Dora's Corner: Plagiarism is Still Plagiarism Even If You Didn't Mean To...: Literary Thief!

“Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.” 
― T.S. Eliot, The Sacred Wood
(The above quote was Eliot's stint at humor, parody, and satire)
...Sadly, there remain too many people who think that they can copy another person's literary piece sans giving the originator(s) proper credit via a simple in-text citation and works cited bibliography of sorts.  A story, a quote, a song, a poem, an essay, an idea, etc...it's all still flagrant plagiarism when you deny the appropriate and applicable credit be given to the original author of the work!  By a simple and oh-so arrogant misdeed of stealing their work followed by an incredulously stupid action of not citing the work, you are denying someone who did all the hard work from receiving the proper credit that he or she deserves.
A thief by any other name is still a thief, and he wreaks of literary theft!
More on plagiarism and why I chose it to be today's topic post when I return...

Self-Indulgence: Thanks For the #Fan-ta-bu-lous Evening!

       ...Twitter (yeracd2007): 

...Happy #Saturday! Incredible evening last night 
w/DPS co-workers #XmasParty2014...
Thx 2the fab D.J. 4the remixes:

It was truly an incredible evening: 

good food, great company of friends, and excellent music!

....................................................................................D.D.C.

Dora's Corner: The Art of Matriculation! Then Comes Winter Interim!

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.” 
― Bernard M. Baruch
...Well, the end of the fall semester is just days from being over.  "Finals Week," is almost upon us; however, there are a couple of classes that allowed students to take their final this week.  So, that's two down for me, but two to go.  And, let's just say that the angst, that is accompanied by the torture of preparing for exams, is hitting everyone hard; for me, it is especially hard.  Not because of the studying required, because I can "hang" with the best of 'em, but because of those damned feelings I have been experiencing - the freaking melancholy.  I am taking an honor's online course this winter interim, and I am excited for that; however, it does not really replace the actual interaction one has with other students and instructors.  But, as I like to say often: "it is what it is!"
Regarding the winter course, it is going to be difficult because it is going to go fast, but I knew what I was getting into when I was asked to sign up for it...and when I agreed to it.  If I do well, then good for me (and kudos to the awesome prof who is teaching the course), but if I fall flat on my face, then no one is to be blamed but me and my stupidity and overreaching ways.  #ROTFLMAO
I will be writing a research paper for the interim course.  I love to write so it will be fun, but it will be equally challenging as well because I have to start the research first by assuming the role of an instructor, per se.  I have to come up with a survey, questionnaire, or form of communication with one student from each of the four courses I was enrolled in this fall (including my fall flex course).  I was fortunate to have gotten the full cooperation of four students who I think highly of...not only because they are serious and studious, but because they are well-rounded individuals who appear to have their act together (my English prof would end up with an ear worm (sort of)  if she read that idiom I just wrote...it's all good - it's just a blog, which is why I am also using contractions...my bad, dear prof.).
I must admit that the last student I needed from the computer-related night class that we took together, well, she was the most difficult to get to agree to this.  Not because she did not want to at first, but because she is quiet, perhaps reserved, and because she did not accept my previous invitations to partake in group activities away from class (mostly study group activities).  I love talking to people, and maybe the fact that I am too chatty made her leery of past invites.  Again - I must say: "it is what it is!"  The only thing that matters is that she is on board now, and she has especially complimented the awesome group of students who will be making the winter interim research paper easier for me to get through...knock wood.
Life is good, people are good...when you have the opportunity to have both, take it, and enjoy the hell out of it! ~ D.D. Carey

Dora's Corner: HAPPY HOLIDAYS!: HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY 2014!

Warm wishes for a beautiful holiday.

Gathering with loved ones and good friends.

Remembering those we lost, but the wonderful memories

and lessons each of them taught us;

especially that life is still awesome, and that

we have so much to continue to be grateful for every single day.

I especially remember Mama on this, her favorite holiday,

and the remarkable person she was;

she was simply...magnanimous and beautiful~

I strive to be like her.

Blessings to every one everywhere!

At the end of the day,

Thanksgiving is...

Family, community, fellowship, gorging and football.

- LOL -

And, hopefully in that order...

 



Dora's Corner: Hicksville, U.S.A.: When Did That Happen!

Okay, here is my issue for the day...we were shopping at the local Academy (sporting good's store), and we were appalled at all the sad, awful music that was being played in the store.  We visited both our local store in Midland and the one in Odessa - the same bad music at each store (ugh).  'Not sure if the music being played is on a loop, all I know is that it is country (really whiney country with a severe twang), and it is awful.  Furthermore, and it saddens me to say, but the damned awful music is indicative of the (too many) hillbillies that have invaded west Texas.  Geez, as if there weren't enough hillbillies in west Texas before the oil boom hit.  The same oil boom that caused the massive influx of people from all-walks-of-life. The same oil boom that is raping our land, might I add. 
I cannot wait to move from this forsaken place.  The Permian Basin is the new Sodom and Gomorrah. 
Anyway...the same rif-raf that Midland was trying (in vain) to prevent from invading their precious, Christian-right area when the idea of allowing a casino to be constructed in neighboring Stanton, are the same rif-raf that the oil-boom brought.  Worse, the rif-raf that the casinos may or not have brought to west Texas would have been here for a few days of gambling then back to their respective homes would the visitors have gone.  However, because of the oil boom, the rif-raf are here to stay for an undetermined amount of time.  I guess the hillbilly music (and the HB peeps) will continue to plague our area ... at least we always have NYC as a second place to call home ... soon, I hope.

