The State of All Things: End-of-Year Edition 2023 (Patreon)

HELLO MY LOVES.

This one's a biggie. Read at your own pace. I'm reading comments on this post....I'd love to hear your own end-of-2023 reflections.

Share away. We're all here, and we're all family.

Greetings from Berkeley, California, where I'm about to play the last Dresden Dolls show of the year. It's December 30th, 2023, and soon, the calendar will turn.

I made a tiny video for you from the hotel in Portland, yesterday.

I'm deeply melancholy but still holding steady at the moment, I'm probably about to lose an important person. At the very moment, I am staying at Gracie's mom's house in Berkeley, and we've lit a candle. I'm typing this in the spare room.

And I'm sad, but I'm simultaneously filled with love and fizz from the last two dolls shows in Portland, OR, which were just incredible...the audiences injected me with life. (I'm hoping to have time soon to put a post together about everything that happened in the last 48 hours, but it'll have to wait a moment, while we do THIS). Here's a shot from last night. We were ON FIRE.

(photo by Kayla)

This END OF YEAR thing has become a yearly habit: this post is kinda your standard State of All Things...but with an END-OF-YEAR TWIST. Rather than just looking back at the past month, we'll be looking back at the entirety of 2023. So if you've just dipped in and out of the Patreon posts this year, consider this to be your basic digest of PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED/CAME OUT  THIS YEAR....including all charities we've given to, and more.  :)

Here's the basic outline and contents of the post:

• HOW THE YEAR WENT? WELL....
• PROJECTS RELEASED THIS YEAR
• WHAT ELSE CAME OUT THIS YEAR
• PROJECTS AND EVENTS COMIN' DOWN THE PIKE NEXT YEAR
• DISPATCHES FROM TEAM AFP
• HOW THE PATREON ITSELF IS DOING
• OTHER ARTISTS TO SUPPORT & FOLLOW
• ART BEGETTING ART
• PATRON COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD

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HOW THE YEAR WENT??? WELL...

This is about the vibe to summarize 2023:

I had a truly bizarre year, my friends.

Fruitful, confused, stricken, messy, and honestly not that bad. Human-er than ever.

Here are some highs and lows and reflections and little lighthouses.

I felt disoriented most of the time.

A few things went as planned, but mostly, things were hard and cracked and fragile and just got harder. Feelings of dis-ease arose and some became calcified. I had to fight a lot of doom-spiraling, even more than last year, which surprised me. Circumstances have not eased, for me and for many. The uphill battle seems to steepen. But there’s a ton of light.

I have to admit: I could not pull a lot of things together. While 2019 was a tour year, 2020 was supposed to be a catch-up year, but instead it became an explosion. I am still recovering, and falling behind. I’ve struggled with things domestically, business- and management-wise, with correspondence, keeping up with friendships. My very good friend Lee was stricken with cancer this fall … and my attention turned toward the soft emergencies of taking care of the Bigger Business. I’ve been there before, with my best friend, Anthony, who died in 2015 a few months before Ash was born.

Sometimes, you just do what needs doing.

Doing.

My friend Jamy asked me the other day how I was doing, and I said I didn’t know HOW I was doing, but I was certain that I was DOING.

I have gotten better and better still at letting all the to-do lists rot and fester.

I’ve gotten better at turning off my phone and walking with my friends. Better at not worrying. Better at not trying to fix broken relationships that may never want to be fixed. Better at making little, okay art-things instead of big, flashy art-things. Better at making Ash’s breakfast while also packing his lunch in the morning while also doing the dishes from the night before, without burning or spilling things because I’m just going too fast. Better at laughing at it all.

I’m learning to slow my pace. I’m letting people hold me. I’m getting better at holding people. I need to go slowly to do this.

In the DARK news:

I hate that my kitchen drawers won’t stay organized and that I can’t ever fucking find anything. Where is everything?

That’s the theme: I feel like I have been sort of lost and treading water since 2019 and my arms are sort of tired out but … also? I feel new, stronger muscles, new reserves.

Treading water for so long has made me a magical amphibian.

My fingers are no longer pruning. I live here now, in this water. My skin has adjusted.

I doubt I’m alone in this feeling, especially post-covid, as we all stumble to find the “new normal.”

I have lost track of a ton of my belongings. I don’t know if I’m ever going to answer those emails from before 2020.

