Disqus - Latest Comments for feeblemind

Re: SXSW PanelPicker®

feeblemind — Sat, 17 Aug 2019 17:34:39 -0000

Would love to see what discoveries might be made while looking for signs of life on Titan!

Re: becca darling has left us. (a remembrance.)

feeblemind — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 04:23:34 -0000

Your blog was posted on the day of the Amsterdam gig (right?). I attended that show with two close friends of mine. It was in the same week my Mom died... I remember helping to carry you across the audience that night. Your show meant a lot to me, it gave joy and comfort that I really needed. I just wanted to let you know that in the hope of giving something of that back. I wish you all the best in dealing with the grief. X

Re: art, nakedness & museums, oh my! (warning: contains ART, NAKEDNESS & MUSEUMS, OH MY!)

feeblemind — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:46:02 -0000

Neil's drawing is beautiful :)

Re: an open letter to mayor menino, from amanda fucking palmer.

feeblemind — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 16:54:15 -0000

So, this whole Occupy thing. I need to get my mind sorted. The thing is, I used to be heavily in protest movements some years ago (mainly 2003 - 2007). But that changed after my renewed embrace of the Christian faith. At first, I wanted to see if Christianity and (in my case) Marxism could co-exist in my life. But I found that this slowly became unbearable. I had to choose. I have no other way to explain. It was not a rational decision - I tried. But the two grew apart. I said goodbye to Marxism, and slowly but surely over the last few years I have been moving ever steadily away from protest rallies and ultimately politics altogether. I cried and cheered when Mubarak was driven away earlier this year but that was about the last sparkle of political activism/consciousness inside me that I felt.

Now, ever since this whole Occupy thing started, I have felt something that could best be described as "fatigue". I would never join, no matter how much I share the underlying concerns. I am highly sensitive to the urgency and feelings behind the events of Occupy. And the Christian inside of me is willing to visit some of the sites to see if I could assist in giving activists food or whatever. But standing side by side and actually joining - every fibre of my being says "no". I can't explain it. It's been happening over the course of several years. And it's the flipside of a much bugger revolution - a revolution of my heart. One way (that of political activism) had to get closed off in order for me to pursue a religious path. I believe this with all my heart.

In fact, whenever I see or hear about Occupy, my reflex is to pray. To
turn from the streets and the scenes and to pray. Right now, for me this
is the only way of dealing with my feelings of being connected to the
world around me. It starts with prayer and only then can I turn to my
neighbour. And protest has no place in that.

And tied in with that is a question and somehow this felt like the place and the time to phrase it. And it's directed to those involved in or (deeply) sympathizing with Occupy. What I want to ask is: would you blame me, in an historic point of view?

Re: a portait of the artist still in fucking bed

feeblemind — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 18:17:25 -0000

Thanks for reminding me of that Arcade Fire album - listening right now and it's uncanny how that song in particular sounds exactly like my 80's and early 90's childhood even if I didn't know it sounded like that at the time.

p.s.: I thought I was bad with my lie-in extravaganzas but you beat me, in fact you're way beyond me. Makes me feel so much better about myself right now :D

Re: missive from edinburgh, warrior style

feeblemind — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 18:00:19 -0000

Hi Amanda,
two of my closest friends got married last Friday, and I got to be their best man. Next week we will go to your show in Amsterdam and this will be a very, very special night for us because the weekend after that, they will leave in their orange Mercedes van to travel through central Asia for a year. I already miss them, and am still reeling from their wedding, and no matter what happens, that night in Amsterdam will be magical and wonderful. We are already looking forward to it so much. And I am telling you this so that you may know that whatever happens, it will be great. We will be there, supporting you and you will simply not disappoint. Having this show right before they leave is fantastic. I cannot describe the happiness this gives me.
You look really strong in those pictures, and beautiful. I am so sorry that you had such a bad time recently. Just know your fans are here and we support you. Don't feel bad about not doing the things you planned or announced. Life goes its own way. You don't have to account to anyone. We're here and you make us happy more than you know. Enjoy what you can and we will do the rest :) I am looking forward to a wonderful, magical and legendary night in Amsterdam :) (oh and let the twins hug you, twin hugs are double hugs :))!

p.s.: in July you inspired me to finally finish my new book of poetry, when you did the webcast from the Boston music school and talked about how hard and important it is to finish what you started. I can now proudly say that last night I wrote my last poem for the book, and that all that is needed now is polishing and furnishing and editing etc. But because you gave me that last push in the right direction (or more like a slight kick in the butt), I pretty much worked on my poetry every day since then, and it has paid off. Know that your inspiration goes far beyond what you can perceive sometimes. And I am proud to be able to see you next week knowing I did what I intended, partly thanks to you :) Maybe I'll give you some of my latest poems, but they're all in Dutch :)

Re: amy, take a bow.

feeblemind — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:40:47 -0000

It's moments like that when it is all the more clear that it matters what you do, that it's important to try to be a force of love and healing in the world.

