Hello readers.
Another year is in the books, and yet again I find myself in the position of saying, "Well that sucked. Hopefully the next one will be better!" At least the very least I'm happy with what I've done on Gin and Tacos this year; over the next week I will be handing out the 2013 Lieberman Award and maybe doing a Best Of / Favorite Posts thing as well.
I make an effort to limit this kind of request or reminder, because nobody wants to read a hundred pleas per year for the kinds of things a dude with a website is supposed to request. I appreciate your patience with the following paragraphs.
1. If you haven't already, follow G&T on the ol' Facebox. There's more to it than a bunch of links to posts. It's a little heavier on humor and lighter on politics compared to this site. And I'm supposed to, like, try to boost traffic and build a base of readers and all that shit. So do it.
2. Speaking of, even though traffic has increased consistently over the years the site remains and will remain free of advertisements. If you have to ask why, you must be new. Sticking to that principle has a downside that becomes apparent in late December when the annual hosting bill arrives. So here is where I give you a number of options.
You can do nothing and continue to enjoy the site for free. This is called "free riding", and it's an entirely rational behavior. I have done (for eleven years!!) and will continue to do this every day whether I make a million bucks, nothing at all, or I have to pay out of pocket for the privilege.
You can use this tip jar / donation link to contribute an amount of your choosing to defray the costs of this site. If you happen to be saddled with extra cash and feel like donating fifty bucks, I will be extremely grateful. However, if donating fifty cents (or zero cents) is more in line with your current budget, my gratitude will be no less. Your tips and contributions are (obviously) voluntary but greatly appreciated. In short, give something if you want to, or don't. Either way I'm glad you're here and I appreciate you.
3. If you're so inclined, there are things to buy rather than just handing over cash as a donation. The "Buy Stuff" link on your right has a couple kinds of stickers. There are also a few remaining SOUNDS OF REAL AMERICA prints (here's the first batch, and then we added two more) and a single Buzzfeed dadaism print. Those are all based on running jokes on the G&T Facebook page; perhaps in the upcoming year I will make additional forays into the exciting world of trying to browbeat readers into buying things.
4. Thank you all for making the site more interesting than it would be otherwise with your comments and contributions. Even though I've progressed from zero to one to fifty-plus comments per post, I still read every single one. If you can take the time to say something, I can make the time to listen.
Maybe this one really will be better.
Rapdactyl says:
I've been reading your junk for a little more than a yearish, I think, probably a bit longer. My memory's awful. Regardless, I'm glad you're still doing this in spite of dealing with all of the challenges you've dealt with over the years – when shit gets real, it can be easy to forget about that one blog you run that a couple hundred people have in their RSS feeds. Thank you for not doing so, and I hope the next year will work out better for you than this one did.
Vesna says:
Found you via Jim Wolcott few months ago. Blogs like yours are, allegedly, not fashionable any more, but I like what you have to say and how you say it. Have a Happy New Year and the best of luck in the 2014.
c u n d gulag says:
Sorry.
I'm afraid I'll have to remain a "free-rider."
My Mom and I are piss-fucking-poor.
But not by Reich-Wing standards! We have a run-down house, an old TV, a 19 year-old car, I have intertube capability, and we're not fucking starving.
We're living on her SS Survivor's Benefits since my Dad passed away last year. My UI ran out 2 years ago – but I'm lucky, since I live in NY State, and get Medicaid. But my Temporary Assistance (don't ever call it "Welfare," or the Social Services people will scream at you) is about to run out – THANKS, BILL CLINTON!!!
If I could, I'd donate a lot of money.
But it's near the end of the month, and the year, so we ain't got no bucks to spare.
I'm deeply sorry, since I love this site, and pollute it with a lot of my word-turds.
Best of luck next year.
AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE, AND ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My oldest cousin died last week, as did a few other relatives, so this year can't end soon enough for me.
Chicagojon says:
Donation sent with a little extra for c u n d gulag and because it's to the Church of St. Gin and Tacos, Reformed. Keep posting and cheers to 2014.
middle seaman says:
What the whatever, pay huge alimony, live on pennies and feel richer than rich. Donated some. I enjoy the site. Until 3 weeks ago, I read 3 academic blogs. Then got into an elaborate argument with one and found out that the lady cannot reason. No reason to stay and now there are 2.
I like it here. Have a great 2014.
Jacquie says:
There's no way in hell you'll get me on the Facebook, but I threw some change in the tip jar. Keep doing what you're doing, Ed. And when will you get some damn G&T mugs in the store?
c u n d gulag says:
Chicagojon,
THANK YOU!!!
Jacquie,
Yeah, I don't do "social media" either.
If someone invents 'anti-social media,' I'll be the first one to join.
Something like 'In-YOUR-Facebookdotcom,' or "F-ME? F-Udotcom!!!'
A HAPPY NEW YEAR, TO ONE AND ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Delbort says:
WHAT JACQUIE SAID
Here's the deal: I have one car, so I bought two bumper stickers thinking I would probably replace that car one day. Still haven't. I'm not in grade school anymore, so I don't have a locker I can plaster shit all over, nor am I in possession of any Trapper Keepers, so three stickers has done me just fine thank you.
However, twenty or thirty minutes of spirited drinking brought on by crushing isolation in the rural South working a dead-end job with little hope of escape and I can be breaking coffee mugs LEFT AND RIGHT either through hazy clumsiness or outright desperate rage. IT IS SO WIN-WIN COME ON MAN I'M DOWN TO LIKE TWO MORE MUGS AND THEN I HAVE TO START IN ON THE CHINA OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE WITH MYSELF
geoff says:
Can I nominate Sen. Cruz for this year's Lieberman? Jesus, what a jerk.