I don’t like that things feel so wobbly around the edges.

BUT in the light news:

I feel harder. Not harder in a bad way. Not ouch-y. More muscle-y. Fiercer. I FEEL my feelings harder, which means more everything, which means … softer in some ways. Lighter. My eyes are brighter, my orgasms are deeper, my coffee tastes better. I now take my coffee black most of the time, and I actually like it that way. The cream and milk taste kinda offensively rich. That feels like some bizarre kind of growing up.

It’s helped that I’ve been drinking a lot less alcohol, I’ve kept up my intermittent-fasting schedule and have done a couple of long-term fasts (I fasted for about a week in the fall). My head clears up more easily, my whole flesh-body feels brighter and more ready for whatever work it needs to do, or whatever pleasures it wants to feel.

I’ve been feeling more love, in general. I’ve turned back, after a long, messy hiatus, to my daily meditation and yoga practice. I’ve missed it and I was feeling the effects of not practicing.

I’ve developed a crush on a lighthouse. I’ve made art there. She inspires me (see below).

I found a new artist whose songs I just adore: Christian Lee Hutson. I got to see him play to a tiny room of people, lit by Christmas lights. I have remembered not to forget the way a good song can inspire me. (And I covered one of his songs; see below.)

I got to see a ton of my extended family this year, and that did my heart a ton of good. I gave my kiddo a memorable—I hope—Halloween night and Christmas Eve and morning. Sometimes that little stuff feels like a massive accomplishment.

I got to start a venue in the woods next to a cemetery—with the help of all these patrons—that fits 60 people and infinite joy and that has made a lot of local people and artists feel happier. There’s been lots of love created within its walls … and that’s been a fantasy of mine for so long. It’s losing money, but I don’t care. It may break even one day, and it’s been so worth it.

A few more things I’m truly grateful for, especially as a divorcing mom and a person in a strange town that still isn’t quite home:

My logical friends, my parent friends, my oddkin, my offkin, my fellow traveling musician friends.

The whole crew at Graveside Variety, our unlikely little venue we started in the woods.

My old Boston friends, who have helped me to hold fast during the hospital times.

My parents, all of them, for being patient with me. My kid, same. My extended California family … I’m so glad I got to see everybody. All my sisters, steps and fulls.

I still miss my gone brother, Karl, so much.

I miss Anthony, my gone best friend, more than I thought I would.

Grief isn’t a straight line.

I’m grateful to an old love, an old friend, for coming through the window of my house. Reminding me not only who and how I used to be, before I slipped and fell into realms of some unforeseen and strange darkness that I never saw coming. Grateful for someone to remind me who I can be when I’m allowed, when I’m loved, when I’m held, when I feel safe. Love opens up the good in me: I turn soft, loving, silly, nurturing, able to fall apart, able to bask. Some of the new Dolls songs have spilled out of those moments. I love that.

Who knows where 2024 will take us, my friends.

Don’t kill me, but I have a sinking feeling this next year will be even rockier than the last one.

This upcoming U.S. election feels like a Titanic heading into a dark field of icebergs. The global conversation feels distressing. Big Things don’t feel kind or safe. I am more and more aware of how my country looks from afar, and how I feel in it. Home, for me, is still loosely defined and I can feel the knock-on effect it’s having on my kid. We need more definition, more clarity, me and him.

My patrons, ALL OF YOU, have kept me financially and emotionally afloat this entire year.

Without your support, I would not be able to work the way I do: project to spontaneous project, making art and hiring collaborators without serving any commercial goal or sales goal.

I’m just making art that feels good—to me and the community—and for now, that feels perfect.

Enough.

I put out over 30 projects this year. Songs, films, poems, discussions. My team—mostly Michael, Alex, and Jordan, and this year, sometimes Liz—works tirelessly to help me keep this little art farm running at a steady clip.

Making art and meaning constantly is fun, but exhausting.

I have this New Zealand and Australia tour coming up, and then I’m on break—at home, caring for Ash—until the Dolls tour again in March. I’m trying really hard to put together a robust springboard for the band to make a new album, but so many pieces have to come together before it happens.

It keeps getting delayed. I keep not minding.

I joked ridiculously, a few years ago, that I might be 50 when the new Dresden Dolls album comes out. That might actually wind up being real. It’s okay.

I think it's the best record I've ever written.

