March 2020: State of All Things {official Thing} (Patreon)

{patrons only}

well, hello loves.

jesus christ. here we go. here we are.

greetings from havelock north, new zealand/aotearoa. day 31 of lockdown here.

quick one: it's my birthday on april 30th. i think i may spend it online just so i can feel the support and connection of my friends and community, and i may invite friends to come and play and share and read poems and stories....please mark your calendars. it'll probably be late morning to afternoon NZ time, which means afternoon and night for USA and europe. since it's my fucking birthday, i may just play it by ear and leave the channel open so i don't have to be on time or feel stressed. but if i go live, i'll post and let you know. i may wake up that morning and just want to drink gin and read. i'll try to give you a few hours heads up or even heads you up the night before depending how i'm feeling.

oh my loves.   

i just went to look at the content of the last monthly state of all things for patrons (for you new people: this is the blog/post i put up monthly to stay in touch and cover the bills), and what a ... different world we were living in. 

i was still in melbourne, missy higgins' dad had just gotten coronavirus, and i was on my way - gingerly - to aotearoa for four concerts, after which i was supposed to be heading to a two week offline total-post-tour-collapse-vacation in indonesia with neil, marissa and ash, to give myself a full breather after 18 months of constant work and touring on There Will Be No Intermission. 

i played three of those four shows. 

i canceled only my very last show, in wellington.

let's slow down and say that again, so we can laugh together:

i canceled the LAST SHOW of a year-long global tour  called THERE WILL BE NO INTERMISSION, a show about compassion, sexual abuse, forgiveness, abortion, miscarriage and letting go....

due to....

a worldwide intermission.

i mean....c'mon. it's kinda funny.

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

if there was ever a time to take the wise words of dearly and newly departed-from-this-plane-of-existence ram dass, 

be here now.

and here we are.

here we are.

altogether, all alone, not together, struggling, and making our way through an entirely new world. powerful. powerless.

and as ram dass also said: 

the quieter you become, the more you can hear.

the world is having to get very, very quiet right now, very quiet. against its will.

whatever we hear, well....we may not like. 

but we can be assured that it's important, and whatever it is, it's true.

something happens when you have to slow down and listen. 

strangely....in the ongoing wake of the #MeToo scandals, i have been seeing so many grown men doing something that i never thought i would see happen in my lifetime. over the past eighteen months or so, more than one man in my immediate inner social circle has said to me: "i don't think it's time for me to make anything right now, i don't think this is the moment to contribute. i think it's probably just time for me to stop, and to listen."

these are the wise men.

the pain is wide, the pain is vast, and it feels like mother earth is having her own #MeToo moment of total reckoning.

if you want to believe in the poetry: humanity has been burning too much, too fast, too soon, too harsh, too greedily...too much more more more more.....with too little respect for the source. and too little thought towards actually sustaining human life on earth. 

the eastern religions would say: too much yan, not enough yin.

too much penetration, too much raping, too much taking...

not enough listening, not enough planting and growing in the stillness, not enough soft dark earth, not enough quiet, not enough root system.

too much skyscraper, not a strong enough foundation. 

it's almost like the earth, by way of a virus, is taking humanity to court and leveling charges of misconduct.

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

so now, we live in the reckoning. we live in the moment of stillness.

all of us, we're all accountable. time to be the wise men.

we need to stop, and we need to listen.

from the stillness, answers will start to take root. 

no plant grows quickly; no deep, jagged wounds heal overnight.

we close our eyes...we sleep....we wait.

it will come. it will solve. it will heal. it will turn into something else.

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

the photographer glenn ross posted these on instagram yesterday and they caught my eye. 

they're shots from tour, all the way back in denver on june 1st, 2019.

everything feels so strangely historic now.

remember shows?

remember parties?

remember plays?

remember when we all got together and sang?

i remember.

photo by glenn ross)

 i could not have known, but i seems to me now that everything i did last year was a kind of training; a kind of getting ready.

the act of spending a whole year traveling around the globe, putting on a show multiple nights a week, for four hours at a time, was actually just, well, preparation. 

for this. 

for this, here, now.

like an olympic marathon runner heading our on a 10 (15, 20) mile run every morning, those nights were just stretching, breathing, and groundwork to strengthen muscles for the hardest marathon i would ever run in my life. 

this one.

i cannot turn away from what i preach, i cannot not listen.

i cannot turn away from compassion for all beings.

and as for letting go? 

if i want to have learned anything...well, the universe just handed me my black belt test; my final exam. 

i am passing.

i can let go.

of the past, of the future. 

of permanence.

of the life i thought i was going to be living this month, next month, the month after.

i can let it all go.

i can let it all go because i've been practicing every single night.

my life wasn't about rehearsing for my stage show.

my stage show was about rehearsing for my life.

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

this is the power of art.

i can find a haven where i've always found it: in connection, in finding my fellow seekers out in the world, in my online community, in coming to my patreon again and again and being reminded - and reminding - that we are not alone. 

that none of us ever truly are.

and i can find a haven in the stillness that greets me when i reach the crest of a breath while doing yoga in the morning. i can find a haven in listening to the sound of a bird, seeing the light on a treetop, hearing ash's laugh when i tickle him, in the soft music in my head that plays like a radio when i put some olive oil on some root vegetables before i stick them in the oven. 

i know how lucky i am. to be here in aoteroa, to have a beautiful house to cook in, to have my child enfolded in my arms, to have trees to walk by. 

i'm living a quarantine dream.

i can find a haven in the mundane, and in the knowledge that everything is, always, exactly as it must be.

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

that being said

HOLY FUCKING SHIT YOU GUYS, DO I MISS BEING ABLE TO GET ON STAGE AND DO A GODDMAN SHOW. 

I MISS IT SO MUCH I WANNA CRY.

i was getting so good at it, too.

oh well.

this was supposed to be an off moment anyway.

no doubt, when the clouds lift, there will be some epic stage reckoning. of this i have no doubt.

i am like a rocket taking on fuel, every day. when i launch....

we will go to the fucking moon.

(if she'll take us.)

.......

now.....

down to more business.

this althing/state of all things is going to be slightly out of order...but so is the world.

in terms of TELLING YOU THINGS about what's going on, i want to lead with this post that now also feels historic to me.

i wrote it after digesting about 2,000 stories and comments from patrons in lockdown

https://www.patreon.com/posts/35801741

patrons encouraged me to charge for it, so i did.

i wrote about that here.

there is something, some kind of block that i've had, about charging for my writing.

i'm getting over it. quickly. 

right now, in this lockdown, this patreon is going to shift and grow, and so am i. and so are you. my ability to write and synthesize and make and connect and collect is my gift at the moment. 

if it becomes my art, then so be it. my art pays my bills, my staff, and my life. 

i wrote a whole book about this. it's OKAY, amanda, it's OKAY.

that being said: cap your pledge if you need to or want to.

that way i never have to second-guess my artistic decisions for even a split second.

