If you’re a fan of This American Life, you know this scenario well. Pre-show, Ira Glass lowers his voice and tells you about all the content they’ve been bringing you recently. How much it costs to make shows about who-done-it murders and segregated schools. And, really, if you wouldn’t mind donating to This American Life, he promises he’ll only ask once. This is the last time you’ll hear from him. Promise. He tells you this softly, intimately. You want to believe, yes, yes you do, but you know in a few more months, it’ll be the same thing all over again. “I’m only going to ask once … until the next time I only ask once.”

I love This American Life, and I actually don’t get annoyed by the donation requests. I’ve developed a keen appreciation for the work that must go into those podcasts and all that reporting and storytelling. I’ve also seen, firsthand through my writing program, the hard work and low pay that goes into writing, a profession that people do because they love it and it feeds them in ways that aren’t financial.

But a varied diet, creative, financial and otherwise, is also a good thing. I think with the explosion of podcasts and blogs, people are slowly starting to take content creation seriously, and realize that it is, more often than not, a free labor of love, but that just because it’s free doesn’t mean it doesn’t take time, care, patience, and persistence.

All this to say, readers of BlindinFlight, I’m only going to ask you once … until I ask you again …

I’ve set up a Paypal button on the front page of this site for giving one-time donations, if you are compelled to do so. My intention with this blog was NEVER a monetary one, and it never will be. I will write it regardless, because it feeds me creatively. But, if you’ve felt my words to be worthwhile, if there’s something in these snarky, silly posts that has spoken to you, the Paypal button is there if you want it. No pressure, no questions asked. That, at least, I can promise.

Generating the HTML code for adding the button took a few hours more than it should have, so if you’d at least LOOK at the button and admire it for a minute, that would also mean a lot to me. My screenreader is not a fan of HTML.

More soon, and thank you for reading and for your consideration. Most importantly, thank you for admiring my Paypal button. I am forever grateful.