Self-Indulgence: Simply...Missing You!

Missing you, dearly missing you.

The time is drawing nearer and no more seeing you.

Oh, but we have only spoken a few times.

But that one special glance was all it took.

I know you know me, but do you know how I feel.

I doubt that you do, you hardly ever reply.

I’ve tried reaching out to you, but my pleas you ignore.

Am I just someone you see every day as you stride by.

Or am I someone you equally like but also cannot approach.

I long to be near you, to see you, to hear you.

I stand alone, silent, never talking, never seen, never close enough.

I don’t know what to do anymore, I am lost.

Maybe fate decreed that you not be a part of my world.

It makes me weak, breaks my heart, and makes me somber.

I will let you go, though sadly, you were never mine.
But I wish you forever love and always to be well.

My days without you won’t soon be easy to cope with – not at all.

For you are not in my life as I had hoped, not even for a stolen second.

One day maybe we will meet again – I do not know - I can hope.

Time cheats us...I continue missing you, dearly missing you.

Dora's Corner: The Nightmare That Came True: The Two Wrong Shoes!

...You know the nightmare: you are in your underwear in front of a crowd of people...maybe at school, at work, or somewhere public; you are wearing the wrong pair of shoes, one is brown, one is black; you are at the wrong location for an important meeting or event; you arrive to an important event really late; and the nightmare scenarios go on and on and...  Why do you suppose we have these dreams.  I am by no way trying to get psychological or trying to interpret dreams.  I am basically asking a rhetorical question about nightmares that have plagued all of us at one time or another.  The  answers vary if you ask different people about nightmares.  Some say they are because a person is feeling unaccomplished, alone, scared, nervous, etc.  My guess is that we experience these nightmarish dreams because we are feeling insecure.  Let me elaborate with a hellish day I just experienced.
Last Friday, I woke up a little later than usual (my drive is long as I live across town from MC).  I almost put on two different shoes, and almost wore a shirt that needed pressing before cognizance set in.  I was tired, but ready for the weekly test in English that morning.  I got to campus with ten minutes to spare so I studied a little more.  This week we finished the definition rhetorical mode, and began on the cause and effect (causal mode/chain) mode.  At the onset of the test, I almost wrote about the wrong prompt, but I caught myself in time to correct my f--- up and ended up getting a 100.  
After English, I tended to some important matters before I ended up at the computer lab.  I like doing my assignments that are due on Monday mornings the Friday before so that I can focus on the other computer assignments during the weekend.  Well, this particular Friday I was feeling restless.  Maybe due to being tired, but I was missing someone.  Yes, missing someone.  A person I would like to get to know and talk to, but the person "throws me to the doggies" (lol).  It is more than that.  I just needed to be around other people.  I stayed on campus and went to the LRC (library), met with a professor, then ended up in the computer lab until I just could not focus so I left.  I had an essay to turn in for English so I thought I would finish it at home later.  I also needed to eat.  
I get home and eat; I watch some tele (Covert Affairs cause I LOVE me some Piper Perabo - ahh), too.  I almost fell asleep, but since I have never liked napping during the day, I got up to finish that essay.  I looked for my jumpdrive, but it is nowhere to be found.  It is not in the usual security of the small pocket in my jeans, it is not in my saddle-bag, it is not on the butcher-block, it is not on the floor anywhere, it is not in the car, it is not in the garage...then it hits me: "you left the damn drive in the g-damn computer lab!"  Panic sets in because the lab closes at 2pm on Fridays, and it was already 3:30.  I think about who I can call.  I have a friend who knows someone who works at the college, and I also have a dear friend who teaches English there, but then I decide that this situation calls for immediate and personal attention, if you will.  I tell  myself: "you need to get your ass in the car and drive there and make someone open the g-damn door!"  That is what I did, but I was nice about it.  I have learned that you do, in fact, catch more bees with honey.  The professor whose door I knocked on did not have a scan card to open the computer lab, but she suggested I call the campus police.  She had a lot of papers to grade, but she was gracious and understanding enough to get the police phone number for me.  The police dispatch employee was nice as was the officer who showed up and unlocked the lab for me to retrieve my jump drive.  The nice computer lab person, whom I have befriended, thankfully left the drive by the computer where we sign into in the lab so I grabbed it and kissed it. I would have kissed the officer, too, but he is so NOT my type.  LOL.  Aside from the important essay that was due later that night, I had so many important files on that drive.  I would have been in a deep pile of ---- had it not been in the lab!
I got over those feeling of being sad and somber (melancholy - there's that word again).  It is funny how an event can get you out of a slump and make you rethink how lucky you really are.  Anyway, I came home and finished the paper that had been eluding me for completion since it was assigned three days ago.  I worked on some other assignments, and I had to make beaucoup phone calls.  Each time I spoke to a person, if he or she mentioned that they had had a bad day, I brought up my day and the eventful scavenger hunt to retrieve the jump drive.