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

this was not something that i charged for....a few days ago i did a

ALL-PATRON WEBCHAT 

it was really, really good. i needed it more than i thought. all patrons can watch the archive here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/april-20-2020

ash featured at the beginning as an opening act, sang a song from the aristocats, played drums, and tried to grab my knife.

we showed everybody what a feijoa looked like....

.....we read a book about ash's feelings.....we sang happy birthday to everyone whose birthday it was. i sang "in my mind" and had a little cry.....i took questions.....

then i brought michael on screen, and we had a chat about how his corona-recovery was going.

i read a rumi poem, i played "sing" by  the dolls, and i screamed "MOTHERFUCKER" at the top of my lungs. that was very healing.

MOTTERHHHHHHHHHFUCKKKRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!

i brought hayley on screen and we had a good yarn. she's been struggling with lockdown, as you can read her her notes below.

but at least we can still laugh on a screen.

we ended with a traditional reading of "goodnight moon."

again, you can watch the whole thing here.

https://www.crowdcast.io/e/april-20-2020

and as i'm able, i will do more webcasting, espeically on my birthday, because i will need it, and i will need you, even if it's just for an hour.

into the past.....

-----

WHAT HAPPENED LAST MONTH...

first off: if you haven't already read my post about canceling upcoming live events (including "campersand", our was-to-be-a-retreat at omega, and the boston pops symphony shows in june), please read:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/35835747

i wrapped the TWBNI WORLD TOUR.....

and i did a bushfire benefit in melbourne.

neil and i presented a show with special guests to raise money for two great organizations helping the australian community during the bushfire crisis, and year round: firesticks alliance and seed mob.

missy higgins had to bow out due to her dad getting corona.

it was a beautiful night of songs, poems, learning and loving.

photos below by rick clifford....

the amazing local band charm of finches:

butchulla song man frank leone playing didjeridoo with neil:

my wonderful old friend tom dickins:

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

i made my way to aoteroa with trepidation.

someday i'll tell the stories of how weird the converstions with the venues and promotors got around whether or not to cancel shows....but trust me, it got weird.

i went ahead with auckland:

and i went ahead with christchurch (here i am in the hotel near the venue, feeling weird):

and then, by the time i got to wellington....i could not in good conscience go on with the show as planned. the news was getting bad and even though the promotors wanted to go forth, i pulled the plug.

i am so fucking glad i did.

that night, i finished my tour in true there will be no intermission style....

i held a tiny webcast inside the church where the concert was supposed to be held, at invitation of the vicar.

i called it

MUSIC IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC

and it was free to the public:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/wellington-well-34919799

there were songs, lots of feelings and talking, and neil did a surprise appearance and read "the masque of the red death" by edgar allen poe and "goodnight moon" to round things out.

here's a still.

and you can watch the archive here:

https://www.crowdcast.io/e/music-in-the-time-of

also, there's a great review / write-up of the cast here in the NZ paper:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/411985/covid-19-finding-a-community-in-isolation-at-palmer-and-gaiman-s-show

rawr.

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

WHAT ELSE.....

there are quite a few projects just queued up that i have to finish in order to release. i need to write a new and relevent (oh boy, is it going to be good) introduction for the PDF version of the There Will Be No Intermission artbook....there's a few videos and documentaries that have been on hold while i take care of ash close to full-time. i am trying to do what i can without driving myself insane.

meanwhile, well. in fabulous fucking news for lockdown:

WE ARE RELAUNCHING THE SHADOWBOX MESSAGE BOARD FORUM.

the new shadowbox forum will be relaunched VERY soon for all patrons. 

hopefully in the next few days.

hayley and the team has been hustling to get this ready this month. we've opened beta testing to $25+ patrons and then $5+ patrons to help us make sure all the user features are working and start seeding the forum with topics. it's going really, really well.

i asked patrons in the webchat earlier this week if it would make sense to Thing the forum....and the consensus was a resounding yes. it costs hundreds of dollars each month in hosting fees alone to use the platform. there's also a ton of staff costs and that go into maintaining it, and being able to have a community space without reliance on facebook, corporations, profit, algorithms or advertising is FUCKING crucial, especially now.

so watch out for that, soon, and get ready to love, post, share, talk, connect

and

listen.

.....

THE ART OF ASKING EVERYTHING PODCAST....

well, this wasn't the plan.

but...

i did almost 20 interviews with special guests over the last YEAR...and holy shit, now this.

i feel like the content is now outdated, but...still beautiful, relevant, and important.

so this was the plan we came up with (part of this was hayley's great mind) and i;'m going to start releasing the episodes ONCE A WEEK, EVERY TUESDAY, starting in may, with a live follow-up conversation with each podcast guest (if possible) on the following friday. that will give the community time to listen, digest respond, and be in conversation with me and the guest about the topics that are raised.

cap, cap, cap your pledge, gently down the stream.

there's going to be a lot of content.

.......

and.....

THE DRESDEN DOLLS.

photo by jonathan beckley

well fuck.

brian and i had been planning to get together over the next weeks and months to lay the ground for a new album.

we are still doing that, but everything will be different now.

the dresden dolls 1.0 were a post-9/11 band, rising from the ashes of that tragedy with all the strength, connection and love we could muster.

it looks like the dresden dolls 2.0 are going to be a post-corona band...whataver that's going to mean.

brian and i have been talking about trying to do something together, anything, some small offering, so stay tuned.

we love you.

the punk cabaret is burning in our hearts like a raging, fishnetted, paint-soaked, electic flame of passion.

.....

INTERPRETIVE DANCE....

don't make me do it.

i just might.

......

MARIA POPOVA'S UNIVERSE IN VERSE (a virtual event)....

this is coming up on APRIL 25th....

the poem-video that i posted the other day, "einstein's mother", with sweet background synth music by jherek bischoff, is going to be a part of this bigger online event, and i imagine this will be a real soul-healer if you can tune in:

it's broadcasting from Pioneer Works at 4:30PM EST on Saturday, April 25.

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

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

and now...NITTY GRITTY TIME.