Re: amy, take a bow.

feeblemind — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:33:17 -0000

This one got me in tears, twice. First the story of Kimya Dawson - then your experience at the Irish bar and the things your friend said to the young kid. Those two just totally hit home for me. Kimya is so right about everything she says. I just started tearing up reading it. Because I can relate, in my own way. Her words are very powerful and true.
And so were your friend's words, and your own as well. I KNOW that moment and it's why I once said, or decided this year, that if I, as a poet, had to choose between publishing and performing, I would choose performing. because it's that energy, that can flow between me and the audience, the moments that are created, the connection - that is just why I do it and what I think is the most valuable gift to share, when it comes to my poetry.
Oh what can I say. Thank you Amanda for this blog, for sharing these words and thoughts. They brought tears to my eyes. I guess the connection also works online (a bit ;)).

Oh, and I had to think of this other Smiths lyric which was in my head recently as well for some reason but now seems very appropriate with all of the above:
It's so easy to laugh
it's so easy to hate
it takes guts to be gentle and kind
(from: I Know It's Over)

Re: AFP songwriting seminar, webcasting live from berklee school of music.

feeblemind — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 17:08:00 -0000

Amanda you totally helped me with your advice. I am a poet not a songwriter but I could totally relate. Especially when you said the most energy is spent on keeping yourself in your seat and finish what you started. I have been working on my new poetry book for over 2 years now and it's started to really bug me. People ask me about it, I even got a stipend from the local government for it which is great but also a burden, like I "have to" now. I have a really great idea for it but a lot of doubts about what I've actually written and it has become somewhat of a "dead baby' to quote you... ;) I failed to nurture it properly, or at least I'm afraid I have... All sorts of other things distracted me, important and less important things... But having seen the webcast I have made this resolution starting this week to Sit My Ass Down And Finish It. I so hope that when you come to the Netherlands in September I will be able to tell you I Finished It. You gave me the last kick in the butt that I needed. You are a huge inspiration. And so is Leonard Cohen - it's great that you should mention him and that quote of his because he is a great influence and a kindred soul to me.

--Actually now that I think about it -- do you still need a support act for Amsterdam? 'cause I would totally love it if I could do my NEW poetry for you then to warm up the show...!! I'm serious :) (they'll understand 'cause it's in Dutch - you won't but I will translate for you after!)

Re: art-deco-chest-ripping

feeblemind — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 14:18:36 -0000

"one by one, i wish i could kneel before every single artist who has moved me deeply and gently rip my chest open for a few minutes, show them all the various pieces they’ve healed and fixed, watered and tended and fertilized without their knowledge, all the pieces of their music and art that have become me, that have shaped me and turned me into whatever i am. (...) instead, i twist all of their gardening and art into something i call my music, and show that to anybody who will look…since that’s all i can do. "

That's how I feel about my writing. And I think it's vital (talk about vital when discussing chest rippings!) for any artist to tap into those experiences with other art, be it music, poetry, cinema, etc. Baroque composers, Renaissance painters, Bushmen round a fire - all of us throughout all of history we have all been touched by *something* that has transformed the work of our hands to make something visible out of the invisible. And through that, other invisible things are stirred and start to happen and exist. Which trigger new visible things. And so on and so forth. It's how we sustain ourselves, like millions of invisible hands holding a crowdsurfing humanity. Here's to hoping all your private chest rippers will one day go public and bring us amazing works of art :)

Re: making space for the mess…PLUS: NEW geraldton gig & sydney NINJA GIG!

feeblemind — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 14:58:27 -0000

I had a time when I was performing a lot as a poet, and I always perform my poems by heart, that I had this list of poems that I could choose from every night, because I was so used to doing them, that I improvised and not made a setlist in advance. I got a kick out of it. But I also like the greatness of a performance that is well thought through, which is what I normally do, and sometimes now with a group of musicians and poets where we make one performance as a group. I guess it comes down to this: it's good to prepare but one should always be open to whatever might happen during the actual performance. You should always be ready and willing to let your entire preparation drop to the floor for the sake of something brilliant that comes your way and that you could never have dreamed of. I think the most amazing things happen when you let that magic of the moment take over. So, my advice is to take care of your preparation, but never lose that ability to spot the magic of the moment. (yeah right, like I'm gonna advise YOU, lol :))

Re: we got married….

feeblemind — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:52:28 -0000

Yay :) Congratulations!! I wish you both all the best - may that feeling of being the luckiest girl in the world always stay with you and may you grow old together in that happiness!

