amandapalmer

the STATE OF ALL THINGS: MAY 2021 (Patreon)

Published:

2021-06-01 01:19:07

Imported:

2023-04

Content

{patron only}

HALLO MY PATRONS MY LOVES!

greetings from the south island of aotearoa new zealand, where i've just filmed a little film/poem/greeting for you. press play to watch it, it's not very long, and it's full of clouds, love and f scott fitzgerald.

if you're not wanting to read this odyssey-length missive (these monthly Althing recap posts can be QUITE long) here is a little table of contents for what you'll find in this post, after i ramble about life a bit.

HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED THIS PAST MONTH
WHAT'S COMIN' DOWN THE PIKE
DISPATCHES FROM THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLES OF TEAM AFP
HOW THE PATREON ITSELF IS DOING
OTHER ARTISTS TO SUPPORT
ART BEGETTING ART

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

And now, the personal weather.....

this last month has continued to be about soft survival, submission to the goddamn now, and making a big, wide, clear space for whatever is coming next.

i don't know what's coming next. i know that something is coming, artistically, but i'm not sure what it's going to look and feel like.

i do know that everything is looking up now that i've gotten vaccinated.

thank you all, by the way, for all your comments on that post, whether you weighed in here on on some other platform. i read them yesterday and my heart was warmed by all your vaccine stories. especially the chimes in from people who are immuno-compromised and/or have immuno-compromised families and friends, as they thank those who are getting vaccinated for doing their part to protect the herd

seeing the shared faith and the love and protectiveness that the wider community has among its own...it's my kind of love.

getting vaccinated - and knowing that neil will soon be vaccinated - opens up some space. we've been slowly onsidering our first flight across the ocean and back home to the states for the first time since this madness all started, and brings up a massive load of feelings. uncertainty. fragility. excitement. stress. i've been here in new zealand for fourteen months. i have not seen my home in almost two years. i feel like i've been living in a dream.

but dreams are good for art. i've been living in a dream where i've been doing a lot of DIRECT work to keep the kitchen stocked and the table full. directly talking on podcasts. directly doing interviews and filming them. directly using my art desk to share and explore information about the human heart.

now that things are shifting, churning, changing, and growing, i'm feeling like i may have enough energy to tiptoe back into the land of the less direct. one foot in the direct, maybe, and one foot in the cosmic world of collage and songwriting.

i don't know what that will mean. i just know that i feel the pull.

i also see an obvious alignment: the dresden dolls are about to celebrate our 21st birthday, this coming halloween.

i don't know where i'll be for that, but it's looking increasingly likely that brian and i may be able to be in the same place at the same time, able to celebrate together. and you know what that means. you will also hopefully be there.

if there was ever a container to pour my collage-songwriting-brain into, it's the dolls. so without promising anything to myself, or to you, i can tell you that i feel mighty hopeful that i may put on my stripey tights and wield the flaming sword i hold the best: singer of a band. if the world and circumstances allows it: it shall be.

you, my patrons, will be the fuel that fires it up, and this will be the backstage area should that come to pass. just hope for the best, and stay tuned.

........

in other news...i'm about to do another few days offline. i've developed a taste for it. i find myself wondering more and more how to use the internet as a tool for nourishment instead of depletion. i feel like going into more of a silo...a way of being where i only have to interact with the side of the internet that is not perpetually aflame. constant exposure to angry insistence - from the left, from the right, from the top, from the bottom - cannot be good for any of us.

this year has broken my back, but not my spirit. i am listening more deeply than ever for what the next right moves are.

i've never been so able to savor uncertainty.

i wish you all well....wherever you are. hearing all the stories from across the ponds has really helped give me an accurate picture of the emotional and practical state of the world that i am unable to get from the new york times or radio new zealand.

you ARE MY NEWS. so thank you, and keep it coming.

tell me how and where you are, tell me how the vaccination is going in your part of the world, tell me how your family is, tell me how your kids are, tell me how your heart is.

i read every single comment. don't forget that. i may not have time to respond to 99% of it....but i'm here.

now onto the ALTHING!!!!!!!

HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED THIS PAST MONTH.....

