Just Renewed My Artistic Licence...

Yesterday I was complimented for this sentence in the Journal: "I fingered the event for days before, until it was as dog-eared as a favorite book." I admitted immediately that the idea was stolen from another author; but could not give proper accreditation since I don't remember where I read it.

This morning my son, Mad (AKA the Bubaker), and I had a conversation that touched on this matter of the theft of ideas. Rather than attempt a complete re-hash of the thing, I will put an edited version below (edited because we tend to talk on two subjects at once - I have removed the other subject, that's all).

thebubaker: when you have time I'll show you the prettiest site on the net
gone_away_2000: Thanks
gone_away_2000: Won't be long now
gone_away_2000: Okay. I am at your disposal
thebubaker: you may have seen it before... but this guy blows my mind
thebubaker: http://alazanto.org/
thebubaker: so purty
thebubaker: I wish I were that good
gone_away_2000: Very nice
gone_away_2000: If a tad arty
thebubaker: it's so clever
gone_away_2000: You see the clever code - I don't
thebubaker: the floats ... drop shadows... textures
thebubaker: damn he's good
gone_away_2000: Yes I saw those
thebubaker: yeah the CSS is poetry
gone_away_2000: All in good time Mad - your approach is a little different but in your own way you are as good
thebubaker: *faints*
gone_away_2000: There are many sites like his on the net
thebubaker: nah
thebubaker: but one day
thebubaker: I've never seen another like that
gone_away_2000: It's almost a fashion in the arty farty world
thebubaker: Hmmm
gone_away_2000: I look at arty sites occasionally
gone_away_2000: The fonts and squiggles - so passé
thebubaker: lol
gone_away_2000: Little sign of true adventure and daring - great coding but not much design originality
thebubaker: you really should hang out with my lot more
gone_away_2000: Yeah?
thebubaker: yeah... you sounded like Three for a moment
gone_away_2000: Tasteful, I admit
gone_away_2000: LOL Yeah right
gone_away_2000: And the colors - they're almost stock for an arty site
gone_away_2000: Oooh the guy can't spell too
thebubaker: he can't?
gone_away_2000: No - whither instead of wither Hahahaha
gone_away_2000: Alazanto really is a spelling joke....
gone_away_2000: Entelechial instead of intellectual? ROFLOL
gone_away_2000: He talks BS too
thebubaker: I didn't actually READ the copy on alazanto
thebubaker: I just went "ooooohhh ahhhhh"
gone_away_2000: Seriously, this Alazanto guy is a BS merchant - just a coder with unlikely ambitions
thebubaker: so purteeeee
gone_away_2000: Seen plenty of sites just as good
thebubaker: what's he goin' on about?
gone_away_2000: Difficult to see through the BS - I think it's just a blog
thebubaker: ahhh
gone_away_2000: Never be overawed - take lessons where required and know that no man has it all
gone_away_2000: I stole the dog-eared event BTW
gone_away_2000: As an example
gone_away_2000: Artists are allowed to do that
thebubaker: yeah I guess
gone_away_2000: Stealing is not only allowed, it's expected - a form of compliment, a homage even
thebubaker: we are allowed to "borrow" it's true
gone_away_2000: It's true - you know all those great classical symphonies?
gone_away_2000: They're all based on folk tunes
thebubaker: really?!
gone_away_2000: Yes
thebubaker: bloody hell
gone_away_2000: College professors make a living by going through TS Eliot's poems and indentifying his sources
gone_away_2000: It doesn't detract from the greatness of his poetry
thebubaker: and Old Bill Shakey borrowed every classical storyline from Cicero etc
gone_away_2000: You see, it's true
gone_away_2000: Very little is new under the sun - it's all in how you combine it
thebubaker: true true
gone_away_2000: What I like about your site is its clean and (apparently) effortless design
gone_away_2000: There's no BS there
thebubaker: simple... it is
gone_away_2000: Unless you count my page
thebubaker: PFFFT
thebubaker: But it's simple cause I didn't dare add more in case I broke it
gone_away_2000: Matters not - you use what you know to its greatest advantage
gone_away_2000: No man knows everything
thebubaker: aww shucks
thebubaker: thankee Dad
gone_away_2000: We do what we can within our limits and learn as fast as we can
thebubaker: yup
gone_away_2000: Just the truth Mad
gone_away_2000: Having seen Alazanto's site, you can mimic him, if that's your desire
thebubaker: I couldn't do his graphical style anywhere near as well
gone_away_2000: But the real trick is to take what you really like and use it with other things so that no-one can see your indebtedness
thebubaker: but the code? yeah I reckon
thebubaker: Like my white borders
gone_away_2000: Yes
thebubaker: they're inspired by another site
gone_away_2000: Yes, you see what I mean
gone_away_2000: Hmmmm I think you may have given me some blog material
thebubaker: yeah? Kewl
gone_away_2000: I shall save this