In my case, not a lot, really

This journal was stolen from @MC-Frizzle and @IaiaRose, and I figured I'd weigh in with my (not so) fascinating tale.

When I first tried to join this site, I wanted to join as 'icefire', which was a name I had used online for a long time before joining dA, but, unfortunately, it was taken.

So, while I was sitting, twiddling my thumbs, trying to conjure up a good user name, I decided a good (bad) pun ought to do, and I thought 'hey, why not signout?'.
But, of course, it couldn't actually be that, because, well, that isn't really a pun.
At the time I was in college, and I was taking both Physics and Maths A Levels (srsly not recommended if you're as bad at maths as I am ), and as it happens, in both classes, I was being taught about sine waves and the mathematical functions of the same respectively.
After that it was sort of a no-brainer really.

It's a shame, somewhat, because the icefire origin story is a lot (only marginally) more interesting

Newbies and Returners

Let's welcome onto the team @MC-Frizzle and @CynthiaCynical, and let's also welcome back @scarletwave and @IaiaRose, give them much luff

#MN-Volunteers needs you!

That's right, #MN-Volunteers needs you! What for, you might ask? Well, to join the group, of course, do it, and get the (possible) inside scoop on the latest happenings with the MN@ and dAmn as a whole.

Guess What?

This may come as a surprise to some but Groups was just quietly launched into beta, go read [link] to find out how to make a group or convert from a currently existing club, and go to [link] to view the groups directory.

Target Accomplished

Should just mention that, as of two days ago, I reached my charity target of £100/$150, thanks to donations from @scarletwave and =thetricksters18.
The latter of which asked me to pimp out, to that end, [link]

The Value Proposition

In @Xerces' latest journal [link] a point was made with regards to money problems and how some artists are charging a pittance for their work, I wanted to expand on why I think charging a pittance for your work is wrong, or at least, part of the reason why.

In the UK, at the least, the national minimum wage is £5.73 an hour (I think) at present.
In other words, any above board employer is required to pay that amount per hour to any employee.

For some reason, however, this doesn't apply to artists.

If you're offering cheap commissions, consider for a few moments exactly how long it takes for you to complete your commissions.
Assuming you're a UK artist, then, if it takes, say, two hours to produce a piece of art, the minimum price you should sell the commission for would be £11.46.
This isn't taking into account any resources used to produce the art.

However, even that is a pittance.

To be an artist is to have a skill, a professional artist is a skilled professional.
Other types of skilled professionals include people like Network Administrators, Programmers, Doctors, Solicitors and Scientists, to name but a few.
These sorts of people tend to be paid highly for their work.

The main reason why there is a pay disparity between artists is because there's a misconception that art is easy or that 'anyone can do it', and competition.

I won't address the former point, because it's a foregone conclusion that art isn't that easy, and if it were, everyone, including me, would be making masterpieces without a second thought.

Competition is what really drives the price down, artists lower their prices to get customers, which in turn means the competition lowers them further and so on until you get artists working at far less than the minimum wage, essentially creating the starving artist stereotype.

In addition there's a sense of elitism among some who think selling your art is 'selling out', so some sell their art at a low price as an 'excuse', for lack of a better term, since, when questioned, they can always say 'well, I'm not exactly making a mint of my art, you know, so it's not that bad'.

The main group to blame, however, are the people buying the art. As mentioned, art is thought to be easy, or, because it's not a strictly intellectual profession, it's not given the same value in society thanks to the intellectual direction of schooling, in spite of the obvious and powerful impact art has on the collective conscience.
People expect art to be cheap, as such, many don't want to pay any more than the pittance they do pay.

This is clearly wrong, and, to be honest, endemic of a more serious issue with society (something that's outside the scope of this rambling tirade).

As such, I encourage everyone to sell their art (assuming you do, that is) at a fairer price.

Drama Llama

So, I am sure a lot of people know about the current contest [link] , and a few know about the drama that's surrounding it, the two main chunks of drama concern Shepard Fairey's currently ongoing litigation, and the primarily bible thumping view point of hating 'the gays' or at the least the 'sin' of being gay, or something to that effect.