WE FILMED the AUCKLAND WRITERS FESTIVAL

if you missed the great thinging post last week - the wonderful interview between me and neil and lucy lawless - it's HERE.

photo by Paul Taylor

photo by Mark Tromploeil

i wrote this little post on instagram,

a rare sighting: @neilhimself with a post-show glass of wine. he rarely drinks, but sometimes he can be convinced. we were both so tired. we don’t get everything right, this weird guy and me, but we are really good at talking to people about art and how to try to live a life while making it. we just did that....we talked to our incredibly astute and funny kiwi interviewer lucy lawless this weekend at the auckland writers festival for an hour and a half, on stage in auckland, in front of about 1,200 people.

we talked about editing one another’s work, how we’ve drawn inspiration from one another’s media and choices, what life has felt like during Covid in Aotearoa, and how we’ve managed to keep it all afloat. i think we’d both forgotten how good it feels to get in front of people and remind them how and why we do what we do, and how it isn’t - y’know - simple, mi ca less perfect. we are human. @reallucylawless was the perfect foil. she asked all the right questions and guided the conversation with a magic wand.

if you’re sad you weren’t there, don’t worry. we filmed it, using patreon funds, and we will put it out soon. stay tuned.

meanwhile...we are so lucky to be in this country, to be alive in this world, to be making art at all. or to quote one of my favorite songwriters:

And one day we will die
And our ashes will fly from the aeroplane over the sea

But for now we are young
Let us lay in the sun
And count every beautiful thing we can see

✨🌿🌊📚🌲

if you don't even want to watch the whole youtube video, you should at least go read some of the comments....they're wonderful.

this top comment, thanking the patrons, is especially touching and i'll just screencap it for you:

PAT YOURSELF ON THE HEAD

BECAUSE YOU ARE A PATRON

AND PATREON IS AMAZING.

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

The second filmed interview at the writers fest - the conversation between me and catherine roberts - is due to go up in a week and change.

WHAT'S COMING DOWN THE PIKE.....

most of all: i am thinking about WRITING, and even occasionally getting in some writing time.. i am taking lots of notes and thinking lots of thinks and gathering my wits to do some serious long-form essay stuff, maybe new ook stuff?, but most certainly using the patreon itself as a springboard, sounding board, and first port of call.

you will be with me as i write. i will need you.

(from here)

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

the ABORTION RIGHTS PODCAST SERIES-THING....

the podcast team and i are working a biggie project. it's an entire podcast mini-series about....YOU GUESSED IT....EVERYBODY'S FAVORITE FUCKING THING TO TALK ABOUT!!!!! ABORTION!

just kidding.

nobody wants to talk about it.

ALMOST nobody.

photo by jesse stownyczy

it's the worst thing, for a billion, reason, that you can try to talk about, with anybody.

and abortion rights are severely under threat in america and aroudn the globe right now.

so guess what i'm gonna do?

yep.

sorry.

talk about it.

i'm gonna hand the mic over to kelly here. if you've been following along, kelly has been helping behind the scenes with the podcast for the last six months or so, and this is our first BIG project together.
from Kelly:

The last time we saw Amanda, she was riding off into her yoga retreat sunset, barely able to contain her relief and exhaustion at disconnecting from the world for a week. As she disappeared in a cloud of dust and glitter, she yelled over her shoulder “Make a huge, informative podcast about a subject no one wants to talk about! That no one will share because in 2021 it’s still so awkward and upsetting! Help people understand what’s going on and why it’s so important we talk about abortion right now!”

It’s like that around here.

Before I joined Team AFP, an episode about abortion was already in the works. Amanda had interviewed a few people on the subject, the recordings were in the can, but then COVID happened and the world turned upside down. Three interviews would be the foundation of this podcast and the rest we would build around it.

Fannie and I love working together on these projects so we started in on the transcripts of the interviews and throwing ideas around. Amanda’s inspiration for wanting to do this show now was the reissue of Robin Marty’s astonishing ‘Handbook for a Post-Roe America’ for which she wrote the foreword and once we’d read it too, we knew exactly what we needed to do.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/666905/new-handbook-for-a-post-roe-america-by-robin-marty/

We’re creating an episode that will hopefully inform, explain and motivate. Abortion is such a complex matter, riven with shame, misinformation and now, existential crisis that we have no more time to prevaricate. In the United States, the Supreme Court has already scheduled a review of case law in Mississippi and Donald Trump’s reshaping of the judiciary during his tenure is coming to fruition.

