Henry Miller Memorial Library

Hey there everybody.  Good news: the sun is out and Big Sur is open for business in China!  Except that the highway is still closed.  Bummer.

On the bright side, stage construction is coming along swimmingly.  It looks just wonderful glistening here in the sunny spring sun.

And while we’ve hit – in fact, exceeded our Kickstarter goal (!) – your support is still greatly appreciated.  For starters, there’s still tons of great rewards available – like limited-edition commemorative posters for a mere $25 donation.  Pretty cool!

In fact, we’ll have more to say about those posters tomorrow.

Y’know, having been around the stage, ever since it was a young doe-eyed foundation a mere two weeks back, we’ve become quite attached to it.  It’s almost like the stage is developing it’s own personality.

So, after taking a peaceful hike on Separation Ridge at dusk and ingesting some native vegetation I found on the hillside the other day, in a translucent thunderclap of awareness I realized that, y’know, you can apply horoscopes and astrological sign-stuff can apply to non-humans.

Like countries, for example. Seriously, I read this somewhere.

So the United States was “born” on July 4, 1776.  That’d make our country a Cancer.  According to some very amateurish astrology site I found, “the sign of the Crab is traditionally loving, intuitive, imaginative and cautious.”

Hmmm.

There also more considerations, given the position of the planets, etc., at the nanosecond that John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence.  Apparently it was at 5:10 pm.  So the US is a Sagittarius or Gemini rising.

Where are we going with this?

Glad you asked.

Dig: the new stage will be official “born” on April 20th, at 11:44 am.  That’s when the Kickstarter fund-raising window officially closes.

The stage will be a Taurus!!

A Taurus is, “traditionally patient, reliable, warmhearted and persistent.”

Aww…that’s our stage!!  In addition, apparently Tauruses (Tauri?) are most romantically compatible with Pisces.

Good luck with that.

So I guess when you build something you first lay down some sort of foundation, and then you build stuff upon it.  Fascinating.

And that’s precisely what’s happening with the new Henry Miller Library stage.  Your kind donations are going to help pay for it, as well as ongoing maintenance, staging area supplies, and production-related expenses.  That’s very nice of y’all, and we are so grateful.

And it really is exciting, because the stage is really coming together.  I mean, look:

About a third of the stage now has the proper support to withstand full-blown rocking on the stage.

Actually, that’s not true.  I was about to go out there and do my best Roger Daltrey impersonation, but Todd said to wait.  Something had to settle or something.  Glue, maybe?

You can also see it’s nicely elevated.  The old stage – may it RIP – well, not so much.  If anything, it kind of sank into the wet earth.  (Heck, when Frank Black played here last year he was ankle-deep by his second encore.)

Anyway, this picture likely doesn’t do the progress much justice.  So perhaps this one will.  It’s a close up.  Nice, right?

So things are moving along swimmingly.

Stay tuned for more updates, and until then, ponder this: The Who peaked with 1967′s “The Who Sell Out.” It was all downhill since then.  Discuss.

It’s been a few days since our last construction update.  Perhaps you were worried we took the cash and bolted for Mexico.  We didn’t.  It never even crossed our mind(s).

And for real, seriously thanks so much to those of you who’ve donated to help pay for the new stage, or told friends about it.  You rule.  We are still, naturally, accepting donations - I mean, look at the progress we’re making!

Case in point: the foundation of the stage is now all set!  Look how…foundational it looks:

You see Tobin over to the left, almost “supervising” Todd.  I often wonder who’s the boss?  I haven’t sensed any resentment on the set, as it were.

[Hey, if you tipped it up the foundation, so it stood up by itself, it'd be like how the Amish do it.  When they, um, build houses, y'know with the frame?  If you did that, it'd also look like the cover of Zep's Physical Graffiti.]

The cornerstone of the new stage is a used copy of Bob Marley’s “Legend,” donated by Sven the Hippie.

Here’s another shot from a different angle:

In this photo, it looks like Todd is flexing or checking his pocket watch, but he’s actually measuring something and besides, he owns an Android.

