miranda comes to life
i’m so excited, y’all.
the world is on fire, i’m making no money, i can’t pay my bills, the prospect of my becoming stateless is feeling more real than ever before in my life.
but i’m fuckin’ fired up.
i have been having a heck of a week, with the coverage of seeing rainbows’ work in the local press, combined with the fact that i haven’t had a day off in the last seven (still unpaid / not consistently paid), and that the last four straight days have involved some significant (for me) travel.
but i got home from the last of my excursions for the week, and i had a call that filled me with life.
i don’t think i’ve posted this here yet (oh wait, i guess i did)— though i did mention it in my last newsletter (which, if somehow you’re here and haven’t subscribed, you could go do) — i reached out on christmas eve, between calls from the bank demanding my mortgage payment, to the artist Lettie Jane Rennekamp, whose work i’d seen in an AORTA newsletter.
i figured it was a long shot, but i’d been holding onto this kids’ story for a long time and wasn’t doing anything with it anyway — and something told me to just reach out.
we’ve now had two conversations —and they’ve done a lot of work already, making sketches to fill the twenty-odd pages the story stretches over.
that’s just the first few. here’s the thing — we’ve committed to do this project. budgeted out, it’s going to cost at least $5k in labor to make this happen, not counting the work that’s already been done (or printing costs).
but we’re going to do it anyway.
i’ve created a page where you can follow along the progress, as well as how close we are to our goals. we’re going to continue to meet on the new moon to update our progress and keep the rhythm of creation moving. if 250 people each gave $20 to help this project, we could at least cover the costs of making the art. i hesitate to dream beyond that — but i am filled with gratitude beyond words for the way in which lettie jane has launched themselves into this project, and the sketches she has created fill me with such joy and hope — hope and joy that are greatly needed, especially now.
as i said — in the press — we are at war. but our strongest weapons are joy, love. our strength is in one another.
this project will happen — one way or the other — because of mutual aid. because we are choosing joy and creation in a time of hate and destruction.
i hope this brings you joy.
