Even in dreams, @taylorswift13 is a great person

I had a dream my 9yr old got to meet Taylor Swift before a concert. We were in the parking lot sitting in the car.  Emily had got out to take pictures of the arena or something.  Taylor was walking the lot, shaking hands, talking, giving autographs, hugging fans, etc.  She was wearing some kind of plain t-shirt dress thing - nothing fancy or anything, just 'hang-out' clothes. I watched as she came up behind Emily and stood without saying a word, to surprise her. When Em turned around, she was awestruck and couldn't speak.  When Taylor reached out to hug her, Emily started crying and pulled away to get back to the car.

"Emily, that is Taylor Swift, honey! You're one of her biggest fans," I said, trying to calm her down.  Taylor knelt down beside the car and talked to Emily as if they had been friends for years.  She asked what Emily's favorite song was, what other kinds of music did she like, where did we live, and on for what seemed like 30 minutes in the dream.  Once Em was calmed down, Taylor went on to meet and greet other fans.

As often happens in dreams, time suddenly fades forward.  Now, it is just moments before they start letting fans into the arena.  Taylor comes into the parking lot, heads straight for our car, and calls out to Emily.

"Hey, girl, do you see this dress?" She was wearing a big, red flowing dress.  She twirled around once and it flitted and furled around her ankles.  She was genuinely excited, a big smile on her face that was both a happy grin and a look of disbelief - the same we often get when we wake up on Christmas morning to find we actually got the "ONE THING" we really, really wanted. 

"It's the one from the video! Can you believe it!?" Taylor said, twirling around again. Evidently, she had not been expecting to wear it or something.  Emily jumped out of the car, eyes as wide as half dollars and wearing a smile that stretched the width of her face. 

"I love it!" She yelled as she ran to Taylor and they hugged.  Suddenly, Taylor pulled a guitar out (from who knows where, it was a dream after all), signed it and handed it to Emily.  They hugged again and Taylor ran off to get ready for the show.  As Emily turned back to show me the guitar, I woke up.

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I don't normally put my dreams on here, mainly because they tend to very, very wild or weird (which actually might be a reason *to* put them on here).  But, I thought this one was worth sharing.  It's not often that my dreams focus on my little girl.  And in this case, it even starred one of her heroes, who turned out be just as amazing in dreams as she is in real life (from what I've seen, haven't met her yet in person).

Topps Image Use Inquiry Follow-up

As previously posted*, I emailed Topps to voice concerns with their lawsuit against Leaf for using Topps card images.  As a blogger and eBay seller/buyer, I wondered how this lawsuit affect the average Joe.

So far, this is the response I received:

Thank you for your inquiry.

This issue has been forwarded to the correct contact person/persons. This should be resolved shortly, please continue to check back if you find the issue has not been resolved.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Service team (By Phone: 800-489-9149, or by Email:support@etopps.com) if you ever have any other questions, comments or suggestions. A customer service representative will be available to answer your questions between the hours of 9:00am-4:30pm (EST), Monday through Friday.

Sincerely,

Consumer Relations
The Topps Company, Inc.

 I received this three days ago. Let's see how it takes to get a more thorough response from someone at Topps.

*Previous post: http://www.poppedinmyhead.com/2011/08/i-refuse-to-sit-around-and-wait-for.html

I refuse to sit around and wait for someone else...

I don't often post baseball-related items over here on "Popped" because I generally use "Tribecards" for that.  Sometimes, though, I feel it's appropriate.  This is one of those times.

Lately, I've witnessed a severe case of inaction in my little world.  In one instance, schools in Arkansas are now required to post all kinds of publicly available information to their websites.  While this has been going on for years, the amount of information has grown and this year, the state legislature added "contracts with signatures" to the list.  There has been an outcry against it, considering it would take no effort whatsoever for someone to come along and lift those signatures to be used for fraud and forgery.  But, that backlash came too late.  Where were we BEFORE this happened?  I'll tell you: going along in our daily lives, trying to keep things running.  In other words, not paying attention.

Fast forward to a recent announcement that the Topps company is suing Leaf over copyright infringement for the use of images of Topps baseball cards and signatures.

The suit specifically deals with the Sell Sheet for a "Best in Baseball 2011" program Leaf is undertaking:

Now, Topps says that Leaf is using copyrighted images of its product without permission.  A friend of mine posted a tongue-in-cheek comment that Topps would next be suing eBay, CheckOutMyCards.com, and others for using images in their listings.

That made me stop in my tracks. What if this isn't so funny anymore?  WOULD Topps sue eBay and other online sites?  WOULD Topps start suing (or issuing "cease and desist" orders) to card bloggers, collectors, writers, etc?  This was no longer funny.

Since it is Saturday and Topps evidently doesn't work on the weekends, according to their "contact us" page, I opted to send them and email (to support@topps.com):

Hello,


A friend of mine shared the current lawsuit Topps filed against Leaf for using images to promote a repackaged product line for 2011, which displays copyrighted images of Topps baseball cards. In jest, another friend asked if Topps was seeking injunctions against eBay and other online sales sites for the same violations.