I work as a part-time household help for mainly elderly people. Every Friday afternoon I work for a couple in their late seventies who have been married for 55 years. For the past few months, the lady had to take care of her husband who was falling increasingly ill. She could only leave the house for a small errand if I or someone else was there to keep an eye on him. Two weeks ago he was lying in a hospital bed in their living room. A week ago he passed away. I will never forget the love and the selflessness and even the joy with which she took care of the love of her life and father of her three children. Somehow his passing away and your getting married crossed each other. One goodbye and another brand new beginning. I guess I just want to say I wish you both the same kind of love till the end. God bless you.

Re: like spinning plates, screaming vagazzles

feeblemind — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 11:46:38 -0000

OK, thanks for your reply.. I guess she'll have to convince their musical director to work it out themselves then :) I'll keep you updated if anything happens.

Re: like spinning plates, screaming vagazzles

feeblemind — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 09:39:25 -0000

Amanda, a friend of mine sings in an all-female student choir and she REALLY REALLY wants to sing "Evelyn Evelyn" with them - the only thing is - there is no score. Someone should make one for an all-female choir so they can sing it. My question is: could you help me out with that? Maybe you know someone who could write that score? I'm sorry to intrude on your time like this but I thought you might also like the idea...

Re: crowd-funding? yes, it actually fucking works. really well.

feeblemind — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 14:14:11 -0000

We are all on a journey from the house we were born into to the home we make for ourselves - Frank Warren, founder of PostSecret.

The only thing is, we tend to make new separate homes and families. Like cells clustering together to form, say, a leg or a head or a liver or an earlobe or a fingertip. Once we start connecting AAALLL the different bodyparts together is when we will have... one love, one world, one family. It's what I believe in, and these are the times to make it happen, every day, any day. More than we know.

Re: MY BIG GAY NEW YORK TRIP by amanda fucking palmer

feeblemind — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:49:34 -0000

I was gonna say how you are the most amazing artist alive today but then I realised, it's us all that make it happen. You're a leader, who inspires others and then says: hey let's do this TOGETHER :) It makes me proud to be a fan of yours because I think this is what makes great artists great: a certain humbleness (humility?) and willingness to share. To be real. To be transparant.

Loved what you wrote about the rain there btw. I could totally imagine doing the same. It reminded me of me one night when I had won a poetry performance contest and a close friend of mine had come along and I was riding my bike home and she was sitting behind me, holding the bottle of wine I had won, and all of a sudden it was pouring cats and dogs but because we'd had such a lovely wonderful evening we didn't let that ruin our fun and my friend just made it perfect by starting to sing He's got the whole world in his hands... She kept on singing and I joined in and when we got home (she lived a couple of houses from me) we were drenched but so happy. Still I think of that whenever someone mentions either a rain story like that or sings that song. One of my fondest memories ever :) You can't get sweetness like that on a Big Gay Ice Cream Truck :))

Re: UkuleleHead is OUT!! WEBCAST PARTY is TODAY @ 6 pm!!!

feeblemind — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:36:31 -0000

Your 12-year-old self can now be satisfied. This is MORE exciting than Lady Gaga. I'm listening to the digital download as we speak and I LOVE it, and posting messages on my FB wall about it :) oh and tweeted too btw. Congrats and have a great party tonight - it'll be sleepytime in the Netherlands by then...

Re: LOOK: THE “IDIOTEQUE” SINGLE FROM MY RADIOHEAD COVERS RECORD IS OUT!

feeblemind — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:36:47 -0000

Are you kidding? I think the single is awesome! and I can't WAIT to hear the whole thing. I'm sharing the link to the single as we speak and spreading the word about the album as well. I'm so excited :-) Here's to fanbased artistry! (hoists glass amid loud cheers) :)

p.s.: LOVING the cover
p.p.s.: also loving the fact how you are so transparant about the financial side to all of this. It's a great idea to know that whatever I end up paying for the album, all the extra money is directly going to you and thereby invested into the art that I'm buying. I've always felt sort of empty handed not being able to directly giving something back to the artists I love. You buy a CD in a store, but for all you know, the money vanishes into thin air. Same thing with shows - you buy a ticket, you buy merch, but sometimes it just isn't enough. The artist on stage gives so much of her/himself and I sometimes feel pressed to give something in return, at least something more than attending the show, wearing the T-shirt and cheering and singing along - even though all of these things shouldn't be underrated or neglected. But - I sometimes waited after a show to be able to give something to my favourite artist - because I felt it was so important that they KNEW how they touched me, in the same way that I did. So, having this Bandcamp strategy sort of falls into that category, but applied in a completely practical sense - and the great thing is, you'll still be one of the few artists (maybe the only one I know or can think of right now) who understands this need for fans, for PEOPLE, to connect not only during a show, but after, before and beyond... which, in the end, is more rewarding and more *true* than just giving money, but - as long as we live in a world where "cash rules everything around us" artists need to live to be able to do what they do in the first place... whether we like it or not... the wisest choice is to work with that in such a way that we can bring out the best in us, to live up to our full potential as human beings, who are always creative beings. Gosh I can't believe my second p.s. is longer than all the rest I typed :)

