it’s my 43rd birthday and i love you.
(public post)
hallo loves,
i’m going to be Thinging a fun patron-only Thing later today: a rough draft of the SXSW documentary for your notes, thoughts and feedback before i make it public….check your inboxes later.
but for now….?
it’s just past midnight, april 30th. it’s my birthday. i’m 43 years old.
i’m going to spend the day offline and doing some things for Me, since i’m lucky enough to have landed a birthday that isn’t on a goddam weekend during the height of Tour Season.
i’m gonna go to 9:15 yoga, then i’m going to get a massage from one of my favorite local woodstock weirdo bodyworkers, then i’m go for a hike and play with my kid all afternoon, and then i’m going to eat dinner with my husband.
IT’S WILD out here, i tell you, WILD.
but honestly? i wouldn’t trade this for the world, not for all the acid-soaked, dance-til-dawn raves on the planet. i honestly cannot think of a way i’d rather spend this day, especially if you factor in sending out this blog to you all, and logging in periodically over the day to read the comments, because i love…..being here. here in this strange digital space where i have found you all.
this is my life. this is how i like to do it. this is what i love right now.
and i gotta say, in the wise words of patti, i got a new attitude lately.
oh yes, you can press play.
you better.
i took it so high. so low. so long.
there was no where to go. like a bad dream.
and now?
i feel pretty fucking fantastic, and a lot of that feeling fantastic is because of you.
my ability to do everything i’m doing right now…the juggle and hustle to be an artist, an activist, a writer, a musician and a mother to a three-year-old all at the same fucking time…i just don’t know where i’d be if it weren’t for this patreon and the fact that 15,000 of you – whether you’re in for $12 a year or much, much more – have my BACK.
the fact that i just went to the white house press dinner and sleighed it and felt like i could hold my own in a room full of people that adult – because i feel like the work i’m doing is REAL…is real.
the fact that i am making allies all over the country to fight the patriarchy. the fact that i have made the most honest fucking album of my entire career and i’m not stressing the album sales or the reviews…..that is all because of you. you. this. us. i say it often, but i mean it: this feels revolutionary. my voice is becoming unchained from the mechanisms that kept it enslaved for a really long time, forces and second-guessings that i didn’t even know were there until i was freed.
in a way i din’t see coming, you have all freed me, and i don’t say that to sound dramatic. i say it because it’s fucking true, and it feels real.
and i take the reality of this patreon less and less for granted every single day, which is handy.
because it becomes stronger every day, and there’s a feeling of indirect proportion and wonderfulness: the more it grows, the less fear i have. the less fear i have, the stronger my work gets, the stronger i get, the more it grows. it’s a circle of art and growth that i didn’t feel before when i was in the spin-cycle of approval from “the top” down.
fuck the top down.
i have things i want to make, to say, to express, to share, to contribute.
why should there be so many things in the way? there used to be. there aren’t now.
and this is because of you.
…………..
i almost always post something on my birthday, and i’m almost always in the middle of a project, and i always ask for something.
this year, i wanna ask for a couple things, and i wanna get slightly creative.
first:
i’d like to ask that you spread the word about the album and – if you’ve seen it – the show. i’ll post the tour dates at the bottom, and i wanna ask you to do it not in a “general” way like posting to twitter or FB or instagram…i’d like to ask you to think of ONE SINGLE PERSON who may not know about the record or the show, and i’d like you send them a text, a DM, or a an email. or hell, leave them a voice memo. all i ask is that you send a personal recommendatiom friend to friend, sister to sister, about a song, a video, the whole record, or what the show meant to you. and if you really want to make my day, copy what you wrote, and to whom with a little context if you wanna, and paste it in the comments for me to read. (you can redact anything too personal. the comments will look like the mueller report!!)
this is not a radio record. it’s not a dance record. it’s not a record that will ever be used in a car commercial. it will not spread like that. it will spread like this. from soul to soul, on commendation from people who have feelings about it, to…..others.
they don’t need to join the patreon. all i want is for them to listen to the record.
and because the patreon has made things different, i don’t even want you to ask people to BUY the record. they can buy it if they want, sure. but really all i want is for them to LISTEN TO IT. you can listen to it free on bandcamp or on youtube.
you can use this link as a general catch-all….
https://nointermission.amandapalmer.net/
…it’s got the info to everything: the album, the tour, all of it.
so…..yeah.
that’s what i’d like for my birthday.
i’ll got for a hike and i’ll come back home and read the comments
and you can write anything…don’t be worried if you don’t cut-n-paste a heartfelt album or tour recommendation to someone, you can totally just tell me that you love me and happy birthday.