It's the latter I want to address, since the former already has been, as well as the fact that I don't know much about Shepard Fairey's ongoing litigation.

It seems that most against this contest because of 'the gay' angle, are so because they consider homosexuality to be immoral, an abomination, or some other ridiculous statement to that effect.

I should note that, I am a Godless Heathen, an (Agnostic) Atheist, so I already know that my word is going to carry about as much weight as a feather in a storm, but I consider the morality of these particular people to be laughable, pitiful even.

My idea of Morality is thus, 'don't kill, don't rape, don't steal, don't unjustly imprison, don't torture... etc', in other words, my morality is very simple, don't deprive another person of their rights without their permission. To do so, I consider to be immoral.
Things like Proposition 8 I consider one of the highest forms of Immorality. Not only are the rights of others being voted on, but it's also made law, as well.

To that end, I consider those against this contest because of 'the gay' angle to be far more immoral than mostly any gay person that I know or know of.

If you are one of those people, and you have the misfortune of reading this piece of what you will probably call 'liberal propaganda', I'd suggest you take a good long look at yourself and your particular god, before you start telling people what you think is moral and immoral.

To state the painfully obvious, deviantART is an art website, so it stands to reason that most of the people here are artists or creatives in some form or another.
Historically and Generally speaking, artists and creatives have been and are known to be among the most 'liberal' groups of people in any given society.
This contest is a testament to that fact.

So, please, don't be surprised when such contests turn up, artists and creatives have a history of bucking the trend, particularly in socio-political issues. Art is a powerful motivator, is it any wonder that this contest has come to the largest art community in the world?

It Is Done

So, it's Friday 13th of November, which means one thing, it's time for me to get bald, the following is the 'before' picture



And now, for the grand unveiling, the 'after picture'



Ehh, I'm of two minds about this, I don't think I look good with this lack of hair (not that I look good at all, but that's besides the point), but I think I look a lot better than what I thought I could have looked like.
Either way, it's all for charity, so I can't complain too much.

Anyway, I'd like to thank
`MC-Frizzle
~popeyethecat
=CynthiaCynical
and
~Tsunamijuan
for donating

I'd also like to thank
=goddessaragon
@hazelnutx
and
=zombierap21
for pimping me out a bit

and here is some Video Evidence too.

It's Not Over Yet

Just because I've done the deed and cut off my hair doesn't mean it's over, the donation pages are still open, so, if you feel so inclined, you can still donate, for at least another six months

[link] if you're a UK person, or if you want to pay by paypal
[link] if you're a US person

Donate plz

So it's started, on Friday the 13th of November, my scalp will end up sans hair.

I intend to raise $150/£100 for the charity of choice, that being UNICEF.
I mainly chose UNICEF, because it's an international and multi-faceted charity, and while it is a childrens charity, it focuses on many things, such as AIDS related support, and proving education and gender equality, and so on.

I know, going bald isn't that special, all things considered, but my hair is probably one of my more recognisable traits to those who know me in the fabled lands of 'the real world'.

Besides based on:



I think I'd look immeasurably sexier than I am now, sans hair (LOL)

Anyway, I've set up two pages
[link] for UK folk, as your donations could have giftaid attached to them, and giftaid is good, so, if you're a UK tax payer, and not related to me (unlikely), you could probably give a little extra without even actually giving a little extra

and

[link] for US folk. Though, I don't think there's an advantage, in the form of giftaid like additions to your donations, I figured having a US version of the page would be a good idea.

Anyway, of course, as you can see above, there is the before, I will also take a before and after photo on the day of my hairs exodus from my head.
I also intend to video at least the initial stage of clipping the hair down to as short a stubble as I can muster, alas, I probably won't be able to show a video of me shaving my head, for reasons that will hopefully be obvious to all.

And, naturally, if you can't afford to donate, don't fret, I appreciate you getting the word out, because I want to surpass my meager target, but I only set that target because I know that my 'popularity' is woeful in the face of some you people, so pimping this journal out is cool too

Here's to a successful fund raising