While I was away, I had the chance to do some thinking. I’m going to admit—I’ve been conflicted about continuing this blog. Mostly because I hate working for free. I’m morally opposed to the idea of writers working for free. I told myself I’d continue, and thought about all of the things that don’t work—subscriptions, for example—and I thought about selling ads, which can work. I thought about all of those things. I thought about them and stopped thinking about them and then got home and walked into my move to a new apartment, where I discovered my furniture doesn’t quite cut it in my new house. There’s just not enough.
So, I’m putting one of my ideas to work. One of my favorite bars in Berlin is a place where you can donate what you think the wine is worth. If you’ve ever read this blog and it helped you in some way, or you had fun, or you perhaps figured out how to do something you didn’t know how to do before, if I helped you make a decision you needed to make about getting an MFA or about your own writing, or even if it just kept you company— if you ever thought, I want to buy that man a drink— then, consider throwing in.
What’s going to happen is that I’m going to use the money to buy a piece of furniture in direct relationship to the amount of money I get, because I thought it would be cool if I had a piece of furniture in this new house that came from this blog. My Koreanish dining room chair. Or, my Koreanish couch. My Koreanish lamp, to read under. I’ll photograph whatever it is I’m able to buy with the results and post it here, in two weeks time. I’m hoping for a sofa, but I know it could be a bottle of Jim Beam for my liquor cabinet. It’s all up to you.
Koreanish 
I’m in. Thanks for the reads.
Yikes. I’m out. But I thought the line This is actually a very exciting prize was very funny.
Best of luck, though. Does this mean I can’t read you anymore?
JP: Thank you, you rock.
RJ: You don’t even want to buy me a bottle of Jim Beam?
And no, this is not a tantrum. This is supposed to be fun. My point is that if everyone who came here every time I posted were to put in ten dollars just this one time they come here, I could buy at the least a new couch that I could then sit on while I compose my new posts. Possibly in the light of my new floor lamp. And I like the idea of that kind of reader support.
So far I can afford half of a dining room chair or half of a floor lamp that I’ve got my eye on, which is pretty exciting—thanks to those who’ve donated so far. I’m going to make some kind of graphic.
Alex, at least two of your posts — on MFA programs and what they offer a writer, on Best of American [Genre]s collections and how to read them strategically — add up to the good advice I’d find in a writing book, so I’d like to offer you a gift toward your Koreanish couch in that amount.
Thanks, Jane. With your donation, I’m now 1/4 of the way to the couch I want. Which rocks.
If you stop this blog I will be sad. I hope my donation can get you a couple of doilies for your couch.
Likewise-thanks for the writing advice and just plain fun that you put up here, so I’d be glad to donate for the couch fund.
Thanks to Deirdre, Chris and the others who’ve donated thus far. We’re now past the quarter mark. Headed towards the 1/3rd.
Hi, Alex.
I just donated to the couch funds, being thankful for the MFA advice you’ve provided on this blog and in person. Hopefully I can be a cool part of the couch, like the middle cushion that might be spilt on and flipped over, or perhaps a festive pillow.