The time to act is now! We’ve talked to Robin Marty herself and contributors include Laurie Penny, Gaba Kulka, Planned Parenthood, Andrew O’Neill and Roisin Ingle. It’s one of the biggest projects Fannie and I have worked on and a subject close to all our hearts, especially Amanda’s. We can’t wait to present it to you soon and really hope the passion and urgency we all feel will help you engage and take practical steps against what could be the most regressive political move we’ve seen in decades.

It’ll be out soon!

Kelly

.....

speaking of abortion rights, i'm slowly working on an IRONIC VERY SEXIST COVER SONG to benefit the ABORTION ACCESS FRONT!

if you haven't already weighed in with an idea....there's still time, i haven't yet read all the comments on this post:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/51695958

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

another weird little project-thing i'm doing....

the UNIVERSE IN VERSE 2021

(image from the 2020 Universe In Verse line up)

i recorded a poem by Edna St Vincent Millay for maria popovas's virtual "universe in verse"....

I've been doing this event every year since 2017. You can read more about the event in years past on Maria's site, here:

https://www.brainpickings.org/the-universe-in-verse

with any luck, this poem is going to be ANIMATED BY AN AMAZING WRITER and we will be able to thing it.

it's a good one.

and, of course, about death.

HOORAY!!!!!!

....

THE ART OF ASKING - reminder, and the POLISH TRANSLATION.....

i haven't mentioned the book in a while, so here goes.

I WROTE A BOOK ONCE! IT'S REALLY GOOD AND YOU SHOUDL READ IT!

i also narrated the audiobook myself, which you can find here.

you can buy the hardcover or paperback editions of the book on my US webstore:
https://shop.amandapalmer.net/collections/books

you can get the paperback edition my UK webstore:
https://ukshop.amandapalmer.net/collections/books

and find more info on indie book stores that carry it, along with links to get the ebook and audiobook on the book publisher's website:
https://www.grandcentralpublishing.com/titles/amanda-palmer/the-art-of-asking/9781455581085/

fun fact: the POLISH translation is in the works and getting polished up. piotr chlipalski is translating it and has been a joy to work with, and i did something i've never done before and hounded the publisher to hire one of my FAVE POLISH FRIENDS to record the polish version of the audiobook!!!!

she's doing it as we speak....

photo of Gaba by Tomasz Dubiel

while i had her attention, i also asked if she would wiegh in for the abortion podcast series, because poland IS FUCKED. she obliged. we are getting back to business, people.

if you don't know gaba kulka's music, oh my god.

start here and go everywhere.

......

Not many changes from last month, but here's a working list what's still on the burner:

The Look Mummy No Hands music video & documentary (working on the edit)
Tasmania Confession Booth documentary (working on the edit)
Michael Dunaway documentary (working on edits and still shooting/deciding how to cut these multiple projects together)
Jenessa Joffe's Toronto Backstage Interview Series film project
This one is finally moving along. I've renamed this project THE COUCH OF TRUTH with AMANDA PALMER (when it's out, you'll see why), and we're working on the final edits and best way to release these 8(!) videos out into the world.

.......

LOOKING FOR COMMUNITY ARTISANS & MAKERS to make BOUTIQUE MERCH!!!!

From ALEX:
Ahoy makers!! Merch Queen Alex checking in and calling out for you!

You may remember that for the last couple of years we’ve been periodically working with artists and makers to create pieces of small-run, limited edition, handmade AFP merch....we’re once again calling out for you!

If you make THINGS, any sort of THINGS, and think that you could make these THINGS to be AFP-themed, we would love nothing more than to team up and work with you.

Jewelry! Dildos! Lighters! Pottery! Soap! Hats! Clothing! Embroidery! Whatever you make…. it COULD WORK. You know this community. The weirder the better.

Hit us up! We’ll go through and pick out some of the most beautiful things, work with you to produce a limited line for us (with total flexibility on numbers - could be 20, could be 2,000) and will be offered up to the community to enjoy.

