My poem about Crohns

[BWS1982]

I wrote this a few months ago when this latest flare up started in the fall, it took 2 months total as I slowly worked on it piece by piece, I'm hoping this is the best area of the site to post it. It was written to flow so that it could almost be worked out as lyrics to a song too.

I debated sharing it online at all (it's now on my myspace too) due to copyright issues (yes I'm paranoid) but I took care of that by mailing it to myself, which legally protects me with the postmark as a timestamp. I thought this is probably the best place to share it though since it's obviously a IBD forum. Writing/poetry is one of the things I use as an outlet, along with drawing and art.

Let me know what you think if you want, you guys would understand it better than anyone else I can show it to...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<poem removed for property reasons>

 

[Digits]

that is beautiful, i love it, i actually started to tear up. my favorite line is "How much armor can one soul maintain" it just rings so true. may i share this with the UOAA? i promise to say its yours, i just love it so much.

 

[Jeff D.]

It's beautiful. It really could work as lyrics. Do you play and instrument. It would be really cool to hear it as a song.

 

[BWS1982]

Thank you. I used to play the recorder in 4th grade, so that's the extent of that; but my brother plays guitar and I've been wanting to learn (I refuse to use guitar hero to do that).

I tried to make it chronological, from the beginning talking about being diagnosed, and how it all is a sham that you will live a normal life, then the anger and "fight" shows itself within me, and finally acceptance of it (which I still work on).

Digits, you speak of United Ostomy Association, correct? Either way I have no problem at all sharing it anywhere, especially in the circles such as support groups, as long as I get credit for it.

 

[Kev]

It's a great poem... and I find that writing, anything creative, really helps in dealing with this disease. Congrats. As to copyright protection... I don't know what the law is in the US, but here in Canada obtaining copyright protection is a fairly simple process. auther/creator of any material can simply file online via a government website. There is a fee... but it gives FULL protection (like $60).

The various short cuts/home remedies for acquiring similar protection may have some nasty gaps in them.. for example, how does the postmark on envelope prove the contents WERE the contents at the time/date of delivery. couldn't I take any old envelope addressed to me... and use it to prove I wrote the poem WAAAAAY back then... or the Magna Carta (yes, I really am that old) ;-)

 

[Jeff D.]

You can also send the copyright people a whole file of work and it will be copyrighted under one fee.

I would definitely pick up the guitar. I have played for about six years and it helps me so much. I was forced by some friends to play guitar hero and it was so boring after playing a real guitar.lol

 

[BWS1982]

Well the idea behind the shortcut of mailing it to myself is that it's in a sealed envelope that is unopened, and has a stamp on it by the government as to how old it really is. I assume it is a sound protection plan but only because my Writing for Animation teacher (who's worked in the industry) taught me that a few years ago. He says it's much cheaper and he's done it with many of his things, costs the price of a stamp and an envelope, which beats any fee the gov would charge obviously.

Honestly I don't know how airtight it TRULY is if I had to bring it into a courtroom though, but because of who relayed the info to me and the fact that it makes sense I thought I'd exercise that method.

I have a plethora of actual fine art and drawings and character designs from years of art that I'd love to go through and mail off too, provided it's adequete protection in the first place....


And Jeff, when I'm feeling better and am in a better place to commit some passion to it, I'll see about the guitar. I love video games, but I want to be shooting and killing things if I have a Xbox or Playstation powered up, not playing an instrument, I just can't get into the concept.

 

[Digits]

I totally agree, when im sad, i fire up Call of Duty 4 online (ps3) and go murder people, lol.

 

[Kev]

Well, IF the material you want to protect isn't worth the fee to protect, what does that say about the material? As for the envelope scenario, I could send one in the mail... unsealed. Just have the flap tucked in.. Then put anything in it at any time AND seal it... The postage cancellation only proves the envelope was processed at the time/date indicated. I don't know how well that would stand up in court. I wonder if one can check, via library, etc., free of charge, on any 'legal' precedents in your state, etc., where the envelope trick had worked!

Like, I haven't copyrighted a lot of material.. in fact, so far only two scripts. The cost was a little cheaper... fees just went up recently.. and theres' a chance (Although I still have hopes for the 2 act play being produced) that the expense wasn't really necessary.. But if either my screenplay or stageplay, or anything resembling them, ever get produced without my permission or consent, then I do have the 'beginings' of legal recourse. It's not the money, per se, that I'm most interested in. I just don't want my original work shown/performed under someone elses name. They're both my creations, in a sense, both my 'babies'.

