Welcome to The Lady Party
with Margot Potter
Hello, Friend,
As we inch ever closer to Round Two of the #WorstCircusEver…
Woot!
“Send in the Clowns,
Don’t bother, they’re here.”Stephen Sondheim, A Little Night Music
…I’m fine tuning the dial.
You may (or may not) have noticed, this Substack has a new name. Same URL, same Bat Time, same Bat Channel. No need to do anything on your part. Margot Potter by Margot Potter on Margot Potter on Substack felt a skootch redundant. Paging the “department of redundancy department” (obscure Atlanta dinner theater reference for the win!)* Upon further thought and after digging into the considerable digital archives of the Margot Potter universe, I made a decision. Way back in 2015, I hosted a series of live events on Facebook, a virtual cocktail party streamed from this little barn apartment that I called The Lady Party. I don’t know what it is about the word lady, but it makes me chuckle. Perhaps it is my complete lack of ladylike attributes or my contrarian nature. At the time, I had a deep and abiding love for some fabulous stretchy pants I dubbed my Lady Pants. I’m circling the core point here, I promise. I also launched a blog called The Lady Party, where I wrote deep dive articles about Round One of the aforementioned circus and personal essays about my experiences as a menopausal woman over 50 in a youth obsessed reality. It worked on three levels, one as a political reference, two as a UK slang reference to my lady parts (which were in the process of shutting down for reproductive business), and three as an invitation. The live events and blog were shuttered for a few years after we moved to a new house that wasn’t conducive to live video and I got distracted by a series of futile attempts efforts to earn a living. Flash forward to the beginning of the pandemic and I decided to combat my isolation by taping a series of interviews with the wide array of fascinating creative people I know and I called them The Lady Party. (They are no longer online, unfortunately, due to my recent exodus from Meta and YouTube.)
In this moment, on this new platform, The Lady Party encapsulates my focus and agenda. Welcome to The Lady Party with Margot Potter: a Veritable Pu Pu Platter of Awesome Sauce. (The tag line will change on a regular basis, just because.) It’s ‘with’ instead of ‘by’ because you, dear reader, are an integral part of the equation, as long as there is a you. You do not have to be a lady to join The Lady Party, it’s an all access, all inclusive, all weather event! But if it’s just a Party of One, it’s not quite as fun. We will explore politics, world events, culture, creativity, aging DISgracefully, and the struggle to maintain joy and hope as our world battles the baffling array of dubious forces currently aligning for their weird dark purposes.
If that sounds like your cuppa, there’s nothing you need to do except stick around for the fun. A party is always better with sparkling conversation, so please consider this your invitation to get involved in the comments section. As long as you keep it respectful and friendly, it’s all good. I don’t do drama or negativity, trolls and asshats will be duly banished.
The cool thing about Substack is that under your main platform here you can offer a variety of sub-Substacks. Because I’m a woman of many facets and some folks are interested some facets more than the rest, I will be hosting Margot Potter Studios in a sub-substack here. If you sign up for that adventure (see below) you’ll get emails with any new art or jewelry I am offering for purchase. For the time being, occasional DIY content will also be found in this bucket.
Finally, phew, I am gearing up to bring The Lady Party interviews back as a podcast. They’re currently homeless and I’d really like to make more, so if that sounds like fun, you can opt into that sub-Substack. Also see below.
So, if you subscribe to The Lady Party with Margot Potter you have the following options (Hit the subscribe button and select from the following email lists under NOTIFICATIONS:)
Main dish:
The Lady Party with Margot Potter: deep dive essays, musings, and video content (and occasional appearances from my six dogs and farm living frippery)
Tasty side dishes for your infotainment:
Margot Potter Studios: original art and jewelry for purchase and DIY Inspiration
The Lady Party Podcast: Fascinating conversations with innovative people who have taken the road less traveled.
If you are already a subscriber, hit the manage subscription button by clicking the arrow under your avatar in the top right of your screen and toggle the other options on or off under NOTIFICATIONS as you choose!
You can sub to the main dish and the side dishes, or any combination thereof. You are (technically) subbed to all of them but I decided it best to allow you to opt in or out of them individually in your subscription so you don’t have to receive emails from all of them. That’s up to you. You can alternately follow the account without subscribing and find the content at the top of your Notes feed. Will there be other sides? Possibly! I will not overwhelm you with content, five posts on the main every week, periodic posts on the art page, and (coming soon) a once a week interview on the Podcast.
I have future focused thoughts about combining forces with some other Substackers to maximize the value of investment, but that is a bit down the road. As a former magazine editor and PR person, I know first hand the struggles of wranging creatives. Still, as we move into this Brave New World, we will all have to find ways to make it work and working together is definitely a way.
I call this the Power of We, and I will be talking about it tomorrow in an essay. Any one person can only do so much on their own, but when people work together, they can move mountains. There’s a reason why people are being divided, distracted, isolated, and manipulated via social media and mainstream media messaging, because the collective good has real power. We are that power, my friend.
Everything here will always be free, but if you are able to support this publication and this creative, it will help facilitate the efforts and expenses involved in juggling the digital balls needed to make it happen. I also offer the opportunity to purchase me a ‘cup of coffee’ for a buck, which is an inexpensive way to give this writer a little love and helps her pay the rent.
or maybe…
No need to do either, because your presence is a gift I treasure, friend.
Consider this your invitation. We have work to do, my friend.
Together.
Welcome to The Lady Party!
*I played Connie Sue Day in a revival of this musical in Atlanta for a season at an infamous and since shuttered highly questionable dinner theater.
Whew...when you decide to party you do it in fun-tabulous and creative style don't you, Margot?
Needless to say I'm in, but am confused about how to sign up for the sub-subs. When I click on them I am not given the option to subscribe.
I am already a subscriber to the main feed, but would still like to get separate emails when you post something to one of your subs. Does that make sense?
Please enlighten me all knowing Sub-Substacker. I didn't know about being able to sub my Substacks so thank you for that. That could be very useful!
I can't wait.
…but will there be goats? Because goats!