The State of All Things: July 2022 (Patreon)

Hello loves.

Contents of this Althing:

• A LITTLE LIFE UPDATE...current reflections, plus the video transcription.
• FINALLY: WEBCAST IS (RE)SCHEDULED FOR NEXT WEEK
• WHAT'S HAPPENED THIS MONTH
• WHAT'S COMING DOWN THE PIKE
• RECENTLY RELEASED PROJECTS
• DISPATCHES FROM TEAM AFP
• HOW THE PATREON ITSELF IS DOING
• OTHER ARTISTS TO SUPPORT & FOLLOW
• ART BEGETTING ART
• THE PATRON COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD!!

......

This one's a real ramble. 

It's that kinda month. Forgive me. We're (and that's the royal "we", but also feels like the universal we at the moment?) under deep-ass construction at the moment.

First and most importantly - yes, i KNOW the video is sideways.

We just could not figure out a way to fix it - patron has changed their platform settings and we just cannot figure out how to delete and re-upload it using the new tools. If it were a weekday, we could hold off on posting for a few days while we worked out the kinks with patreon, but since it's a weekend, and it's the 31st and I need to post this sucker, it is what it is...and my graceful solution is to just post the video on vimeo as well. So, sorry it isn't RIGHT HERE...but it's HERE: https://vimeo.com/735167779

And if you just wanted to listen to the audio anyway, since it's just me doing an unwashed little rambling, all's well. The text is also transcribed from the video, by Alex, below...

A LITTLE LIFE UPDATE...

Hi everybody, oh patrons, dear loves.

Greetings from Rough Draft cafe in Kingston,. NY

I have hit the fuckin' wall here in America. But I'm hanging in there.

I expected that this summer would be an easy time of re-connecting and re-starting, but I'm pretty much on the rapids without an oar. I have a lot to take care of - much needs tending and care - and everybody and everything around me seems and feels too fragile to be a robust support system, especially when I haven't even found my footing yet.

And and I both miss our little house, and our little life, in New Zealand, and Ash misses his old friends. There was no landing strip here, we crash-landed, and we are busy picking up the pieces from the crash. 

I walked into the gas station today, and I saw the front cover of the New York Times, and it was a large photo of a woman with a gun, at some sort of target range. It piqued my interest and I read the caption.

This woman was a American kindergarten teacher.

They are now arming the kindergarten teachers.

This. This is real.

I got back to the car, where V was filling the tank, and I burst into tears, and also had to explain to Ash why I couldn't get him a snack, because there was also a line of 13 people and only one cashier, and we were late.

And I had my sunglasses on, and still, he saw that I was crying.

This is the best way to explain everything right now.

V looked into my red eyes with pity and concern and I explained the cover of the New York Times and I quietly whispered:

I wanna go back to New Zealand.

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

Meanwhile, I don't wanna go back to New Zealand. I want to stay. I want to make it all better here. I want to find home. I have not.

There is a deep desire to skip over this hard part, to get quickly past this phase of this painful and terrible adjustment exercise, to breathe deeply, to get to the point where I have enough strength to call for the right kind of help, because I know how this goes, I wrote the goddamn book.

Asking is timing.

You need enough strength to even ask. I've seen this. And you have to know what you are asking for.

I see this now. As soon as I have strength to call for help, it'll all come together. I know this.

It reminds me so much of the penultimate scene in Titanic, after Jack has died and Rose is just lying there, staring at the stars, ready to die, watching the beautiful gleam of the rescue boat float by....and there's a survival instinct that that hasn't kicked in yet. Any munute now, she's gonna put two and two together in her near-dead brain and get into that freezing water and paddle over to the dead corpse with the whistle around its neck and blow the flare for help.

THERE'S A BOAT, JACK.

Okay, so.

I know there's a boat, Jack.

But at the moment, I am still gazing at the stars - and paralytic. I cannot write music. I cannot think straight. And I cannot yet ask for the kind of help I really need, because I cannot speak yet. My throat is a void.

My superpower - asking those around me for help, and by doing that, connect the whole net - is being compromised by so many forces; mainly, I'm having the keep the entirety of what's going on in my personal and emotional life under wraps. It's like trying to sing with no voice. I've been there, many times, gotten the steroid shot from the black market doctors (literally). And I've survived this sort of thing before. Sometimes you just cannot speak, yet. 