These projects fill my heart with joy (and I know they do Amanda’s, too) because this is really the heart of our art-circle-community; getting to give the work back out to artists and makers out in the community, and then other members of the community can buy these beautiful things. WIN WIN WIN ALL ROUND.

If this sounds up your alley, then shoot me an email at alex@amandapalmer.net with some information about you and what you make.

PLEASE TRY AND INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING THINGS:

Timelines - does it take you 2 hours to make one of your Things, or does it take you 2 months? We don’t have any set timelines so can be super flexible, but a rough idea is exponentially helpful to us for planning behind the scenes!
Personal capacity limits - do you have a day job that means you can only make 3 Things a month? Are you going to be sick and tired of making your Things if we ask for 500? Again, we are very, very flexible but just need to make sure we are on the same page!
Ideas as specific as possible - I know what it’s like to be in the endless loop of “I can do anything, what do you want?” “We don’t want anything specific, what can you offer?” and while we are very happy to brainstorm ideas out with people, it does make things exponentially more helpful if you can come with your own ideas, or at least specific craft options!

If you have emailed me to submit ideas in the past, feel free to email again and keep me updated on where you are now, there’s a lot of logistics behind this project so just because something didn’t go forward 2 years ago doesn’t mean it can’t happen now!

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

SO EXCITING!!!!

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

DISCORD UPDATE

hayley has set up the server and made the channels, tweaked the settings, worked with the team to add some bots and things are looking good.

so why isn't in launched?

pretty simple....i don't want to launch this untiliI can be full present. the exciting thing about Discord is the pop-in and chat, the ability to host voice chats (like clubhouse!) and all that fun stuff.

if i don't have the time and attention to tend to it, it won't work....it'd be like opening a resaturant the same week you plan a family vacation.

that is to say, it's coming, work is still being down in the background, and we'll launch it when the timing is best and most appropriate.

HOLD THE PHONE.

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

DISPATCHES FROM TEAM AFP

from Hayley:

Hello everyone.

As I sit here to reflect on May 2021, I cannot help but to think about where I was in May 2020. I remember the New York State lockdown of all non-essential business being extended yet again, into May 2020. I remember New York City, where I live, being the epicenter of the coronavirus in the US. I remember the intense feeling of isolation and touch hunger.

Fear and uncertainty, anxiety like I’ve never felt before. And now, a year later, with vaccinations rolling out across the state and city, there’s more hope than there is dread. The clouds are parting and the sun is starting to show. Vaccinated friends are able to hug each other for the first time in over a year. We can make plans to visit parents and relatives and see the children in our lives who have grown up quite fast within a year.

I feel apprehensive and cautious. Skeptical even, but I feel hopeful that soon things will get better and feel better, even if it’s gradual. The only way out is through. Some of us have longer timelines to get through this and some of us are facing, or have faced, a bumpier road. There is still struggle and loss. But there is hope, there’s always been hope, that we will be able to look back and say “We made it.” And we’ll tell the tales of the scars we’ve endured along the way.

The month of May was mostly spent catching up on piles of admin work and prepping things in the background as Amanda went offline for her birthday. One of the biggest projects I worked on was setting up the Discord server, it's mostly done, but the timing just isn't there yet, so it will be ready to launch when Amanda herself is ready. That is how it will succeed and become a vibrant community space.

Beyond work, most of it too boring to write home about, this month was personally difficult for me, life happens and it’s a joy that it happens but it sure sucks when things happen to you or around you that are hard. It's better to have loved and loss than to never have loved at all, they say.

And I think that's true, but fuck. Alas. The only way out is through.

I went to the beach on the weekend before Memorial Day, and felt invigorated to see so many people out, presumably vaccinated, and existing together in community. I miss IRL communion and community so terribly much.

I went to the beach just once last year in July right when they re-opened and the vibe difference from then to now is night and day. Mask mandates in New York have recently changed so that vaccinated people don’t need to wear masks outside, even though everyone I know who is vaccinated still does - it’s a safety blanket, it’s a pacifier, it’s an insurance policy of extra protection, it’s a guard against a terrible pollen and allergy season and it's a virtue signal to show that you are someone who takes this virus seriously.

