COMMUNITY MATTERS NOW MORE THAN EVER

"Stronger Together" isn't just an empty slogan

Well hello and thank you for being here, new subscribers and followers!

My Inbox floweth over this weekend with notifications of more and more of you signing up and following, which is wonderful. Big thanks to Adam Parkhomenko and Sam Youngman for the referrals, because we need to close the ranks tighter than ever.

I also have a response to Adam Kinzinger which has racked up a bunch of responses and sent people my way. THANK YOU and welcome!

I started this Substack mainly to promote my self-published rock & roll love story, The Sound of Settling, but I also have to roll political, even as I try to get the proper book deal that’s been eluding me.

Thanks to being suppressed on Twitter beyond the ability to do much more than attract MAGA trolls, Substack and BlueSky have emerged as THE two places to convene and share the truth about what’s happening to our country. Yes, we’ve been screaming into the internet abyss for ages now, but we’re not alone and our numbers are growing by the day.

Since it’s Sunday and I usually take the weekends off from writing political stuff, I have a small ask. Supporting each other looks different for different people these days, and I’m grateful to have anyone reading and sharing my writing at a time when everyone feels overwhelmed. I’m another independent voice fighting to keep the truth from getting lost in the MAGA propaganda, and it’s a struggle right now for those of us who make our living in the liberal space. The freelance life is traditionally not an easy one, but it’s the hardest time ever to land new writing work. And it’s an even harder time to get people to care about a book that has nothing to do with politics, despite it being the perfect time for an escape into a fun rock and roll love story.

So ANYWAY, for those who can afford it, I’d ask you to please consider an upgrade to at least the $8/month version here so you can comment and participate. That’s less than a dozen eggs HA HA HA everything is terrible.

But seriously, it’s not a real community until we can have conversations and constructively share our concerns. I’m a problem-solver, so when I have a complaint, I always offer solutions. Whining gets us nowhere, you know. Comments are for paid subscribers only so I can have at least one place on the internet where the MAGA trolls can’t get to me—unless they want to pay for the privilege of getting my attention and energy.

I’d also ask you to check out the Political Voices Network Substack, where all of your favorites from the Sexy Liberal universe (Stephanie Miller, John Fugelsang, Frangela, and Hal Sparks, plus yours truly and the rest of the amazing contributors) are sharing the truth all day every day, served up with the savvy political humor you need right now. Plus, I’m starting a new podcast later this week, so the more of you who can participate in the live Q&A, the better! AND I appear every Monday on Hal’s podcast live at 1 pm/10 am, so please check that out to get to know me a little bit better.

I’ll resume my usual political stuff during the week, but thank you again for being here. I hope you have an offline community as well that you can spend time with when you get overwhelmed by the news. As Frangela says, they are NOT going to steal our joy.

My offline community here in Portland, Oregon, is the Low Bar Chorale, a drop-in indie choir that meets regularly in a bar and sings contemporary songs with a live band—in three-part harmony. I’ve been involved since it began in 2016 as a one-off tribute for David Bowie that felt so good, we didn’t want to stop singing together. And now, I can’t imagine my life without Low Bar and the friends I’ve made there.

Everybody loves group singing, whether they’re aware of it or not. You’ve done it at a concert or a sportsball event or at karaoke. Low Bar Chorale isn’t about how well you sing; all we care about is that you’re there and that you want to sing. It feels physically good, and for a couple of hours, all we’re thinking about is hitting the right notes. Aside from our regular meetups, we do special-themed shows at various venues around Portland.

On Friday, we had our annual Elton John Valentine’s Day show and opened with “Tiny Dancer.” I hope you’ll watch all the way through, because I know it’ll make you smile, and maybe even want to sing along. If you’re in Portland or planning a visit, please come sing with us! I promise we’re not a cult, even though we do have cool t-shirts. I just want everyone to feel the way we do when we’re singing together.

HOLD ME CLOSER, TONY DANZA!