I can just say it, once again, from my star-gazing-state: I am going to need your help.

I'm going to need your help to correctly land, to reconstruct, to find my human and artistic center...to find my voice....once again.

I'm going to need your help to learn how to take care of a house, I will need your help to figure out this land I'm living on, to figure out how to use this fuckin' printer. I'm going to need your help to figure out how to be a good parent. You've already helped me so much, every time I've found myself at a loss. 

This is the truth: I'm going to need to call on all of your superpowers - and I know you have them, in spades - to fill in the gaps where mine have disintegrated due to the acid rain that's corroded them in certain, fundamental places. 

It'll be a community barn-raising, and my old superpowers are going to have to transform into new ones. And you'll all be there, heading with me, into some new realms of creation.

I am going to need you to help me figure out how to run this community, especially with The Dresden Dolls going back on the road and making another record. It's gonna be overwhelming. Especially with a child on board.

Once I get the basics covered, I can turn back to the art, which right now, is last on the list.

I'm so proud of myself for being able to get a little bit of writing done this month, even though it was fast and furious. 

Fast and furious is my specialty.

Sometimes it's better than anything else.

And I gaze up at the stars...I see you.

I see all of you.

There's a boat, all of you. There's a boat.

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

(AND, if you wanna try to muddle through it. here is the transcription from the Althing video (again, here on vimeo in the correct orientation: https://vimeo.com/735167779), care of our merch&everything queen, Alex. Otherwise just skip this and head to the Althing news below....)

These are the sounds of my house.

The wind chimes.

Scott Joplin on the piano. Well, on the record player.

My friend V in the other room, playing with my child so that I can make this video. And me, definitely having a rough run, you guys. 

I’m not gonna lie. It’s been a rough run.

For this Althing, I’m not gonna read you a poem. Not right now. I’m going to just tell you something. I’m going to tell you a conversation that I had yesterday with Michael, a good conversation. And I have seen this happen in my life so many times, and I know everyone can relate to this one. 

I could tell we were having a bit of a difficult time communicating, and Michael was frustrated with me. Maybe not *frustrated* with me; perhaps: the *situation* right now is frustrating. Everything is overwhelming, I’m overwhelmed, I don’t know what to do first, I’m back to being a solo mom right now for a little while, and I just have short-circuited a little bit.

What do I do at any given moment? Tend to my child? Tend to the Patreon, which feels like it’s falling apart at the edges? Tend to the upcoming projects, and The Dresden Dolls? Tend to unpacking my boxes form New Zealand? Tend to finding the things in the kitchen where I don’t know where they are? Tend to rekindling all of my old relationships, and my old friendships, and the people who I want to see and spend quality time with? And how can I spend quality time with anyone when the household is not together?

Where do I focus my attention?

It’s really hard to know. And so, I am skittering around, focusing my attention on whatever happens to be right in front of my face at that very moment, because why not?

And so....I was talking with Michael about this because he was like, it’s really frustrating, I don’t know where you’re focusing your attention, and I’m like, welI: I don’t either.

 I don’t know where I’m focusing my attention. And I can feel that it’s gonna have a negative knock-on effect on you, Michael, (and the patrons), and on Ash, if I do not figure out a better way of focusing my attention.

And here is the chicken/egg, which is that: I need your help. I need everybody’s help to figure out how to focus my attention. 

It’s sort of like when you get into a mental health spin cycle of not even knowing how to ask or help, because you don’t know how to ask. I have described my life a few times in the last few weeks to few a people as what it feels like when you have a newborn baby. And there are two kinds of people who come into your life, there are the kinds of people who come into your life, whether or not they’ve had children - who know what to do, because when they see a flailing person who cannot quite focus, and cannot direct traffic, they know that you just do the dishes, and start picking shit up off the floor. They don’t ask 'So is there anything I can do to help?' Because you’re like, there’s the baby screaming in my ear, and I’m leaking milk, and I don’t know! Just help! Just help!

And so: there are the kinds of friends who come into your life and just start doing the dishes. 

And then there are the kind of friends who come in and sort of stand in the kitchen going, what can I do? And you go.... maybe....leave? Because I can’t direct traffic right now, and I can only handle a certain kind of help, and that is the intuitive, bottom-of-the-barrel kinda help. 

