Trademarks by Jenn McKinlay

 JENN McKINLAY: What a wacky week in the book community! A book blogger trademarked the phrase "hot girls read" and the book community has lost their ever lovin' fluffin' minds. And rightly so. 

Etsy Shop: Dust Jacket Goods

One glance at etsy.com and I can see hundreds of vendors use that phrase to sell booky merch. So to trademark it is a slap in the face of all the other book merch vendors who've been using the phrase on their notepads, t-shirts, stickers, and such for years. 

How is blocking these vendors from using that phrase going to impact the woman who trademarked it? At a guess, not well. Is she really going to spend her days demanding the platform take down all the other vendors by waving her trademark papers? Does she not have anything better to do? At all? 

While the book community can never agree on anything, such as favorite book, character, adaptation, and such, if someone goes after one of them, they will get all of them coming for them. Seriously, book lovers are "we ride at dawn" defenders of all bookdom.

But back to the broader discussion of trademarked phrases. In answer to the question "what are some of the wackiest phrases that have been trademarked?" Google returned this:

• "Let's get ready to rumble!": Sportscaster Michael Buffer successfully trademarked this iconic boxing phrase in 1992, allowing him to legally control its use in entertainment, events, and merchandise. 
• "That's Hot": Paris Hilton secured the rights to her signature catchphrase in 2007 and even used it to successfully sue Hallmark for printing it on greeting cards without her permission. 
• "This Sick Beat": During the 1989 era, Taylor Swift filed a famous trademark on this lyric, along with "Party Like It's 1989". 
• "Tiger Blood": Charlie Sheen filed 22 trademark applications in 2011 to lock down his famous interview soundbites, including "Duh, Winning" and "Vatican Assassin". 
• "Tebowing": Former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow trademarked the act of kneeling and praying in a pose that became a viral internet meme. 
• "Let's roll": The phrase—famously spoken by Todd Beamer on hijacked United Flight 93 on September 11, 2001—was trademarked by his foundation to protect it and sell merchandise with proceeds going to charity. 

The only one I agree with is Michael Buffer because the man uses it in his work every single match, so it feels legit. The others? Not so much. But here lies the problem, it's all rather subjective isn't it? The person in charge of your application at the trademark office is the one deciding if it gets trademarked or not. What if they're having a bad day? Or a good day? Or they hate whatever it is you're trying to trademark? 

There's actually a person who trademarked the phrase "boy mom." Yes, I'm serious and as a boy mom, I'm bewildered as to WHY a person would do such a thing? Are you really trying to corner the market on "boy mom" merch? Phooey. I'll go to an online pay on demand print shop and design whatever I want myself so thanks but no thanks.

So, Reds and Readers, how do we feel about this trademark trend? Yay or nay or what the heck?

Weirdest Food Combos

JENN MCKINLAY: It’s summer time! This makes me nostalgic for all of the snacking my brother and I did between riding our skateboards, rowing our boat on the lake, swimming at the beach, and in general just running wild for two months with limited supervision. The glory of being Gen-X. We fancied ourselves quite the accomplished chefs when we made Jell-O or popcorn or anything that required use of the stove or oven.

My love of snacks continues to this day and I remember when I was working in Youth Services at the library in 2010 one of my coworkers introduced me to the best fast food hack ever: French fries dipped in a Wendy’s Frosty. It’s still a go to comfort snack for me as it is that perfect balance of salt and sweet, hot and cold. Yum!

I believe this kicked off my love of weird food combinations, and I am always up for trying a new one, however, the dill pickle in a Dr. Pepper was a huge bust for me…seriously, bleck. Although I might have done it wrong.

How about you, Reds? What’s a weird food combo that you love?

HALLIE EPHRON: Celery sticks stuffed with peanut butter! Easiest lunch ever. Hot honey and Camembert. Chicken livers and pineapple.  

LUCY BURDETTE: Pickled jalapenos on anything, but especially on half a bagel with melted cheddar over the top! I don’t want honey on my French fries, but please pass the sharp French mustard…

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Well, prosciutto and melon is a staple around here, I have to say. And peanut butter and bacon is ambrosial. And agree, Hallie, on PB on celery, and on apple slices, too. Balsamic on roasted brussels sprouts, yum. I have never tried watermelon and feta, but I know it is hip and ubiquitous.  But!  cottage cheese with applesauce. Seriously. SO delicious.  It tastes like a completely different thing–almost like…butterscotch.