 

[BWS1982]

Well you forget I'd assumed my method is airtight when I decided to use it, therefore, I feel I was getting an equal caliber of protection to that of the fee. At least that's the reasoning I'm trying to explain. Like I said, not sure on the integrity of this method, I only had a writing teacher at my art institute tell me about it. If I feel threatened by the theft of my work, it'd be worth any fee, yes, but I don't know what to think; technically you bring up holes in the theory I hadn't questioned because the source of the trick was a reliable one (my teacher). I have always thought an envelope not sealed in the mail wouldnt process very well and that this postmark concept was acceptable in legal circles....then again there's loopholes in more airtight tricks so who knows?Probably not the wisest thing not to think more about it, since I thought about it being sealed and he said it's just as good as a copyright in court I left it alone. I don't know what to think, but I'm quite poor, so I sought the cheapest route to accomplish the "same thing". Kind of like when a seemingly knowledgable doc tells you a medical fact, you don't think to research it's validity due to the source....which is actually unlike me, since I tend to question everything to an obnoxious extent.

Interesting to know you write too, I started a novel about a fictional story in the vain of Catcher in the Rye a few years ago but didn't finish more than a dozen pages of it as I was going through a rough time in my life.

 

[Kev]

Hey Benson.. Really sorry if it sounded like I was beating you over the head over this.... I didnt' mean to. A friend of mine, REALLY talented writer, came close to losing 20+ years of work... and great work too. He wrote most of this stuff as a partner.. and thought the partnership deal protected him and his creations just the same as copyright. Just went thru a long, EXTREMELY expensive battle over it. He won, but he'll be paying for this for years to come.
and this battle took a physical toll on him as well... that he'll NEVER re-coup. I really HATE to think what the outcome woulda/coulda been if he'd lost the fight

I wrote two manuals for former employers whilst in their employ, so I know 1st hand what it's like to 'surrender' forever, something that you alone created. I also developed a technique... but which wasnt' patentable/copyright covered, so my employer COULD only prevent me from disclosing/using it for a period of 5 years. And, I also taught, either privately or at the college level for years, so I know 1st off that teachers, instructors, professors, what have you.. aren't any less fallible than anyone else. and that an 'air-tight' solution only remains so till someone sees/finds a 'hole'. Like, I don't know in the US, but up here in Canada it's common practice to send unsealed (altho 'tucked - in') envelopes in the mail AT Christmas time.. a tradition dating back to when one could save a few pennies on the postage IF it was open to prove it just contained a 'card' (where that incredibly stupid, almost anal, requirement came from I don't know)
Many folks still do (us old fogeys are so hard to teach new tricks) Apparently the automated postage handling equipment doesnt' snafu, else they would've outlawed the practice.. even if they did, its' childs play to steam iron open an envelope.. Just, if you write something that YOU really believe has a $ value, I suggest going with the 'real' copyright protection before it ever goes outside of your control. Just avoid those people and their ilk who advertise 'patenting' things for you, or 'publishing' things for you. most of them are all con-artists (at least in my humble opinion)

 

[BWS1982]

I understand, your poking the hole in the theory was what I needed, better you than a judge with a raised eyebrow 3 years from now.

I agree, when I get the chance soon, I'll look into the tested and proven method of actually going the conventional and safe route. Thanks for the insight. I should get to my other materials (the fine art) too, since I have a few of those online, and am going to need to put up more (if I plan to do any further job searching).

What did you teach if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Kev]

Teach? Oh, dreary stuff... Computer science related mostly... HP-UX, UNIX, DOS, the MS suite of drabble... but some 'neat' hands-on stuff too. Like 'Universal Rework n Repair for Electronics'... and MIL-STD High Reliability Soldering.. That was cool... course, I also taught ESD, Statistical Analysis, and Quality Assurance Mgmt

 

[BWS1982]

Good gosh, you could have ran the tech dept. for the CIA, that's a broad base of knowledge...

 

[Methofelis]

That was wonderful. Please share any more you happen to dream up.

I wish I could write poetry, but I'm stuck in the world of fiction.

 

[Kev]

you just have to personalize your writing ID to allow you to write poetry. As in...

There was a young fellow from France
Whose IBD made him poop in his pants...
He ran out of paper
during a pred taper
and now walks with a very funny stance

 

[Jeff D.]

Kev that's just amazing. I think that should be on the front webpage or something.hahahahahahhahaha

 

[Kev]

Well, thanks Jeff... but encouraging me in this stuff is like giving matches to a pyromaniac... maybe not illegal, but certainly not a good idea. I'm addicted to some degree or other with limericks... as a child, one of my favorite writers was Leslie Charteris... pulp fiction/penny novel writer from the early 20th century. The hero of his books would commonly challenge friend N foe alike to kill/mark time by composing a limerick... Anyway, I read it at an impressionable
age.. and the concept of it stuck. And I've been hooked on limericks eversince.

 

[BWS1982]

I've taken down the poem (PM me if you haven't read it yet)...but thought I should mention I entered it into a contest last month in hopes of cashing in on it's excellence (modest eh?).