Dora's Corner: Rewards: The Perks of Going to College!

Going to college is not just about taking courses and getting good grades, it is also about being social and making friends - hopefully you will make one or more good friends that you will have for the rest of your life.  My niece, who is enrolled at MC as I am, and I spoke about the topic of why people go to college: the different classes, the things we would change, the things we liked, our ambitions, our ups and down, etc.  Mainly, we highlighted the feelings that each of us was trying to overcome lately; the inundating feelings of melancholy.  I brought it up because I have not really been able to talk to many people about my feelings, not just the feeling of melancholy, but of some weird association of feeling like I am losing something special.  Maybe I haven't learned the art form of not allowing myself to get so attached to people and to things.  Maybe I just need to check myself and be more realistic; however, at the end of the day, I like who I am, and that I cherish things and people as I do.  Once you have lost as much as I have in my own life, you will learn the other art form of appreciation.  I do not overwhelm others or myself by caring too much, but I do put a lot of effort into anything I do or any relationship that I form.  
Each day that we get closer to the fall semester coming to a close, I do not rejoice, instead I get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.  Is it crazy for me to feel like this! (rhetorical)...  I am almost embarrassed to talk to other people, especially classmates, about how I am feeling because it seems that the more I am saddened about the semester almost ending, others are overjoyed about it; furthermore, some are overtly anxious and are counting the days until the fall semester draws to a close; to most of the overly anxious, college has become blasé and cumbersome.  Shame on them is all I can muster for now.  
I am so glad that I brought up the topic when my niece and I were riding back home from having watched the wonderful opera, Il Barbiere de Siviglia (Rossini, 1775), yesterday afternoon.  My niece drove while I basked in the comforts of her new car loving the new car smell which still permeated the interior of her beautiful car.  My bad....I went off on a tangent...  
Anyway, it was nice to finally talk to my niece (a.k.a. fellow MC student) who basically shared the same sentiments of melancholy that had been plaguing me lately.  We spoke of the wonderful professors whose tutelage we were (respectively) privileged to have been a part of this semester.  We also touched upon the many classmates that made us laugh and made some of the more difficult courses easier to deal with when the study material became arduous and demanding.  Of course, we delved upon the special classmates who provided more than humorous entertainment and study-group time, we spoke fondly of the few mates who we will miss dearly; those who provided an actual friendship to us when we needed it the most.  My niece agreed with me that she had made a couple of good friends in certain classes of hers - as I had done.  However, neither of us is certain if we will keep ties or communication with these people, we would like to, but as with so many things in life that have two sides, what we want may not coincide with what the other person wants.  In other words, we may want to keep a friendship going; however, they might not.  Simple math 1+1=2, but with people, that formula gets tossed and the end result is as vague, vast, and uncertain as is infinity ∞

Dora's Corner: Girl's Day Out: A Day at the Met (kind of): Il Barbiere di Siviglia!

So, my niece, who is also enrolled at Midland College, and I attended this afternoon's showing of Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini, 1775) at the Century Theater in Odessa.  There is a reason why we made the drive over there when Midland has better movie houses and one of them was also showing the well-known opera, but that's another topic for another post.  My niece is taking Music Appreciation at MC, and this opera was a requirement for her, and since I love the Opera, I was the lucky one to get to go with her.  It was a nice invitation and a nice event.  We both love all genres of music, might I add.
We both loved the screening of the opera, which was broadcast live from the one and only THE MET (NYC) via satellite to several theaters around the world (made possible thanks to a generous grant from its founding sponsor, The Neubauer Family Foundation, with additional funding provided by the National Endowment for the Arts).
We both also discussed going to NYC to see an opera live at the awesome Metropolitan Theater (lovingly dubbed "The Met").  Anyway, getting back to Il Barbiere di Siviglia, it certainly did not disappoint.  We highly recommend it to anyone interested in the arts.  If you have the grand opportunity to see it (or any opera) in NYC, do it.  If you are like us, and do not have the luxury because of lack of time (etc.), then, please do yourself a favor and look up the schedule and see when an opera will be shown live at a theater near you via satellite as we did today.  It was breathtaking, marvelous, and beautiful.  Oh, no, The Barber of Seville did not disappoint.  It was everything I had always read and anticipated and more.  Boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, boy gets girl, but alas, maybe the union is not as solid...we have to now watch Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozart) to see how the marriage between the protagonist (Almaviva) and his lovely wife (Rosina) endures love's always changing ways.
My niece and I laughed because we each grew up watching Looney Tunes, and we both agreed that our first introduction to this awesome opera by Rossini was when Looney Tunes mimicked it with their version of The Rabbit of Seville (watch via MetaCafe) starring Bugs himself.  I guess today, we both grew up as did our taste in music.  LOL.  It's all good.