I am being so patient with myself, with the world. It will come, it will come.

Meanwhile, I'm just trying to be nice to myself, and those around me.

It's been a strange, sometimes lonely, discombobulating year.

To anyone out there feeling orphaned, lonely, occasionally hopeless about the world … I’m with you as the page turns.

I have felt more fear and more fragility this year than in 2020, and I didn’t think that would happen.

But hey.

I want to remind you that I love you, wherever you are and whatever you’re going through. Nobody’s having an easy time of it right now, and I want you to think of me, sitting and singing beside you.

If I could give you all a five-minute hug, I would.

I would love to hug every one of you for a long, long time.

I’m excited to be going out on tour … I’ll at least get to hug some of you.

Here’s to holding fast.

Here’s to the light.

Here’s to you, and me, and us.

Here’s to 2024.

I love you all a ton.

XXX

AFP

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PROJECTS RELEASED THIS YEAR...

This list is just the THINGS we put out - not including the monthly State of All Things, or the Graveside Variety funding that went ahead (more on that in a moment...)

So without further ado, here's the brief rundown of ALL THE THINGS you helped to fund in 2023:

"Neither Here Nor There" - a sunset 4-handed piano performance with Luke Gajdus - released February 27th

This was a beautiful video, and sort of shows off the best of what the Patreon can manifest. After randomly coming across Luke Gajdus in New Zealand, we recorded this duet together, and released the video as a THING.

See the video here, and read the full Patreon post here.

...

The Living Room Livestream - Streamed March 17th

This was a super-chaotic and super FUN one: a ton of my local Woodsock friends came round to my house and performed and generally made this a beautiful time... we had Sxip Shirey, Coco Karol, Raquel Acevedo Klein, Glen Hansard (!!), Gracie Coates, Father Nathan Monk, Holly Miranda, and Sophie Strand.

We got PROFESSIONAL with the audio and video, as you can see in the photo above.

The entire stream is archived and re-watchable here, and the full Patreon post with more behind the scenes shots is here.  

...

Lube and Church Bells - a piece of writing posted March 23rd

Inspired by the previous webcast, and my guest appearance at Glen Hansard's show, I wrote this piece that I titled "Lube and Church Bells".

And as a bonus, I also included a video of me playing "The Ride" at Glen's show. Read the piece (and watch the performance) here.

...

NinjaTED 2023 - a live-streamed concert extravaganza, streamed April 20th (to benefit the Greater Vancouver Food Bank)

NinjaTED is an annual tradition of mine every time I'm at the TED conference - I rope in speakers and performers and other local friends, and we put on a whole evening of music, poetry, science, dance... anything and everything.

It promises to be weird and wonderful every single year, and this year we used patron funds to live stream it and archive it for the people of the internet. All the dough from the show itself went to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. Performers included Balkan Shmalkan, Raegan Sealy, Maria Popova, Machine Dazzle, Jason Webley, Tolliver, Rodrigo Martinez, Pardis Parker, Sarah Kay, Melissa Villaseñor, Dan Harris, and Amy Cuddy. IT WAS AWESOME.

You can watch the full live-stream back here, and read the Patreon post with information about every performer here.

...

What it feels like to get divorced—and possibly remarried—at TED 2023: An offering from your emotional-reporter-at-large - a piece of writing posted April 26th

Inspired by my time at the TED conference this year, I wrote another connect-the-dots essay, this time exploring the navigation of the world as a newly-divorced person. This piece of writing resonated with many of my friends, and I felt like I found my writing feet again. Read the full piece on Substack here.

...

You Never Screamed? - a piece of writing published May 11th

This was a DARK ONE, HONEY. I was inspired (and horrified) by a letter in the New York Times, titled "I Was Raped. I Didn't Scream." I decided to take up my pen...and I dug deep into the strangeness of rape and sexual assault and how we deal (and don't deal) with it. It started out as an Instagram post, and after resonating with so many people, I expanded and published it as a full piece.

You can read the full piece here on Substack, and read the Patreon post (including a video of me reading the piece aloud) here.

...

The Dresden Dolls: Live From New Orleans - a live-streamed concert, streamed on June 24th

This was absolutely WIIIILD and fun AF. At the very moment the Dolls are mostly touring teeny venues in very specific and select cities, so it was beautiful to be able to let the internet in for just one night to join us in the latest round of the punk cabaret. Old songs, new songs, cover songs... it's a great show, if I do say so myself.