Re: LOOK: THE “IDIOTEQUE” SINGLE FROM MY RADIOHEAD COVERS RECORD IS OUT!

feeblemind — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:35:10 -0000

[oops, commented twice, sorry]

Re: birth day. euro van tour madness update.

feeblemind — Sat, 01 May 2010 04:36:44 -0000

I just sent the Bandcamp link to a friend - and found out about all kinds of music of yours I had no idea existed. So that was YOUR birthday gift to me :) Right now I'm listening to the WKAP alternatie tracks. I hope you had a great party and best of luck with the tour. Let's hope the birthday broke the curse of ash clouds, stolen passports, dangerous vans, lost keys and what-not.

I keep thinking back to the show in Amsterdam and meeting you and giving you the elephants :) I hope the Neville sisters liked them just as good :) You Only Want Me 'Cause You want My Sister is currently my favourite song of the year - closely followed by My Space. I like the latter because it is great on so many levels: an old-fashioned act, singing about the plights of modern man dealing with social media, in chart-topping 80's rock ballad style. I also loved the Tragic Events of September live. You are an inspiration in every way.

Re: FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST (Dear Roadrunner Records…)

feeblemind — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 12:39:01 -0000

In the words of a postcard I have: Congratulations on your divorce - now you can come out and play.

I think it shows your greatness that you wrote such a nice letter to your former label people. It proves you've not grown bitter. I really appreciate that.

Now, off-topic but fun, this is something I bet you would have liked: http://tsutpen.blogspot.com...

Re: FAITH EVER MORE: the melbourne slam rally

feeblemind — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 07:03:45 -0000

Amanda, I am so thrilled for you to be able to do and experience the things you are doing and experiencing, and then sharing them with all of us. I wish I could be around these kinds of events more but reading about them is almost just as good :)

On a random and off-topic note, I stumbled across this picture and felt like sharing it with you. Esp. re: Evelyn Evelyn wonderfulness coming my way soon (bought tickets for the show in Amsterdam, and I'm going with a dear dear friend who I'd fallen out with four years ago and I can't believe my luck we're friends again -- this'll be the first gig we're attending as *new* friends :)) and I was just wondering if you might be related :-D I've no idea who she is, just a name and a face, but who knows... Here's the picture: http://tsutpen.blogspot.com...

Let me finish with a quote by Spike Jonze about making the film Where the Wild Things Are, since it sounded like something you would say and I figured you must be kindred spirits and it's good that kindred spirits hear eachother for moral support in what they do (notwithstanding ofcourse the good things that come out of heated debates with not so kindred spirits ;-)):

"I have zero doubt that from their perspective what we were asking them to do was impossible. We expected impossible things with an impossible amount of time for a budget we didn't have. I'm sure there's the reality of that. But fuck it! We never have the time, we never have the money, but we always have the expectation that it's going to be right. We hold ourselves to the same standard. But most puppets don't have to rip trees out of the ground and throw each other and be capable of an incredibly subtle performance on top of that. So we had very particular expectations. It was just a very different thing we were trying to do."

btw if you haven't seen the movie yet, I can recommend it. That is, if you find time to see it :) Again, many blessings in what you do. You're a true artist.

Re: telling The World

feeblemind — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:08:48 -0000

that is wonderful news. Hope you will have a blessed day which will probably be a legendary party and an even more blessed life as husband and wife. So deserved.

Re: good mournin’ campers

feeblemind — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:58:24 -0000

Ask AFP: by the way, how do you have an 82-year old cousin? You got me puzzled there.. :)

Re: good mournin’ campers

feeblemind — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:55:38 -0000

Home from seeing NIN in Amsterdam and therefore speechless. But I can say that you made me laugh out loud with the line about the yellow-pages aeroplane thingy. The grey area of post-relationship friendship is one of the weirdest things in life and I don't think anyone manages it well. I still have those urges too like you described, because the body remembers. I guess it just takes time, for someone to grow not so familiar anymore. So distance helps.

Also, loved the pictures of Jason & you in the blanket. At first glance I was like, hey, that was at the show in Utrecht last October! :)

Loved the way you described morning mind too. Once again: recognition :)

Hope your feeling unhinged will fall into place soon enough.