Re-Introducing the New and Soon to Be Improved Nathan Rabin's Happy Place Patreon Account

My internal monologue, eternally.

If you’ve spent any amount of time on this website you’ve probably noticed that there is a plug for the site’s Patreon page at the end of every article. There is a very good reason for that. I depend upon the money from the Patreon to support my family, keep the site going and continue to write about movies and pop culture for a living instead of seeking more honest labor. 

It’s all about finding a balance, and I worry that in the year and a half Nathan Rabin’s Happy Place has been in existence that balance has been a little off. Before the Happy Place, the only thing I ever really did was write. I considered myself a pure writer because I love writing and derive incredible meaning and satisfaction from the physical act of putting words together but also because I really have no business being an editor, or a graphic designer, or a CEO. Yet I’ve stumbled into those roles pretty much by default, along with others like copy-editor, publisher, social media coordinator and publicist. 

Because I do everything by myself, aside from the terrific work Clint does editing, co-hosting and producing the podcast, and also because I have a three month old baby and a four year old, I am perpetually short on time. So I regrettably end up not doing some of the things I want to do. 

That extends to the Patreon. At the risk of being immodest, I think I’m doing a really good job with the site but a less great job with the Patreon. My model for a successful Patreon account is We Hate Movies. If you are not a patron, listening to We Hate Movies is still a goddamn delight, an embarrassment of riches that is deeply satisfying. But if you are a patron, then you get much, much more. 

I would like to think that this site is a goddamn delight. I know I love the shit out of it, though I am a little biased. But I have not been as dutiful and aggressive about giving patrons a special experience as I should be. This has been one of those cases where good intentions run into a brick wall of reality, namely that I never have nearly enough time for all of the things I want to do.

With that in mind, I am re-doubling my efforts to make the Patreon special and different and something worthy of spending your hard-earned money on on. To that end, I’m introducing a monthly feature for the Patreon called the Bigger Whoop. It’s a super-sized Big Whoop piece on a particularly personal, intense subject that will be all up in patrons’ respective grills around the fifteenth of each month. And I’m bringing back a version of Control Nathan Rabin as a patron exclusive but I will be rotating it with patron-only “Secret” My World of Flops entries as well that should be available for patrons around the first of every month. 

I want more people to pledge to the site, and for patrons to have a richer, fuller, more satisfying experience. I also want this site to grow in every way. Control Nathan Rabin 4.0 has been the primary engine for that growth, so I would like to remind everyone that I would love to watch and write about a movie of your choice in exchange for a one-time, one hundred dollar pledge. I’ve already written twenty two entries and I can’t wait to write more. I’m going to be writing and publishing them on a weekly basis so that I can work through my backlog as quickly as possible. 

Speaking of things I haven’t been able to do because I don’t have the time, after an unexpected hiatus, The Weird Accordion to Al will return next week. The next entry, on Al’s Lady Gaga parody “Perform This Way” is a big one, particularly for me, since I was working with Al on Weird Al: The Book when the whole kerfuffle surrounding the song happened. Now seems like the perfect time to write about Lady Gaga, who I understand is starring in a motion picture. Venom, I think it’s called? 

I’m also going to be more diligent about sending out patrons stuff, so this month one lucky random patron will be sent an autographed, first edition copy of the new compilation of Garfield strips from 1978 and 1979 as well. 

And I’m introducing a “God-level” tier where, for a one-time, ten thousand dollar pledge, I will never complain about my Patreon tally ever again. Pricey, I know, but it may be worth it if you’re an eccentric billionaire who hates people asking for money so much that you’re paradoxically willing to give someone a large sum to stop.

It’s all my way of saying, “Thank you for giving me the money that allows me to feed my family and maintain this site. Please don’t take it away.” 

Christ, there’s even a plug for the Patreon account for a blog post that’s essentially one long plug for the Patreon. Whatever, I need the money, so if you would consider pledging as little as a dollar a month over at https://www.patreon.com/nathanrabinshappyplace it’d be