You can watch the full show back here, and read the Patreon post from the venue here.

...

Lose This Number - a Christian Lee Hutson cover song released July 29th

This was a song that I came across completely randomly, when Christian Lee Hudson (the original songwriter) played it at a party I attended. It wouldn't leave my head, so I put this cover together with Holly Miranda, another of my upstate-weirdo folky pals.

The song was released exclusively for patrons, and you can hear it here in the project's Patreon post, along with a ton of behind the scenes photos!

...

The Last Day of Our Acquaintance - a cover song released August 29th

This was another special one that was a patron-fuled spur-of-the-moment release - a heartfelt tribute to Sinéad O'Connor after her passing. I worked on this one with The Righteous Babes - a supergroup formed of Holly Miranda, Gracie Coates, Jocelyn Mackenzie, and Rachel Ruggles, with some gorgeous instrumentation added by Jherek Bischoff.

The song is fully public and available everywhere you find music (including Bandcamp), but I'd really encourage you to read the Patreon post where I dig deep into what Sinéad means to me, my history with her and her music, and all about the recording process.

...

Who Killed Amanda Palmer at 15: A Conversation between AFP and Ben Folds - a podcast discussion, released September 16th

To celebrate the momentous milestone of my debut solo album Who Killed Amanda Palmer, I got on a zoom call with the record's producer (and collaborator) Ben Folds, and we spent a good hour going back over the songs, the recording, the production, some of the insane things that record provoked within us... It was a emotional and juicy little wander down memory lane. It was released exclusively for patrons, and you can hear it and download it here in the Patreon post. 

...

Hence The Sellotape, or What a Nine-Year-Old Kiwi Taught Me About Divorce the Other Day - a piece of writing, published October 19th

This was another piece that came out of my connect-the-dots writing-head, and I think it's one of the best things I've ever written. You can read the piece here on Substack, or check out the Patreon post here that includes a video of me reading the full piece.

...

Houdini - a Dresden Dolls piano demo, released October 30th

This came out to zero fanfare on purpose. It's the first of what (I expect) will be a whole slew of Things over the coming months. As I'm finessing the next round of Dresden Dolls songs ready for recording next year, I'm going to be sending out little missives and showing you where the songs are at.

These are all exclusively for patrons, and Houdini is the first one:  you can find it in this Patreon post.

...

The Nail - a Dresden Dolls piano demo, released November 20th

As above... his was the second of the little piano-only sketches that I have for the next Dresden Dolls record, as I try to nail the songs down (no pun intended), before working in Brian's drums.

You can find the song in this Patreon post.

...

Little Island - a music performance video, released November 22nd

This was a little live video I recorded back on Waiheke, just before I left New Zealand in 2022, and we've just released it now to coincide with the single-release of Little Island, and the upcoming release of my new EP New Zealand Survival Songs (out Jan 12th - wait for it!). The video was recorded with Julia Deans (who is NZ indie music royalty), in a WORLD WAR TWO BUNKER/TUNNEL. It's pretty amazing.

Watch the video here, and read the Patreon post with all the behind-the-scenes info here.

...

AFP & Sophie Strand: Life After Exile From The Kingdom of the Well - a live talk, released December 20th

We just released this a couple weeks ago - me and Sophie Strand go DEEP on the idea of health, wellness, what it looks like, and how to cope when we are not there. It's about an hour and 40 minutes, and it's beautiful.

You can watch the talk here on YouTube, and read the Patreon post with more information here.

...

AND THAT'S THE YEAR in THINGS.

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WHAT ELSE HAPPENED THIS YEAR....?

What ELSE?!?!

Well, aside from art projects that have been delivered to your screens, your phones, your eyes, and your ears, I have also started getting OUT ON THE ROAD AGAIN...

The Dresden Dolls have been absolutely SLAUGHTERING IT all across the US. After quietly getting back into gear last year in Woodstock, NY this year we have hit up...

DENVER!

(photo by Glenn Ross)

SANTA FE!

(photo by Reyes Mendez)

ORLANDO!

(photo by Jenn Ross)

NEW ORLEANS!

(photo by Izze Thompson)

WOODSTOCK!

(photo by Anthony Mulcahy)

CHICAGO!

