Once a year or so here at Dean’s World we hold a fundraiser to ask for your help. I’m doing it again.
Some of you may be aware of a regular commenter here who goes by MaryJ or Ms. Janelle. That’s my mom, who’s been having serious health issues and has been living alone for some time down in Texas. After lots of soul-searching, she had plans to move to Kentucky to live with my aunt Beverly, her sister. Late last week we discovered that my aunt has some severe health problems of her own that’s going to require extensive surgery and rehabilitation and much else, and that combined with some other things means having Mom go there will not work. So guess what? On Wednesday I’m flying down to San Antonio, packing her things into a U-Haul, and moving her up here to Michigan to stay with me. This has some advantages, because she’s never really had a relationship with my older son and has never even met my younger one; now she can get to know both, and she’ll be with someone able-bodied who can help her out.
But I need money, and I’m hoping some of you who like this place can help us out, because this new plan is pretty much gonna wipe out what meager finances I have at the moment. The bank account’s going to effectively go to zero and I don’t even want to think about what gas from San Antonio to Detroit is going to be like, let alone paying our outrageously high hosting fees ($55/month, and we haven’t been able to get moved to a cheaper server yet, although we’re working on ways to get the fees down). I know that doesn’t sound like a lotta money but like everybody living on the edge in a very edgy economy, that really is a lot of money over here. Any donation will help, even if it’s just a couple of bucks (or even just a prayer or some good thoughts).
So, you wanna help? Hit the PayPal or Amazon tip jars at the right. And thank you all so much for your support–of all types, including just reading, sending links, or leaving terrific comment.s You’ve all been appreciated tremendously over the years, even those of you who seem never to agree with me.
You won’t see much of me for the next week or so, obviously, but through the magic of the PayPal Debit Card, you’ll help Dean have gas to get home with his mom, and make those critical hosting fees. Again, the buttons are right there on the right hand sidebar. ;-)
*Update*: Oh, you could also buy an ad on Blogads (also on the right hand toolbar); although it’ll take us a month or so to get that money, it’ll certainly help long-term. ;-)
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If NWA airline miles would help in any way, let me know. I have some piled up. Checking the budget for more direct funds now.
Well, I’ve lost about $70k so far today. Ouch. But that’s only paper. Or electrons, I guess.
I still see a positive balance in my paypal account, so I’ll send a little of that your way.
I just dropped a little money in the jar. I’m also sending good thoughts your way.
And Dean,
I forgot to wish you and MJ the best of luck on your new adventure.
I’m sure I’ll get flamed and banned for this, but if things are really so dire, why don’t you just get a free WordPress hosted blog?Â
It does kind of bug me to see people who run vanity sites (and sorry, that’s what this is, if it doesn’t pay for itself with ads) bleg for money, it would seem to be a bit of a luxury if times are really that tough.
You could still keep the domain and just make it redirect to the wordpress hosted site and your hosting would be the minimum, maybe $3 a month on go-daddy or dotster.
Our site (http://www.docweasel.com NSFW) gets about 250k pageviews a day, and it pays for itself with the _only_ kind of ads that really make any real money on the net, gambling and adult sites. Blogads are for shite.
docweasel’s last blog post..Is Biden being set up for a fall?
I don’t mind that you put up a tip jar. Many blogs do. I don’t _mind_ anything but the fact you posted a very long, detailed bleg about how tough things are for you and the really ridiculous hosting fees you pay. I am merely pointing out that if things are as bad as you claim, the first thing that ought to go is your vanity blog, not expecting other people to pay for your superflous luxury of having a personally hosted domain, when there are free alternatives. That seems rude to me, and manipulative to boot. If you can’t afford the site or it doesn’t pay for itself, why not junk it and get a free one? There’s only one reason I can think of, personal ego. Having your own domain and hosting is a privelege of those who can afford it. And, if you are in such dire straights, it would be a sin and a waste to use the money for hosting (especially at such rates) why not just ask for money for food and clothing? I could at least understand that, those are necessities.
Good luck, I hope there are enough people who not also having a tough time financially that can pitch in to stroke your vanity. I don’t read you, I did read about your bleg on 3 other sites and yeah, I find it annoying and pointless and useless. Why should anyone support your site when there are free alternatives if you can’t support yourself? Not when you frame it that you are hurting because of personal problems. It makes it hard to believe you. It’s the mixing in of your personal problems with a begging for money for the blog that seems detestable and wrong. If you want people who appreciate the blog to support it, fine. But don’t give me this "my entire life is changing, my finances are empty, I’m in a tough spot here, so how about pitching in on my vanity blog?"
That just really seems fucked up and manipulative. Sorry if you don’t like that.
docweasel’s last blog post..Mevio Radio This Week: Angel
Docweasel, I’ll give you credit for audacity, and I’ll defend your right to spew your adolescent trope. Â
But to wrap your little play for traffic here in a dig at an honest request for support is ironic, and pathetic.
obviously, if I were playing for traffic I’d go to a blog that could support itself, so you’re wrong on that count. I see these blegs and it bugs me, but when someone wraps a bleg in personal tragedy or hardship it’s a bit much to take, sorry. I just don’t buy it. Either he’s lying, or he’s really self-indulgent, or he’s stupid. Begging for money to keep running an unnecessary server cost while his bank account is empty and he has new financial responsibilities. It just doesn’t add up.
and I think you mean "tripe" not trope
docweasel’s last blog post..Mevio Radio This Week: Angel
I have to admit, I can’t understand how something as benign as Dean’s post could get under a person’s skin, and annoy them so much that they just HAVE to keep commenting about it.