HOW THE PATREON HAS GROWN....

the coronavirus pandemic has had dramatic effects on the global economy, as you know.

in the USA alone, tons of non-essential businesses have closed and nearly 30 million have filed for unemployment. this has hit the artistic community HARD, i have artist friends, musician friends, theater friends who instantly lost weeks and months of work overnight. 

this has also lead to the increase of artists, venues and arts organizations signing up for crowdfunding campaigns to help cover costs and survive this storm. 

patreon alone saw an increase of 60,000 new creator account. i'm lucky that i have you, i never take this for granted, and i'm lucky that my patreon numbers have stayed stable this month, that more patrons are hopping on board. i never want my patrons to over extend themselves financially, i want you to pledge as little or as much as you can afford. always remember to cap your pledges and set a monthly maximum. 

i took a chunk of dough out of my band account last month and paid it forward to various charities, and if you are wondering where to put your dough, here's a good start:

https://artistrelieftree.com/

if you're an artist or looking for further places to give, rhiannon giddens and i have been working on this directory, ART IS ALIVE.

https://www.artliveson.com/

here's the press release about the project:

https://shorefire.com/releases/entry/rhiannon-giddens-launchesart-is-alive

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

honestly, the best and most sustainable thing you can do right now is SUPPORT OTHER ARTISTS ON PATREON OR THROUGH OTHER DIRECT MEANS.

i put together a list of artists below in this post.

do that.

do everything.

or do nothing.

don't. worry.

...

as usual.....patreon bills credit cards on the 1st of the following month so we usually see a couple hundred people drop off in the beginning of the month due to payment errors and credit card issues, it takes a few days for this to adjust once people fix their accounts. it's life. PLEASE REMEMBER TO CHECK YOUR ACCOUNT EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE AND KEEP IT ACTIVE. i hate losing people to mistakes.

as of this writing there are about 15,161 patrons pledging about  $50,385 for the first THING of the month. 

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

shop talk....

i go over this stuff every month, but if your'e new:

patreon charges you monthly & retroactively, meaning that you get billed on the 1st of the month for all the Things released the month prior (for example, you were charged for the Things released in january on february 1st). 

because people have their pledges capped (HAVE YOU NOT CAPPED YOUR PLEDGE? if you are on a budget, you should. here's the tutorial again), the first Thing raises the most money, and anything released thereafter raises less and less. I LIKE THIS. it means i never feel too guilty!!!!!. really. do it. cap cap cap your pledge if you are on a tight budget. 

the numbers below are gross. they are 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 my business, paying the office rent, getting myself around, getting the team around and fed and slept,....all the collaborators and my actual staff payroll, etc. 

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, especially when we do a lot of charity projects.

last year patreon changed their pricing and fee plan. however, all creators who've had accounts up until may 7, 2019 are considered "founding creators" (read: grandfathered in) and for the time being are locked into the original fee structure with the 5% patreon fee and the 5-9% credit card payment processing fee.

......

so back in FEBRUARY, i Thanged Three Things, and it came out like this:

January 2020: State of All The Things was the first Thing and it earned about $56,089 from 14,674 patrons

FORTY-FIVE DEGREES: a bushfire charity flash record was the second Thing and it earned about $26,212 from 8,886 patrons. all of that money was given to charity and turned no profit.

Beds Are Burning - ALL the Live Videos was the third and final Thing and it earned about $16,770 from 5,875 patrons. that money also went to charity.

(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 now.....

DISPATCHES FROM TEAM AFP.

this month, i asked the entire team, including my manager jordan (a first), to write a personal update. 

why?

i want you to know who they are, what they're going through, and see that they are REAL ACTUAL people helping to keep me and this art-ship afloat. 

your patronage not only pays for the literal cost of making art, it helps me pay staff and collaborators, it helps me keep my own lights on, and it affords me the ability to have a team who help me do what i do.

without them, none of this could be done at the scale it's done, and every day they work to support me and to support my community, even in lockdown.

the show must go on. even if it's an internet show.

so you know, without you patrons, i probably would be looking at having to furlough staff.

we are all so grateful for this patreon, for you, for all of this. 

it's saving us.

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

first, from hayley:

This last month, let alone the start of this year, has been the wildest ride I can remember. It's been a hard time for so many of us, and we must muster all our strength to keep our heads high and look ahead hopeful and determined.

When I got back to New York at the end of February, after three weeks in Australia, it took me almost a month to able to sleep through the night. Once I got back to the States I dove right in to helping my friends with their wedding, of which I was the maid of honor. It was actually when I came home from the wedding that I actually fell asleep through the night for more than 3 hours for the first time in exactly three weeks.. I was exhausted, in so many ways.

My newlywed friends share a birthday, which took place the day after their wedding, Saturday, March 14th where they had a wedding celebration/birthday brunch. 

That afternoon, almost 5 weeks ago, was the last time I touched another person. 

I hugged my friends goodbye when we parted ways. It was the last time I was in a crowd, it was the last time I was in a cab or on the subway, it was the last time I had a hug, it was the last time I was out in public without a mask, gloves, or a sense of inescapable fear.

To be pragmatic and considerate, I started my own self-isolation before the lockdown was signed into law in New York State, where it is now mandatory for all non-essential businesses to close and for folks to work from home and stay inside. 

I have been staying indoors, and going out only when I need to go to a pharmacy, or every few weeks to pick up some fresh food. When I do leave my apartment, I wear a mask, gloves and I am diligent to disinfect myself and the things I’ve come in contact with. I share a front gate with a neighboring house, so to help us all, I disinfect the shared door knobs when I go to check my mail. If I receive a package, I cut it open downstairs and discard the cardboard right away. 

I hand wash my clothes in a bucket in my bathtub, to avoid going to a crowded laundromat. 

I'll be frank - a few days ago we got news that the lockdown, officially called  "New York State on PAUSE" is extended to May 15th. This is the third extension of it, and it comes as no surprise, in fact, I'd suspect this to go on for many more weeks and months ahead. But for some reason, the text notification of another month of this.... hit me, and it hit me HARD. It's been a hard long month and there was just something stinging to confront that it'll be at least another long hard month. And maybe even another and another.

I live alone – an expensive privilege in New York, in a tiny apartment, it suits my needs and has offered me a space of my own for the first time in my life. 

When I first made the move to live alone two years ago, I worried that I would feel isolated, but ultimately I ended up feeling empowered by it, making sacrifices to afford myself space to grow and come into my own. 