People grieving go through this as well. This is why sitting shiva and real concrete rituals of support around grieving people are so fucking important, and why their loss is so devastating. Because it really is often just practical help that the grieving need. Bring a casserole. Do the dishes.

Anyway.

I am also coming around to the understanding that this is gonna take some time. I am gonna have to be really, really patient. With myself, with Ash, with the people around me. It feels like America is flailing at the same moment that I’m trying to get grounded, and I’m just like, okay. 

Here’s the metaphor: I’m trying to land a rickety plane that doesn’t have all of its parts, in a storm, on a moving aircraft carrier. There’s the vibe.

And it’s gonna take a second. And then probably when I land the thing, the wheels are gonna fall off, and hopefully none of the passengers die.

I also am more grateful than I have ever been to everything. To my friends who are here, to my friends back in New Zealand who are checking in on me constantly, asking how I’m doing, offering help, offering advice. 

And the Patreon is keeping my faith intact.

I wanna write more. And I’ve been so off-grid as an artist, as a musician, as a published writer even, that I’m really trying to also get some perspective, and go, okay Amanda, if you’re gonna write, how? Do you really wanna just dash things off on the Patreon? On the Substack? If you’re gonna write, do you maybe wanna actually write to a larger point? Publish this stuff in a book? What are you doing?

And if I know me - and I know me pretty well - I’m gonna figure it out as I go along, and I’m gonna take you with me. And right now what that looks like is I think I’m just gonna start writing, and publish what I need to publish because I need to get it off my chest right now, using this glorious thing called the Patreon and the Substack, to keep the bills paid, and also to keep my inspiration fired, because knowing that you’re there reading keeps me writing.

The idea of signing a book deal for a book that’s gonna come out in four years, that doesn’t get my ass in the chair writing what’s on my heart right now. It just doesn’t work that way. But I also have some books that I think I wanna write, maybe.

And then there’s The Dresden Dolls coming up... 

So there’s....a lot.

I’m just trying to get my house in order (on every level). 

Trying to get my house in order so that I can be a good mother, and a good creator, and a good host to my own heart, and to my friends. 

To my family. The last month has been really hard because I’ve been trying to host without a kitchen, and it’s hard.

That’s a metaphor, by the way. I do have a kitchen. But I feel like I’m trying to play music without an instrument.

So I need to work on some of the basics.

I’m really grateful to my team right now. Michael is holding me together hardcore. Alex is supporting me a lot. Jordan feels far away now that we’re in different timezones, but is still helping me out a ton, and the Dresden Dolls.

And these Dresden Dolls dates in November, by the way - which I hope a lot of you come to - are very soon gonna be on the frontburner of my creative life, and I need to think about that, and think about what I wanna do with that, because there’s no plan! There’s no setlist! I could write a whole new batch of songs and have them ready to go in November. I’ve already written and scrapped two full Dresden Dolls records, so anything could happen.

I think that’s it.

I’m gonna pop this into the Althing, and I’m also going to remind you that there’s a lot of Art In The Mail coming, we’ve got a lot of things in process. If you are a $75 guestlist patron, I’m about to put together something for the Dresden Dolls shows, so don’t worry about that, you’ll get it. And webcast coming up.

And regarding the webcast you guys, I need some advice. So this is gonna be like a workshopping webcast, where I talk about all the things I wanna do, and try, and publish. And you’re my patrons, and you’re footing the bill, so I wanna talk to you about Substack, I wanna talk to you about writing, I wanna talk to you about demoing the Dresden Dolls, and what I do with the material that I’ve got. Stuff like that. It should be really interesting.

That webcast is gonna be next week. Next Wednesday.

That’s it, that’s all I got.

Poetry soon. Promise.

Poetry happening inside, coming to you on the outside to a theater near you soon.

And I love you all so much, thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for hanging in there with me. This has been a weird fucking couple of months, and it’s gonna stay weird for a couple of months, but I know you’ve got my back. And I’ve got yours. As much as I can right now. I’m trying.

......

THE NEXT WEBCAST HAS NOW BEEN SCHEDULED!!!

August 10th, at 11:11am EST.

https://www.crowdcast.io/e/u10elzj6

It's for $10+ folks only, to keep things small and sweet. I'll do another full-patron webcast when I get my head more together. This one is just to scream and cry and muse and get my shit together.