But the mask rule change meant that the beach felt like a beach, that you could walk on the sand and not see a constant reminder that Things Are Not Okay, that you don’t have to fear the people next to you because there isn’t enough space on the shore to social distance six feet (another new rule change, you no longer have to social distance if you are vaccinated).

It felt good to leave my tiny apartment and catch some much needed sun and fresh air. It felt good to see the ocean, a body of water that’s just so impossibly big and never ending. It felt good to feel good things. It good to have a miniature adventure.

And so now as May closes out, and June starts to approach, I remember that my birthday is a month away and I want to spend it at the beach. I want to connect with nature as much as I can this summer and I want to soak up the sun and some good company because last year I spent my birthday in my apartment on Zoom and I want to take full advantage of the privilege I have to not do that again this year.

So as Amanda slowed down, the team chugged along dotting i's and crossing t's and keeping everything going, inflating the tires and polishing the chrome. The fort was held, and the pace was steady.

I hope you are all well, that you too are finding ways to connect with yourself and others and that you are making it out through the other side. Hang in there.

Hayley

This is a photo of me waiting for a bus to go to my friend's house so we could go to the beach together. If you look closely, you can see the reflection of my wrist in my glasses lens, where I have my KN95 mask around my wrist. I was at the bus stop alone, and you're required to wear masks on transit. I am gradually starting to ride the bus again and feel OK about it. It is opening up my world a little bit more each time.

{we love you, hayhay. thank you for holding down the fort so beautifully....and i know you know. the only way out is through. sometimes through is really fucking uncomfortable and there are brambles and swamps....but w'ell make it. xxxx afp}

....

from Michael:

Hello Patrons!

I hope that wherever you are, you are doing as well as can be expected, and if you need a hug, I’m sending you one right now.

This has been an interesting couple of months for me. After recovering from Covid over a year ago, I was able to get fully vaccinated in April so these past few weeks I’ve been starting to see people again for the first time in over a year. It’s odd being a social being again after so long, but being able to safely hug people again has been good for my heart.

One lovely bit of news to share is that the incomparable Krys Fox (longtime photographer of Amanda and the Dresden Dolls) was selected to be in a Reality Photography Competition on Hulu titled ‘Exposure’.

To celebrate, they started hosting Vaccinated Watch Parties at their house and I was able to attend a few of them. I highly recommend the show as well as following their professional Instagram.

Meeting new people, sharing hugs and stories and celebrating a dear friend’s success has been so wonderful after so many months of endless Zoom calls and video meetings and only keeping up with loved one’s lives through social media. We were able to cheer their success in person and share food and drink. Two years ago, it would have all been done without a second thought, but now those experiences are filled with a deeper meaning, along with anxiety, second guessing, and a very specific level of exhaustion after the fact. It’s a different world in which we now live, but I’m grateful that we’re getting there. Slowly, sometimes in a non-linear fashion, but we’re getting back to our lives.

That’s about all I have to share this month, aside from plugging along at a very slowed pace, I’ve been very uninteresting lately, which I am not at all upset about. I will leave you with a picture of my contribution to last week’s Watch Party potluck, a homemade Tortilla Espanola (kind of like a crustless quiche) made with ramps and eggs from my local CSA, potatoes (from the store) and chive blossoms from my backyard garden. It was delicious.

{thank you dearest michael....and everybody, here's a big plus one from me to check out krys fox's insta and give them a hug and a follow. one of the things i cannot wait to return to is making art with friends like krys. michael....hang in there. the light at the end of the tunnel is widening, even though i know it's blurry. xx afp}

....
from Alex:

Greetings from Merchland!!

Whew, last month we finally got the pay-off from the behind the scenes merch sale hustling we’ve been doing. The sale launched, and I consequently spent the next few weeks buried underneath many, many boxes and packages (as you may have gotten a glimpse of if you joined the end-of-April Althing webcast.)

Here’s a photo of me mid-packing, photographed by my long-suffering partner Connor:

You can truly see the hunchback coming into formation. I should probably get a table and stop working on the floor. Or just be mindful of my shoulders. Otherwise, someone call up Notre Dame and get me in the bell tower stat.