Now that I’m literally in isolation, I admit – I am having a hard time. My windows face a roof. I don’t see anyone at all while I’m indoors. I live above my landlord’s commercial business, which is now closed, there is one other apartment, but my neighbor packed bags and left as soon as the lockdown started, so I don’t even see anyone when I take my trash out and I don’t hear noises of other people around (which honestly, is something I'm not mad about). 

I hear a constant parade of sirens and neighborhood dogs barking in the distance when my windows are open. I do not hear anyone clap at 7pm for essential workers. The neighborhood is eerily quiet, save for the sirens. The other day I heard children outside - I can't see them, but I felt happy that they sounded like they were having fun playing. 

I don't have a yard or an outdoor space. I day dream of sitting outside in the sun.... alas. 

I've tried sitting outside my apartment gate but it made me feel anxious because people would walk down the street without adhering to social distancing. Every so often I'll take a walk around my neighborhood trying to avoid any high trafficked sidewalks/streets... but I feel as if I have self-inflicted stockholm syndrome - I am safe away from people, they are safe away from me, and if I stay inside we are all better off (this may not be true, but this is the thinking that I've recognized). 

I miss walking long NYC blocks. I miss feeling the sun on my face. I miss listening to music during commutes. I miss staring out train windows. I miss riding in a car with a friend. I miss being amongst people, even if I'm not directly interacting with them. I miss having plans to look forward to.

I feel extremely alone – because in actuality, I am, I am very alone because I am literally by myself. The waves of loneliness though, come and go. I am extremely fortunate to have access to technology and friends and family to video chat with and send text messages to. I’ve been posting to my Instagram stories trying to connect with people and share music or things that make me happy. I've been using the Questions tool on IG to have little connections with more people, and share the things that bring them joy. A little community of sorts.

I’ve been FaceTiming my sister and just keeping the phone on even if we’re distracted working or doing separate things, so it feels like we’re in the same room, so I can hear sounds of another person bustling about. I play virtual games with my siblings over Discord and Zoom, and I play online multiplayer games with friends on Switch. I have silly video chats with friends and face filters on Instagram. I tasked my nephew to write me an original story to keep him occupied and in good spirits while he’s home from school. I have a standing video chat each Friday night with a couple friends to watch RuPaul’s Drag Race together at the same time, in our respective apartments. I've been joining friends in video chats, and I've been watching some musician live streams on Instagram that have been quite lovely. As if my work travel earlier this year wasn't enough of a challenge to navigate dating someone new earlier this year, a worldwide pandemic is next level... but we've been having some sweet virtual dates on FaceTime, and that’s been very nice.

It's hard to build anticipation for the future - concerts, events, hangs, spring/summer activities - things that help me get through the hustle and bustle of the busyness of my day-to-day, of my work, of living in NYC. I am trying to think of the future, one with minimal loss, and maximum opportunity. I am trying to stay present and mindful. I'm trying to feel my grief, fear and sadness in real time, and I'm trying to acknowledge when I do not feel okay and give myself permission to feel bad so that I can experience it, and hopefully, move on from those down feelings.

I’ve been remotely connecting with people but I spend most of my days alone in my own thoughts. I listen to NPR podcasts and the NY Times Daily and I’m staying informed, keeping my morning routines, but feeling the difficult straddle of staying informed, of keeping things as normal as I can, while being inundated with information overload. I've been re-learning to play the ukulele. 

here's me and gabrielle motola toasting to one another on a virtual hang time

I've been joining my friend's weekly yoga class, which has helped me be present and connect in the moment for an hour each week, reminding myself of my power, and my places of improvement, in my own body, stretching out stress and exhaling away the day. If you'd like to remotely join in for a class, info is all up here. I've been joining in on Monday's at 7:30pm EST New York time, it takes place on Zoom and you do not need to turn your camera or mic on to participate, all levels, all bodies, welcome. It's inclusive and i've been finding it to be very sweet and peaceful. I often sit on my floor in silence for about 10 minutes after the class ends, absorbing the feeling of peacefulness and mental clarity it offers me.

I feel safe by myself – I know that my limited contact with people means I am keeping myself and my community the safest I possibly can. But fuck, I miss people. Even just walking past people on the sidewalk, or the subway platform. I miss hearing my loved ones laugh and seeing their smiles. I miss people watching. I miss feeling part of a community. I fucking miss live concerts and live music. I miss platonic touch, the ability to hug a friend, to go over their apartment and pet their cat, high fives and fist bumps. Sharing a meal with people you care about, working in the same room as Michael, having conversations with people – strangers or friends alike. Starting conversations without talking about the doom we are all feeling, and the darkness that is in our lives.

I am sad. I am frustrated. I am scared. I am having a hard time. But I am also finding happiness in little things. I am counting my blessings each and every day. I am thankful, appreciative and grateful for a lot of things in my life. My health, my boss, my job, my health insurance, my colleagues, my community. I feel the love around me from my family, from my friends, from my community (you). I feel a lot of things.

I spent the first week of this new world order really focused and hunkered down on trying to help the Artist Relief Tree organize, help with the Patreon Weird-Stream-A-Thon and help with the Bandsintown Live Stream. I focused a lot of my energy into being proactive and helping others in our community. I'm looking forward to Amanda being back online and pulling our bootstraps together to continue to make art, to bring people together. I need things to focus on, to feel productive, to feel like I'm contributing, to feel the power of Making Things Happen.

This past month the biggest project I've been working on is diving head first to get our Discourse message board forum set up, and working through the launch plan. It's coming together nicely. It's going to be a beautiful AFP/Dresden Dolls community place on the net, for us to share, interact and come together, with a robust offering of features. I can't wait. If you're an experienced message board user, or have any experience as a moderator in a large online community (especially as a message board mod), please shoot us an email at patronhelp@amandapalmer.net. We're fine for the launch but as the community grows on the forum, we're looking for folks who have forum moderation experience who may be interested in helping us out and being part of our mod team. Generally speaking, our community does not require a heavy moderation hand, but because Discourse is so feature robust, it'd be helpful for us to have more folks who are familiar navigating forum moderation tools.

I know that the longer this pandemic goes on, the harder this all will be, and the more it will touch our lives personally. The more fear, loss and tragedies we will experience. The more loved ones will be affected, and lost. The harder this will be for families and finances. I know this will not be easy, and will get harder before it gets better. I think of my privileges each and every day, I express gratitude whenever I can, wherever I find something to be grateful for, but I also recognize that to get through this, I need to confront the hardship I am feeling, so that I can let it go, so that I can experience it and not take it with me.

