Miika gets something new. Patreon does the same old thing. New bills, and sales/subscribers/shares all needed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

Miika got her introduction to a fly mask yesterday. Initially, she wasn't keen on the sound of the velcro straps, so once I put it over her head, I left it undone. She walked around that way for a good hour, hour and a half, and then finally she let me fasten it. I kept it relatively loose and light, but here she is:

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

The whole thing was an episode in building trust for both of us, and she spent her time after I put it on her unfastened tracking the sound of my voice and following me around.  She's not as confident with it on because it also dims the light somewhat, and she's not used to having her vision obstructed in any way, but she grasped immediately that it kept the flies off her face. She's incredibly smart, but she's needed an environment where that can blossom.

The guys are here working on the stairs —sanding, staining, sealing, so back I go on the O2 shortly. The plumbers were here to replace the igniter in the water heater, too, and while there's no charge for the part, we've had the labor costs from the past few weeks, which were significant (almost $800) that we shelled out today. And Patreon is once again holding up my payout, with no information and no response, so apparently while they'll personally flog racists like Chapo Trap House on their Twitter page, they can't be bothered to do the right thing by us small marginalized independent creators. Meanwhile, the medical bills mount and so does my stress level, because even "payout" isn't instant; it has to go through about three transfer stages before I ever see the funds, and the first occurring on a holiday weekend already puts me behind. The rest is cut-and-paste, because I have way too much to do and way too many new (repeating?) obstacles to navigate right now.

This year has been terrible on so many levels, and the drought has been a disaster in many ways beyond the obvious one. It's killed so much of the tourism that now keeps Native artists here afloat. Sales continue to decline; every year is worse than the last, and I always think it can't get worse but it does. We need to continue to make sales, and I need to hit my subscriber goal on Patreon. The medical bills aren't going away any time soon, nor all the usual bills, and we still have so much to do to get the houser ready for winter. Last year was, everyone hopes, an aberration in terms of the lack of cold and snow; this year is supposed to be back to normal temps (and hopefully snowfall too), and since I am not in and out of the hospital at the moment (which last year shoved everything to the background until it was too late), we have to get this done. In part, we hope, to help continue to keep me out of the hospital this year.

There are a lot of ways to help out. First, obviously, is sales; purchases of Wings's work (and/or work by the other artists whose art we carry) is always the first option, and it was the baseline for the construction in the first place. Second is subscribing to my Patreon page, which gets updated regularly with really cool imagery and a good amount of really good writing; if you now for September, you won't be billed until October 1st. Below there's also a link for "coffee," which allows folks to make small donations, and a couple of wishlists for keeping the animals in kibble and filling out needs around the house. In the middle is the link to Wings's PayPal account, and no, I won't turn away any donations, because we have to get this done and I have to have some peace of mind over it because I have none over my own survival these days). The only fundraising we'll be doing is right here; nowhere else. So here are all the links; please share them around, and if you are able to purchase, subscribe, donate, whatever, we'd be profoundly grateful:

• My new Patreon, The Interstices (Writing Between Worlds);
• Wings's site, for sales, with new items posted;
• Wings's direct PayPal link;
• A way to buy me coffee (which actually goes to all of our medical bills, which continue to mount);
• Amazon wishlist, which mostly consists of animal and household stuff;
• Partial registry #1, from Bed, Bath and Beyond. There are new kitchen-y things on it now, stuff that I didn't realize we'd need to replace (either because the RV ruined it or because we gave it away when we had to downsize).

That all I've got. I'm going to be back under the gun for the next several weeks. Thanks to everyone in advance. And special thanks to one person; you know who you are, and you know why.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.