Anyway, now that the big ol’ clearance sale is out of the way, we have moved onto ART IN THE MAIL TIME!! By now, sign-ups have closed, so I think it is safe to publicly reveal that the next Art In The Mail offering is… A JIGSAW PUZZLE.

And oh boy, this one took a lot of work.

We started way back in January, emailing manufacturers, editing the image to ensure it’s suitable to make as a puzzle…. And then I got a prototype of the jigsaw, and realised that in fact we had NOT picked a suitable image. There were about 40 pieces that were all just solid black, and after some optimistic guessing at putting some pieces together, I ended up with a bunch of pieces that did not fit in any of the empty gaps, and so I deemed the puzzle officially impossible to complete.

So we went back to the drawing board, edited the image a little more to break up the solid black edges, waited for a second prototype to come through, and now I am pleased to announce we have made A VERY BEAUTIFUL THING!!!

And, in a very exciting turn of events, for the first time *EVER*, this round of Art In The Mail is going to be available for ALL patrons to purchase!! The manufacturing time is pretty long, so it will likely be a couple more months before they’re up, but rest assured, you too can soon have a beautiful jigsaw of ALL THE THINGS.

And since we’re making the puzzles themselves available to purchase, the Art In The Mail packages are coming packed with a special card (which will NOT be included with the puzzles that will be for sale). Amanda specified she wanted these to be luxury, like a handmade wedding invitation, thick black cardstock, with a full-colour image printed, including a message from Amanda that ended up being a 700 word mini-essay, and ALSO felt like a luxury product… cue me spending several hours googling wedding stationery!!

I ended up finding a lovely independent wedding stationery designer and card-maker in the UK (https://ellebeedesign.co.uk/), talked to her about everything we needed, and the sample just came in today, and if I may say so myself, the finished product is indeed a thing of beauty.

Yes, that's a WAX SEAL and the finished products will have an AFP MONOGRAM WAX SEAL. True class indeed.

And next on the Merchland agenda….. THE AFP HAND-MADE BOUTIQUE, see earlier (or maybe later) in the post for info on that… but rest assured, many, many beautiful things will hopefully be gracing your mailboxes in the future.

And until then, I leave you with a music recommendation of the new St Vincent album, “Daddy’s Home”, which is a beautiful, hazy, gritty ride through 1970s New York, and I find myself entirely unable to stop listening to it. I think the title track is my favourite, if only for the unprompted and unwarranted screeching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTbI5zp0It4&ab_channel=St.VincentSt.VincentOfficialArtistChannel

Alex

{A QUEEN LIKE NO OTHER. thank you, darling alex. you're incredible and we are so grateful to you for everything you're whipping into existence. - xxafp}

.......

HOW THE PATREON ITSELF IS DOING...?

and now...NITTY GRITTY TIME.

This text remains very similar every month, but it's good for new people to read!!!

As of this writing there are 13,241 patrons pledging about $44,125 for the first Thing each month.

I go over this stuff in every Althing, but if you're new to all this....patreon charges you monthly & retroactively, meaning that you get billed on the 1st of the month for all the Things released the month prior.

Because people have their pledges capped (HOW MANY TIMES CAN I SAY THIS....if you are on a budget, you should cap your pledge please: here's the tutorial again), the first "Thing" raises the most money by far, and anything released thereafter raises less and less. I LIKE THIS! THIS IS GOOD! It means i never feel too guilty!!!!!. really. do it. cap cap cap your pledge if you are on a budget.

The numbers below are gross. Not net. Meaning: it's the money raised before fees were deducted by patreon and is not the total deposited to me. patreon takes a 5% fee (which they use to build and sustain the platform, which is GOOD) and then there's a payment processing fee, which varies on a ton of factors and is usually between 5-9% of the total collected.

Also, none of this reflects the money I SPENT MAKING THE ART, running the business, paying the office rent, payong for crowdcast, getting myself around, getting the team around and fed and slept,....all the collaborators and my actual staff payroll, etc.

iI don't share that level of nitty-detail-stuff with you because I assume it would bore you to fucking tears. but you can trust me: paying for a full-time staff, office, manager, accountant, and massive team of art-collaborators ain't cheap. sometimes we barely break even, especially when we do a lot of charity projects.