It's hard to find the words for this update. Amanda wanted us to be raw, open and honest. And I know so many people are experiencing so many difficult things right now. I am reminded of feelings I haven’t felt in half a lifetime. Feelings of darkness while recognizing that there is some light in my darkness that’s a privilege so many people don’t have in their darkness right now. Every day I am mourning in grief (my own, others' and our collective grief), while picking my head up to hold onto the things, people in my life that are beautiful, that are good.
 
I had a good talk with Michael, once he was well enough to FaceTime and catch up. He helped me screw my head on straight – I was feeling anxious about not being as productive as I usually am because Amanda and Jordan had both been offline and many of our projects came to a sudden halt. I'm so used to working with so many plates in the air and was having a hard time with what felt like everything coming to a screeching halt. Michael reminded me to take time for myself, to slow the hell down and to not be so immersed in work as a value of myself or my productivity. He reminded me that I am a human too, and it's okay to take space from my work if and when I need to for my own wellbeing.

I read a tweet that’s been circulating social media that has helped me reframe my perspective. In its essence it reminds us that we are not “working from home” as usual, we are at home during a global crisis trying to get some work done. But it is not business as usual, and it’s okay. It’s okay to not feel normal, and to let go of any guilt of behavior changes that fuel self-care and help us cope. I am not a person who naps, I’ve found myself not sleeping well at night and needing to take a 20-60 minute nap during the day - which is out of the ordinary for me. I’ve read that a lot of people are experiencing this right now, as a natural response to heightened stress and anxiety.

I’ve spent a few days really scared over the last couple of weeks, more than the baseline of fear we are all feeling daily, because my father’s significant other, whom he was helping to care for and cohabitated with, tested positive for COVID-19. I am checking in on him with daily phone calls. I organized to make sure he has everything he may need. I am advising him on what to do, I am trying to take care of him 40 miles away, with no means to get to him even if I wanted to. I am trying to be a rock, smooth over little family squabbles, to get things done, to prepare, to make sure he is safe and looked after. He is doing well right now, and for that I am beyond thankful. (*UPDATE* - it took my dad two weeks to get a test, but it came back negative and he is currently doing well).
 
I am trying not to use resources that I do not need to utilize, so those that do need them, have them (like grocery and prescription delivery services, I canceled a scheduled electronic waste sanitation pick up, and am avoiding purchasing high demand products that I don't immediately need etc.). I thankfully had everything I needed, before this unexpected lockdown, I feel safe and adequate knowing that I did not need to run out frantically searching for anything because I was sufficient and prepared before all of this  – I have ample disinfectants, I have a thermometer, I have gloves, I have face coverings, I have soap and toilet paper, I have ample food in my pantry, I have friends to call if I was in a real bind, I have medication, I have my health. I was able to pay my rent for April without any fear of over-drafting because I have my paycheck, I am caught up on my utility bills, and I know how fucking lucky I am – to have colleagues who are loving, forgiving, caring, and the best people to be working alongside. I know that I, along with Amanda and the team, are lucky to have you - our community - to support us in every which way that you do - in good times, and in hard times.

Music fuels me, it’s my daily meditation, it helps me process my feelings and vent and release. It helps me feel seen, it helps me see. I am clinging on to it now, very hard. I know the magic of music and music community. I know that we need to be together, we’re in this together, regardless of how far apart we are. Please feel free to share with me songs, albums or playlists that are helping to keep you going, too.

As Amanda says, it’s just a ride, and we’ll get through this together. It’ll be hard, it’ll be real, it will be dark, but we will get through it, supporting one another.  We can, so we must.
 

Love,
Hayley

sending love to you all from the little corner of my living room that I've made into my home office, next to my window that faces a garage roof, with my little plants hanging in there too. 

{oh hayley. amen. and hang in there, my love. we are gonna get through this one. i love you and appreciate you so much. if i were there, i would give you a smooch this big:

- afp}
......

from michael:

Hello Patrons.

I’ll start off by saying I love you. I think we all need to read that and hear it and say it as often as possible in these trying times. It’s a sentiment that needs to be communicated often and without reservation, judgement, or expectations. We are all human, we all feel, and we all need air, food, shelter, and love.

Secondly, I want to say a truly heartfelt thank you to everyone who reached out while I was sick. Whether you sent emails, posted words of love and support on my daily Instagram Updates (@mwmccomiskey), or just mentally sent some good feelings my way, I cannot express how much that meant to me. We are such an amazingly compassionate, caring, supportive community and I am so incredibly fortunate to be part of it with all of you. Thank you.

And now on to my March Update. . .Fuck. I just don’t know. When I started my first draft of this update I began to write a long and rambling post about the state of the world and got all philosophical on what connection means now that the world has changed so significantly, but ugh . . . I wouldn’t want to read that right now let alone finish writing it, so instead I’m just going to say that March was difficult. It probably was for you too and that sucks. 

I wish I could just straightforwardly tell you how I’m feeling right now and what the experience of being sick and coming out the other side means to me, but the truth of the matter is that I can’t. I feel like I’m in a low level but constant state of shock and I’m having a hard time making sense of anything, let alone my emotions. I say this not to garner any sympathy, although I know that many of you amazing humans would be more than willing to send it my way, but rather to hopefully relate to many of you who might be feeling the same thing and to hopefully remind you that it’s ok. It’s ok if all you could do today was get out of bed and manage to feed yourself and any other human, animal, or plant that is dependent on you. It’s also ok if all you could do was roll over, hike up the covers and say “I’ll try tomorrow instead”. 

We’re all experiencing a mass trauma on one level or another and the most that we can do is try to continue to love ourselves and each other as best as we can, even if we’re only able to do it occasionally. 

One thing that I was able to do early this month before things got crazy was participate in an amazing project by Krys Fox, who has photographed Amanda and The Dresden Dolls many times over the years (he’s also on Patreon). 

The Project, “Helping Hands” is focused around the healing power of touch which has an even more visceral meaning now than it did just a few weeks ago. Krys gave a really great interview with Lavender After Dark here if you want to know more about the specifics of the project (the article does include photos of topless photos of people of all genders if you are sensitive to that kind of thing). The entire experience was so powerful, cathartic, and filled with laughter, tears, and love. This photo that he took of me feels like the closest I can get to explaining how I’ve been feeling. Scared, vulnerable, and overwhelmed, but also powerful, supported, held, and loved. So much of that comes from the virtual support of this community and for that I will be forever grateful. We are all holding each other. 

