blog.geigel.com

I’ve been debating what to write for my next blog post for some time.  There have been a few inarticulate ideas kicking around, but nothing inspiring enough to get me in front of the computer.  Then, this morning, it hit me.  I’m thankful for so many things in my life — not in a Thanksgiving-I-am-thankful-for sort of way — but sincerely thankful that certain things in my life are the way they are.  Here is a list (open to tweaking) in no particular order.

Thank God…

1. I’m not married.
2. I don’t have a kid.
3. I have a mom and dad who love me.
4. I have great friends.
5. I’m a male.
6. I’m intelligent.
7. I’m creative.
8. I’m my own boss.
9. I went to college and graduated in 4 years.
10. I’m going to law school.
11. I’ve been to Ireland.
12. I’ve loved at least one person in my life.
13. I have my awesome car.
14. I’m not a virgin.
15. I have no disability.
16. I am able to run.
17. I am healthy.
18. I make/have enough money to pay my bills even in this economy.
19. Obama is our president.
20. I have a sense of humor.
21. I got through a difficult time with alcohol.
22. I’m not a religious fanatic (not that religion is bad).
23. I can keep a conversation going.
24. My sarcasm sometimes goes unnoticed.
25. I’m artistic.
26. I can solve a Rubik’s cube.
27. I can still take the derivative of an equation.
28. I look really good with a tan.
29. I don’t take shit from people.
30. For computers and the entire IT industry.
31. For movies and the entire movie industry (minus the MPAA — suck my balls)

A customer of mine, Babin Building Solutions, is participating in the 2009 Cleveland Home & Flower Show and just for fun I went to the website to take a look.

What caught my eye — almost immediately — was the fact that the image used for the “General Information” menu item was of Ireland’s Powerscourt Garden.  Most people wouldn’t notice this, but I did.  I was there just 2 years ago, and the unique layout of the garden/walkway set against the unforgettable mountainscape is not something you fail to recognize.

This lead me to question whether it was appropriate for the Home & Flower Show to utilize this image, and more to the point legally, if they’re even authorized to use it.  Did the person who built this website take that picture?  Did the person who built this website acquire the picture from a stock photography suite?  Did they steal it from Powerscourt’s website or another source?  Does Powerscourt need to authorize the use of pictures taken of its property if they’re to be used commercially?  And, of perhaps less import, does it hinder the advancement of the Home & Flower Show’s mission, which is presumably to advocate the gardens built and maintained here in Ohio.  Surely an image of some magnificent garden locally would be better than using an image of gardens thousands of miles away in a country that has no real connection to Ohio.

Of course the benefit of the doubt has to play a role here as it always does.  Chances are that the Home & Flower Show does have the right to use the image.  Chances are they were simply interested in making their menu look cool by using a picture of a really cool garden.  Chances are no one in Ohio (save for me) will even notice this and comment on it.

But, I couldn’t let it go without giving Powerscourt the props it rightly deserves.  It’s an amazing place with perfect architectural landscaping, pristinely manicured lawns, hundreds of species of flora and a number of fountains/ponds that stop you in your tracks.  I’d like to see a garden like that in Ohio… if it exists.