(photo by Anthony Mulcahy)

NEW YORK CITY!

(photo by Krys Fox)

LOS ANGELES!

(photo by Pixie Vision)

SAN DIEGO!

(photo by Fabien Castro)

And soon we'll be hitting up PORTLAND and BERKELEY to finish out the year...

The Portland shows are both COMPLETELY SOLD OUT, but there are still a few tix left for our New Year's Eve EXRAVAGANZA - featuring drag, circus, aerial stunts, accordion playing, special guests... You don't wanna miss it. TICKETS ARE HERE!

It's been so, so good to be reconnecting with Brian on stage, and reconnecting with you so many of you across the States - I haven't really been touring here since 2019, and the Dolls haven't toured properly since 2010, and it's so beautiful for us to be heading up this punk cabaret circus once again.

...

And it wasn't ONLY Dresden Dolls shows this year - earlier in April, I did a small solo tour of the US - Boston, Poughkeepsie, and Tacoma, and just poured my heart out on the stage...

(photo by Lisa Dragini)

(photo by Kelly Davison)

(photo by Lisa Dragini)

(with special guest Svitlana, photo by Krys Fox)

...

And in what might be the weirdest (and yet most totally Amanda-squirrel-brain) thing yet... I STARTED UP MY OWN VENUE IN WOODSTOCK.

Long story short... after feeling like the art-weirdo-outsider here in the very hippie-laced hamlet of Woodstock, I drove by a little ramshackle building that was for rent. I made a few calls, had a few meetings, and posted to the Patreon to see how you would feel about me hypothetically opening up a venue using patron dollars.....

I got a resounding FUCK YES from y'all. Well, like a 95% FUCK YES. that was enough.

And thus, Graveside Variety was born:

So named because the venue is sandwiched between graveyards either side of the road...

It started out small, and was Thinged as our third Thing of the month for a few months over the summer, but now it's pretty much breaking even we have let it spread its wings, and it's no longer being funded by you.

We've seen some gorgeous events happening here: Jason Webley played, Lance Horne does a regular Party Around A Piano (like karaoke, but with live piano backing!), poetry nights, Christmas wreath-making...

I'm so proud of this space.

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CHARITY DONATIONS THROUGH THE YEAR

YESSSS. Aside from supporting the making of the Art, we use patron dollars to put towards various charities and organizations that are out doing good in the world. This is so important and I'm always so proud of this community and how we do this.

This year we've made donations to:

Family of Woodstock (an organization up here in Woodstock that helps the local community with domestic violence, food pantries, counselling services... a ton of amazing humanitarian action)

Manaaki Matakaoa (a Kiwi organization helping with relief after the flooding in January, donated via the "Neither Here Nor There" release)

Yellowhammer Fund (an abortion advocacy and reproductive justice organization serving Alabama, Mississippi, and the Deep South, donated on behalf of Father Nathan Monk for his appearance during the Living Room Webcast)

W. Alabama Women's Center (a center for reproductive health in Alabama)

Nebraska Abortion Resources (an organization providing funds and support for anyone seeking an abortion in Nebraska, donated via sales of this amazing poster, charity chosen by the artist)

Greater Vancouver Food Bank (the amazing people that we support every year at NinjaTED, and this year was no exception)

Second Nurture (an organization that supports foster families in the US)

Find Susi A Forever Home (a GoFundMe set up to support one of the community elders that I met during my time in Waiheke)

Tibet Fund (an organization set up by the Dalai Lama to fund and support Tibetan communities both in exile and within Tibet)

American Cancer Society (I'm sure this one needs no explanation...)

ICAP (an organization supporting counselling and psychotherapy for Irish people living in Britain, donated via the Sinéad O'Connor cover release)

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PROJECTS AND EVENTS COMIN' DOWN THE PIKE NEXT YEAR....

First things first...

The New Zealand Survival Songs EP is coming out JANUARY 11TH.

You've heard MOST of the songs, but there's still a couple of surprise treats on there for you.

And I'll be hopping down under to support the release in January, visiting New Zealand and Australia...

January 21st - Sherwood, Queenstown NZ - SOLD OUT

January 24th - Q Theatre, Auckland NZ - TICKETS

January 27th - Old St Pauls, Wellington NZ - TICKETS

February 1st - City Recital Hall, Sydney AU - TICKETS

February 3rd - Hamer Hall, Melbourne AU - TICKETS

...

