So I know a lot of people are posting today, about... stuff... but I figured I'd say something happy, if that's all right with y'all?

About a year ago I had a negative experience during a visit to Patreon, a company I work closely with. I didn't contact them at the time because I felt too hurt and confused and prone to lash out. I sat for a while, thought carefully about what to say and when the time felt right what had been hundreds of words on the subject boiled down to a single sentence. I felt sad, now I'd gotten over it.

Imagine my surprise when an employee at Patreon took the time to ask me to detail my experience. I did, going into my exact concerns. Suffice to say that I felt some things I had noticed felt contrary to the aims of Patreon as a company which seeks to put artists first, ahead of bottom line and stock price.

I love Patreon so much, not just because I did a show there two years ago which resulted in perhaps the second finest crowd surf of my career. (The one ending with a kiss on the cheek from an also crowd-surfing Tomás Ford is the finest. He is my crowd-surfing teacher and to tandem surf with him was a dream come true!) I love them because of what they represent. I've always felt that we are in a new golden age for artists, that more people can make a (albeit meager sometimes) sustainable living through art. Patreon does so much to make this possible.

After receiving my email I got a followup phone call. This is what tightening the net looks like folks, this is how we reach across the gaps in geography and lifestyle and all the rest. I felt forgotten in the cogs of a giant machine, and then someone reached out and proved me wrong. For a company that manages bakers dozens of thousands of artists, that someone there took the time to notice my concerns, address them, and just say hello, means the world to me.

So that's why I'm celebrating today folks. Because the people we love are still out there, we're gearing up, and good things are going to happen. I know they can.

Thanks all of you out there who have supported my art. And thanks to Patreon for making that even more possible than ever!

Cheers!

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Crowd surfing at Patreon, the other time I felt like this!