Most blogs have a tip jar. But, as Cox & Forkum recently pointed out, most tip jars stay empty. The problem is that, although the readers enjoy the material on a blog, they have no idea what an "appropriate" contribution is.

I have a simple rule of thumb to solve this problem. If something you read on someone's blog makes you as happy as eating a large pepperoni pizza, you should tip the blogger the same amount that you'd tip the pizza delivery guy. Say about $2.

The beauty of this rule is that it can be scaled conveniently both up and down, consistent with your financial situation and level of enjoyment.

Say you've got $10.35 in PayPal and you read something mildly amusing somewhere. Drop in the $.35 and say, "that was as refreshing as a double espresso on exam day eve. Here's a little jingle for your jar."

Conversely, if you want to go high, you can always say, "that was as thrilling as that unnamed service recently provided to my by Trixie, the Times Square Wonder Hooker. Here's $50, and it was worth every penny."

Which raises the question of when to tip.

First, consider that blogging is generally more about ego than about making a living. The coin of the blogospheric realm is attention, generally given in 3 forms: comments/e-mail, temporary post links, and blogroll permalinks. Think of them as corresponding roughly to copper, silver, and gold, respectively. Once you've exhausted payments in the local currency, something green becomes more appropriate.

Gates & Buffet can afford to tip for every good entry on every blog they visit. I can't. But there are 3 times when I think some jar jingle makes sense:

1) Make me laugh out loud. If I just snarfed coffee all over the monitor & everyone at the bank is staring at me like I'm a lunatic, that's worth tipping.

2) Change my mind. If something is so persuasive or thought-provoking that I'm forced to re-open the closed book on one of my convictions, that's worth tipping.

3) Long-time daily read. If, in the absence of the first 2 criteria, I still find myself stopping at a site every day for at least 3 months, that's worth tipping.

Your criteria may differ based on your financial situation and laughter threshold.

So, now that you know how to do it, go forth and thank the nice bloggers who make your day so wonderful.

SHOUT OUT TO MY HOMEY

Boots & Sabers linked to me, thanks to the New Blog Showcase (still time to cast your link-vote for me). It's apparently a partner blog, and I'm not sure which one's Boots & which one's Sabers, but it looks like Owen is the more loquacious of the two. Owen, like me, lives in Wisconsin, and, much to my delight, enjoys ripping our beloved Governor James ("call me Jim") Doyle for doing stupid things. Best line (so far) "Jim Doyle is like [a] chair made of yellow play-doh, he always looks like the ass of the last interest group that spoke to him"

There's also a story about a consignment of Ernie's favorite bath-time friends being lost at sea for a decade, as well as a link to the least coherant blog on the internet. Go take a look.

Oh, and Owen's Showcase entry is here. I wonder if he's read Atlas Shrugged more times than I have?

ABOUT ME

For the curious or just plain nosy, here are the high points of my life so far:

1966 born - 8th (and final) child, 7th son.

1985 graduated high school

1985 joined the Navy as a Nuke

1987 attached to the USS Enterprise

1991 left the Navy (honorable discharge)

1992 started college as an accounting major

1995 finished college as a finance major

1996 started law school

1996-1997 hated law school

1997 quit law school

1998 quit my pizza delivery job (which I'd had pretty much since I started college) to work at a bank

1999 married

2003 still married, no kids (or plans for any - wife concurs), 2 dogs, 4 cats

If anything else exciting happens, I'll let you know.

UPDATE 9-28-03:

If you're wondering what I look like, here's a little something to help with the mental imagery:

I've been told that I look like the following people:

Michael Gross (the dad on Family Ties)

Christopher Lloyd (during his "Taxi" years, not his more famous role as Doc Brown in "Back to the Future")

Abraham Lincoln

So basically, 5'10", 160, high forehead (hairline receding, but no bald spot - Rogaine seems to be working so far), dark brown (almost black) hair with some random gray strands coming in at the sides, brown eyes, and neatly trimmed full beard (still all brown).

Hope that helps.

Oh, and of the 3, Michael Gross is damn near a spot-on match. But I have more hair, less gray, and a fuller beard. Still, if I had that pic on my driver's license, I don't think anyone would question it.

UPDATE 11-3-03: Jen Lars has an interview with me, where all manner of dark details may be discovered.

TODAY’S GRAFFITI CURRENCY

Technically, it's not "graffiti" currency, but I just like the serial number.

 

   "Okay, wait.  If you guys are really us, what number are we thinking of?"

IT'S ONLY FAIR

She linked to me. She linked to everyone in the showcase. I don't feel special :-(

I'm linking back anyway.

Having looked around a bit & peeked at the archives, I'm sensing a little OCD here. It's not my cup of tea, but if you think Martha Stewart got shafted & you're as deeply into this case as Cookie Monster is into baked goods, this blog is a good resource.

BEMUSED RETURN LINK

Susie over at Practical Penumbra gave me a link for the New Blog Showcase, so I'm sending one back her way. I scrolled around a bit. Good points: she likes Frank J., and the overall tone of the short but numerous entries (nice for us ADD types) gives a sense of her personality. Fun, flirty, cheerful & charming. Going to her place is like going over to your one friend's house with the "cool mom". Although I get the impression that the mother in question might be Mrs. Robinson, so be careful if you're going over there wearing a kilt.

Bad points: a color scheme (salmon and teal?) that gave me a visual sensation akin to peeling duct tape off my (very hairy) forearm. Of course, I'm a guy, so what the hell do I know about colors.

Anyway, go look. Unless you're a Scotsman.

ONE GOOD TURN

Via Technorati, I discovered Norbizness giving my blog a positive review in his comments on this week's New Blog Showcase. Well, maybe not positive. Only 5 out of 10. But he thought almost everyone else sucked more, so that makes me good, right?

I scrolled around a bit and left with 3 impressions: sad politics, amusing descriptive phrases in his posts, and a huge Simpsons fan, with "best of" quotes from recently aired episodes. So I rate this one a 6.6 out of 10, 'cuz 2 out of 3 ain't bad.