Today is to cut corners.
Update: Before reading the below post you should know that the matter in question has been cleared up, so take the entry more as a cautionary tale and a bit of satire now more than anything else.
Hey, I'm throwing a pity party and you're all invited. What's the party for?
The victimization of me as a blogger!
OK, maybe 'victimization' is a strong word. But I was plagiarized, word for word. I run this other blog, MBToolBox, a resource blog for freelancers and journalists. Most of the time, the posts I do are fairly dry, with not nearly as much "Zulkey flava" as you find here (which is why this one is called Zulkey.com and the other one isn't.)
Last week, I was writing a post linking to this piece on CopyBlogger,"5 Signs Your Blog Post Is Going Horribly Wrong." I wanted to do something a little cuter than just a straight link, so I basically did everything that the post said not to do. I didn't think mine was the most brilliant post in the world, but I thought it was a semi-funny concept. I didn't exactly break my neck over it or anything--I pretty much put up the recipe for cucumber salad just to pad the wording on the post because I couldn't think of a few extra hundred words of fake blog to put on.
Anyway, Brian over at CopyBlogger emailed me on Saturday with a thanks for the link and an interesting heads-up: this post, my post wasn't only appearing on MBToolBox--it also was living here, on the "Society" blog for the UK Telegraph. It's a little unusual to reproduce a blog post word for word. It's especially unusual not to mention anywhere in the post where you got the content from.
So I emailed Melissa Whitworth in New York asking her to give me a little credit.
In the meantime, I'm getting a kick out of the fact that out of all the posts to lift, she picked one of the only ones on MBToolBox that identifies me as a White Sox fan with an interest in cooking who lives in Chicago--not only because there aren't that many of us female bloggers who have interest in all those topics--but also because it says right next to the post that Melissa lives in New York.
I wish that I had put even more identifying features in the post, like:
1-So as I'm writing this, I'm at my apartment building in Chicago, which is not in New York . It's hazy outside and the Chicago White Sox are playing like crap, which really bugs me. I went to a World Series game last year by the way. See? Anyway, I'm hungry for dinner but I've got to write this blog post first after I finish writing my other blog, Zulkey.com, which is named after my last name. Which is Zulkey.
2-Also my size 8.5-9 feet hurt. Do you ever wonder if there really is such a thing as an attractive yet comfortable sandal? I do.
3-So anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. Chicago, IL. I think I'm having cucumber salad for dinner.
4-The salad is made with a seeded cucumber, a sliced red onion, some unsalted peanuts and white balsamic vinegar (which I didn't know existed until recently.) I also like to add salt (because I like salt too much) and a little red pepper.I buy these groceries at the Jewel on Broadway between Addison and Cornelia in Boystown. In Chicago.
5-5-Boy, the White Sox are really stinking right now, did I mention that? I think I'm going to turn the game off soon. I don't know how a team so good can play so badly. They really ruin my nights when they play like this. It's only the 3rd inning or so and we are already down 3-0 and the Tigers are still threatening. Jeez.I won't let it bring down my opinion of Detroit though, which is a great town that I went to one time for a reading.
Here is another cucumber salad recipe that sounds intriguing:
ROMAINE, RADISH, AND CUCUMBER SALAD WITH TAHINI DRESSING
Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 25 min
Ingredients
For tahini dressing
1/4 cup well-stirred tahini (Middle Eastern sesame paste)
1/4 cup water
21/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon mild honey
1 small garlic clove, minced (I just bought a new clove press at Sur La Table on Walton St. off the Magnificent Mile. In Chicago. Where I live.)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
For salad
1/2 lb romaine, torn into bite-size pieces (6 cups)
1 bunch radishes (1/2 lb), trimmed, halved, and thinly sliced (1 cup)
1/2 seedless cucumber (usually plastic-wrapped), halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
crosswise
4 scallions, thinly sliced
Preparation:
Make dressing:
Blend all dressing ingredients in a blender until smooth. (If desired, blend in more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, to thin dressing.)
Make salad:
Toss together all salad ingredients in a large bowl with just enough dressing to coat.
Cooks' note:
Dressing keeps, covered and chilled, 3 days. Stir before using, thinning with additional water if necessary.
I got that from Epicurious.com. Because I always attribute my sources. I'm glad that my printer at my apartment in Chicago doesn't work so well because otherwise I'd probably spend all my free time printing out recipes to try instead of writing good blog posts like this. (Which I wrote. Me.) Oh and speaking of blog posts I probably should do one sometime on good printers for freelancers, no? Reliable but not too expensive. OK I'll do that sometime.
Which got me to thinking...
Maybe I should have read this at CopyBlogger before writing this post.By the way, my birthday is April 15, 1979.
Most of all though, I just like playing the victim. It's fun.