I played a gun safety benefit at City Winery in NYC, my first show back on US soil. It was incredibly powerful, and disorienting. Audiences feel tired, different, harder to engage with since I've been back. Everyone feels farther away. I cannot wait to do my own show (this one on the 13th) to see if it's ME or WHAT.

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

WHAT'S HAPPENED THIS MONTH...

It's been the month of tiny free get-my-rocks-off benefit and secret little shows. That's about all I've been able to handle.

I played a gun safety benefit at City Winery in NYC, my first show back on US soil. It was incredibly powerful, and disoreinting. Audiences feel tired, different, harder to engage with since I've been back. Everyone feels farther away. I cannot wait to do my own show (this one on the 13th) to see if it's ME or WHAT.

I have a little story that I've wanted to write about one of the acts...I'll try to earmark it for a piece later, it's too long-winded to put here in the Althing. It has to do - dot-connecting-wise - with the New York Times I cried at earlier.

If you want to donate to the cause - gun safety and gun control - you can donate HERE: https://www.everytown.org/#donate

Here's a few photos of the show, all by SJ Smith:

With Tash Neil....

Dionne Warwick!!!

The whole lots of us....behind me and to the right is my old friend Lance Horne, next to John Cameron Mitchell.....

City Winery also has a regular illustrator for their shows (!!!), Joan Chivers, here's the piece she produced during the show...

......

Being in NYC also meant I got to NINJA GIG and hug some of you American patrons for the first time in 3 years....I only posted about it here on Patreon a couple of hours beforehand, so there was a really small group of us there. And it was....really emotional, and really good.

I almost couldn't believe it was happening.

(photo by krys fox)

(photo by krys fox)

(photos by krys fox)

REUNITED WITH HAYHAY 

(photo by hayley rosenblum)

See those rose petals?

They were a gift that arrived for me backstage at the City Winery, from someone I love...and I gave them out to the patrons in exchange for little stories.

It was incredibly beautiful. The cycle.

Lance Horne playing accordion....

(photo by hayley rosenblum)

(photo by hayley rosenblum)

......

THEN.....

I joined a fundraiser for the local venue Basilica Hudson, organized by my old friend Melissa Auf Der Maur...and I helped auction of items for charity....

https://basilicahudson.org/events/r-evolution-fundraiser/

That piece of artwork above was one that I helped auction off to benefit the venue, for about $10,000. 

It says "TAKE CARE OF THE PAIN".

Like, yeah.

......

THEN....

I joined the Secret City's Bastille Day gig at Opus 40, run by me beloved chris Wells, and accompanied on vioby my friend Rachel Jayson.... 

(and if you need a little refresher, you can check out my podcast episode with Rachel Jayson here!)

(photos by bobby lucy)

This is what I can do right now

It's enough.

......

WHAT'S COMING DOWN THE PIKE...?

Most likely my only solo headline show this whole year is coming up in a couple weeks on August 14th in Kingston, NY, info and tickets are here:
https://opositivefestival.org/31390/o-benefit-amanda-palmer-in-concert/

It's a benefit show for O+, an organization which "empowers communities to take control of their collective wellbeing through the exchange of art, music and wellness." 

FUCK YES. Let's get these people some dough.

WE MAY BE ABLE TO WEBCAST IT USING PATRON FUNDS, so stay tuned. A few people have asked, so I assume you'd like to see it. YES?

.......

From their website:

O+ (pronounced O Positive) supports the health of underinsured artists and musicians through festivals at which they exchange art-making and performances for wellness services: the art of medicine for the medicine of art.

O+ helps strengthen community wellbeing with Narcan and CPR trainings, expos of local health-and wellness-related nonprofits, cycling events, classes in the healing arts, mural tours and healthcare forums.

I played here back in 2017, and I'm so excited to be back again. These people are amazing people.

I'm gonna have some special guests joining me..

Holly Miranda

If you don't know her work....my personal recommendation is her video "All I Want Is To Be Your Girl"...VERY CIRCUSY.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akuzUWiYTdk

Chris Wells

Chris is one of my upstate besties. He's an actor, MC, and creator of The Secret City, a non-profit arts organization dedicated to fostering community through the arts and celebrating the work of individual artists. He's gonna host.