I took the jesting in a serious direction and decided the best course of action was to contact Topps directly. In light of the Leaf lawsuit, *does* Topps have plans to sue eBay, CheckOutMyCards, or perhaps bloggers and/or people using Topps card images in their own online listings and/or posts?


I am a card blogger and use images of cards from my collection quite often when posting. I have also used images from other folks' posts when the image of a particular card was not readily available. While this is by no means some kind of "admission of guilt" here, I am concerned about myself, folks trying to sell their cards, and fellow bloggers regarding the use of images taken (with a camera, for example), scanned, etc of Topps products.


I would appreciate an open, honest, sincere reply as I need to know where Topps stands in relation (specifically) to non-corporate, collector-based usage of Topps product images. I also need to know if a "cease and desist" request/order is going to be drafted so that I may alert fellow collectors with whom I have contact.


If an email reply is not appropriate, feel free to call (me).


Thank you for your time and attention, and I hope to hear from you soon.


--David Henderson, http://www.tribecards.net/

 I realize that by sending this message, I may have actually STARTED a conversation at Topps that they themselves have not had yet, and that repercussions of it may lead to the very thing I am trying to defeat.  But, I want to know where Topps stands so that if we need to, those of us affected by this can begin to take our own action to protect our rights as property owners, collectors, and writers & bloggers.

I refuse to sit around and wait for someone else to take up the issue AFTER it's too late.  It's happening in too many other aspects of my life.  Starting here, starting with me, that is going to change.  I refuse to choose the path of inactivity any longer.   As Paul McCartney once sang, "I've had enough."

 I'll keep you posted.

What's in your browser?

For kicks, I decided to type each letter of the alphabet into my address bar, just to see what site came up at the top of the list (from my browser's history) for each letter:

a - A Cardboard Problem
b - Blogger
c - CommonWealth One FCU
d - DanWarp blog (Victorious, iCarly, etc)
e - eBay
f - Facebook
g - Google
h - HopePrescott.com
i - Indians.com
j - Justin.tv
k - KLOVE.com
l - Lulu.com
m - Mail.Yahoo.com
n - Need for Speed Hot Pursuit general discussion
o - Ouachita Baptist University
p - Plurk
q - QRStuff
r - Readerman.net
s - SWAEC.org
t - Twitter
u - USPS Tracking
v - ADE SandBox (Arkansas.gov)
w - Woot
x - MXToolbox
y - YouTube
z - ZamZar

So, what's in YOUR browser?

It's been 16 years...

Sitting here now, it is hard to fathom everything we've gone through over the past 16 years.  You see, 16 years ago today, Shan was giving birth to our son.  I thought it would be fun to look back at things that were happening about 16 years ago: 

• Microsoft unleashes Windows 95 on the world. During the unveiling, it crashes.
• Something called a "DVD" hits the news. Supposedly it would replace VHS tapes. Pishaw! 
• eBay is founded. 
• Toy Story is released and we go watch it with our little baby boy. 16 years later, we have tons of Toy Story toys from those early days up to Toy Story 3.  
• A year after Toy Story (well, a little sooner, but in '96 anyway), Pokemon is thrust upon the world and our son still loves it the way his father loves Star Wars.
• Speaking of Star Wars, Tyler grows to love all things Star Wars - just like his old man, much to his mother's dismay. :-)

I believe we started taking family vacations the first summer after Tyler was born.  We've been to San Antonio (a couple times), New Orleans, Memphis (a couple times), Nashville, Dallas, Orlando, Washington DC, St. Louis, Branson, Chicago, New York City, and other destinations that escape my aging mind (but I'm sure Shan will happily fill in).

We've seen Tyler grow from a baby we could hold in the crook of my arm to a young man that stands nearly a head taller than I do.  We've seen him dressed in everything from nothing but undies, a cowboy hat and a guitar to a business suit.  He has seen things come along that we had not imagined at the time he was born: his sister, Emily; Playstation; Wii; ipods, ipads; netbooks; 9/11; the 2nd shuttle disaster; World Cup championships; Flurp; the completion of the Star Wars saga; the Red Sox winning the World Series; the Indians not doing so...

We've seen interests change from Pokemon to Barney to Yugioh to Star Wars.  Somewhere during all of this, girls went from having cooties to being cuties.  We've seen him grow from riding a stick horse to driving our family vehicles.  He's played baseball and basketball.  He's won a writing award and is a very good artist.  He loves his high-tech gadgets but will help out with his grandfather on the farm when asked. 

He's lived through the passing of his great grandparents and his "Poppy" (my Dad). 

Most of all, he is one of the greatest sons a parent could hope for.  By the time I was his age, I had already made quite a mess of things in my life (though I hid most of those pretty well, I think, and I certainly learned from them).  Tyler, on the other hand, is well-rounded and well-grounded.  Sure, we have our moments (and I'm sure many more to come as we travel through the rest of the teenage years), but I am VERY proud to call him SON. 

Happy Birthday, Tyler!  Welcome to the pre-adulthood period called "Sixteen!"  I love you, buddy!