Switching medications is always tricky, but you seem to be doing as well as can be expected. Thanks for reading!

I resent this. I'm a dot.anarchist committed to the revolutionary transformation of the Net into a community of self-regulating autonomous collectives, like they have in Berkeley, only the electricity works and everyone has to take baths. Also I get my own room. And I hope the chicks are hot. There's nothing skankier than a punk rock chick who doesn't bathe, although a lot of the ones I went to Evergreen State with (or was it Reed?) were pretty hot. My favorites were the ones with trust funds, especially after I slipped them the date rape drugs. Although sometimes they turned out to be guys when you got the packaging off. Yuk! Maybe it was Wesleyan I went to. Anyway, I get along with chicks better when they're drugged, but I'm definitely not gay. Maybe I should work on my tan.

What's the matter, Liz? Nobody offer to donate money to you? It's a shame that people don't recognize your genius and the effort you put in, that's for sure.

You want to talk about capitalism? It works like this: you work on your site, I'll work on mine, and Jim will work on his, and people will reward those of us whom they feel have benefitted them. Capitalism is all about the free market, and if having that button on the sidebar makes people think before hitting Post, then I'm all for it.

Besides, is it that hard to ignore an Amazon button? They're not that big. :)

Mike, what's wrong with you? Was that supposed to be funny?

I love a good rant. In this case it helps that on my blathering blog, I don't have a donation button.

Bob: I'm sorry. I just have these terrible flashbacks. Zoloft and cocaine are not a great combination, but at least they keep the vet bills down. Stop by later for a drink and we'll work things out.

Bob: I'm sorry. I just have these terrible flashbacks. Zoloft and cocaine are not a great combination, but at least they keep the vet bills down. Stop by later for a drink and we'll work things out.

Mark Russell is still alive?!?!? I thought he was older than Bob Hope!

And the question is: If Ayn Rand had a blog, what would it be called?

Anyone into blogging for the money is a fool. It is a glorified op/ed page and there are lots just like you. I would love more people to buy my books but I know that most people on the internet are cheap...like...um...me. As many commercial sites have discovered, you have to be pretty damn special to get cyber-types to pay for something.

Yeah! I don't blog for money! I just do it for my love of humanity! And America! And the Children™!

1. If all I am is just another whining snob than why are you people taking it so personally does it strike a note of truth in the untuned pianos of your heart?
2. Ayn Rand's blog....
Atlas Blogged or
Kant smells like poop!

Wow, a lot of catty responses here. Ridiculous.

I say bravo to Lyz. Fuck the idiots who think they have such exorbitant "overhead" costs.

At the same time, yeah, put a little button over there but don't ever ask me to donate in some kind of pledge week. That's crap, except for the very highest echelons of the blogsom. The catty responses here speak volumes to how sad some of the blogdom is, and how the great unwashed blog masses are still undeserving.

There's a lot of good, but be humble because you should now that the vast majority of blogs are just half-finished thoughts that would never get published anywhere with as set of standards. Why should you know this? Because I know you've thought that yourself about many many blogs you've visited, perhaps including mine but you don't see me asking for money.

For instance, I bet even Eric Olsen puts a little more thought and care into his MSNBC posts than he does here (I am fully preparded to be wrong on this particular example, but the same would hold true for Instanpundit.)

Again I am amazed at the smallness of the comments above, even from Jim Treacher who I don't read but hear good things about - unless I'm missing some inside joke.

The blog subscription idea is something I could be more comfortable with, though, because then it's either on or off. You get access or you don't and you can find something else to occupy your mind.

And quit pretending that if you didn't have donations you wouldn't have your own Web site and internet hook-up anyway. And pay for it.

Tsk. Isn't that what you had before the donate button? Yeah? Really?

Rembember that.

Oh, come on, it was a joke! I mean, after being the subject of a rant like that, I can't make a little joke about it?

And in the year and however many months before I put up donation buttons, I had Blogger Pro (which seemed like a good one-time $35 investment at the time) and a second-hand computer. And now I've got MT that my buddy Kevin set me up with for free (for now) and a second-hand computer. Not sure what it has to do with anything, but I appreciate the concern.

I did a one-time-only blegging a month or so back, and put up a paypal button in a post. Now that I see how much it infuriates people, I am considering making it a permanent fixture.

As Paul Calf used to say: "fucking stew-dents". Meet the Geezers, working class young people with money. Those are the people you want pushing your paypal button, not some debt-ridden arsehole who will do nothing but whine about your site.