Gracie and Rachel

Gracie and Rachel are also upstate pals, and they're opening for ANI DIFRANCO right now! Ihey're an incredible chamber pop piano-violin duo who recently released their sophomore album Hello Weakness, You Make Me Strong on Righteous Babe Records, Ani's label.

Sophie Strand

Sophie Strand is a new and now close friend of mine here in Woodstock....she's a poet, historical-fiction writer, and essayist based in the Hudson Valley with a focus on the intersection of spirituality and ecology. She has three chapbooks: Love Song to a Blue God, Those Other Flowers to Come, and The Approach. 

Her new book, The Flowering Wand: Rewilding the Sacred Mascline, is out in November, and available to pre-order now HERE.

Father Nathan Monk

My new fave internet writer, and I'm halfway through his memoir about homelessness..it's so so so good. Instant ally.

His bio: Nathan Monk is a social justice advocate, author, and former Orthodox priest. He lives in Pensacola, FL with his wife and three children. He works with nonprofits and local governments to address issues associated with homelessness, poverty, and social justice.

Nathan is also an active public speaker and author. His books include: Chasing the Mouse: A Memoir About Childhood Homelessness, Charity Means Love: Transforming the Culture of How We Give, and his first novel The Miracle.

His latest book "All Saints Hotel & Cocktail Lounge" is out now and you can pick it up HERE! 

......AND I JUST ADDED ANOTHER ACT. SECRET SURPRISE!!!! 

IT'S GONNA BE A GREAT NIGHT.

I also made a thread over on the shadowbox to share rides, find a place to crash, and make friends with other people coming!!!!:

https://forum.theshadowbox.net/t/o-fundraiser-august-13th-in-kingston-ny-meet-and-rideshare/9268

And again, the tickets are on sale NOW here, and will hopefully sell out by show date, this church holds almost 1,000 souls.

https://opositivefestival.org/31390/o-benefit-amanda-palmer-in-concert/

......

And speaking of shows, the O+ fundraiser will be my only headline SOLO show, but in case you've missed any of the previous memos, you should mark your calendars...

THAT'S MY BAND. YEP.

Our only shows this year, mostly likely.

SO for the love of god, GET ON THE DRESDEN DOLLS MAILING LIST, WHERE YOU WILL HAVE FIRST ANNOUNCEMENTS AND ACCESS TO TICKETS.

GO NOW! RUN!
SIGN UP!

http://dresdendolls.com/emaillist/

GUEST-LIST LEVEL PATRONS, hold the phone!! WE ARE EMAILING YOU ABOUT THIS, we got your backs. 

......

In terms of NEW Patreon projects, coming up in the next few weeks is going to be a NEW PODCAST EPISODE FOR YOUR EARS....

I sat down with author and fellow TED-speaker/alum Susan Cain in Edinburgh back in 2019. There was some logistical back-and-forth about this one, so it didn't come out with the rest of the series in 2020/2021, but it's a really profound and gorgeous conversation, and I'm super-excited to finally unleash it into the world.

In the meantime, if you want to prep, you can pick up Susan's new book (which OF COURSE went straight to the top of the New York Times Bestseller List)....

And check out her related TED talk, "The hidden power of sad songs and rainy days":

https://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_and_min_kym_the_hidden_power_of_sad_songs_and_rainy_days?language=en

......

RECENTLY RELEASED PROJECTS....

Hello My Name is Sonu

At the end of June I put out a piece of writing, reflecting on being back in America, what's happened while I've been away, how the country has changed, how I've changed....and what happens when you mishear a yoga teacher.

The feedback from it has been wonderful, and inspired me to write more.

You can read the piece directly on Substack here:

https://amandapalmer.substack.com/p/hello-my-name-is-sonu

I also recorded a video of myself reading the piece out, and you can see that on the accompanying Patreon post here:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/68472463

......

Millenium Actress

This is one that's been on the backburner for a little while, but finally came out into the world!!!

I collaborated with my old friends ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead on a track from their new album.