And then I'll be reuniting once again with Mister Brian to take the Dresden Dolls back on the road again, finessing and honing the new songs again and again.

This time we'll be FLYING SOUTH to Texas, Georgia and Tennessee...

March 22nd - Mohawk, Austin, Texas - TICKETS

March 23rd - Mohawk, Austin, Texas - TICKETS

March 26th - The Kessler Theater, Dallas, Texas - TICKETS

March 27th - The Kessler Theater, Dallas, Texas - TICKETS

March 29th - The Eastern, Atlanta, Georgia - TICKETS

March 30th - Brooklyn Bowl, Nashville, Tennessee - TICKETS

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OTHER PROJECTS? THAT I HAVE BEEN THREATENING TO RELEASE FOREVER??

I have so many 90%-finished projects in shoeboxes that I don't talk about anymore.

Videos that are almost done. Documentaries that need editing and releasing.

When 2020 hit and me and the team went into a kind of Covid Paralysis, I accepted that a ton of projetcs would have to go on ice, maybe forever.

It takes the time it takes.

I cannot be sorry.

It's just art.

Whatever.

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SOME DISPATCHES FROM TEAM AFP....

From Michael:

Hello Patrons!

I’m writing to you, as usual, last minute while backstage at The Aladdin Theater while getting ready for the Dresden Dolls show that’s starting later tonight.

2023 has certainly been a year.  Dresden Dolls, Solo Shows, Campersand, running around all over the place and, for the first year since 2020. . . no Covid for me!

I wish I had time to tell you all the things about this year, but once again I’m running around trying to wear all the hats.

No matter what 2023 had in store for you, I hope that 2024 has just a little (or a lot) more love in your life.  And if you ever feel like you’re in need of some, just know that I’m here, behind the scenes, working away and sending love your way.

Love,

Michael

...

From Liz:

Hello Patrons

I’ve been very MIA from the team as of late, so extra thank you to Alex and everyone else for all that you do and my apologies to the rest of the team.  I have more or less been swallowed by Graveside in the best of ways.  We are figuring out how to keep Graveside going and it’s a beautiful mad dash.  I can’t believe all that’s happened in the past 7 months.  I was intending to write a longer Graveside end-of-year recap,  but so much has happened and so much is being figured out..and frankly, with the holiday,. I’m currently exhausted.  A longer update will come in time.  It’s been a wild ride and absolutely incredible.   I will work on finding the words for the next time.  I’m so grateful to have been continuing to meet so many of you through Graveside.  It’s incredible seeing familiar names and faces, and sharing this space together.

I’ve also become overtaken with a primal need to keep making gingerbread cookies for Graveside Variety.

Our lovely neighbors gave us a leg lamp, so I made leg lamp cookies, along with graves, yule cats, and Christmas cows because why not.

My technique needs work but ohhhh my goodness what fun I’ve been having.

My heart is full.  I love you all so much.

Happy New Year!!

<333333

Liz

......

I love our team so much.

Alex and Jordan are offline at the moment. They'll be back :).

.......

HOW THE PATREON ITSELF IS DOING....

As of this writing there are about 9,600 patrons pledging about $30,500 for the first Thing each month.

We are dipping down, but I'm also doing almost nothing to promote the patreon itself lately, because I've been in hardcore band-and-mother land, and this month especially been deep in hospital-duty.

It doesn't worry me much, but I am having to Thing three things a month to keep the costs covered. We have CEASED covering Graveside Variety, which means I also have to dig into my own pocket for that.... and my pocket is whatever money I make from the patreon, mostly, so it's all connected.

Is what it is.

As I always say: these things are cyclical.

A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE FOR NEWCOMERS: you are welcome to (and encouraged to) CAP YOUR PLEDGE.

CAP CAP CAP CAP!!

I sometime release one thing a month; sometimes three. We know this can create financial insecurity and uncertainty - so Patreon allows you to cap your pledge. This is, essentially, setting a MAXIMUM amount that you want to pay per month.

YOU CAN BUDGET. Say for example, you're happy to pay $3 per Thing, but you don't want to pay more than $10 a month. If that's the case, you can "cap" your pledge at $10, and whether I release 4 Things or 4,400 Things, you won't be charged more than $10. But MOST IMPORTANTLY, you will still have access to ALL the things/posts/links, even if you cap your pledge!!! It doesn't effect your access.

