Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Reality check--what I do, how, and why

An anonymous comment just appeared on one of my posts:  "why do you (and pauline) act like experts when all you do is google stuff and rip off others that are actual experts. you think a dumb ass costume makes you the authority? you should have stayed in school and gotten some credibility and learned a little thing about copyright issues and plagarism and maybe you actually be a crew member on an underwater excavation project instead of telling stories in costume to cranky children and 'blogging'."

I cannot speak directly for Pauline, but I want to take a moment and address this generally...
  • I do not claim to be an expert.  I am nothing more than an interested person who, like all good commentators, strives not only to share information but also to make sure that information is accurate. 
  • I do not claim to have any great influence upon matters, but this does not mean that I am not involved.  I do sail, I do volunteer, and I do try to stay abreast of events.  Most importantly, I care, and that is why I do this.
  • It is not plagiarism when sources are duly noted and/or quoted.  It is the nature of even real academia to gather information from a variety of sources and interpret it from your own perspective.  As a Doctoral Candidate in an academic discipline with 10 years of graduate education, this is something I know about.  Coincidentally, I got a BA from U.C. Berkeley, Magna Cum Laude, in historical archaeology, so, yeah, I know something about that, too.
  • My costume and my blog do not give me authority, only an audience, and for this I am grateful.
  • I do, by the way, know how to use the English language correctly, like spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.
I view the Journal of Blue Lou Logan as an opportunity to share passion, knowledge, and perspective.  I work hard to be accurate and truthful.  I thank you for giving me this chance.

1 comment:

  1. I'll try to be unbiased in addressing this situation, but in full disclosure, in my world, the sun rises and sets around the whims and wishes of Lou. Yes, I'm his wife. His very happy, extremely proud wife. He was being a bit modest when he mentioned his university degrees. He was 2nd in his class in high school, went to one of the most prestigious universities in the country, where he obviously flourished academically and personally, did two tours in archaeology in Alaska, then moved to Seattle to study ethnomusicology (anthropology of world music, since I doubt that you can translate Latin bases).

    He even did a stint as a world music radio DJ.

    He received a Master's degree from UW, and will soon receive his Doctoral degree. Oh, yeah, and he's a fantastic father, loyal friend, chivalrous to a fault, the loveliest, most intelligent, well-read, and honorable man I've ever known (this coming a woman with an IQ of 171, who finished high school at 15).

    Lou doesn't go around in a pirate costume to hang out at ren faires. The Center for Wooden Boats invites him to tell REAL maritime and pirate tales for their annual festival. A lot of research goes into what he does. There's no Captain Hook and Jack Sparrow. He's not spinning yarns of peg-legs and eye-patches: he is educating parents and children about a vibrant, often sordid, and, sadly, all-but-forgotten piece of our nation's (and the world's) history. And, I guess you thought you were being clever by adding "cranky children" to your pathetic insult. My take on this is that YOU are the only cranky child here.

    The fact that you chose to flame anonymously tells me a few things. First off, you're a coward who isn't up for a real discussion. Also, you bully to hide your insecurities, and you don't actually know enough about your material to claim it as your own. 'Tis the work of children, no matter what their age. That's not plagiarism, by the way, it's from one of my own books. Just thought I'd cite my source for you.

    Yes, I'm a published author, so this sort of thing gets stuck in my craw: unless you want to be sued for slander, you shouldn't just toss around accusations of plagiarism (BTW, that's how you ACTUALLY spell plagiarism - Lou and I had a good chuckle over your post).

    Next time you have something to say, man-up and use your real name. No one will ever take "Anonymous" seriously.

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