Day by Day Cartoon Fund Raising

Day by Day Cartoon by Chris Muir

It may not be obvious to the Casual Observer, but from time to time I do present a fund raising appeal here on Cogito Ergo Geek.

They're all based on the Internet because, like, I'm a Geek.

When I read about something or someone I'm interested in, I like to throw a few coins into the metaphoric hat.

There was Michael Yon, some poor 80-year-old retiree in NYC who got mugged in an elevator and lost his Social Security Check ... you know; whatever catches your attention. It may be organized, it may be ad hoc, but charity is among the Good Works demanded of a civilized person. We get to choose the beneficiaries, and if with you it's usually your church or your adult kids or your ne'er-do-well brother in law, that's okay. It probably isn't a lot, but while you got it, you can share it.

It's not condescending, it's lending a hand. You can even brag about it, if you feel the need.

The thing about giving when you don't need to give, is that it makes you feel good. That's okay, too. Most of us "do" for others because it meets a need that we have, as much as it meets a need that they have.

Money, time, a ride to church, take a cake to a wake, spend an evening listening to a friend who is down, donate a holster to a Junior USPSA member drive, buy a raffle ticket 'to a good cause' when you know you'll never win ... all of these are "charity". Also known as being a responsible member of your family, your church, your community, your society.
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Reason I'm saying all of this is that I have been reading Chris Muir's Day By Day cartoons every day for a couple of years now, and it isn't even a subscription service. It's just out there, every day, and I go read it and laugh or shake my head. Or both.

Chris gives something to me every day: an appreciation for a point of view that doesn't always agree with mine, but even then it's entertaining.

I spend a lot of money on books every month, because they give me hours of entertainment.

I read DBD every day, and I pay nothing for the minute or two of enjoyment it brings me. You probably do, too.
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Chris put out an appeal for funding today. He sent out a first appeal last year and received sufficient funding to support his art for a year, in a single day. Unfortunately, it didn't last for a year. It lasted for 8 months. Immediately, he lost his Day Job, and has since been subsisting on his contributions. Which are drying upl

Many blogs feature DBD on a feed ... mine is always at the very bottom of the page, and the pages are often very long so you may not have noticed it. (Just hit the END button right now, and you'll see his latest cartoon. Then come back here.)

Read the text below the cartoon. It'll be in place for about a week, but in case you don't get around to reading this, here's the essential part:

1031 people came through in the last Fundraiser; according to 'The Long Tail' theory of internet readers, there's usually a core 1% that come through for internet publishers. All donations are critical, and I also ask again of that '1000'. Look what Leonidas did with the 300-except I don't have a 6-pack, I'm not a leader, and the thought of all of you in G-strings frankly worries me a bit.

But we share the same beliefs, I think.

The site's been redone, there's a forum coming up, there's an email subscription, searchable archives, new avatars, a new DBD banner that shows the strip in a popup (so you have more advertising space on your own blog),twitter, free Wowio DBD ebooks, and when you donate to DBD you receive pdfs of never released drawings of DBD's start back in 1998 (yes, 2 years before DBD went up), examples of just how different Jan, Damon, Sam, and Zed were before 2001.

Depending on which of the 4 Donation Levels you select, there is also a DBD Playing Card deck, Sam posters, plus Original DBD hand-written script sheets complete with hand-signed strips that derive from those scripts.

That was the carrot, now for the stick, and...I don't have a stick. I'll still try & get DBD out.

I kind of like his determination to continue the website, as long as he can. Starving artist, while admirable in the abstract, are not very appealing in real time. They tend to end up pumping gas into your Ford Explorer. This guy offers something too valuable to be lost, and I would like to see that he is recognized for a much higher contribution to society.

Here's the bad news: Chris can only accept donations via PAYPAL. If you don't have a PayPal account, or if the funds are currently deleted, you can transfer funds in three to five days. (You can set it up to add to the PayPal account online directly from your checking account.)

Here's the good news: There's a "DONATE" button in a box in the upper right-hand corner of the DBD website, and there's also an AMAZON.COM donate button just below it.

Maybe there will be a PayPal direct pay button added, just to make it easier to donate and reap the benefits of receiving a variety of DBD products depending on the amount of the donation.

Frankly, the best reason to donate is to ensure the continued availability of The Further Adventures of Jan, Damon, Sam, and Zed.

Go to DBD, read The Whole Thing.

Then (as Doctor Laura would say) ... Do The Right Thing.