Accidental Achievements: Having Something in Common With Bob Geldof

I’m not sure how many of you are on DeviantART, but I go online there quite a lot because it’s an excellent place to share and find fan art. My latest finished work is a set of Greek mythology-inspired posters. I’m pretty pleased with myself, because a) I actually finished making a set of designs and b) a lot of people have said they made them laugh, which is nice to hear.

A few people have said that they’re going give them to their friends and/or loved ones.

“Yay, that’s great,” I say, “you can buy postcards or download them here!”

“Ah no,” they say, “I’m just gonna print them off myself.”

I’m not an expert on etiquette, but if I’m going to download somebody’s work and go to the trouble of removing the watermark and/or printing it myself instead of paying a less than £2 for the official download, I’m not going to tell them.

Maybe I should improve the watermarks to discourage viewers.

Polite Notice

When the latest Band Aid single was announced, I almost sent a snarky Tweet asking if anyone had told Sir Bob that no one pays for music any more. If a bunch of teenagers are of the mindset that they shouldn’t pay an artist less than a cup of coffee for a download and are comfortable enough to tell them that, what are the odds that enough people will pay for the new Do They Know it’s Christmas? to really help Ebola victims?

I’m glad I didn’t send it.

Update: this post’s title is really poncy. I was assuming neither Bob nor myself are capable of much. I think I meant that people are cheapskates. I’m going to drink more coffee before posting in future.

Quick Art Update

I usually just post these things in Twitter and/or Tumblr posts but they’ve all cropped up in the last couple of days so I thought I may as well do a proper post… Ahem.

I got an email earlier that most of my Etsy shop’s listings are expiring really soon, so if you’ve ever fancied any of what’s there head on over ASAP. Plus I am going on holiday for ten days on Friday so any physical orders after the 11th July won’t be shipped until the 23rd at the earliest, by which time most of those items will have gone. So get on it!

Society6 is having one of its free-shipping-on-most-items days if you follow this link and this link only. ~~It’s weird and they don’t tell you how long the offer lasts, presumably to whip you up into a frenzy.~~ It’s until the 13th according to that very link.

I’m currently taking story commissions on DeviantART (all the info is on the right hand side below the advert). Once again, when I’m away I will technically be on holiday so if you request anything then you won’t get a response for a few days.

I hate doing what are effectively sales pitch blogs but at least this way it’s one lone social media post, as opposed to eighty over the course of a day… plus this trails on nicely to what I really want to talk about, which is HOLIDAY READING.

You know the drill. I take more books than I can carry, I read most of them, set up blogs talking about them and always include one novel that is totally depressing and/or gross. The first year I did it I took Trainspotting, which I haven’t read since; last year was We Need to Talk About Kevin which I then chose to study for my A Level and never want to read again… the further I explored it, the more effed up it became. I think this year will be Goodnight Mister Tom, which I have never previously read because I saw the TV adaptation about ten years ago, got so distressed I cried and have refused to open the book ever since.

But I’ll probably take this fortnight’s Private Eye and The Son of Neptune so it’s okay! There will be laughs all round! I will also take a book of codewords because since I stopped going to school my vocabulary has been on the downturn, which is bad for everybody. If I’m not careful I’ll only be able to speak in dog chatter… “Don Don, why are you barking? No one cares. Shhh. Hello Fred. You look very handsome. Go away that was my flapjack. Snuggles time.”

I love snuggles time. Speaking of which.

Motivational Poster Time!

Today is the last day of the summer holidays so I thought I’d come and say hey ~~before it’s too late~~ ~~I’m too tired to lift a finger~~ I have essays to slave over.

The last academic year was tough, and Indifferent Ignorance suffered a bit because if I wasn’t working or doing physio, I was propped in front of some Original British Drama, drowning my sorrows in whichever chocolaty dessert I could find… I fully intend on enjoying some OBD this year, but the plan is that I’ll do it while I’m ironing, so I’ll miss out on E4/Comedy Central adverts…Adverts ruin the soul.