Typical male role models include Vinnie Jones, Johnny Vaughan and David Beckham. Favoured brands include Burberry, La Coste, Hackett, and Adidas. And one 19-year-old summed up the Geezer's philosophy: 'Uni is for twats. My mate bought a Lotus Elise the other day. He's only 20 and left school at 16, he just saved up by working as a mechanic.'

Lyz, give me a break. I don't even have a big Amazon button on my site. I only responded to you because you obviously completely misunderstand the entire point of capitalism. So you haven't pushed any button of mine at all, except the "Look, another stupid post" button.

For the record, I've been writing on the web since 1994, my current blog started in 1995, and I only ever added the possibility of donating last year (I think) after somebody asked me to. I don't expect to ever recoup anywhere close to the $150/year I pay to keep the site going, but I don't begrudge people who try.

So you're still a whining snob, and you shouldn't mistake people's efforts to help you learn something with defensiveness. :)

Do it, Kevin! The fact that donation buttons are irritating to so many is the reason I keep it up there!

(Note to Phillip: Did you get my e-mail? I had a technical question about Blogcritics.)

No, Jim, sorry, I haven't gotten an email - unless you mean the one about your password. I got that one. I'll reset your birthplace so you can get your password back out. If it was something else, please email me again. :)

Yeah, I can't remember if I was born in Atlanta or Atlantis...

Great post, Lyz. I've always wondered about the people who beg so shamelessly on their blogs, Aren't they embarrassed to be doing that?

Judging by the over-the-top responses here, I'd guess many of them are. Thanks for pushing the button.

Now I feel motivated to beg in my blog. I never have before, but the urge is building...

Nah. If I thought about the money, it would just remind me that I pay too darn much every year to support this habit. :)

Lyz,
You either a) need to get laid or b) get a fucking sense of humor. In your case, I think a) isn't enough. Your blog is ZZZzz...

See, now I have to stick up for Lyz. I like her blog, MsThink (#25). She may not know the difference between communism and capitalism (hence my original interest in this post), but she knows books and has an opinion.

Keep it up, Lyz, good work!

Phillip,
Your blog is also ZZZzzz... Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one.
You and Lyz make a fine pair. :)

Yikes! I appreciate people sticking up for me, but let's try to be nice.

Ms. Think: Could I bother you for a donation?

Ad hominems aside, thanks for disagreeing, I am glad people do. I think we can all agree the world would be a terrible place if we all thought like me. Also thanks to the people we are agreeing,I appreciate it. Now everyone go comment somewhere else. This is not worth it.

PS I will be getting a new medication in about another month, so watch out!

I demand that everyone GO HERE right now and buy me stuff. NOW!

Sorry, Al, but I really have to wonder about the guy who wants us to buy him a Clay Aiken disc AND "Hulk Hands with Electronic Sounds."

On the other hand, feel free to stop by The World Wide Rant and donate some money via our cute PayPal button.

I won't even operate under the false pretense that I'm in dire need of a cash infusion - I, quite simply, like money (nay - love it - and that makes me the root of all evil, a job I happily accept). Give, give, give until it hurts, hurt, hurts.

From a broader point of view, I'll care passionately about what Lyz has to say about wanting donations when Big Brother forces us to read blogs. Until then, run your blog how you like - I don't have to visit.

But, hurry, give to The World Wide Rant - this offer won't last for long - operators are standing by. Hmmm, maybe I'll write a rant about people who shamelessly pimp their own sites in the comments.

This is interesting. I don't think it's fair to relegate soliciting for donations to the "highest echelon" whatever that is - are we measuring by traffic, links, Blogshares, Google search returns? It's a subjective assessment - most bloggers spend a lot of time and energy if not money on their sites and I see nothing whatsoever wrong with them making it clear donations are appreciated. That is capitalism is its most blunt form.

I get a queasy about "pledge drives" like the dreaded Andrew Sullivan going for the fucking gold, and I am happy we found a way to generate some income via Amazon here, which gives the buyer something for his support besides good will.

Ironically, I know Jim was very reluctant to put up any kind of donation option and was online a long time before he did so. Also, a lot of people find him hilarious.

Temple asks if I work harder on MSNBC stuff: harder and longer than most posts here, but certainly not all. i often sit down to tackle a big or "important" topic and spend hours on it, for the blog. Most of us post different types of posts: from short and sweet links, to magnum opuses, and everything in between.