BONUS POINTS: atlanta (may 17th at the cobb energy center) and nashville (may 18th at the ryman auditorium)……sales are rough. the venues are SO fucking huge – atlanta is 3,500 and it’s barely half sold. if you know anyone in either of those cities, this is the moment to reach out.
and second?
when it’s birthday time, i sometimes ask for you to consider making a donation in my name to a cause if you’re feeling generous (or angry!).
things are dicey out there, people.
i’m gonna do it this year.
since i started tour, abortion advocates and reproductive rights groups have been coming out of the shadows all over the place, talking to me about what’s what in the world of abortion rights and access.
i’ve been finding out about so, so, so many groups that are fighting tirelessly for the rights of american women to be able to access abortion and general reproductive health care.
this organization, abortion care network, has come up again and again since i’ve started touring There Will Be No Intermission.
from their site:
Today, independent abortion care providers (Indies) provide care to 2 of every 3 people in the US who have an abortion. The sustainability and well-being of Indies is essential to ensuring meaningful access to abortion care in this country. Abortion Care Network (ACN) is dedicated to the unique needs of these providers and the people they serve.
When you support ACN, you are helping us provide independent providers the tools and resources to keep exceptional, patient-centered abortion care available in communities throughout the United States. We need your support to ensure abortion care clinics and the individuals and families who rely on the necessary care they provide are able to thrive.
this is a website that i wish someone had been able to tell me about when i was pregnant and needed an abortion that wasn’t a nightmare.
this is a group that desperately needs help from like-minded people right now…especially as abortion access to women (and especially poorer women with limited means to take time off from work and travel) is strangled.
even if you just donate $5 or $10, it will mean a lot to them, and to me. if you want to put in the “special note” that amanda palmer sent you to the site for her birthday, go for it.
i love you. and i love me. and i want the girls and women of america to be safe and cared for if they ever need to go through what i went through.
so yeah. that would mean a lot to me this year.
https://www.abortioncarenetwork.org/donation/
………..
on that dark note…
I FUCKING LOVE ALL OF YOU SO MUCH.
i’m so tired right now….it’s been such a marathon of work, thought and art for the last week…. and the last few months….it’s been a beautiful blur. a blur i love more than anything.
and goddammit i love it this way
ALL-ONE!!!!!!
FORTY THREE YEARS ON BEAUTIFUL SPACESHIP EARTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
xxxxxx
AFP
the tour dates coming up
Fri May 10 – San Francisco – The Warfield
Sat May 11 – Los Angeles – The Theatre at Ace Hotel
Fri May 17 – Atlanta – Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
Sat May 18 – Nashville – Ryman Auditorium
Thu May 30 – St. Louis – The Pageant
Fri May 31 – Kansas City – Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland
Sat Jun 1 – Denver – Paramount Theatre
Thu Jun 6 – Vancouver – Chan Centre
Fri Jun 7 – Seattle – Paramount Theater
Sat Jun 8 – Portland – Crystal Ballroom (SOLD OUT)
Sun Jun 9 – Portland – Crystal Ballroom (JUST ADDEd)
Wed Sep 4 – Netherlands – Amsterdam – Meervaart
Fri Sep 6 – Germany – Berlin – Admiralspalast
Wed Sep 11 – Germany – Munich – Kongressaal
Fri Sep 13 – Germany – Offenbach – Capitol
Sat Sep 14 – Austria – Vienna – Konzerthaus
Sun Sep 15 – Austria – Graz – Stefaniensaal
Wed Sep 18 – Germany – Stuttgart – Theaterhaus
Thu Sep 19 – Germany – Essen – Colosseum
Fri Sep 20 – Belgium – Antwerp – De Roma
Tue Sep 24 – Germany – Hamburg – Laeiszhalle
We Sep 25 – Germany – Leipzig – Haus Auensee
Thu Sep 26 – Czech Republic – Prague – Hybernia
Fri Sep 27 – Luxembourg – Luxembourg – Conservatoire
Sat Sep 28 – France – Paris – Bataclan
Fri Oct 11 – Denmark – Copenhagen – Bremen Teater
Sat Oct 12 – Sweden – Stockholm – Södra Teatern (SOLD OUT)
Wed Oct 16 – UK – Bexhill – De La Warr Pavilion
Sat Oct 19 – UK – Cardiff – St David’s Hall
Sun Oct 20 – UK – Cambridge – Corn Exchange
Wed Oct 23 – Ireland – Cork – Opera House
Thu Oct 24 – Ireland – Dublin – National Concert Hall
Sat Oct 26 – Ireland – Belfast – Ulster Hall
Sun Oct 27 – Ireland – Limerick – Univeristy Hall
Frin Nov 1 – UK – Dunfermline – Carnegie Hall
Sat Nov 2 – UK – Glasgow – City Halls
Sun Nov 3 – UK – Manchester – Albert Hall
Mon Nov 4 – UK – York – Opera House
Thu Nov 7 – UK – Newcastle – Tyne Theatre
Sun Nov 24 – Portugal – Braga – Theatro Circo
Thu Dec 5 – UK – London – Union Chapel (NEARLY SOLD OUT)
Fri Dec 6 – UK – London – Union Chapel (SOLD Out)
Fri Dec 13th – UK – London Union Chapel (JUST ADDED)
——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 on this lovely page: http://amandalanda.amandapalmer.net/
5. general AFP/patreon-related questions? ask away, someone will answer: patronhelp@amandapalmer.net
