The Holidays Destroy Everyone, But I Love Them. + This Tuesday's $10+ Webhang/Q&A, and THE LAST SHOW OF THE YEAR (in Norwood, Mass.)

Hello my loves.

Greetings from the nearing darkest day of the year up here in Boston. It's tree time.

AND

Behold....beautiful new artwork from beautiful Niki McQueen.

Grateful beyond measure to all of you, as usual, for keeping me (and the band, and my family) so afloat this year. It's been a hard one, but I've never felt more clarity and, in a strange way, joy in the things I used to take for granted. That's always the way, isn't it?

<3

The LAST SHOW OF THE YEAR is December 19th, 2025, and we're gonna ring it out in STYLE. New songs, old songs, dark songs, hope songs, pussy palace songs!!

It's at The Magic Room, $35, 18+, in Norwood, Mass, and we're gonna take it to the socials for real tomorrow, so grab tickets before they're gone. It's a weird little spot and announcing our first special guest: BITCH from Bitch & Animal, who I know through Ani DiFranco, is gonna open and she's AMAZING!! Tickets here.

There's a thread here on the Shadowbox for rideshares, tickets, meet-ups....all that:

https://forum.theshadowbox.net/t/dec-19th-magic-room-tickets-rideshares-meet-ups/16372

More about Bitch....

............

OOOF. Hi.

It's been that exhausting season of everything-all-at-once....sick people, old friends showing up, new friends showing up, plotting tours, trying to catch up, trying to schedule, trying to serve 5 gods, not knowing which god to serve....all that.

The holidays can fuck everyone up.

The weight of heavy expectations, the winter glare of loss and memory, the darkness of these political times we're living in contrast to the blinding lights on the trees.

Everything looks good from the road, but I know more and more every day about what kind of sorrow goes on in those houses with the perfectly lit windows and trees. There's always so much more than you can see....

So.

Don't forget, you're not alone.

Everybody tries to Get It Right; mostly everybody falls short.

I loved this time of year as a child - I basked in Christmastime - and I am trying my best to make sure my own kid feels the most important lesson of this season: connection, warmth, friendship, nourishment.

We find community and hearth in the strangest of places.

Don't forget follow the basic holiday rules:

Don't go to Bloomingdale's for milk.

Go where it's warm.

Don't over-indulge just because you usually do, or because everybody else is doing it.

Self care, self care, and forgive yourself for not getting to everything on the list.

YOU WON'T!

..........

I've got some exciting touring news coming at you next week. :)

........

I've been taking great pleasure in decorating the house with friends and keeping the fires literally lit. I brew tea, I sit by the fire, I feed the fire, I am writing a lot and trying to catch up with work and scheduling in the wake of all the whale, and I'm feeling more at peace than I have in a while, despite the raging storms outside. I'm come to appreciate doing the dishes and cooking food for Ash's friends more than usual. I'm domesticating...but I'm also really enjoying working with my locals...the bookstores, the neighbors, the galleries, the little movie theaters who want to do curated parties in the spring. I'm in love with my Housecall Concert idea. I think I really might do it.

Amie and I came up with a phrase for this geenral concept of making smaller-scale art funded by the global audience: Housecall Culture.

I like it.

Does it make sense? Does it...say what it is?

I wonder.

..........

THIS TUESDAY, DEC 9th: it's WEBHANG TIME!!!

I'll also play you the....dark christmas song! Promise.

11:11am EST til about 1pm. For $10+ patrons.

JOIN HERE.

https://www.crowdcast.io/c/december9thwebhang

These are always wonderful and with everybody on the fritz at this time of year, it's nice to be together.

I am excited to talk to you all, go over now and RSVP, strat asking questions....have a chat with whoever's online right now!

(And if you've requested gifted patronage, we'll try to supply some of those gifts before the webhang!!! That whole experiment is going well! If you missed the post about gifting, it's here.)

xxxx

Amanda