You can hear the song here:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/68954030

The band also put together a music video for the song, combining illustrations with my vocal take, and I gotta say the final result is pretty visually gorgeous. Check that out here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKyU0tzUyis&ab_channel=AndYouWillKnowUsBytheTrailofDead

If you're a $3 patron or higher, you also get the download as part of your tier, so that's here for you:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/69248218

And for the $5 bonus weirdos, we also sent through the full video of my vocal take (overlaid with the actual track, so you can see how it all lines up):

https://www.patreon.com/posts/69300511

(As a sidenote, we're trying to hustle the $5 bonus weirdo goodies a little more - if there's every anything you WANT to see, you can always let us know! If we've got it and it seems appropriate, we'll happily throw it out to you folks :))

......

Breaking the Stained-Glass Ceiling

The most recent Thing came out just a few days ago. It's another piece of writing on Substack, this time about art, what it means to make art and be an artist.

You can read the full piece on Substack here:

https://amandapalmer.substack.com/p/breaking-the-stained-glass-ceiling

And for you patrons I recorded myself reading the piece, which you can see as a video here on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/69714134 

......

DISPATCHES FROM TEAM AFP...

From Jordan in Australia:

Hello dear Patrons,

While things on the surface might seem still... underneath currents are moving quickly. We've got a huge backlog of projects we're exhuming from the archives here with Team AFP. Sharpening our knives and digging in to what needs to be done to provide you with tasty art-morsels for the future. We've also, as you no doubt know by now, got some Dolls actions in the pipeline. I wont say much more to ruin the surprise, but I can say that our trusted and friendly graphic designer, Andrew Nelson, has been hard at work... More shall be revealed shortly.

On a personal note... I am sick of the rain here in Sydney, Australia. It has been MONTHS of it... Everything is soggy and/or mouldy. The floods have been intense, and my heart goes out to all those people doing it tough. So much homelessness... It's a very strange time to be alive and I worry it is just going to get stranger. I have a rare holiday coming up to take advantage of the only good thing this massive deluge has given us (apart from full dams) SKIING! Yes, it snows in Australia. And this year there is a lot of it. Please wish me no broken limbs.

Til next month...

Jordan.

What I am reading:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5985244-pinocchio

What I am listening to:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4UTiQ9Marc6dc2VmiMdavU?si=ngcFWb73TYK-SYg3FezsnA

And....

A photo of my magnificent beast as Odie Wan Kenobi…

{I love you Jordan, hang in there. We are all feeling mouldy at the moment. - AFP}

......

From Alex in the UK:

Dear Patrons,

I actually have very little to share this month... Work-wise, it's been largely just putting together post drafts for Amanda, and packing merch orders from the store, neither of which are very fun to discuss. 

It was London Pride at the beginning of this month, so me and my partner Connor went to watch the parade for the first time (?!?!) so you can have a nice little photo of us being bright and gay:

As always, take care of yourselves and each other

xoxo

{Alex, thank you for slogging along during the USA slump I find myself in. Everything is wonky, but you, Queen, are helping me through it - AFP}

......

HOW THE PATREON ITSELF IS DOING...?

As of this writing there are about 11,300 patrons pledging about $36,500 for the first Thing each month.

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

Your pledge on Patreon supports me per Thing that I release, but sometimes it's unpredictable how many Things will come out in a month (sometimes it's just 1, usually it's 2 or 3, we have been known to do 6 or 7).

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. In that's the case, you can "cap" your pledge at $10, and whether I release 4 Things or 40 Things, you won't be charged more than $10. But MOST IMPORTANTLY, you will still have access to ALL the things, even if you cap your pledge!!! It doesn't effect 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 if you are on a budget.

In June, I Thanged TWO Things:

The State of All Things: June 2022, which earned about $41,305 from 11,473 patrons

Hello, my name is Sonu, which earned about $17,213 from 6,318 patrons

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

Them's the numbers.

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 my staff, paying the office rent, paying for crowdcast, 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.

......

OTHER ARTISTS TO SUPPORT & FOLLOW...

The new album by ...And you Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, "Bleed Here Now", is out now (including the song Millennium Actress, featuring yours truly)

You can find it on Bandcamp here!!!

https://dinealonerecords.bandcamp.com/album/xi-bleed-here-now

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Holly Miranda, my fellow upstate NY-dweller (and special guest for the O+ fundraiser in August) is also on Patreon!

Go check her out here:

https://patreon.com/hollymiranda

......