Back in April, i Thanged 3 Things:

The Art of Asking Everything: Sherry Turkle was the first Thing and it earned about $48,713 from 13,117 patrons

ALL-PATRON APRIL 2021 ALTHING WEBCAST was the second Thing and it earned about $19,940 from 7,244 patrons

The Art of Asking Everything: Highlights from the First Season was the third Thing and it earned about $11,439 from 4,381 patrons

(we say "about" because patreon may be still trying to process some pledges that have yet to go through...we never know, you know.)

Them's the numbers.

I believe in the ebb and flow. so the patreon has dropped a bit $$-wise, but the number of patrons has stayed pretty steady, which is really great.

It means that people are adjusting but sticking around.

......

OTHER ARTISTS TO SUPPORT!!

our very own KELLY WELLES has a new book out....

words from kelly:

In more personal news, I have written a second novel and it’s now available to buy! Amanda suggested that I tell you all a little about it...

I’ve been obsessed with the interface of the human mind and future tech since I was a kid nerding out on dodgy sci fi in my Gran’s shed. That’s what we used to do before the internet in England. Hide from adults in dilapidated wooden structures with unsuitable literature, filling our heads with the futility of our futures while picking up splinters and breathing in now-known-to-be-lethal chemicals. Writing dystopian fiction was clearly my destiny, even before the internet existed.

If I Were You was about ten years in the making. It started with an existential crisis, as most things do. The world, the suffering, relentless cruelty and daily atrocities. Contentment and happiness exist of course, but where’s the balance? After death? What’s the point in that?

I tried to find one. I read philosophy and psychology papers. Thought about religion a lot. The Simulation Hypothesis - that reality is merely a construct developed by future generations or another life form to play out various scenarios - blew my mind. Ironically I’m comforted by the thought that I don’t exist if it means there’s a purpose to all this crap.

They’re collecting our feelings and sensations, I thought. Building a data bank of every conceivable emotion. Maybe so in the next incarnation of the game, Earth 2.0, they’ll have used the information to make us more tolerant and caring towards each other. Pretend the first one was a research phase that went badly awry but was fixed in the final edit.

As humans we’d still somehow ruin it. But how?

If I Were You is the result of all my fevered thinking. If we had the capacity to experience the sensations and feelings of others, even for a moment, would we prioritise empathy for others over our own pleasure?

Let’s just say it’s complicated.

If you'd like to buy the book, it's available on Amazon now! (I know giving money to The Beast is far from ideal but for now this is the only outlet. More soon, hopefully).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/If-Were-You-Kelly-Welles-ebook/dp/B094R8J5P7

.......

FOR KIWIS in the HAWKE's BAY AREA.....THE SMALL HALLS TOUR!!!

for those of you on the north island of aotearoa looking for fun stuff to do....i would love to point your attention to jamie macphail's small hall tours. jamie was the delightful new freind who tour managed my mini-tour in sept/oct/nov, and acted as my lovely MC.

he's touring some amazing musicians around little SMALL HALLS in hawke's bay....you'll find wine, cosiness, music to change your heart, and good times. PLEASE GO and please hug jamie from me if you see him!!!

GO SEE REB FOUNTAIN!!!!!!!!!

here's the website/ticket link:

https://www.smallhallsessions.co.nz

it was just written up in the IMPRESSIVE Hawke's Bay Today :)

here we are after one of these delightful tiny shows.....local NZ muso julia deans, jamie, me and the american band lost dauphine of mississippi.

.......

ANTHONY GREEN (CIRCA SURVIVE) is ON PATREON!!!!

https://www.patreon.com/circasurvive

anthony green, known as the singer/songwriter for bands circa survive, saosin and other musical projects, cited The Art of Asking as inspiration in a recent interview he did with mike herrara (MXPX) on his podcast. LOVE. anthony is on patreon with circa survive....i just joined.

if you want to learn more about him and his music, and hear the shout out, check out the podcast, his shout out comes in at 1:12:55 into the episode.....

