michael, from team AFP, has COVID-19. please send him love. (Patreon)

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hello my loves. 

first: please let me know in the comments how you are all holding up. wherever you are in the world. i'm reading. it's been good to hear from everybody, and we are still working on a new forum, so we can hang more easily.

and....

well.....its getting real, real fast. 

someone i know and love has COVID-19. 

this is a screenshot (plus my fine artwork) of my beloved friend and assistant, michael mccomiskey, announcing on IGTV (from his couch in brooklyn) that he’s down for the count. yes, i added the stunning heart-work....

he and hayley from Team AFP have been working from home ever since NYC starting looking bleak...and he had only just landed from helping me down here in australia. he was just getting back into the groove and holding down the fort while neil and i scrambles over here to find housing in new zealand / aotearoa. 

a lot of you have met him, or emailed with him. he's a big part of our community, and has been for years now.

michael. 

he is so goddamn dear to me and this is making things really real and close to home. 

man. my friend is sick. 

michael is also one of the most loving, compassionate, sensible, sweet, stable, growth-oriented, open-hearted and beautiful human beings i’ve ever known, much less worked with. he’s been with me on the road for a good chunk of this tour and taken care of so many people. i hope we can take care of him now. 

so....please give him a follow on instragram (@mwmccomiskey) and shower him with love and amusements. he’s also posting video updates over there about how he is physically feeling with COVID-19, which is really helpful given half the population of NYC / USA may be in store for the same experience. 

obviously don't try to send flowers. :)

just send love his way. 

if you don’t use instagram, please just leave him a little love bomb in the comments here so he can read it. 

.........

as for me..?

ACHHHHH. it's all so weird right now. i feel like i'm reporting for apocalypse duty.

i spend my days chasing ash around and cooking food and checking the new york times app and trying to answer a billion emails from people wanting help.

this morning xanthea and i managed to do 45 minutes of yoga.

i am trying not to drink too much.

i am trying to understand what to do in this moment.

i am trying to help neil stay calm. he gets stressed easily.

..................

it's all so much. i feel so disoriented.

i wake up every night with a huge blog i want to write about everything and then ash needs breakfast and the phone starts ringing.

this was not the plan.

right?

this was not the plan.

neil and i have found a new house to move into, just south of napier, in NZ/aoteroa. 

if anyone is in our neighborhood, please holler. it's nice to know who's around.

this is just so scary and weird....like 9/11 in slow motion, as michael texted me the other day before he got sick. 

i’m trying to rest myself.....to get ready for an epic few weeks or months of art-on-internet attack. just gimme a second.

i was already running on an empty tank and i am going to have to move my entire family into a new house, groceries and all, in few days. things are really hectic and stressful.

but i'm so grateful we are here, we are so fucking lucky. 

i want to do a lot of things.

i have a shit ton of ideas (of course).

i am going to make and make and make.

and we are going to help and help and help.

but

i'm also exhausted. 

my son is stressed. i....i feel very torn between kid and world.....

mostly i want to raise money for my free-falling artists friends who are losing footing fast.

we raised $30k on the patreon stream-a-thon but that feels like a tiny drop in a giant ocean of pain. please be ready to help. 

i'm working over email and conference calls with a ton of people to figure out sustainable systems. i'm scared for everyone.

i love you all so much.
please forgive me if i go dark for a few days while we move house.

it's all a lot.i love you all so so much.
this is so real. this is so hard. breathe and smile, 

ladies and gentlemen....buckle up. we are going on a full ride. 

oh wait, no seat belts.

ha ha ha ha ha ha.

I LOVE YOU ALL.

x

a

p.s. upside, we have been reading LOTS of books. here's neil and ash yesterday.., reading "the owl and the pussycat", from a book of poems we bought at pegasus books in wellington.