Photo by Krys Fox - Instagram: @krysfoxphotography

Well, that’s about all I can think of to say right now. Please keep commenting and let us know how you’re doing. We’re all working hard to try to find the best ways to keep helping our community around the world. We’re all in this together and I’ll say it again... 

I love you.

{dearest michael. we are so glad you're okay and thank you for being such a beaming, steady, loving force in this community. you're an amazing person. we cherish you. rest. -afp 

p.s. this is a picture i took of michael at the union chapel show in london that i love but never shared....}

that smile....

......

from alex:

Hey folks,

What a ride we're on, eh? 

This is going to basically be a long ramble but Amanda said to tell the truth so BLAME HER!!!!

I'll be honest with you: I started off the pandemic in very high spirits. I read all the warnings, I read the reports from China and Italy, but I thought that as long as everybody washed their hands and was conscientious, everything would be fine. I laughed at people panic buying, me and my partner spent a couple of days periodically yelling that Cardi B video "CARONAVAHHHRUS" at each other any time either of us sniffed or coughed. It was black humour, and it got me through.

And then the pandemic anxiety hit me. Or to be more accurate, dystopian anxiety hit me. I realised our society is a big ol' ellipsis right now. What's it going to look like on the other side? Are we still going to have a society? Is this actually the beginning of the Hunger Games? Are we going to have state-sanctioned visits to other locations? Are we ever going to be allowed to travel internationally? Following this lovely anxiety spiral, I got into a routine of going to bed about midnight, waking up at 3pm, moving to the sofa, having a few more naps, and then going back to bed at midnight. I had a tight chest, and if I took a very deep breath it felt like I had an elephant sitting on me. I genuinely don't know if it was a low-level illness or high-level mental health, but I just.... stopped functioning entirely. 

Instead, I listened to a LOT of podcasts, I have been watching a LOT of TV, and I have been doing a LOT of cross stitching, which means I have lots of recommendations to keep you going!!!!

Podcasts: 

- The Guilty Feminist; I'm sure most people are familiar, but hosted by Deborah Frances White and every week there is a comedian guest co-host and interview guests that cover myriad topics - the most recent ones I listened to covered women of colour on screen, assumptions, can comedy change the world?, and women in classical music.

- The Modern Mann; don't be put off by the weirdly masculine title, it's a pun on the name of the presenter, Olly Mann. Every episode he hosts an interview with an interesting person, including a theme park designer, a touring musician, a man who gave up his business to become a porn star, and a disney cruise ship worker. On top of that, there's a section where they cover the latest trends, and a sex tips section from Alix Fox, a sex activist who is absolutely bonkers and who I absolutely adore.

- The Allusionist; WORDS! WORDS! WORDS!!! It's just a podcast all about words and language, how we use it, how it develops. Every episode takes a slightly different topic, including name changes, word-per-minute typing records, etymology of superhero names, and language on dating apps.

- My Dad Wrote A Porno; three friends sit around and read the world's worst erotica, written by the father of one of the hosts. It regularly makes me cry.

TV:

- Gavin & Stacey; I'm sure most British people will be familiar, but I always dismissed it because I am a pretentious dickhead. Turns out it's genuinely funny and full of heart and made me cry at least 3 times. (disclaimer: you do have to ignore the bits that were very obviously made in 2007 and feature questionable views on gender/sexuality/race.)

- The L Word; I can't decide if I love or hate this show because it is utterly ridiculous, but Bette Porter yelling "ARSON! ARSON! ARSON!" while slapping a chair has made me laugh more than anything else in a good long while. 

- The Good Place; a sitcom... about the afterlife... that deals with philosophy and ethics... and I promise you there will be at LEAST 4 plot twists that you will not see coming. I just watched the finale yesterday, and I am really very emotional about it. 

And finally, this isn't a recommendation, but just so you can all see what I've been doing in between sleeping, MY BIG BEAUTIFUL CROSS STITCH PROJECT:

In case you aren't a big fat nerd and don't recognise it, it's from a very, very poignant scene in Buffy (because, if you know me, of course it's fucking Buffy) where she's fighting her lover-turned-evil-vampire (long story) and he says

"No weapons. No friends. No hope. Take all that away, and what's left?"

And then he thrusts to stab her with a sword, but she catches the sword between her hands, and looks him dead in the eyes, and says...

"Me."

<333333

Anyway.

To anybody who's been ordering from the UK shop: please bear with me. Things are getting there. The process is slow - I don't have instant access to all stock during lockdown, and I'm also taking great pains to quarantine all orders before they're shipped, just to prevent any possible contamination, and then there's the sporadic opening times and access to the post office to contend with. But orders are being sent, just... a little slower than usual. 

OKAY. THAT'S ENOUGH OF ME. HERE I AM RIGHT NOW, WEDNESDAY APRIL 8TH, 21:19PM GMT. I'M STILL ALIVE, YOU'RE STILL ALIVE.

-POSTSCRIPT, 10 days later-

welp, life comes at ya fast.

some of you know and recognise connor, my long-suffering partner and part-time merch table assistant. but what you probably don't know is that in his "real life" he's a paramedic, which as i'm sure you can imagine has been a super fun job lately. 

except he came home from work a few days ago and started coughing. then he felt sweltering hot. then he felt freezing cold. since he's a healthcare worker, he was actually sent for a test, and we just got the results today, and he's got the dreaded corona. 

we're doing okay at the moment - he's staving off the fever with painkillers, not coughing much, and luckily has his own equipment to measure his oxygen levels which are still within the very normal range. we are also supremely privileged to have an empty flat upstairs from ours, so he's taken his computer and his ikea ergonomic pillow and moved upstairs to isolate from me, i'm just leaving care packages (and cooked dinners) in the hallway for him to pick up. 

life, eh? 

i am pleased to announce that, alongside my anxiety cross stitch, i've now started doing anxiety jigsaw puzzles too.

the podcast bingeing rages on. 

please folks, stay safe, stay the fuck at home and wash yer fucking hands!!!! 

<3

alex

{dear alex, merch queen of love...thank you for sharing so honestly. i will happily take the blame. i love you, i love connor, and i hope everything stays as not bad as it sounds. this whole community owes so much to you both. we're here. <3 - afp

p.s. for all...here's a beautiful & heart-squeezy-warm picture of alex and connor from the merch desk on tour, from alex's insta feed}

i love you guys.

......

from jordan:

Hello Patrons!

Jordan here (Amanda’s manager) tuning in from Sydney, Australia for my inaugural address to you fine folk. This is my first letter to the community. I’m usually a behind-the-scenes kinda guy… but by Amanda’s request and at my own volition it feels right to share my thoughts and feelings with you at this point in time. 

