The Flying Drunken Monkey - One woman's struggle against housework

Meal Plan ★ 17th – 23rd June, 2013

June 16, 2013 by Cassie

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Click here to download my Weekly Plan / Meal Plan Template.
Please let me know if you use it and what you think!

Meal Plan:

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♥ Monday – Dinner at Grandma & Grandad’s
♥ Tuesday – Grilled Chicken with Mustard-Tarragon Greek Yoghurt Sauce & Pasta
♥ Wednesday – Slow cooker pea & ham soup
♥ Thursday – Wok-cooked fish with Sesame Soy Sauce & noodles
♥ Friday – Pizza & Movie Night
♥ Saturday – Vegetarian Quiche & Salad
♥ Sunday – Slow Cooked Corned Beef with Mash, Veg & White Sauce

My parents moved house this past weekend. They had lived in their house for 23 years and moved in there when I was 4 years old. I moved out about 6 years ago but it still always felt like home to me. They’ve downsized to a smaller house with a smaller yard with much less maintenance needed. Their new home is only 11 years old compared to the 40 something years the other house was. It will be so much better for them and the new house is lovely (we’ve spent the weekend there) but it was still a very bittersweet weekend for me. It probably hasn’t really even hit me properly yet.

We also sold my old Volkswagen Beetle, George. My parents’ bought him for me (I paid them back) when I first started college in 2005. He coped with the 1 1/2 hour drive twice a week while I was in college, including up the very steep Mt Ousely. We spent quite a bit of money (some say too much) fixing him up – completely redoing the floor and removing all of the rust. There was, of course, many breakdowns and one fire, but many less than I expected. Before we had Lily we thought we may have to sell him but we decided to keep him as our second car. I only got to drive him a few times before it became obvious that we couldn’t afford to fix him to make him road-worthy for registration. So, he went to live at my parents’ house until we decided what to do with him. Personally I hoped that we would finally win the lottery so we could fully restore him. Once my parents decided to sell their house the decision about George had to be made. My Dad contacted the local VW restorer who decided to buy George for a few hundred dollars. Of course, I hope he’ll be restored to his former glory but I’m sure he’ll just be used for parts or put out to pasture.

So, a sad week but also a week of new beginnings.

This coming week will probably be a little more normal. On Monday we have Lily’s swimming lesson, then grocery shopping then it’s off to the doctor for Chloe’s first check up and needles. Not really looking forward to that. But then out to Grandma and Grandad’s for dinner.

All normal for the rest of the week until Friday when my awesome friend Amy will be coming over for a pizza and movie night. We haven’t had one in so long and I can not wait!

Sunday I’m hoping to go to the Sydney Supanova – only to see Raymond E Feist and have my books signed. He is one of my favourite authors and I have all of his books. I’ve been reading them since I was about 13 years old so I am so excited to finally meet him.

A couple of slow cooker meals this week – I’m really enjoying experimenting with my slow cooker and seeing what works and what doesn’t. Also looking forward to cooking Yvette from Little Bento Blog’sSlow Cooked Corned Beef again.

What’s on your meal plan this week?

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DPCon13 ★ Legal Basics for Bloggers Seminar Summary

June 12, 2013 by Cassie

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Yes, I am very late in posting this. I had originally intended to post it months ago but things got a bit busy with the birth of our newest little monkey!

In March I attended the Digital Parents Conference thanks to my wonderful sponsor Coffee Alchemy.

There were lots of great, informative sessions but one that I got the most out of was “Legal Basics for Bloggers” – featuring Stacey aka The Veggie Mama and Mark Pearson from Journlaw. Mark has also published a book, “Blogging and Tweeting without getting sued”, a guide to the legal side of being online and the traps and pitfalls to look out for. I still haven’t read this book, and after his presentation I think I really should!

Stacey and Mark focused on the areas of defamation and copyright during their presentation and there were many great points discussed. I took copious notes and shared many tweets and today I’m sharing those with you!

