Over the past few days, I’ve been catching up on all my blog reading and was surprised to discover a bit of drama out in cyberspace.  Who would have thought?  But then I quickly reminded myself that behind each post and comment is a live human being with thoughts and feelings…and well, we humans are sort of known for our drama.  On a day to day basis, I work with folks ranging in age from 9 to 95 (and everything in between).  You can believe me when I tell you that drama follows us at any age and how we choose to handle it is what makes all the difference.

(A quick side note: Yes, the majority of people I work with are girls and women.  Yes, the majority of blogs I read are by women.  No, drama and angst are not soley characteristics of the female species.  You haven’t seen nothing until you’ve witnessed some 80 year old men get their shorts in a bunch over a poker game.  It can get real tense.)

So someone has been leaving hurtful anonymous comments and judging bloggers based on a snippet of their lives.  We’re all judgmental and envy is a nasty quality.  I’m of the opinion, however, if you can’t own up to your own comments, perhaps you should keep them to yourself.

A bit more complicated an issue is that of intellectual property.  I decided to look up its definition, and here is what the wiley world of Wikipedia says:

Intellectual property (IP) is a term referring to a number of distinct types of legal monopolies over creations of the mind, both artistic and commercial, and the corresponding fields of law.^[1] Under intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs. Common types of intellectual property include copyrights, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights and trade secrets in some jurisdictions.

Now, for those of you that are unfamiliar with the art blog world, there is an issue going around of artists taking other artists’ ideas/style.  It is a much more complicated issue than you  would think and Chucklebutt and I have been having a pretty good conversation about the whole thing.  Simply put, one artist is accusing another artist of stealing her designs.  You would think it would be pretty black and white –not so.  In the world of etsy (the website where folks can buy and sell handmade items) there is a fine line between being inspired and out right copying another individual’s work for profit.  The problem comes when you start to talk about the legality of it all.  Most of the folks on etsy do not have their work copyrighted or licensed.   This is primarily cottage industry at its finest.  If, however, I wanted to make a whole slew of artwork with Disney characters, I would definitely be in violation of copyright infringement.  Disney is sort of the mother of all companies to be feared.  (Interestingly enough there are approximately 7000 works of art on sale at etsy using Disney characters and/or designs.  Hmmm…I hope they have a good lawyer.)

So, back to the artists in question.  (Bear with me, my analytical thought process is creaky and out of shape.)  No laws have been broken.  No copyrights infringed.  Legally, there is no issue.  Now what about the ethical issue?  Chuck thinks there isn’t one since the materials used to create said artwork are unique (fabric, trims, notions, etc) and the images used are in the public domain.  Coming from a photographer’s perspective, he uses Ansel Adams as an example.  Everyone knows an Ansel Adams photograph and yet all landscape photographers aspire to take a similar shot of El Capitan (and if they’re lucky, make some money off of it.)  I agree to an extent, however, were it me, I could see getting upset over someone profiting from my designs.  Mind you I haven’t had an original thought in all my 36 years, so I’m not too worried about people taking my ideas.  I guess the whole issue gives me reason to pause and think about crafts and ethics.  I certainly don’t have any answers, but I’m definitely doing a lot of thinking.

Whew!  Can you hear the wheels squeaking?  So much for Wordless Wednesday.    I’ll leave everyone with a pic I found quite refreshing.

We live in sunny Arizona and exciting weather is really not a part of our makeup. We have hot as hell weather for about 4 months out of the year and then it’s gorgeous the remaining 8. However, the past week we have had rain everyday and then this evening we had tornado warnings! Tornado Warnings? Are you serious? That is insane! Chucklebutt and I had planned on heading north this weekend in search of snow, but apparently the highway patrol have put the kibosh on that. Interstate 17 and 40? Closed. Highway 89A? Closed. Flagstaff has about 5 feet of snow and counting. Officials are evacuating Sedona. Mudslides in Anthem. A tornado touched down in Blythe and from news reports, the San Francisco Peaks have had avalanches. It’s Armageddon I tell you! Yesterday, the media called a press conference on the coming storms. It reminds me of when weathermen would predict snow in North Carolina. Immediately there would be a run on milk, eggs and bread. Mind you our snow never lasted more than a day and invariably it would be melted by 10am in the morning.

So anyway, rain here is a super big deal. It’s the desert and there really isn’t any place for it to go. We have all of our fingers crossed that the roof won’t leak and the office doesn’t flood.

Besides the weather, life has been pretty mellow. I finally cleaned up all our Christmas and New Year mess and had Chucklebutt take some photos of my dishes. I love vintage mix-matched pieces and I think I may be addicted. I have such a hard time passing pieces by.

I count my blessings daily!  We are so lucky here in the Gibson-Rice household and I sure do cherish the everyday moments.

A couple weeks ago, Chuck and I headed to Scottsdale for a Sunday afternoon of exploring.  Scottsdale usually isn’t my thing — there are too many Hummers and Escalades for my comfort — but the afternoon was such a great moment in time.  Chuck had been earlier in the week to photograph a performance art troupe.  They were bringing awareness to water issues and the canal system.  Apparently SRP (The Salt River Project) was draining one particular section of the canal and scooping up the fish and putting them further down stream.

I think this is an amazing shot!  Chuck entered into a DP Challenge Contest and came in 29th out of 191.  He was a bit disappointed, but I think he did great!  Check out all the entries.

Note from Chucklebutt:  The actor pictured is Aaron Wester. Full performance information: Vessel performing Transfix in The Art of Maintenance at the Scottsdale Canal. Directed by Rachel Bowditch.

This is the canal section that they drained.

I love duck butts.  Chuck thought this should be my new blog header.  We found these cuties further down stream.

