Brendan's Birthday Beach Bash Invitation, also why I keep Steeming

I try not to post too too much, so let's combine two posts into one.
The first half of this is that I want to invite everyone on Steemit to my Birthday Party!

Here are the details, and I sincerely mean it that everyone is invited:
August 25th (one day before my actual birthday)
Starting at noon at the volleyball courts just south of the Santa Monica Pier
We'll have picnic foods, enough to feed 10 people, but since I'm just putting this out there and can't be sure how many will come, if you bring a dish to pass that's enough to feed yourself, then the sustenance will scale perfectly with the number of people. But also, don't feel like you have to bring food, and, honestly, we'll probably bring more than enough to feed everybody, I just like feeding people.

We'll play volleyball and then go swimming and then play more volleyball and eat. A whole beach day!

If you haven't had enough by then, come the next day to ComedySportz with me. If you need tix, talk to me about details at the party the day before! ;P

I really sincerely mean it. You are invited to my party.
We'll be done with the beach around 5.

The second part is answering the question posed here: https://steemit.com/contest/@jk6276/new-sbi-contest-3-shares-on-offer-steem-bounty-for-all-entrants

Why am I here? Especially when, with the price of steem being what it is, my average post payout is $1. Isn't there something else I could be doing with my time if all I want is money?

Well yes, exactly. I'm not here because of the $, though that's why I joined, and why I keep signing up for all the dozens of different UBI things. I'm here because the consensus has become over the past couple of months: community. We must build community. And so we have. The @freewritehouse helps me develop a habit of creative writing every single day, which is useful for my brain. I have met some #socalsteemit folks, and I hope to meet more. I have played magic with @tristancarax, and eaten the eggs of @mariannewest. @doctorcrypto sent me some of @papa-pepper's ghost peppers in the form of salt, and both @stinawog and I use it as sparingly as we can bear so that we can not run out, but we're running out...

There are dozens and hundreds of wonderful people on Steemit. We have shared experiences, because Steemit is an experience unto itself, but we come from such a diverse array of backgrounds. It's an incredibly different experience than being on Facebook, where, yes, most of my IRL friends are. But so many of them are my IRL friends because we're so similar. Steemit is more like my growing up was, where, even though we weren't alike at all, we were friends because we were in this smaller place. I think we learn so much more, interacting with people who ARE like us, because everybody, deep down is very much the same, but who aren't like us in the superficial ways that we all separate ourselves according to.

And, and this can't be understated, most of us minnows share another thing - financial struggles. That unites us in a way that so much BS out there in the world tries to obfuscate. We are on this platform because there's money attached to it. And we care about that because in the rest of our lives, there isn't financial security. So people on here start things like @steembasicincome. Sure, there are folks who are desperate enough that they don't interact with others in a normal, healthy way, but I think it's also a place for us to compare notes and work together to find solutions to the problems that income inequality has wrought. As long as we keep keeping on, we will find each other and help each other.