DamnAverage

There are a couple stragglers out there still, so if you find this later, please send me your PayPal so that I can refund you. Contact preferably via damnaveragesheep [!at] gmail.com since I don't log in here often, but you can message here also. More details-

Etsy orders: if you are messaging from the same account that you placed the order, I will be able to see said order and calculate (observe the amount owed) your refund from there. Cool beans!

Shopify orders: I have all of the emails for orders from Shopify, so I can look you up by order number and/or name. I've repaid Shopify to access the back end since shipping costs didn't show up in the emails.

No PayPal? let me know what else you use and I will set up an account on that program to refund you, however I would largely prefer to just stick to PayPal where possible.

DA as DamnAverage has been done for a bit. DA as something else will manifest at some point in the future. I will be around to be contacted for refunding! Otherwise you can find me on twitter @excelddesigns and @dearanomaly

I am moving my statement here as I cannot afford to keep Shopify up for it,

Statement

In short: I am sorry.

For my action, and inaction. I made a great series of mistakes, fell behind, couldn’t hack it, and disappeared - all of these were wrong. I am sorry for how that ended up going, and for my silence.

I have taken many missteps from the beginning through the end.

Producing anything in a home with a smoker was a terrible decision.

I cannot apologize enough to those of you who were impacted by my paranoia - psychotic depression, unmitigated, and entirely on me to deal with, something that no one else should ever have dealt with. For the harm I have caused you, I am sorry.

I am sorry also for those who did not experience the brunt of my own problems, but of the individuals I associated with. Whether they believed they were fighting on my behalf, or were causing problems for the sake of it, it doesn’t matter: no one should have had to put up with it. I made a few wretched choices when it came to who to fraternize with.

I have felt guilt and shame for my misdoings, and as much of that is deserved, the only correct thing would be to make amends where possible.

I have no expectation of acceptance for this apology, no forgiveness. It is simply a thing that needs to be said.



Apologies without action and change mean very little. I have been planning on working out a system for refunds from the moment it became clear that DamnAverage would cease, but it was not until recently that I had the means to do so. Taking the Etsy shop out of vacation mode was a secondary step - the information on the shop page had been changed a few weeks beforehand - so that everyone who had ticked the “notify me when -” button would get a notification. Action needed to be taken first.

Other backend objectives needed to be completed prior to this, including the idea and completion of digitally resculpting most of my designs. When I would be able to make my statement, everything else needed to line up immediately: It needed to not be a situation where I said “I am going to,” but rather “I am doing this,” as it is apparent my track record is not great.

There are likely refunds I have missed. PayPal is preferred, but I can go through other apps if you do not use PayPal. Please contact me - if you use the same Etsy account you placed an order with, I can check your history from a tab that pops up. If you email damnaveragesheep [!at] gmail.com with the address you placed an order on Shopify with, I can cross-reference. Although I would largely prefer contact be done through Etsy as it is quickest for me to access, I understand folks have since moved away from it. There are other contact options, but sorting out the exact information will be a bit more in-depth that way.

I reached out to almost all who had messaged me on Etsy at some point requesting information or refunds (may have missed some, so cannot confidently say “all”). There are still many messages to be sent out with regards to Shopify, and Etsy orders where folks did not message. This will be an ongoing process - so contacting me first will alleviate any waiting for you.



There have been a couple friends who really helped me get over some of my hurdles with processing the plan and action - folks who have dealt primarily with my anxiety. Much thanks to them, although I think the specifics can remain private.

However, I have to give a great deal of thanks to one friend in particular - Marco of Uberrime. For his unending support, offer of jobs to do, and just generally being an awesome dude. Late in 2022, we had some conversations about the ills of leaving behind the classic, real-world sculptures - a soothing exercise in punching clay… and we hit on leaning into the possibilities of digital sculpture. While it lacks the benefit of punching clay, there is an awful lot that we, together, can do with it, and so we started to. Through this work, Marco got me to a place both financially and mentally to make the plans I did for finally repaying everything I owe with DamnAverage. I am incredibly grateful to have such an amazing person in my corner.

You can find a number of pieces we have made together in the Uberrime shop now, and we are planning to continue this. Fact of the matter is, we just work very well together. I think it’s definitely his excellence that makes it easy! A huge, enormous, gigantic thank you to Marco. I will drop my old twitter that I completely upended and changed for sharing digital work here. (@ExcelDDesigns on twitter)

I really cannot thank Marco enough for being so incredible and for being a sounding board for every moment of "I am very anxious about this thing," alongside his calls and help while I deal with caregiving for my Grandma. It is, by far, the most difficult thing I have done - makes doing this, finally, seem almost easy.


And a thank you to all of you for the years of good business, the lasting friendships, the education. Thank you for having put up with me, and for the kind words when I was wholly undeserving of them. To all of you I wish you stay well.