Yes, it was a pretty bad year, but on the plus side Vlad ("The Impaler") Putin (??) managed to prevent US intervention in Syria, so there's that. Sucks if you live in Volgograd, however.
Stay frosty, Delbort, and Happy New Year to all.
Anthony says:
Kicked some cash your way. I still say that vareniki are not tacos, but that's life.
Diamond Dave says:
"Church of St. Gin and Tacos, Reformed"
Nice touch there.
I was going to just send you some DreamHost credits but couldn't find a way to do it on their site so I just went the Paypal route instead.
Keep doing what you're doing, man.
geoff says:
Off today's topic, but via The Guardian, Benjamin Bratton's TED takedown:
http://www.bratton.info/projects/talks/we-need-to-talk-about-ted/
(Seems like this was a topic here not too long ago.)
Stick says:
As a long-time lurker here, I'd like to thank you for what you do. Keep up the good work and best of luck in the new year!
nate says:
Ed,
I love the site and reading it is one of the highlights of my day, so thanks for doing what you do.
I also almost always learn something from the comments, and I enjoy reading them, too. That says as much about you as them, in my humble opinion.
I mostly enjoy reading Lawyers, Guns and Money (I swear, Scott Lemuix has to bash people to his left before he can perform with his wife. When you're quoting Nial Ferguson to back up your arguments, bro, it's time to take a long, hard look at your life), and Balloon Juice, but the comments sections at those blogs fill me with sadness and despair. Gin and Tacos and Alicublog's posts and comments give me hope all is not yet lost, and well-meaning, sincere people actually exist in this country.
You're a right-thinking dude, with excellent taste in music and a terrific sense of humor, in my book. If that's not worth a donation, what is?
Best of luck in 2014!
fuzzbuzz215 says:
I used donating to you as an excuse to update my paypal account.
Fernando_G says:
I've also donated a little….credit cards are on overload mode now, but I'll make a follow up later.
I find Ed to be one the best online pundits. Thoughtful comments coupled with hilarious prose.
His comments never fail to make me think, and make me realize how thoroughly f***d up we (Americans) are. Well, at least us in the 99% segment.
J. Dryden says:
Donated. Given that I so shamelessly use the comments section as a sub-site of my very own, it would be…something beyond hypocritical of me not to pony up.
Elusis says:
I keep occasionally trying to follow you on FB, and then pretty quickly unfollowing, because you pretty regularly say things that I find pretty offensive – mostly comments that come off as pretty misogynistic, plus the occasional fat hatred. And then your followers jump in and it's just ugly.
I say this as someone who 95% of the time agrees completely with your blog posts.
Kevin says:
Is it intentional that the right-side column of the site, with the category, archive, etc, links (including "Buy stuff") don't appear on the pages of individual posts, but only on the front page?
Jordan says:
Agreeing with Elusis, especially about the periodic misogynistic comment part. Great blog otherwise.
Weird Old Tip says:
Contributed my mite as a way of saying thanks.
I echo others' requests about coffee mugs.
RosiesDad says:
Ed: My 18 year old son follows you on FB (as well as reading you here) but I can't seem to get the knack of following items on the News Feed there. I do enjoy the posts here and have also been reading you for about a year. Got here via Balloon Juice; seems that a number of the misanthropes and miscreants over there read you regularly.
This site has some of the most thoughtful writing I encounter on the Toobs, both in the posts and the comments. And some of the funniest as well. So I would be remiss if I didn't kick in a bit as well.
Best wishes for 2014 all.
anotherbozo says:
Ed, see whether you can let us contribute via amazon next year the way Wikipedia can. That way I can contribute and even disguise you as a book and my old lady won't grouse and complain. She pays off the credit cards, you see, and I just can't stand the lecture. Again.
Love,
Wimpy
Heywood J. says:
I resisted starting a Facebook page (IRL; I just have the time or inclination to do one for my blog) forever, for all the usual reasons. I finally relented last March, and there is a metric fuckton of inanity there to be sure, a withering barrage of "Like If You Like Jesus" graphics and political shorthand committed to Zach Galifawhatsis meme generators. (Because nothing says "intellectual honesty and depth" more than a cherry-picked Obammy gaffe plastered on a photo of the weirdo from The Hangover, amirite?)
However, I've also reconnected with quite a few friends and relatives that I had fallen out of touch with over the years. It's worth skimming the moron shit just for the reconnections (even if, to a great extent, many of said friends and relatives are now 'bagger dolts).
All that said, I do like the G&T FB page with my RL FB (need more acronyms), and share and circulate many of the bons mots. Here's to 2014.
Heywood J. says:
[edit: I don't have the time/inclination for an FB page for my blog]
Heywood J. says:
One other thing: I get the principled arguments against posting ads, and in fact resisted doing so on my blog for the first 8 years or so. (Repeated listens to Tool's Hooker with a Penis helped soften the, u, blow.) I even got into it with an anonymous commenter over it, shortly after starting to run ads (3 on the page between posts; 1 on the sidebar).
I set it not to run political ads, so that headache is off the table. Is there a "caveat emptor" element to many of the ads that do run? Sure. Do most of us own teevees?
But the cool thing worth considering is that the "free riders" can still help you out, just by clicking on the ads. No one has to buy anything.
There are a lot of cool, knowledgeable commenters here, and I have no doubt that every one of them would regularly click through as a courtesy. I know I would. And it would help your bottom line. Just a thought.