Last Thursday, I got quite a shock.

I received a letter in my mail from a Columbia, SC address. It said (in part) that they "...can not accept [my] entry. This entry has been flagged inadmissible due to a protest filed with the board of judges. The protest is concerning a copy right infringement." It goes on to discuss how I have a right to a hearing and gives me an 800 number to call so that I can schedule said hearing. I've posted the letter (redacted) in my scraps here:

Of course, I opened this letter too late in the evening to call the number, so I had to wait until Friday to call. In the meantime, though... I was livid.

Let me start by pointing out that while I have registered my entries, they have not been delivered yet, meaning all that the state fair knows about them are the titles. I double-checked: copyright law does not protect titles, slogans, or short phrases. So what in the hell could they be "flagging" as a violation.

So I sleep on it.

Get up in the morning just in time to rush to my hair appointment.

Get home. Call 800 number.

Hear my mother-in-law's business line ring. Hear her laugh at me and say "April Fools!" (she never gets me on April 1 anymore so that I don't know when it's coming).

My mother-in-law has elevated herself to prankster divinity. I'm not worthy...