You can read all about capping your pledge here.

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 (SEE ABOVE), 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 guilty about releasing TOO MUCH!!

So really. Please, cap your pledge.

......

In November, I Thanged THREE Things:

The Nail (Dresden Dolls Piano Demo #2), which earned about $34,593 from 9,461 patrons

Little Island (music video), which earned about $14,111 from 5,231 patrons

The State of All Things: November 2023, which earned about $8,638 from 3,261patrons

(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.

And remember: these numbers 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.

These numbers also do not reflect the money I SPENT MAKING THE ART, paying our staff, paying the office rent, paying the Graveside rent and costs, paying for crowdcast, getting myself around, getting the team around and fed and slept, all the collaborators, and my actual staff payroll, etc....you get it.

I 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.

Right now, because I'm not regularly touring or putting music out, we're just about breaking even.

Which is nice.

......

OTHER THINGS/ARTISTS TO SUPPORT!!!

The MC of our New Years show, Kat Robichaud, currently has a GoFundMe to keep her local Cabaret Running in SF....help if you can!

https://www.gofundme.com/f/misfit-cabaret-keep-surviving?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer

DARK GARDEN CORSET DISCOUNT OFFER:

(photo: Glen Ross)

Many of you have asked about the stage costume & my corset schtuff. I’ve been sporting this beautiful woolen, double-breasted corset handmade by my longtime pals at Dark Garden for the whole of the 2023 The Dresden Dolls tour, which I got pre-pandemic. The corsets are all handmade in the Bay Area at their gorgeous digs, and I have been a longtime fannnn.

This particular corset has been great for the dolls tour because my annoying in-ear monitor pack - always my stage enemy - snuggles tight into the waistcoat pocket. I love the back support on stage, a corset helps me feel right and tight and buckled in, more like an athlete. And … I love buttons.

So - I was just texting with Autumn, who runs the shop, to see if I might buy or borrow a snazzy new corset for the New Years show in her hood on Sunday (at the UC Theater in Berkeley, there’s still a handful of tickets!!) and she told me business has been painfully slow this season (no wonder, it’s a luxury item and we are in an economic fritz-moment). I offered to chuck out a corset-love post and she offered to loan me a NYE corset (WAIT FOR IT!! ITS HOT) and she gave me a discount code for you all to use for 10% off anything in her shop from now until Jan 5th at 11:59 pm PST.

Here's where you can order:

https://www.darkgarden.com/

The code is Dolls10 and it'll last until Jan 5th at 11:59pm.

Happy shopping. If even one or two people buy something from her team, I’ll feel chuffed.

The stuff is expensive, but incredibly well-made and lasts a lifetime (as one who’s worn three of her corsets for over 10 years - they LAST), and the people who work there are the bestest. Treat yo’selfs.

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ART BEGETTING ART

As always, we like to highlight a selection of the artwork created by the community. Here's what we've found for ya this month...

Some gorgeous calligraphy work by @shiftingcurrents

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A piece titled "Death and the Maiden" by my pal Mike Zug:

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Beautiful piece inspired by Trout Heart Replica, posted by @dan_mnght.art:

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PATRON COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD

This is the section for YOU to talk to your fellow patrons....

If you've got something to advertise, something to show off about, something to offer, something to ask, send us an email at patronhelp@amandapalmer.net and we'll try and include as many as we can here.

From Ryan:

Nurtured By Nature is an amazing organization of 'animal educators' that support animal conservation, provide swims with otters, and patron Ryan Stuck and his wife are both working here!

They recently invited Michael, as well as the Dolls tour manager Jaron and his kids, for a tour when we were in San Diego a couple weeks back, and they had a BEAUTIFUL TIME, here are some photos from their visit...

A two-toed sloth named Chloe!

OTTER!

Michael cuddling baby capybaras!!!

They really are doing great work and it's run by great people, so if animal conservation is close to your heart this is a FANTASTIC place to support. Check 'em out here:

https://nurturedbynature.org/history/

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AND THAT'S THE YEAR, FOLKS.

Phew.

We did a lot.

Let's do more.

There's so much to look forward to.

I hope you all have a super-peaceful 2024.

Love,

Amanda

———THE STUFF I PASTE AT THE END OF THE POST———

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 200 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. Are you 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