Phew... I feel like we’re both at the end and the beginning. 

March 16th was the end of Amanda’s world tour and There Will Be No Intermission album arc. A massive endeavor that absorbed so much of my brain, soul, energy and creativity for over 18 months. 

I had envisioned this ending for quite a while. Sharing a moment with Amanda and drinking in some memories (and whisky) of the extraordinary adventure and mission we had embarked on. Epic. Momentous. Monumental. Unfortunately, this was not to be. We cancelled ONE show of her world tour and it (with extreme luck) was the very last one. I wasn’t even there to do it in person, as I had run to the airport, leaving my bag in the hotel room to catch the very last available flight back to Australia before isolation measures were introduced. It all felt very dramatic.

This ending was not what I anticipated.

The beginning of this new chapter of my life is not what I anticipated. 

I anticipated a week off in bed to collect my sanity, restore some vitality and to see my family. I then expected to “hang in there” for two weeks of hard work wrapping up business before a 2.5 week off-grid, offline, sanity restoring holiday with my family swimming with Whale Sharks and Dugongs on the Coral Coast of Western Australia.

As with all of you, I did not expect this worldwide shit-show and horrorfest to hit us.

However, I am keenly aware of my privilege in this situation. I type this letter at 7:30am looking out through a screen of gum trees at the Cooks River with a small layer of mist drifting across the surface. 

I hear Kookaburras and Rainbow Lorikeets. 

I’m contemplating my second coffee and which record I will put on next. I have a job and skill set which (for the time being) sees me in a fairly secure position, cultivated from 25 years of devoting myself to breathing art into the world. This is all I have ever done, it is all I will ever do. 

But now it is time to take a breath to pause and restock my energy levels and see what new playing field emerges. I also run a touring company and have had six months of tours, shows, book launches, album launches and specially crafted events cancelled. There’s tons of (unpaid) work to come in rescheduling and re-imagining the fallout from this disaster. 

I bring artists from Africa, Asia, the USA and really all corners of the globe to perform across Australia and the rest of the world. How will the new visa rulings work for countries with Corona Virus active? What about the artists I bring in from third world countries? Will touring ever be the same? How will vital - yet sidelined - artistic voices be heard through the clutter and white noise of the world without a tour to push the point across? What new offerings of art will we be looking at in the future? Who knows? Too early to say. It’s too early to even imagine what the new beginning will look like yet.

My heart aches for my fellow artists, managers, agents, publicists, venues and associated like-minded individuals in our international arts community. The majority of them, as we all know, have had the rug pulled out of them very suddenly and face huge uncertainties and stresses. By no means am I unaware that this is common is across most other jobs and industries, but I am very much in an art bubble and I’m mainly looking at my community; and my immediate circle of friends and colleagues are all art people. They are a selfless and generous bunch, always the first to offer help and financial assistance and always at the bottom of the money tree. And now the money tree has been stripped bare for almost all artists across all mediums. It’s heartbreaking to watch the online scrabble and to hear the stories…

I’m feeling for all my fellow humans that have had such uncertainty and increased anxiety bred from this isolation we’re in right now. This world pushes anxiety and uncertainty on us in a new and improved fashion almost every day, but for almost all of us to have this added degree of financial strain, to not be able to see our friends, hug our loved ones, or indulge in our favourite routines is beyond fucked up.

The saving grace of it all... it’s temporary. 

Things are going to be different moving forth, but this stage will not last forever. In fact, we will have an opportunity to imagine a new beginning. It’s obvious that our politicians and systems fail us. The entrenched money funnels of this world are unjust, but now more than ever we’re seeing what a new beginning could look like. Australia’s bushfire relief efforts were part of it. The artists were the first people to channel money and relief efforts. The audience, the fans, the supporters enabled. It’s almost like voting with money. There is a new way forth and a new beginning… we’re on the cusp of it and I feel that the Patreon is part of it.  

As you all keenly follow Amanda’s movements and missives, you understand the exhaustion that she and the team dealt with and what a huge undertaking this album & tour arc entailed. What we did was unprecedented. A Patron backed project entailing an (astonishing) new album, a companion piece artbook, a 3.5+ hour long show touring the finest theatres of the world… 

The associated bespoke merchandise, videos, publicity campaigns, endless design endeavours, venue logistics, changing timetables, logistical tightropes, relationship management, endless negotiations. It tested the resolve, endurance and tenacity of us all. I have always respected and appreciated the efforts of Hayley and Michael, but the way we pulled through this album arc saw them - in my eyes - rise to new heights of awesomeness and professionalism. We have always gelled well as a team, but with the craziness that was this tour and album cycle there were an unprecedented amount of unexpected and unknowable things thrown in our way. They rose to every challenge, filled every gap and did so with a sense of commitment, love and good grace that is beyond rare and is held sacred. 

Alex has always been the most detailed and caring merch person you could ask for, but he pulled through beyond words can describe as way more than any merch queen could be imagined to do so. All our crew did. Matt Hickey and Bex (our agents), all our show promoters (cheers Luba!), all our publicists, especially Ken & Michael @ Big Hassle and Emily and Amy at Deathproof, Team Fame House (Nick especially), Andrew Nelson (our designer) who is the unsung hero of this team, our amazing lighting ladies; Lauren, Subul and Michelle, our photographers (especially Gaby), all our merch people, KLBM our business managers, Clare our lawyer, not to mention the entire team of Cooking Vinyl worldwide and of course Steve, my right hand man... And everyone I have missed. Special kudos and respect to everyone’s partners and families who support everyone listed above to be able to do what they do at the magnificently high level they operate in.

It was immense. It was an astonishing group effort to coordinate this beast of a machine to roll across the world. What a strange way to finish up such a challenging, long and all-encompassing project. For us all to be in isolation across all corners of the world. We stay in contact on individual phone calls, team calls, squillions of emails and text messages and all but carrier pigeons. It’s rare for me to feel this, but thank the gods for the internet…

I don’t like to look at social media much, because it makes me sad. Bearing that in mind, it’s been interesting watching Amanda’s relationship with social media, her email list and her Patreon posts. What I have deduced is that Facebook, Instagram and Twitter all have their place and their faculty, but the thing that REALLY binds Amanda’s community together is quite simply YOU. Your relationships with her, her words and with each other. Your interactions get obscured by a third party advertising platform like… all of Zuckerbergs properties. So, we’re trying new things – we’re resurrecting a new and improved version of the Shadowbox for you to interact on and we’ll have a new website soon to host it. We’re going to provide a better, cleaner, clearer and unrestricted platform for you to communicate with Amanda and each other on. Follow Amanda to it, it’s a majorly exciting project for us. If all goes as it should it’ll be another new frontier to explore, trailblazed by Amanda and made possible by you. It’s part of our new beginning.

