US copyright attorney, primarily for photographers and other visual artists. WAY- Leftie. LGBTQ+ ally. Feminist. Supporter of Black and other PoC voices. Poor-person’s Martha Stewart. Drives a stick-shift, usually too fast. Rides a Triumph. Dabbles in linguistics. Hates fascists. Bad Buddhist.
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2026-08-22T16:40:47Z Event JSON
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Last Notes npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Copyright is not the enemy here. Don't go there--the enemy are these heartless, greedy companies that are trying to EVADE the protections of copyright (etc.) which should have (but failed to) save these actual books. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns A variation on a basil elderflower gimlet that, afaik, I just invented. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns RE: https://mastodon.social/@randahl/116420461487009518 npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns That is a misreading, IMO. The criteria for participation were, "Men were eligible if they self-identified as men, were in the age range 18 to 34 years, and reported having had a sexual encounter with a woman in the past 2 years." npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Back on carbs and baking for it. The brownies are made with sourdough discard. It’s a King Arthur recipe but I add nuts (pecans this time). The boule is my usual. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Daily Beast headline: npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns RE: https://social.ketupat.me/@huey/116230628785311844 npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns I had to run some errands so I took the Triumph. It was one of those rare, perfect days. Not just the weather--70ºF, sunny, not windy (sorry people not in SoCal)--but one where I felt one with the moto. Smooth turns and shifts, unweighting at just the right time over bumps...just magical. And, despite a ton of Teslas and even a WankPanzer, not a single stupid driver move. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns And the inside of the card… npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns And when I opened the card, these fell out. 3/ npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Unsigned. No idea who it was, but I have been weeping since I read it. ❤️❤️❤️🙏💪 npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Inside was this card. 2/ npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Holy shit. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Big surprise…they ripped off artists for some of the movie’s music. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns When I was in college and living at home with my father, he announced that some distant relatives were coming through town. They were Canadians, Albertans to be exact. Rancher/farmers. I loved pretty much everything foreign so I was excited to meet them. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns There is a Latina walking around our neighborhood, handing out tree service business cards. She spoke Spanish to me when she gave me one. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Just got a survey from AARP asking what issues I am interested in. I replied there is only one issue: The USA being turned into an authoritarian state/the loss of our democracy. I said AARP needed to get off its ass and join the fight against the Nazis--nothing else matters, for now. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Seriously! Just did an image search and virtually all of the photos look that way! The only photo where he's sort of smiling (his Wikipedia page)? He not only still looks like he's going to cry (albeit happy tears) he makes Dukakis in the tank look butch: npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns RE: https://infosec.exchange/@Sheep_Overboard/115884075714651502 npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Instead of saying things like "Human-made" make the default term assume humanness. Turn non-human and "content" stuff into the other. Call non-human-made "art" "artificially-produced content." npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns So now, art is of little value because people think it is content and anyone can make content so why should they pay (much) for it? And AI-"art" is just the same as human-made.... *hurl* npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Thinking more on this...back around the turn of the century (2000ish) I started hearing the word "content" replace "art" or "writing" or "photography" etc. and immediately said that was a very bad thing. "Content creator" replaced "artist" (and its variants). Worse. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns RE: https://mastodon.social/@augieray/115865594690560460 npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns I'd love for a general strike but requiring signing up won't make it happen. Signing up is ridiculous and a threat, frankly, since the data can be used nefariously. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns RE: https://mastodon.social/@verge/115846034538043672 npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns BTW, there are other requirements besides the agent registration; but that one is the “big” one. The law is 17 USC §512 (several subsections apply, esp. c) if you want to try to parse it. Also, this is a decent explainer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_Copyright_Infringement_Liability_Limitation_Act npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns If you run an instance, don’t forget to register a DMCA agent with the US Copyright Office. If any of your users posts infringing materials, you can be held liable even if you had nothing to do with it; but, if you have a registered agent (and follow the other steps in §512) you are immune. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Online Dating Follies, no. 682 npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns In the last century, I was the studio manager/producer and rep for the photo-illustrator who got me into this whole industry. Magazines would call with story ideas and he would come up with how to illustrate them; ad agencies would hire him to create images for their clients' marketing pieces. And he respected and encouraged my input, without ever pulling the "I am the Artiste!" ego crap. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns I felt like this was needed today, so I just wrote it by hand on the back of another of my signs. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Bummer. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Online Dating Follies, no. 666 npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Did one of my favorite cleaning hacks today: cleaned my silver jewelry with aluminum foil, baking soda, and boiling water. Make sure to use a glass bowl, put foil in, add baking soda (I guess I used like 3 tsp?), put items in making sure each touches the foil, add boiling water so all is underwater, and wait a couple of minutes. Most of the tarnish transfers to the foil! Remove items, wipe with microfiber, and done. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns As a woman of a certain age and a proud driver of a car with a manual transmission, I felt this in my bones. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Perfect. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns I drive a small car and ride a motorcycle; this is terrifying. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns I had no idea a woman wrote it, but it makes sooooo much more sense that it would have been a woman. RIP madam. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Just checked my health insurance rates for next year. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Am I the only human who finds reading early text-ese super annoying now? I mean in spaces that aren't character-limited. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Because doing repairs and maintenance stuff is therapeutic for me. Also, doing that stuff when I had been waiting on the Ex to much of it (empty promises) is extra therapeutic. I’m not some frail, dainty thing who can’t handle a screwdriver but rather a capable, creative, and resourceful old broad. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Got up, did yoga, meditated, got the ladder out and ripped off the year-old duct-tape “temporary” fix (Ex’ temp = forever) for two leaky windows on opposite sides of the house, caulked them (fixed, hopefully; paint needed in a week or so), removed and prepped the wall furnace covers for painting, painted them, needed more paint so got that and red samples to consider for an accent wall in the kitchen, stopped at the bodega for ice cream (for later), finished painting covers and cleaned up. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns I will laugh my ass off (in fury, actually) if it turns out the actual cause of autism (not whatever Sideshow Bob says) is something related to sperm and has NOTHING to do with the mother taking anything, much less Tylenol. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns I’m cool with the antenna but I can’t get TCM without some sort of subscription and it is the only channel I really really really want. Poo. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Trying to figure out how to get TCM without Hulu or YouTube… looks like going back to cable or getting Sling, which makes some local channels antenna-only. Hmmm…. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Dowd’s firing is ridiculous and a very bad sign of just how screwed up our “journalism” is now. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns The whole Democratic party’s leadership’s inability to understand that one can be both against the violence and STILL HOLD A LINE is crazy. One can say “It is a shame that Kirk’s rhetoric so inflamed that someone thought it necessary to resort to violence” or “While I do not condone violence, the victim is not a saint and should not be mourned as a good American—he was not.” npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Schumer is such a part of the problem…sadly. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns The Ex announced that he and his (adult) daughter and her boyfriend will be moving his stuff into the storage/shipping cube on 9/6. Hopefully he will be out himself shortly after, but I’d not put money on it. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns New sign. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Oh, let’s be fair, here… he won’t do that because he thinks the Trojan War was about the condoms. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns When I was perusing men’s profiles, I was surprised at the number who said they were “apolitical.” How is that even possible, today?! I’m pretty sure that’s code for “I’m a republican but don’t want to admit it because I won’t get dates” or, maybe, “closet libertarian” (same effect). npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Why do they keep calling these things “settlements?” What is being settled? If (big if) there are individuals with claims of discrimination, there is a process and this ain’t it. These are just empty threats that are coercing payments; i.e., extortion. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns I was hesitant to have my usual Friday dirty martini, drinking when upset being not a good idea, but then I justified it with keeping my routine. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns As an American, it is heartbreaking and infuriating. As a lawyer on top of it… I’m feeling like everything I know and worked for doesn’t matter anymore. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns A couple of weeks ago I posted a photo of the neighbors with the US flag with tiny thumb-up T-bag on it, flying over the flag of Israel. Today when I walked by , the flags were still up but the nextdoor neighbors were flying flags of Ukraine and Palestine. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns As a lawyer, I can’t imagine doing work I am so ashamed of that I would need to hide myself. And I’m someone who has received actual threats for my work! Ugh. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Our next door neighbors (H/W/2kids) have been in the UK, her birthplace, for a few weeks—a mostly annual trip to visit her parents. We are now seriously concerned that she, a director of a private school here, may not be permitted re-entry as they have been active in protests, etc. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Monty Python and the Holy Grail is on TCM at 5p PT/8p ET (east feed); 8p PT/11p ET (west feed). npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns ICE is not Gestpo. They don’t have the brains. They are the SS: hateful, unthinking thugs who get pleasure from theeir power and the suffering of their victims. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Stop using the fascists’ language. Using their words enables them and normalizes the atrocities. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns FABULOUS! We needed some good news and the Venetians gave it to us. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Padres fan here…I hate that I kinda hafta like the Dodgers now. 😜 npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns SD Union Tribute reports police estimate $60K+ at the San Diego downtown march. Yay us! That’s over 4.5% of the population! npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Why, the fuck, is the National Guard wearing masks? The Fiancé was in the NG in California during Rodney King riots and he said a mask was not issued gear, then. As a vet, he’s super pissed about this deployment now (duh). npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns So you have the Insane Elon and the Orange Douchebag going at it, but we are forgetting the axle between these two: Stephen Miller, the Balding Nazi Cuckhold. He’s the key to this whole shitstorm—like the worst best girlfriend of whom you should never ever ask relationship advice... npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Btw, this is all just to try to get the final version of a settlement agreement, so that it can be signed and my client can get their money. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns OMFG… I have a matter that is being handled by State Farm for the defendant. They have changed their phone system recently so that you have to speak the claim number, which it NEVER gets right, before you can do anything. When that fails, it tries to check by phone number, but since I’m not the claimant, that doesn’t work. The whole time I HAVE THE EXTENSION NUMBER FOR THE SF EMPLOYEE, but I can’t enter that until I’ve hit # about 100 times, cussed, and almost stroked out. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns I love mine because it is high so Ruthie does not paw in it so I don’t have to change the water often (but I do give it all a good clean every week). Battery (rechargeable) operated and motion activated, too. Had it for a couple of years and it holds a charge well, still. https://www.tronssien.com/aspx/main/productc.aspx?id=23 npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Judge Boasberg has thrown the gauntlet. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns There are a shitton of US people in power, like members of Congress and SCOTUS, who really need to watch Judgment at Nuremberg. NOW. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns If one is deported, they are merely kicked out. They are not put in chains and put in jails/facilities in other places. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns PLEASE stop saying “deport” when what is happening is not kicking out or exiling but rather TRANSPORTING to a third country…like the Nazis did not deport the Jews (et al.) but rather transported them to death camps, often in other countries. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns The Fiancé’s daughter is in a masters program for landscape architecture at CalPoly Pomona. Last night at our lovely dinner she told us that her cohort were mostly sane but the undergrads were mostly MAGAts, which (as she pointed out) makes no damn sense especially since so much of their work is about climate change and its effects. 🤷♀️😔 npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns Revolution is sounding more and more like the only way out of this. The people have got nothing to lose if the MAGAts are going to start arresting and transporting (it is NOT deporting—use the correct language, please) anyone they choose to prisons in other countries. The Orange Bastard has floated his awful thing balloon to do this to citizens as well as legal residents, etc., which is what he always does before actually doing an awful thing. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns This morning already I’ve seen at least three Monty Python-based memes relating to the Trump admin. That’s got to be some sort of record; it certainly is telling as to precisely how insane the admin is. npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz Leslie Burns The Fiancé’s daughter and her boyfriend are coming to an early grilled chicken dinner tomorrow so I’m cleaning like mad. Not just because I want the place to look nice: she’s super-duper gluten intolerant and, since I bake, I want to get as much of the stuff off any surface as I can for her. Started with the oven since I’m making pots de crème for dessert (today, so they chill overnight) and we’re baking potatoes tomorrow.