Come to think of it, most E4/Comedy Central shows probably do too.

Anyway, I found this on the Interwebz the other day and I think it’s far better than the usual Hallmark-y crap that’s usually supposed to inspire and motivate you to climb Mount Everest or whatever:

From bcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net (Pinterest)

These days, you know, people appreciate realism, not sunsets and nature stuff.

(Okay I was going to upload a photograph of a sunset that I took in Zante this year but it’s taking ages so here’s one from last year.)

Right, I’m off to find portable coffee cups and refills for my pencil-case.

Mindless Self Indulgence t-shirt

Mindless’s tour ended this week. I didn’t see it, but I am prepared to make a deal with the band: if they come to the UK to play, I will wear my shiny new Steve, t-shirt:

It’s a remake of a top I drew on in pen for my first My Chem show… I couldn’t think of lyrics to write, so I decided to use a band that was either another that I liked or piss loads of fangirls off.
This fit both on some level.
I chose Steve, Righ?’s name over the others’ because it contains punctuation, not because he is Dr. Death (the MCR show was the first ‘Danger Days’ show; the fact Steve plays Dr Death was actually a well-kept secret at the time. Hello, irony).

There are no pictures of me wearing it because I’m allergic to taking mirror-photos of myself, and it’s cold today so I’m also wearing a gigantic cardigan… The original t-shirt can be found here and here, and if you’re on DeviantART, do your thing here.

Cheap, Twitter-inspired post done. I was going to talk about History revision, but I haven’t really done any yet.

In Which I Shamlessly Promote My Own Work

I’ve bombarded you all with things I like to read, now I’m going to bombard you with things I’ve written. Or made on Photoshop.

First off, I made a DeviantART profile. I actually had one ages ago, but I got fed up with reading comments and summaries by people who thought that their ability to draw a straight line made them a gift from God, so I deleted it. Now, since very few of you have been on Self-Publishing on the Interwebz, and fewer of you have commented – don’t look at me like that, I have statistics for these things – I thought I’d make a separate profile on which you can all browse arty stuff to your heart’s content.

Secondly, I’ve finished An Emoshitter’s Guide to the Galaxy. FictionPress.com allows you to comment if you don’t have an account (I think DeviantART does too, actually), so get reading. There’s six chapters made of three haikus. That’s three hundred and six syllables. Most of you say more than that in your sleep. Or in sub-blogs, at any rate…

I reckon we have maybe two weeks until I can sit and write an un-scheduled blog. Indifferent Ignorance would like to thank you for your patience and remind you that there is a comment box for any complaints or queries you have regarding post-scheduling.

10 Years, 10 Days: Killjoys Are Creative (and sometimes slightly insane)

I mentioned the Killjoys’ creative talent the other day, but it’s time to devote an entire post to it. Sadly, as with band interviews, there are far too many pieces of work on the Interwebz to name. So browse the band or SINGIfForJapan on DeviantART to your heart’s content for artwork. For fanfictions, I recommend hitting up Twitter’s @MCRmyUK, who does ‘Fanfic Friday’. Alternatively, go back to searching DeviantART or LiveJournal – but don’t say I didn’t warn you that you might need eye bleach afterwards (incidentally, Indifferent Ignorance takes no responsibility for any trauma resulting from clicking links I post. You chose to click and read, my friends).

Some crazy fan stuff:

My Chem gear on Etsy.com

The entire MCRmy discussion page on MCRmy.com The kids on there are totally insane and absolute geniuses. Videos, discussions, scenarios.

AskPoison.tumblr.com What it says on the tin; someone draws Party Poison’s replies to fan questions on Tumblr. Mental and hilarious… Links are on there to the rest of the Killjoys’, including Show Pony’s.

InappropriateThingsToSayToMCR.tumblr.com Probably should go on the MCRmy post…

FrankIeroRidingOnThings.tumblr.com … So should this. You guys decide!