This whole thing could not have happened the way it did without YOU. Amanda’s Patrons. I continue to work on artistic projects across the entire breadth of this crazy art spectrum… From tiny experimental gigs with 100 people in the audience, to sold out tours in the biggest concert halls available. I am lucky to watch the genesis of artists ideas from the very germination of a concept to the finished book or vinyl record you hold in your hands that you bought at their gig. 

This is what I can deduce by my observations; by your continued Patronage supporting Amanda you are part of a new beginning, a new system which is allowing an unfettered, unfiltered pure form of artistic expression to come into this world. You are ALL as much a part of this whole thing as I am, because you make it possible. I know, because I look over all the budgets and sort out the payments. We all wouldn’t be here without you. 

There’s no reality where this machine could have rolled across the world like it did...without you. Together we’ve enabled the donations of many tens of thousands of dollars over the years to support things any sane person would believe are right. Together we’ve given so much work to so many artists and creative types. You’ve enabled Amanda’s voice, Amanda’s magical powers of connection and her honesty and truths to be heard across this global clutter. 

I see how it touches you. I read the comments and see how much the connection we’re a part of mean to you. It’s humbling and amazing. I’ll never take this for granted and I’ll never forget it. I cannot thank you enough. 

So, once again, thank you… I sincerely hope that you find a will and a way to use these weird iso-times to some advantage. Whether it’s doing the sit-ups you always procrastinated about or that diary you wished you wrote in, or simply slothing out and forgetting the tedium of the added domestic, life-admin created by this iso-existence and chain binging some trashy show with no guilt…. 

There’s never been a better time to get around to it or give in to it. Take some time for yourselves if you can. I want to send my absolute heartfelt and warmest hugs to all of the people reading this who have lost or are at fear of losing someone they love. To all the people who are just hurting right now. The world can certainly be a rough place, but I hope that you find some solace in this community we’ve built together.

With love,

Jordan (from the balcony).

{you guys...this is my MANAGER. my fucking MANAGER? WHO GETS A MANAGER LIKE THIS EVER?? can you understand now that i am the luckiest woman in the world?

dear, dear jordan...i love and appreciate you so much, and these years of working with you have been the best of my career by a long mile. thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing yourself and your thoughts so beautifully. you are an incredible manager, and an incredible human. you hold this ship together so beautifully. hang in there. i know this is as hard for you as it is for any of us. xxxx -afp}

p.s. this is a photo i took of jordan just a few minutes before the show in christchurch (the last of the tour), after he managed to obtain the LAST THREE SEATS from melbourne to wellington for neil, ash and xanthea, a few minutea after jacinda announced mandatory quarantine for vistors to NZ from midnight that night. he is my hero in so many ways. that face says it all.

..........

OTHER ARTISTS TO SUPPORT.....ESPECIALLY NOW.

first off....i shared a thread on twitter about how to use patreon:

https://twitter.com/amandapalmer/status/1248380183570079756

and so, here are some friends in the extended afp family that could use your support:

sxip shirey, coco karol & thelonious clay:

https://www.patreon.com/sxipshirey

you know coco as the choreographer and star-friend of the "mother" and "drowning in the sound" videos, and sxip is a long long time collaborator and loved one.

PLEASE GO HELP THEM. they are making beautiful and soulful avant-garde content that will make your heart leap with love.

......

lance horne

https://www.patreon.com/lancehorne

lance is one of my oldest and dearest friends from NYC. he's actually staying in my house in woodstock, and this has hit him and his career hard. please support him. he's also doing great musical theater streams every monday night, for joy, tune in.

....

andrew o'neill

https://www.patreon.com/andrewoneill

many of you will know andrew from opening up my UK tour last year. 

he's very funny.

some words from andrew:

Hello! I am the stand-up comedian Andrew O'Neill. You may have seen me wearing a horrible dress and singing The Vegemite Song with Amanda, or doing my stupid comedy, or in the video for our song The Anti-Ukulele Anthem.

You may have seen me just staring out of a window on the bus, thinking about Nineties metal.

I am now basically out of work because of coronavirus, so I've finally got round to using Patreon. I'm making comedy and music, doing readings of stuff like The Call Of Cthulhu, narrating magical workings and all sorts of other things.

Here's a video I made for my patrons: https://youtu.be/JNA_Ed7Y4_w

Andrew O'Neill - Lockdown Achievements

I have achieved MANY THINGS during lockdown. Bow before my productivity! --This video, and everything I make now, was made possible by my supporters over on ...
youtu.be

If you dig this, you'll like the rest of what I do!

So please feel free to have a look at patreon.com/andrewoneill and help a poor starving clown pay rent!

......

Chris Wells' / The Secret City

https://www.patreon.com/thesecretcity

chris is another dear friend from NYC/woodstock and this is a great and nourishing community he's built. he's a lot like me - a community connector without walls. i was hoping to collaborate more with chris when i got home...but i'm not home. go explore his world and support him if you can.

......

gabriella motola

https://www.patreon.com/gmotophotos

gaby...you know. she was our tour photgrapher for many months and she's become a close friend. she's making beautiful photos and stories from lockdown and her professional-photgrapher-earnings have also plummeted to zero in lockdown. 

please help her.

.....

walter sickert & the army of broken toys

https://www.patreon.com/WalterAliceSickert

walter sickert is an old pal from boston and he's recently joined patreon. local artists who live on the edge like this need so much help to get through and feed their kids. if you're a boston person, especially, consider supporting.

.....

photographer krys fox

https://www.patreon.com/krysfox

you see krys' work above in michael's post. krys is a dear friend and has created scads of beautiful photos of our projects and videos and shows. he's close to the edge as well, like most photgraphers....please help him, too, if you can.

......

my friends.

please stay okay...as okay as you can be.

i will end with one more ram dass quote....

in the end, we're all just walking each other home.

i love you with all my heart.

x

x

a

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

1. if you’re a patron, please click through to comment on this post. at the very least, if you’ve read it, indicate that by using the heart symbol.

2. see All the Things i've made so far on patreon: http://amandapalmer.net/patreon-things

3. join the official AFP-patron facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/afpland

4. 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/

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