those suggestions. I now have a default response of “no” to most suggestions that I offer the things I do to relax or for my own enjoyment in the service of something or someone else. Not that this stops me offering to do things but I know it’s easy to feel like you should do something because people have suggested that it might help.
This is really lovely, Karen. I’m always in awe of people who can knit: it’s always been beyond me. This is just gorgeous.
I think it’s something you work out only by getting into that situation. I’ve been there, and learned to say - I’m not enjoying X anymore… why was I doing X and how important is X? And if the demands of other people’s wishes and suggestions and deadlines interfere with both that reason and other things that are more important, then I don’t agree to them in future. It sounds like you knit for relaxation and creativity, to rest and recreate for the rest of life, and the extra obligations imposed on knitting ruin both the r&r;and (therefore) hurt other areas of your life.
It’s the sort of thing you learn by trial and error. I’ve had to learn to make extra activities based on those things a default ‘no’, and then have a really good reason if I change that.
I agree with Nathan, I don’t think you can copyright the pattern, you’d have to get a patent. Sounds like wishful thinking on the pattern creators part.
No doubt people weren’t aware that others were selling stuff made from their patterns. But now that we have the internet, it’s easier to track these things.
From the brief reading I did, even if Australian copyright law were slightly different, because of how other countries subscribe to certain forms of international copyright law, they can still claim their rights even if you’re in Australia and they’re in the US.
Anyway, the problem come when you sell what you knit; if you give it away for free, it’s fine.
I’ve gone and asked for permission from the original designers of the patterns I used. One said a flat out no. I’m waiting to hear back from the other two.
I was wondering about this the whole time I was admiring your work. The thing is that it’s not clear cut in any way shape or fashion. Some patterns will say that you can’t sell any products from the pattern but some will say nothing at all. Nathan insists that the only thing that can be copyrighted is the paper/online pattern itself. If the designers didn’t want you to create and sell from the pattern then they should have patented it.
It’s very murky. Copyright australia website has some pdf helps but even then I’m unsure on the whole copyright vs patent issue.
I think this is only a very recent thing in the crafting world. Before it used to all be about sharing patterns and sharing ideas for the common good. But now it’s all about ‘gimme, gimme, gimme’.
If you made a derivative work of another, which all creative people do all the time anyhow, it is up to the copyright holder to prosecute you.
Or otherwise, you can ask the copyright holder for permission to use it as such in which case they can say yes sure, or the can ask you for money.
Blinks:
Serving breakfast to kids in the classroom boosts attendance, increases attention spans and helps kids ease into the school day as they get to socialise and relax before class begins.
Voice operated searches can now be conducted through Google on the iPhone. This service will soon be expanded to other mobiles.
Via Rod B. Sermon outline on how to think biblically about Facebook.
The Black Dog Institute's 5th annual writing competition. Deadline: 31 January 2009.
Studies in the UK shows that marriage is good for children, whereas family breakdown leads to poverty, personal debt, drug and alcohol addiction, failed education, unemployment and dependency.
Via Dave: build and buy your own muppet.
Services like eGuardian which have been set up to protect children may also sell their information to marketers and advertisers, prompting concerns about privacy.
Amusing article about how retail packaging is changing in the face of consumer complaints that they are too hard/dangerous to open.
Cory Tennis's advice to someone who wants to be more creative: just get out there and do stuff.
The impulse to create is interesting: "...I have these strange feelings all the time, like I want to sit down and write a song or a poem or create something, but I don't know where or how or what ... or why."
Print your own fabric--from photos, illustrations, etc.
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