RHYS BOWEN:  Everything Hank said and I must try the cottage cheese with applesauce. I too love snacks food rather than a big slab of steak put in front of me. Dominic introduced me to fries with mayo. Better if the mayo is mixed with ketchup and a dash of Worcester sauce. Chutney on Brie. Or baked Brie with cranberry sauce. One go to lunch is grilled cheese dipped in Malaysian sweet chili sauce. 

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I’m with Rhys on the fries with mayo. Not mixed with ketchup, though!  A favorite snack growing up was slices of banana with peanut butter and mayo. Trust me, it is delicious! I still love it.

How about you, Readers? What's your weirdest food combo? Be sure to pop back in on Thursday where I'm sharing the lastest bookdom kerfuffle/gossip!

The Times, They Are a-Changing (Thank Goodness.)

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Forty years ago this month, my sister sent me the following birthday card:

 

 

 

 

I found it when sorting and consolidating a couple boxes of old letters and cards that went across the Atlantic and from state to state between me, my sister, and my mother. I was feeling a bit melancholic, realizing that my daughters and I won't ever have this kind of physical record of our thoughts and conversations (who knows what will eventually become of our massive chat logs?) 

Then I hit this card, and my mind did that record scratch thing.

This was a perfectly normal funny card to send in 1986. My friends and I, who all had masters degrees or were going to law school, lamented that we were never going to find husbands. Why? In part, because that same month and year, Newsweek Magazine came out with a cover story that put fear in the hearts of every single straight woman (or in the hearts of their parents, who wanted them safely and legally coupled.)

 

Yep, by turning 25, my college-educated self had reduced my chances of getting hitched to just 50%!

Of course, years later when sociologists revisited the study the Newsweek report was based on, they found it had ALL sorts of problems, and in fact, a woman was not more likely to die in a terrorist attack than find a man at 40.

But it says a lot about the American culture at the time that we all believed it. Somehow, despite our accomplishments and the jobs we were doing and the great social life of Washington, DC, my girlfriends and I had absorbed a message that our lives would only really start when we 1. got married 2. bought a house and 3. had a baby. Maybe it was just my group from college and grad school, but I didn't know any heterosexual young women who didn't want to hit these goals.

And that, thank heavens, has changed. 

My oldest daughter wanted that triple achievement, but she didn't consider herself a failure before she tied the knot. She went out and bought her own house. I don't think any of her peers from Smith were wed before 30 (in contrast, my girlfriend who went to Smith got married at 30 and she was the absolute last one of our circle to do so - we were all biting our nails for her!)

My youngest wants marriage and kids, but at 25, she doesn't think she's anywhere old enough yet, and besides, she has to establish her career first.  

The sense that having a ring on your finger was somehow the portal that let you into your actual life, and everything you did before buying a big poofy Princess Diana dress and dancing to 'Endless Love" at your reception was just a prelude? That's gone. (Although I'm waiting for those dresses to come back into style...)

 Today, women at 25 still want to fall in love, find a wonderful, life-long partner, and go through the adventure of building a life with someone. But they know it's a part of their lives, not the whole bag of sugared almonds. 

So we won't have boxes of letters and card, probably, but I'll take all those written-down memories in exchange for the sense your life belongs to you, before, during, and after marriage. 

How about you, dear readers? Do you recall the expectations about pairing up when you were young? And what else to you think has changed for the better in our world today? 

PS: I guess I let my history geek side too far out on Monday, when I decided to refer to The Very Tall Dutchman as VOC. (I have to get some use out of that masters degree.) 

VOC, or Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, is the commonly used abbreviation for the famous Dutch East Indian Company, the mercantile powerhouse that arose in the late 16th century and turned the small nation of the Netherlands into an economic giant on the world stage. Their ships were well known for venturing into exotic and uncharted waters and returning with treasures. Like, I imagine, my youngest daughter!