$14,000 a month

two podcasts and a zine

Greetings, earthlings!

Last week, I was on the front page of The Wall Street Journal:

I originally wrote a very long intro about the experience of having my approximate monthly income from an art project printed in bold on the front page of one of our nation’s largest newspapers… but the more I wrote, the more uneasy I felt. The more I wrote about my fraught relationship with money, the less sense it made to me. I haven’t processed this fully. Maybe I’ll write a long thing about it later.

Of course, I’m grateful, and it’s been an overwhelmingly positive experience. I’m connecting with people around the world, including an 82-year-old crossing guard from Richardson, TX named Mister Jimmy, who emailed me a 7-page PDF of the jokes he tells the kids at his crosswalk, in case I want to use them myself.

Mister Jimmy with his grandkid

The Wall Street Journal article and a handful of other press pieces over the last couple of weeks helped The Cloud Report grow in leaps and bounds, again. By the time this arrives in your inbox, it’ll have over 2,700 subscribers from 36 countries and all 54 states and US territories:

I have so much to say about this, but I’m too in my feelings.

I feel like I’ve won the lottery.

I'm working on letting feelings of shame and guilt gently pass through. I’m trying to focus my energy on proudly growing this project, growing other facets of my art practice and business, and generating more wealth. Money is a tool, and a lot of things need fixing right now.

If you want the March issue of The Cloud Report, you can subscribe here.

1. A podcast that made me cry: Hold On, Rumble Strip

Rumble Strip is my favorite podcast, and it’s not even close.

Hold On is a follow-up to Erica Heilman’s Peabody Award-winning episode, Finn & The Bell.

I don’t even know what to write about this, I just really want you to listen to both of these podcast episodes. They are beautiful, raw, and devastating.

2. An interview I loved: The Daily interview with Rebecca Solnit

Rebecca Solnit is the author of A Field Guide to Getting Lost and Hope in the Dark–two books that have been important for me at different times and in different ways.

Solnit is in the hope and change business, but she’s not naive. If you’re in a moment of hopelessness, I recommend listening to this interview.

3. A zine that made me feel like shit, humans are so cool:

A beautiful risograph-printed zine inspiring community engagement in a public infrastructure project?

Shoot it straight into my veins.

Made by artist Mereida Fajardo (@m.ereida) through a residency with Knowle West Media Centre.

I’ll have more to share next week!

Stuff that actually matters:

• On Wednesday, law enforcement officials from the Burlington Police Department, South Burlington Police Department, and Vermont State Troopers worked with ICE and used excessive force against peaceful protestors. The video footage and photos are horrifying. If you live in Vermont, I encourage you to take action if you haven’t already. I spent 20 minutes yesterday emailing all of the people listed here. It matters.

• You can also donate to:

  • Migrant Justice - organizing for economic justice and human rights

  • VT Freedom Fund - a statewide, volunteer-run bail fund that pays pretrial bail and immigration bonds to get community members released from jail.

Other stuff:

• Anna Brones interviewed me for her amazing Substack, Creative Fuel. Of all the press I’ve gotten over the past couple of weeks, this piece is my favorite because it focuses on the project itself, not on the revenue or virality.

• Austin Kleon featured me on his Substack about snail mail!

• I was also in The London Times

• I’ll be at the first-ever Vermont Art Book Fair on April 10-11th at Karma Birdhouse. Come visit!

• The Cloud Report is open for subscribers

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Christine Tyler Hill

Website: christinetylerhill.com

Email: cth@christinetylerhill.com