Leahpeah : flawed but authentic

Article
We’re Screwed
March 2003
by James Colburn

Re: digital imaging and the lack of security when it comes to your work.

We’re now no better than caricaturist at the county fair putting big heads on small surfing bodies.

Also in the March issue of The Digital Journalist:

The Realities of Flying in the Post 9/11 World for Photographers
March 2004
by Dirck Halstead

Re: the hoops we go through to fly.

IF YOU ARE STILL USING FILM, DO NOT REQUEST A HAND SEARCH. Better to change to digital.

IF POSSIBLE DRIVE.

IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY TAKING PROZAC, YOU MAY WANT TO START.

Had the kids this past weekend. It was marvelous.

We took many photos, some of which will be available as soon as my pc stops acting like it’s broken. I know it’s faking.

The kids rode the train back home. Alone. I put four on and four got off on the other end, so I guess it went well.

Will I ever get used to this sharing-of-the-kids world?

Got my first partial sunburn.

Got new socks at the swapmeet.

Got tall, red & pink flowers for the entryway.

I looked down to check my watch and found that it stopped at 3:07pm yesterday. It was a weird, eerie moment of no time.

I wish I could stop time for real and take a long nap.

You may or may not know that I was building a site for children’s art. I bought the domain name crackerjackartist.com. You know, cracker jack in the ol’ “a person or thing of marked excellence” way. At any rate, after working on it for weeks and weeks, doing research and making various promotional material, I received a letter from Frito-Lay, care of a messenger that made me sign for it, that told me to cease and desist any further claim to the domain name crackerjackartist.com.

It also included phrases like, “You should be aware that the mere act of registering a domain name which is identical or similar to another’s trademark may be considered an act of “cyberpiracy,” as the term is identified by the Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, which is an actionable offense.”
I wrote back:

February 9, 2004
Faith S. James
Re: Crackerjackartist.com

Dear Faith S. James,

It is with surprise that I read your letter. It was in no way my intention to try to rip of Frito-Lay by using the name crackerjackartist.com. In the dictionary, crackerjack is a term used for “marked excellence” (which will be the page heading for every page in the site). Crackerjackartist.com was set up to be a place for children ages eight to seventeen to show their writing, art and photo work. I fail to see how anyone would confuse the two things.

I’m just one person; not a huge corporation with patent lawyers to check things out for me. I guess I’ll have to take your word for it that I’ve somehow inadvertently done some kind of infringement.

Is there anyway I could get you to look at the site and decide for yourself that it in no way is any kind of threat to your company? By perusing the pages, I’m sure you will find that it is purely an educational tool for schools and parents to help their students and children. I have invested so much time and effort in this project and I have so many teachers around the country awaiting the site launch on March 1st that it is a huge inconvenience to me to have to change all my press and published materials. I beg you to reconsider.

If you are interested in finding out more about me personally, as a way of judging my character, you can find out more about me on my on art and photo site here: www.leahpeah.com . I am an artist, photographer and contributing writer.

If, after looking the site over, you still feel the same way, I will relinquish my rights to the domain name, but I’m hoping you’ll see that I in no way pose a threat to you or the popcorn in a box called cracker jacks.

Feel free to contact me by phone to discuss this matter if you wish. Or, I’ll be looking for another letter from you.

Sincerely,
Leah Peterson

I didn’t send it registered mail, which was not smart in retrospect. Last week I received another letter that basically said they haven’t received a letter from me and that they wanted to hear from me ASAP or else. So, I called, got her FAX and email and sent the letter again.

The reply:

“We acknowledge receipt of your email with thanks. Please note that while we appreciate your position we simply cannot allow anyone to register a domain name which will dilute our famous CRACKER JACK trademark, regardless of the content of the website with which the name is being used.

Therefore, we must ask again that you confirm in writing within seven (7) days that you will contact your registrar and abandon this domain name. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.”

And here is my favorite part. They gave me some suggestions:

“For your convenience, we note that the following generic domain names were available at the time this letter was drafted:

excellentartist.com
greatyoungartist.com
wonderfulartist.com
fantasticartist.com
marvelousartist.com”

It’s funny and sad.

I gave up the right to the domain and I guess I’m moving on.
But I’m a little bitter….

is Joe’s Birthday.
Happy Birthday, Joe!

Two new links on the sidebar:

Elise Tomlinson, very nice artwork. She has some good reading, too.

And, Denise linked to James Lileks’ site whos bleats are well worth the time to read.

We here at leahpeah are proud to have them both as additions to the sidebar.

A Dozen Net-Dating Tips For Guys via Denise.

I’m looking for a new job.

I’m not too proud to ask my friends for leads.

If you know of anything “out there” in the San Diego area or something in another location as long as I can virtually commute, please let me know.

More details to come.

I mostly like what I see here: the raw story.

Little bit of a slow download but worth it.

“It’s called spam because of a Monty Python sketch in which everything on the menu includes Spam. In the sketch, eggs and bacon come with Spam. Baked beans come with Spam. Even the Spam comes with Spam. And the comedy troupe sings the word “Spam” over and over again to mock the ridiculous notion of forcing Spam onto every table whether you want it or not.”

Permission Marketing
Seth Godin
page 129

I like to be number one.

However, being known as the worst of America’s 5 worst freeways I could pass on.

Disturbing Story

Long Thought Dead, a Child Is Found Alive and Healthy
By JASON GEORGE

Published: March 3, 2004

PHILADELPHIA, March 2 — A woman who police officials said kidnapped a newborn six years ago, set fire to the mother’s house to make her believe that the baby girl had died in the blaze, and then raised the child as her own, surrendered to authorities on Tuesday.

The strangest part:

While assured that they had solved part of the mystery in the disappearance of Delimar Vera, investigators are just starting to try to unravel other questions in the case, including how Ms. Correa was able to persuade people six years ago that the child was hers.

Andre Moore, who said he was dating Ms. Correa at that time, said she appeared to be pregnant and later told him that the infant was his daughter. Mr. Moore said he learned that the girl was not his child in 1999, when he requested a paternity test.

And I loved this story as well:

Marriage: Mix and Match
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

…….it seems to me that the best way to preserve the sanctity of American marriage is for us all to spend less time fretting about other people’s marriages — and more time improving our own.

It’s been a roller-coaster-couple-ah-weeks.
I think things are settling down.
I think.

You know, these rides aren’t always fun.
It would be nice to just sit down on the bench and watch other people ride for awhile.

ps….vote.