As well as this fellow.

After walking around for a bit, we decided to grab a bite to eat at a groovey cafe.  We ate outside where this duo was playing jazz.  They were great and I especially enjoyed “My Funny Valentine.”

The food was delicious!  Nothing like eating caviar and fresh salmon on a Sunday afternoon.

My egg white omelet was yummy!  Spinache, gruyere cheese, mushrooms — oh yeah!

Sweet Man.

Crazy Man!  Thank you Chucklebutt for a perfect moment in time.

On Saturday, after our party, I collapsed on the couch and was honored with a visit from Daisy.  Actually, she was merely interested in the remnants of my high fructose corn syrup and sodium caseinate — aka: Cool Whip Salad.  Mama Puff, these photos are for you.

She has a funny trait of always dipping her paws into available cups and then licking them.  You have to be super careful around your water glass, because that’s her specialty — I think she likes tinking the ice cubes together.

OMG Kitty Tongue!! 

She even does this little ritual with her own water bowl.  I wonder how she gets enough off of her paws?  She’s cute but weird.

More tongue!

She’s perched sorta precariously up there.

Thank you for humoring our kitty obsession.  God help our kids — I can only imagine Chucklebutt embarrassing them with a bevy of photo shoots.  “But Dad, you’ve been taking our picture for the last 20 minutes!”  “But Son, your senior prom only comes once in a lifetime.”  Hehehehehe.

I want to leave everyone with an awesome video we discovered last night. For those of you with feline friends, I’m sure you will appreciate.

Sigh.  Fat chance we’ll get any snow, although I’m sure glad we don’t have below freezing weather.  I talked with Mom this morning and she said that North Carolina has seen some serious cold weather.  Her house isn’t insulated (it’s an old Dutch Colonial) and even SHE is ready for a little warmer weather.  We had a high of 72 today.  I guess I’ll just have to settle for making my snowmen indoors  – or until Chucklebutt takes me up to the Grand Canyon.  Hint!  Hint! 

These were the cute little fellas that Mom and I made a week ago thanks to the tremendous generosity, knowledge and inspiration of Jenny at Polka Dot Pixie.  We were a little impatient, however, and didn’t wait for the paper clay to completely dry.  As a result, when we started to paint our figures, they cracked.  I think it gives it a nice vintage look.  This guy is mine and Mom’s is below.

They are so darn cute I just want to scream!

It’s party time!  The scrumptious looking cake box was a Christmas gift from Mom.  She purchased it from Pink Rose Pastries.  They really do look good enough to eat — and no calories!

She also surprised me with some cookies and petite fours.  Thank you so much Mom!  These are awesome!

I gotta go find something sweet to eat! 

I hope that everyone had a great New Year’s — ours was pretty mellow but still fun.  We hung out with the old folks and had our butts handed to us in a mean game of Scrabble.  It was pretty funny — one player is an ultra right wing conservative and the other is a card carrying member of the ACLU.  But everyone gets along when laying the smack-down on  Chucklebutt and Jiggle Puff.  Hahahahahaha!  Oh yeah, and I came in dead last both games and never broke 100.  I can’t believe Chuck beat me.  He’s an NC State grad you know and doesn’t even read. 

New Year’s Day was spent cleaning and cooking in preparation for having all the ladies over on the 2nd.  We had such a good time and I still can’t believe we fit 30 people into our house.  Check out the pics:

This is Alberta and her son Randy.  I absolutely adore Alberta and love listening to her stories.  She and her husband camped and explored all 50 states and I hope that when it’s all said and done, Chuck and I will have done the same.

Our yard needs a lot of work, but I still love it.

This is Pon talking on the phone.  She is one of my resident’s daughter-in-laws and I adore her!  She is originally from Thailand and is so much fun.  She made delicious egg rolls for the New Year’s Eve party and Chuck ate 11!  Oh yeah, Chucklebutt loves Pon too. 

I wanted to make sure that Chuck got a picture of the bus in front of the house.  I wonder what the neighbors thought?  ;D

I have no idea what I’m doing in this picture, but it looked so funny I had to post it.

This is Kathleen and she is amazing.  She didn’t get to come last year because she had broken her femur and was laid up in rehab.  She is 89 and awesome!  For 30 years, her husband trekked the Superstition Mountains (our back yard) in search of The Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine.  Kathleen is really fascinating to talk with and encouraged Chuck and I to take advantage of all the trails and campsites on the mountain.

The bus only holds 25 people, so we also had to bring the van.  The bus drivers — Dave and Ron — are the sweetest guys and really helped make the day special.  Along with Chuck, they were excellent waiters.  It was nice to see all the men waiting on the ladies.

This is Doris and I call her “Bopka” because she reminds me of my mom’s mother.  They are both originally from New Jersey and their mannerisms are very similar.

Once everyone left, I passed out.  I only had 3 hours of sleep and was truly exhausted.  I took a nap, and when I woke up, every single dish had been washed, tables and chairs had been put away and pretty much everything was in order.  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!  Chucklebutt.  We sure do make a great team.  I really couldn’t have done this massive undertaking without your support.  Chuck noted that we need to have people over more often — it’s the only time that we clean our house.  

Finally, I leave everyone with some shots of our other Christmas trees — this year we had a total of 8.

Mom gave me this Krinkles Noah’s Ark quite a few years ago.  I love it!

These silver trees sit in my entryway and quite a few of the ornaments are hand made.

I love this cutie!  She was part of the paper doll swap I did quite a few months ago.

This one I got from the ornament swap this year.  Too cute!

Pearl the Pig isn’t homemade, but I love her anyway.

Happy New Year everyone!  May it be filled with love, laughter and lots of joy!