 I also don’t understand how a person could derive such smug satisfaction from ranting on a blog funded by ads for gay porn.
 But whatever floats your boat.
 And the word is “tropeâ€. It fits.
No, it doesn’t fit but you are incapable of admitting error I guess.
And there are no gay ads, I guess that’s your idea of a smear, as if having gay ads would be some sort of attack on someone’s manhood. For the record, I’m female, so your attack on my supposed penis is in vain. If there were gay ads, I see nothing wrong with it, nor anything dishonorable. Are you claiming you never look at pr0n on the internet? One type of pr0n is much like the other, as far as sexual orientation goes, so you’re a hypocrite if you think gay pr0n is any worse than straight or lesbian. I obviously have no problem with it, our boss hosts adult and gambling sites on our servers and takes advertising from them, as I stated. At least it’s an HONEST living and supplies a need and pays for itself. Much more dishonorable to fail to serve any need and fail to support onesself, I’d think.
docweasel’s last blog post..Mevio Radio This Week: Angel
My God, I approved the first comment and let it go, but it gets worse and worse.
Docweasel, you’re obviously the type of person who refuses to tip people in restaurants because you consider working for tips dishonest. Ditto, you obviously never throw money in the hat for street musicians, because you consider them dishonest too. Or, at least, you’d blow your stack if one said “I normally don’t accept tips but times are really tough now, so thanks!”
But to correct your factual mistakes, this site started as a vanity site six and a half years ago but it evolved into much, much more. We have done an extraordinary amount of charity work, including saving lives–literally. We have done stories that have been covered in the national press and preserved by the Library of Congress. We have been rated by multiple sources (academic and political) as one of the top political blogs and/or just plain top blogs worldwide.
Our daily traffic is, last I looked, about 40 times higher than your 250 site visits a day.
The site has, like most sites like it, gone from profitable to non-profitable a number of times. It is a labor of love which has sometimes been profitable and sometimes not. It is a large community, and it has done a lot of good in the world.
In your defense, a lot of people don’t realize how high the traffic actually is because they don’t see a lot of comments. But we have, for years, sharply limited the number of commenters allowed specifically to improve the quality of the comments.
If you don’t like this site or how we raise funds to stay afloat, don’t read it. We periodically do fundraisers, and have for many years. Fundraisers are perfectly honest, perfectly honorable, and perfectly legitimate for a semi-profitable enterprise that requires an enormous amount of work. And, since a lot of people derive benefit from this place when it’s not making a profit, and because when it’s not making a profit it comes out of my personal pocket, noting when my personal situation is likely to impact its ability to stay afloat shouldn’t be offensive.
If you don’t like it, leave. Or just shut up. Either way, stop acting like a know-it-all dunderhead. Thanks.
I said 250K as in 250,000 pageviews, not 250. I say pageviews instead of uniques because most of our pages are cgi generated, php or perl generated pages that Alexa and even our own server doesn’t measure in terms of unique visitors. I’d guess the number of uniquess would be about a quarter of that, but it might be more or less. Still , a quarter of a mil pageviews a day isn’t bad. Our server costs were $2200 last month because we also have a very image intensive site, rather than a text based one like this. Yet the site is in the black.
But you are still conflating arguments above. My bitch is this: you give this long sob story about how you are basically broke and describe achingly personal hardships, and end it by saying "so contribute to my blog bandwidth". It seems to me you are being manipulative. If you are truly in need, say so, and ask for money for food and rent. If you need money because you want to keep your vanity blog open, then say that. But don’t give me "I’m dying here, the kids are nearly starving and the dog is shoeless, but I want ya’ll to pitch money down a rathole on the side".
It doesn’t make sense.
docweasel’s last blog post..Mevio Radio This Week: Angel
Uh huh. I’m not going to get into a peeing contest with you to see who’s got more readers. It’s not relevant, but if you’re talking pageviews, that’s also quite a bit higher than you seem to think. In any case, the fact is that 6 and a half years of archives can’t easily be ported to a "free" site, and that’s content by a lot of contributors. When we’re in the red, it comes out of my pocket. When I’m in the red, throwing this site into peril, a lot of people (front page contributors and highly valuable regular commenters) would be put out by me just saying "oh well, let me just throw that all away and go open up on Blogspot or free WordPress or something."
I have a relationship with my readers and a number of other bloggers, many of whom I’ve helped many times and many ways, including financially. I have multiple contributors. And I have a very valuable set of regular commenters who are treasured precisely because I don’t let just anyone comment here. Nor would I willingly let literally years of old content that still gets traffic and readership and citations in the press and scholarly publications just disappear.
If you want to call all that a vanity site, and a rathole, go ahead. Personally, I think you’re saying far more about yourself than anyone else, especially about your willingness to draw snap judgments based on what you admit is no real knowledge of the site.
I wish you no ill. Peace.
I just donated (I think — check your account.) A token amount really, considering all you do. Hope everything works out for the best.
Brian E. Jones’s last blog post..Lord Foul’s Bane (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Book One)
Thank you very much Brian. And everyone.
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