Tuesday, October 6, 2009

um, no baby seals?

How does a committed anti-capitalist ask for (gulp) money?
Like this.
I live as a freelancer, doing things i genuinely like or love (actor/editor/mover/mascot/director/art model/tree trimmer/woman wrestler), making enough to cover my creature needs and have time for writing. No one tells me what to write, how to write, or how often to do so. For better or worse, i'm as close to a pure voice as you're likely to ever find.
So everybody in the world give me a penny?
If that doesn't pan out, how about this: everybody who loves or is amused by me, send one dollar a month. If you want to give more, that's fine, but i'd rather you try to find one more person who thinks i might be worth a buck.
We'll subvert the system. For a writer (or most anybody) in this society, the path to success is a lurking minefield of compromise.
Not that compromise is evil.
Except when it is, particularly in a capitalist society.
Pure voices of outrage or joy or lust or hope get distilled.
They get lost.
Or funneled. Most successful writers find a niche, and milk it 'til the cow runs dry. But what about someone whose style isn't easily pigeonholed? What am i? Social critic? Humorist? Seer? Poet? Sci fi geek? Champion of nakedidity? To become successful, i might have to be only one.
Look at the labels to the right of this column. They represent four years of my life, trying to write something that touches you, and billions of others.
Does ambition like that take a bit of arrogance, and no small amount of ego?
Yup.
But the one thing i have going for me, the only thing that sets me apart from just about every person you'll ever meet, is that i understand how full of shit i can be.
I've taught myself to recognize it in me, and others. I try in my feeble way to avoid those pitfalls.
Sometimes i succeed brilliantly.
Am i a good writer? I have moments.
Whatever i am, you might never meet another with more integrity.
Worth a buck?
If i can get a thousand such supporters from this world of billions, i'll be able to explore more, read more, and write more.
If i get two thousand, i'll have medical insurance for the first time in over a decade, and you'll get to read about Antarctica, intentional communities, public streaking, or my career as a Hooters girl.
Send an e-mail to nakednursing@yahoo.com, and i'll give you the address to send your buck.
If you can't afford a buck, i'll send one to you.

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