And, as usual, Tobin is “supervising.”

Anyway, there’s your update.  Come say hi on Kickstarter – TTYL!

Do any y’all have that one or two people in your life, where when they show up, you get that horrible sinking feeling in your stomach?  Where your first instinct is to run away?

But you don’t run away because you’re overwhelmed with pity.  And a sense of morbid, grotesque curiosity.

Does this sensation ring a bell?  Do you have anyone in your life that can trigger these gnarly emotions?

No?

Hmm…

Yeah, um…neither do we.

Dear fans, friends, and families of the Henry Miller Library:

Holy moly.  We hit our goal of $6,250. After only three days!!

Good grief!  Great Caesar’s Ghost!  Good Golly Miss Molly!

An enormous THANK YOU to everyone.  Your generosity is incredible, and we are so happy that you value the Henry Miller Library and what we do.

We just wanted to check in because we imagine that at this point, both donors and would-be donors alike are probably now wondering, what’s next?

What’s Next?

Well, our friendly and unsolicited advice is feel free to keep donating. (!)

For starters, we intentionally under-valued our goal (e.g. the stage cost more than $6,250.)  We asked for less because this was our first Kickstarter project and were not sure how much we could really raise, and under the rules, if don’t hit your goal, you get zero dollars.  That would have been bad.

But the rules also stipulate that once you hit your goal, there’s no limit to what you can raise.  This is good.

And indeed, thanks to you, we hit our goal.  So if you’ve yet to donate, why should you at this point?  Glad you asked.

Why Should I Still Make a (Tax-Deductible) Donation?

1. Beyond the fact the stage cost more than our goal, there are also ancillary and recurring costs: ongoing maintenance, staging area supplies like tarps, blankets, and equipment covers, and – God for bid – repairs to the stage itself.  Oh, and lawyers fees for that restraining order against Hippie Sven.

2.  All our incredible rewards are still available – posters, shout-outs, lunches, private movies, and yes, tickets to sold out shows!

3.  Tangentially – but most importantly – as you may have heard, Highway 1 washed out.  It’s closed indefinitely.  That means we’ll have no walk-in customers from the north for at least a month.   It could have a devastating affect on our non-profit business, as it were.  So far, sales have dropped considerably.

Wrapping things up (for those still reading)…

Ultimately, we – and clearly, all of you out there – feel that the Library is a very, very special place.  And the more amazing cultural and historic – and we do not use this word lightly - events we produce, the more HML becomes and an institution in the minds of music and art lovers from the world over.

So the opportunity – for the next 30-odd days – is still available to support a very special space, in whatever way is comfortable for you, and help assure we can continue to create amazing events and memories for music and art lovers everywhere, forever and ever amen!

Thanks again from the bottom of our rain-soaked and highway-less hearts,

Love,

The Henry Miller Library

PS – Sven came by recently; video proof tomorrow!!!

Summer is upon us, and the Henry Miller Library is looking for interns and volunteers to help us across the next six months.  Here’s the details!

Internships
One of the main missions of the Henry Miller Library is to serve as a social and artistic center for the community.  And by working to preserve our archives, interns play an essential (and pretty prestigious) role in supporting this mission.

The job entails sorting, preserving, dating, and filing archival materials, database management, scanning, and grant writing in the archives.  The internship can take place at any point between April 15 and October 15.  We generally ask for 8 weeks, but can make arrangements for a shorter or longer term. Housing is available.

More information on roles, requirements, and how to apply here: http://henrymiller.org/pdf/internship1.pdf

Look at all the happy interns and volunteers...

Volunteers
In addition to internships, we also offer volunteer opportunities.  Work includes everything our current staffers do on a daily basis: event promotion and production, manning the front desk, social media work, general operational maintenance, and much more.  Housing is also provided.

If you’re interested in volunteering, shoot an email to volunteer@henrymiller.org. Tell us what you’re interested in, when you’re available, and please include a resume.

Thanks!