The interview is in episode 351, which you can stream on Apple podcasts, his website:
https://mxpx.com/pages/the-mike-herrera-podcast

....or wherever you listen to podcasts.

.....

KRISTIN RYAN WRITES!!!!

i have known the writer kristin ryan through twitter, pateon and the general community channels for a long long time.

she recently wrote a stunning piece of non-fiction, inspired by an exhcange we had with one another at the ryman auditorium in nashville.

it is not easy reading (it's very painful, but in the best way)....it's worth it.

it begins:

I’ve had a painful lump in my throat for months. Allyson, my EMDR therapist, says my throat chakra is blocked. My psychiatrist says it’s the mood stabilizers and the anti-psychotics, that without them I’d be crying all the time. The gastroenterologist does an upper GI scope and the tests come back inconclusive.

No one knows what is wrong with me.
I think it’s my body trying to keep words in.....

read the whole thing here:

https://www.moonchildmag.net/kristinryan.html

and here we are :)

i'm so proud of you, kristin.

.......

ART BEGETTING ART....

so much beautiful stuff came through this last month - mostly though instagram.

mixed media art by @lifebeyondreason

....

watercolor by @rorinsdream

....

by hecksign.

dude. I LOVE HOW VERY GERMAN THIS IS.

T-SHIRT?? PRINT?? if more than a few dozen people want it, we could reach out to the artist to see about making a print. with or without the text?

....

THIS MOMENT burst my heart open....

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPJlQOKF5pY/?utm_medium=copy_link

this was my response:

“I was taught that in my naked body the devil dwells”.

y’know, nothing makes me happier than to wake up to something like this. from @charalubita in mexico city. swipe to read her text and the (poetic) spanish auto-translation.

it is not just the act of unpacking all the shame that is heaped upon us. it is the act of getting to the end of the unpacking and painting the suitcase that held the horror. this last album and everything i put into it - the songs about grief, miscarriage, abortion, compassion, rage, inspiration, shame - are still shaking me, and the tour ended over a year ago. i still barely believe that all happened. things like this remind me. thank you so much for posting this, @charalubita. and thanks to the photographer, @xochitlalpan. i cannot wait to tour back to mexico. i miss you all. also a reminder to all my patrons that the album is always free for you to download. so many people have joined since the release. everything i’ve ever made is now yours.

in your naked body, the angels dwell. ✨

.....

what a perfect note to end on.

i love all of you so much. thank you for your continued support through this insane and difficult year.

i am finally feeling like i'm turning the corner a little. having you there to have my back and feed my team and pay my bills has been a miracle to me this year. i know i keep saying it, but i'l keep saying it. i could not be living the life i am living, and taking deep breaths, and hiking in the woods without this patreon. i'd be back on tour already. so thank you. thank you from the bottom of my heart.

and.....?

i hope you live a life you’re proud of.

if you find that you’re not, i hope you have the courage to start all over again.

i'll be right there with you.

p.s. and because no althing is complete without a good ash photo....here is ash in the rain outside his favorite pizza restaurant on waiheke island, wearing his babysitter victoria's motorbike helmet and poncho. photo by me.

------THE NEVER-ENDING AS ALWAYS---------

1. if you are a patron and new to my work, don’t forget your patronage allows you access to ALL of my patreon releases to date. HERE is the link to download my latest big solo record, “There Will Be No Intermission”, and HERE is a link to download the PDF of the art/essay book that goes with it.

2. if you’re a patron reading this post via an email notification, please click through to comment on this post. at the very least, if you’ve read it, indicate that by using the heart symbol. that's always nice for me to see, so i know who's reading.

3. see All the Things (over 150 of them) i've made so far on patreon:

http://amandapalmer.net/things

4. JOIN THE SHADOWBOX COMMUNITY FORUM, find your people, and discuss everything: https://forum.theshadowbox.net/

5. new to my music and TOTALLY OVERWHELMED? TAKE A WALK THROUGH AMANDALANDA….we made a basic list of my greatest hits n stuff (at least up until a few years ago, this desperately needs updating) on this lovely page: http://amandalanda.amandapalmer.net/

6. general AFP/patreon-related questions? ask away, someone will answer: patronhelp@amandapalmer.net

Files

mountains.mov

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