Tis out - and features my friend Coco Karol (who you'll probably recognize from the Drowning In The Sound video, and the Mother video, and some of There Will Be No Intermission artwork, and, and, and...)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHLk2cI1yRQ

Dudes. 

HARDCORE Bed Song / Drowning In The Sound vibes here.

.....

And just to reiterate a couple of book recommendations from a couple of my guests at the upcoming O+ show...

All Saints Hotel & cocktail Lounge by Father Nathan Monk

Murder. Mayhem. Millennials.

What was supposed to be a night of hope and change unwittingly launches an adventure into chaos as five friends uncover a dark past, a secret society, and a sinister plan. Leo, Joy, Shane, Clementine, and Nick have known each other since high school, but life has taken each of them in vastly different directions. Our story begins as they all gather together to celebrate the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

In Nathan Monk's latest novel he weaves together a story that spans decades set against the backdrop of friendships built around a neighborhood bar. Using his powerful storytelling and immersive characters he transports us through the troubles of the millennial dilemma.

The All Saints Hotel and Cocktail Lounge is a stunning story of collective trauma. The book travels through time looking at major events from 9/11 and the Columbine Massacre to the technology boom through the lens of an unsuspecting cast of characters who are simply attempting to survive a world that doesn’t seem built for them.

Check it out here! 

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The Flowering Wand: Rewilding the Sacrad Masculine, by Sophie Strand

Long before the sword-wielding heroes of legend readily cut down forests, slaughtered the old deities, and vanquished their enemies, there were playful gods, animal-headed kings, mischievous lovers, trickster harpists, and vegetal magicians with flowering wands. As eco-feminist scholar Sophie Strand discovered, these wilder, more magical modes of the masculine have always been hidden in plain sight.

Sharing the culmination of eight years of research into myth, folklore, and the history of religion, Strand leads us back into the forgotten landscapes and hidden secrets of familiar myths, revealing the beautiful range of the divine masculine, including expressions of male friendship, male intimacy, and male creative collaborations.

This one isn't out til November, but you can pre-order it HERE 

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ART BEGETTING ART...

This gorgeous tattoo was posted on Instagram by @p40kittyhawk, the tattoo done by @robabelltattoo at @greystreettattoo.

I posted this on social media, and was just flooded with more In My Mind tattoos in the responses...so here area  bunch of them.

If you don't know the song this is referencing because you're new here...

go listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9WZtxRWieM

Bod Cooke:

Tarah Meaghan:

Brittany Grace:

Roxanne Blackman:

Carmen Ramirez Mcfarlin:

FUCK YES.

Mush Wild:

"I'm still pounding the lid, saying I haven't finished yet"

Geniveve Strombolini:

Mirjam Kärvemo:

Janelle Story:

Marshall Brown:

And finally.... Jolene Mifsud (who also said that they often cover In My Mind with their band, nonbinarycode!!)

TEARS.

......

THE PATREON COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD

This is a space for YOU to share whatever you have going on: share links to your latest book, EP, crowdfunder, theatre show... Send an email to alex@amandapalmer.net with links and words!!

Here's what we have this month...

Long-time patron Vie Paula is fundraising for recovery costs after getting some long-awaited top surgery this month. Here's some words from them:

After years of financial barriers, unstable housing, disability, active addiction (3 years, 4 months 9 days clean/ sober today!) fucked up  healthcare, a whole ass ongoing pandemic, 2 bouts with COVID and on and on and on I was finally able to have top surgery on 7/15.

Autonomy, authenticity, evolution... sweet sweet stuff.

Check out the gofundme and donate here: gofund.me/8a6f0b45

......

Thomas Herlofsen has just released a new EP, titled The Allegiance Tapes, which you can find on Spotify HERE 

Thomas and I collaborated (in a way) a few years back - in 2019 I published a songwriting contest here on Patreon, took entries of lyrics, demos, whatever you had, and then took the winning entry into the studio and recorded my version of the song.

You can read the full post about the winning recording here 

And if you wanna hear me covering Thomas's song "Later You Told Me", it's here on soundcloud:

https://soundcloud.com/amandapalmer/later-you-told-me

......

That's all for now, my loves.

I'm reading the comments, hit me.

xxx

AFP

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

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

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

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

http://amandapalmer.net/things

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

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

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