Some of Frank’s (slightly) altered Wikipedia page – click to enlarge:

If there are any other projects or videos that I’ve forgotten about/didn’t know about, tell me and stick the link in the comments section!

MCR’s 10th Anniversary Mission: ’10 Years, 10 Days’

If you loathe My Chemical Romance, look away now. This post is entirely My Chem related.

Killjoys! I need you! Yeah, I know, I say this every other week. But this time, I really, really do. The forums are buzzing with quiet anticipation as the ten-year anniversary of the band, and the MCRmy, comes up. There are plans to give the guys cake, to make a family portrait of the MCRmy, some people have already released their work and it is beautiful.

My idea is to host ten days of celebrations for the anniversary on Indifferent Ignorance. Every day, from the 10th September to the 20th, I will post a different blog discussing and celebrating different aspects of My Chem. Consider it a virtual rave, if you will. Posts will appear at varying times of day and night, since the MCRmy is across so many time zones. Ideally, everyone can pull an Isobel in the comments section and we can have a nice little debate/discussion going on at the end of every post.

Still with me? Good, because I need your help to set the party up. Please read and answer these questions, if you can:

Do you know someone who has, literally and genuinely, had their life saved by MCR? Do you know someone whose outlook has been changed for the better, who has started something brilliant and cites My Chem as their main/only influence? These don’t just have to be suicide stories. Think more along the lines of ‘I was sitting in a hole. They inspired me to get out of it’.
When did you get into the band, how, why, and what is your favourite ‘era’ so far?
Come across any really excellent quality tributes on YouTube or DeviantART? Think RosaLui’s videos, the Dead! lyric video, the Helena remake. Send me them.
What are some of your favourite Internet memes about the guys? Your favourite fanfictions and scenarios, comic strips, in-jokes? I know mine, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg. MCRmy.com has a bucketload of stuff here.
Have you ever been to a live show that has since gone down in history, such as both Reading and Leeds festivals any of the early Bullets shows? Were you at a record release show, at an acoustic set, at the gig a few years ago where the power cut out? What was it like?
Have you done Q&A with the guys, met them or seen them in the street; what were they like? Honestly.
How has being a fan of the band changed your life in small ways? I swear more since I got into them and have started to misread anything to do with the Milky Way.
Got any funny stories of explaining or defending the band to someone? Share them.
What are your favourite MCRmy.com threads? Mine is ‘I’m Shorter Than Frank Iero’, because I set it up (we have a club now).

Send any replies that are more than 140 characters to indifferentignorance@hotmail.co.uk, otherwise send links and whatnot to my Twitter, @ToBeQuiteFrank. I don’t follow back but I don’t bite either. This will become a thread on MCRmy.com too. I want to share as many stories and opinions as possible.

Because the blogs will take some time to write and work on, and I have school soon, there is a deadline for when I can accept your submissions: Monday 4th September. Get them in before midnight on the fourth, whatever your timezone, and I will do my best to include them. Anything I declare ‘dodgy’ will not be used.

Inspiration:

Now do what you do best and rally!

I Need… AA?!

Do you ever get that feeling where you’re right on the edge of something brilliant, but you’re too lazy to think of it?

Part of me reckons I’ve got a touch of artistitis after a slight cold which I’ve given most people in the immediate vicinity, but there’s no diagnosis for the dreaded AA. So I need Mindless songs and someone to bounce ideas off. Good thing that next week I’m in Scarborough with school, learning about erosion, discordant coastlines and Flamborough, amongst Yorkshirians. Yorkists.

Northerners.

Actually, I’ve been listening to Green Day on YouTube while brainstorming blog ideas and banging out my BRAND NEW AWESOME Morningwood CD, Diamonds & Studs, and it’s given me a kick up the backside to play guitar again. Or at least invest in stickers.

I think I’ll go and read bad, bad fan fiction on DeviantART now, but I’m learning about the automatic-update thing on here so there may be an amusing post up sometime next week, to amuse you all while I’m away wrestling Ruby off a cliff ledge.

Wish me luck… I get the feeling she’s stronger than she looks.