When imitation isn't the sincerest form of flattery
Plagiarism: "the unauthorised use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work."- Dictionary.com
"Dear Fellow Blogger,
If you haven't already tuned into the fact that this is about you, let me take this opportunity to refresh your memory:
Goodbye My Lover
I miss you already. I regret the terrible cursing I've ever said to you. There were signs that things were not going well, but why was I so careless about your well-being? When it did happen, I was frantic and frightened, afraid of what my life would be without you, desperate to salvage whatever I could of our relationship and to tell you how much you meant to me.
The loss is so hard to bear, we've spent so many hours together, shared so many memories. The emails, photos, the music... the music, I want to lock myself in the bathroom and listen to Toni Braxton's "Unbreak My Heart" on repeat mode.
In the end, you left me with no choice but to give up. To start afresh. But this time I've learnt my lesson.
From now on, I will promptly back up all important data onto disk. (26 March 2007)
Now sit back, take a deep breath and listen hard.
I know there is probably not one sentence in any language that has not been previously published, not one bar of music that has not been composed before. But suffering succotash, you've bootlegged off the wrong biatch.
One could give you the benefit of the doubt and put it all down to a freaky concidence but having considered that theory for a whole two and a half seconds, I think it is safe to assume that at the time of committing this flagrant breach of copyright, your brain was about as logical and creative as a blunt garden gnome.
So out of the goodness of my heart, here are some pointers in case you want to rip off someone else's work in future:
1. If you're going to take the 'copy, edit and paste' angle, at the very least change the freaking title. Cutting out a few words is fairly tardy and shows a lack of imagination.
2. If you're going to select a piece of literature to pass off as your own, try searching for older entries so it's not obvious to readers (refer to tardiness point above). I've written better posts so I'm a bit peeved that you've fabricated one of the more boring ones. Who knows, you could have achieved literary stardom had you done your thieving the right way.
3. Be careful who you fleece. I have a team of highly qualified investigators out there whose one and only purpose is to sieve out people like you. The world wide web is smaller than you think, sunshine.
Consider this a strike. I won't hesitate to name and shame you the next time.
Now go and have your heart palpitations elsewhere.
Forever watching,
Lokes
P.S I will credit you for firing up the Lokemotion. Writing has never been more fun."
posted by Lokes @ 9:11 PM
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