Bloggers deserve to be paid for their efforts just like anyone else, but it's up to the readers to determine who gets what when.

Time out, folks. This practice of asking for donations predates blogging and goes back to the emergence of shareware. How many of you sent in your $10 to Phil Katz for your copy of PKZIP for DOS? Enough people actually did.
Besides, the payment is truly voluntary. I'll listen to an argument about the quality of the blog itself, or to one about the taste of asking for donations, but I prefer to save this level of invective for matters of morality or actual harm.

Thanks, Eric. I'm trying to have a sense of humor about it, at least. The whole situation kind of makes the veins in my neck do a festive dance. And then dealing with hecklers, which I guess are inevitable. But I'm trying to keep my sense of humor.

Hmmm, reading through my comment again, it could be read as if I were against what Treacher did - not in the least. If people want to donate to him, more power to him and to his wallet.

Please click here to donate to my Iraq Reconstruction Fund. I'm too cheap to spend what it takes to rebuild the country, especially since I just blew the paycheck on tax cuts. Every time I see one of those emaciated Iraqi children on CNN and CBS [as if!--mike], I thank God for the media consolidation that will wipe out these two bastions of leftism.

Our new press guy, Rupert Murdoch, says that when he takes these networks, he'll just do 24 hour non-stop programming of an old movie called "Triumph of the Will." He says it's from the thirties, but that it's message is "100% GOP." Sounds great!

And thank God also for Clear Channel. Not only do they do anything we tell them, they also voice-track all their radio stations from their San Antonio headquarters in Texas, my home state! By an interesting coincidence, they just happen to share offices with the local Republican Town Committee. When I'm in town, they're always giving me suitcases full of cash to bring back to Karl R. What a generous bunch of guys!

Cool, I was starting to get the Internet DT's. I get those when I read a single paragraph or comments section which doesn't mention politics or take a shot at Bush. He stole the election, you know.

Screw Iraq. GO HERE and buy me stuff NOW. Is someone going to cough up for the Grandpa Jones box set, or am I going to have to start tracing IP addresses and showing up on peoples' doorsteps? You OWE ME! Yes, you do.

Hey, this IS fun. Maybe I should become a democrat.

Here you go, Al. I've hundred a few hundred copies in bulk for you and your friends.


http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400050383/qid=1055169401/sr=2-3/ref=sr_2_3/002-7297102-8720814

Jim Treacher: you seem like a good sport. Good for you. This comment thread has interestingly walked the line between funny sniping and pointless hostility - entertaining reading, in my opinion!

Money-schmoney!! Who needs it?!

Go to my site and donate some oral sex! Go on! There's a button for that! Truly.

On a serious note, Lyzzie, dear, get a life. If people WANT to donate for the "whoring tripe" they read on their favourite blogs, then so be it - they will make a donation and feel happy in the knowledge that they might have helped to pay a bill. YOU ALWAYS HAVE A CHOICE. It's not like the writers are saying if "you don't donate, you can't read it". Sheez.

Guess what? My space online is borrowed. My domain was bought FOR me. Without the generosity of a few very decent people, I would not be here because I CAN'T afford it, I barely make the payments for the 'net as is (it was either 'Net or Cable - and net was the cheaper option and something I considered far more important for communication anyway).

Money-schmoney!! Who needs it?!

Go to my site and donate some oral sex! Go on! There's a button for that! Truly.

On a serious note, Lyzzie, dear, get a life. If people WANT to donate for the "whoring tripe" they read on their favourite blogs, then so be it - they will make a donation and feel happy in the knowledge that they might have helped to pay a bill. YOU ALWAYS HAVE A CHOICE. It's not like the writers are saying if "you don't donate, you can't read it". Sheez.

Guess what? My space online is borrowed. My domain was bought FOR me. Without the generosity of a few very decent people, I would not be here because I CAN'T afford it, I barely make the payments for the 'net as is (it was either 'Net or Cable - and net was the cheaper option and something I considered far more important for communication anyway).

I imagine if Lyz dealt with the paypal/donation issue, like I will do with her, then it wouldn't ever be an issue.

It's funny how ignoring someone or something that you really think sucks fat donkey ass makes you feel less angry and more balanced as a human.

PS. This post is totally crappy for two reasons A.)It's just crappy and dumb and B.) Picking on bloggers on Blogcritics, is like pointing at the handicap and laughing. No sensible or humane person does such lowly things.

Shame on you for being so inhuman.