Defamation

Think globally!

♥ You are subject to the laws of where ever your material is downloaded. You may be writing in Sydney, Australia, where the laws say one thing but you may have a reader in Bangladesh where the laws say another. It is unlikely that you will ever be chased and charged with a crime from another country but it can affect your chances of getting a visa if you want to travel to that country.

You are a publisher

♥ As a publisher you are subject to all the relevant laws in Australia – the same as all other media, including The New York Times and 2UE.

You are responsible for the comments of others

♥ In 2011 Allergy Pathways was fined for allowing “false, misleading or deceptive” posts published on the company’s website, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook pages:

“While it cannot be said that Allergy Pathway was responsible for the initial publication of testimonials, it is appropriate to conclude that Allergy Pathway accepted responsibility for the publications when it knew of them and decided not to remove them,” said Justice Finkelstein. “Hence it became the publisher of the testimonials.”

Read more about the case here.

♥ It is important to remember that by not removing posts and comments you are effectively saying that you agree with them.

Defaming someone is easier than you think

♥ Defamation needs three things:
1. proof that a post has lowered someone’s reputation, no matter how small the circle. This means that if only one person has a lowered perception of the person being defamed, it can be classed as defamation.
2. it has to be obvious who the person being defamed is. You don’t necessarily have to name the person but if a reasonable person can ascertain who the person it is, it can be classed as defamation.
3. it has to be publicised. All this means is that if it is shared with even just one person, it can be classed as defamation.

Defamatory material can be anything you post

♥ It could be through a blog post, a comment on another blog post or news article, Facebook status or comment, tweet, an email, or even a private message.

Be careful with your “likes”

♥ By simply “liking” a status or comment on Facebook you are showing that you agree with it and can also be charged with defamation, even though you didn’t make the original comment.

Honest opinion is not defamation if based on facts

♥ Say you write a post about some shoddy house renovations that were done on your house. If you write that the carpet was not laid properly, there were paint marks on the floorboard etc, then you are not defaming the tradesperson. However, if you write that the tradesperson is obviously a bad person, who is not capable of doing their job, then that is defamation.

Large companies can’t sue for defamation

♥ If you criticise a large company, such as McDonalds, they are not able to sue you.
♥ However, if you were to mention a specific store (which may be a franchise which could be a small business) then it may be possible for them to sue you.
♥ Large company = more than 10 employees.

Copyright

“Freely viewed doesn’t mean freely used.”

♥ Even though you may be able to find the material easily and freely on the internet it does not mean that you are able to freely use that material for your own use.

Copyright is automatic and immediate.

♥ There is no restrictions on what is subject to copyright. Anything you write is immediately copyrighted. This includes scribbles on a napkin!

Even tweets can be subject to copyright.

♥ Tweets can be as creative as a haiku.
♥ It is, however, unlikely and hard to sue someone for breaching copyright on a tweet, at the moment.

You can not credit Pinterest or Google

♥ Many Facebook pages share photos and images. You can not simply type “Found on Pinterest” as a source – you must credit the original creator of the image.
♥ This can be hard but if in doubt, simply do not share the image.

Always link to the original source on Pinterest!

♥ When re-pinning images on Pinterest it is important to make sure that they link to the original source. Always click through!

Putting content in comment on Pinterest is breaking copyright

♥ Quite often you will see pins that have a photo and then the whole recipe listed below. This means there is no need to click through to the original source of the recipe and therefore breaks the copyright.

One of the last things Mark and Stacey said in their presentation was: “Not saying don’t drive, but learn the rules of the road first.” Of course, if you are not comfortable with any of the above then it is probably best not to blog or use social media.

And above all else, if you are unsure seek legal advice!

Massive thank you to Digital Parents for the conference and to Stacey and Mark for the presentation. Also, thank you to Mark for sending me a copy of his presentation to help with this post.

Category Blogging | Tags: | 10 Comments