You've Got the Brains, I've Got Gonorrhea, Let's Make Lots of Money

One more reminder that we're coming up on the end of our Spring Pledge Drive around here.

So far it's been going swimmingly, but there's still time to get in your contribution to keep DXM running smoothly as we approach that big five year milestone.

If you feel like you're in a position to send a little financial love my way, there are two ways you can do it. One is to drop some money into the Paypal tip cup over in the right-hand sidebar; the other is to buy a copy of my book Dead Star Twilight -- which you can purchase electronically and have downloaded immediately to your computer by clicking here.

A huge thank you to Brett Skean, Gordon Jennings, Sara B. and Lindsey Tropp; the generosity just humbles the hell out of me.

To everyone else, thanks for reading -- and business cat begs you one last time.

We'll have a final update over the weekend, but for now let's light up that wheelchair, eh?

I've Got No Brains, You've Got Some Looks, Let's Make Lots of Money

Another friendly reminder that we're right in the middle of our big Spring Pledge Drive.

By now you know how this works: I beg, plead and prostrate myself on the digital sidewalk in front of you as you try to walk around me and avert your eyes to avoid being made to feel uncomfortable; you ultimately give in and throw a couple bucks at me to make me go the hell away.

The fifth anniversary of Deus Ex Malcontent is just about a month away and we're all very excited about about it around here; look for an entertaining little retrospective of the best of the last five years, as well as plenty of celebrity guest appearances and a few other surprises as we countdown to DXM's big birthday mega-celebration*.

With that in mind, if all you can afford to do is read then I understand -- but if you feel like you're in a position to give more, there are two ways you can do it. One is to drop some money into the Paypal tip cup over in the right-hand sidebar; the other is to buy a copy of my book Dead Star Twilight -- which you can purchase electronically and have downloaded immediately to your computer by clicking here.

As always, whatever you can give will be greatly appreciated. A big thanks to Helen Stepp, Matthew Graves, Trish Simmons and the lovely Levana; your generosity means a lot to me -- and to business cat.

Thanks, everyone.

*Almost none of this is true.

You've Got the Brains, You've Got the Looks, Let's Make Lots of Money

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I've Got the Brains, You've Got the Looks, Let's Make Lots of Money

It's been pretty busy around here lately, which kind of echoes every other part of my life right now, so this seems like as good a time as any to launch our big Spring Pledge Drive. You know, spring, when a young man's thoughts turn to decent weather and a couple of bucks here and there from the very kind readers of his website.

We're coming up on a pretty big anniversary for Deus Ex Malcontent; next month marks five years since I first began this little experiment of mine. In that time, there have been quite a few changes to the site and certainly quite a few changes in the life of your humble narrator. Over the next few weeks, we'll be looking back on some of DXM's best moments, as well as some pivotal moments in my own personal "story arc" -- several of which intersect in a few places, incidentally. It really is an astonishing experience to look back over the evolution of something I originally started to pass the time after my brain surgery -- to see how much the overall tone has changed, the writing has become more assured (if not always as introspective as it once was), the regulars have developed and settled in. On that last point, this site never could've become what it has without you guys, the readers. Your participation, appreciation and loyalty have always been what drives me and I just can't thank you enough after all this time.

As always, if the only support you can afford to offer is reading, I completely understand. But if you like what you find here and feel like I should get a little more for the effort I put into DXM, there are two ways you can show some love. If you can do it, please drop a little cash into the Paypal tip cup over in the right-hand sidebar, or buy a copy of my book Dead Star Twilight -- which you can purchase electronically and have downloaded immediately to your computer by clicking here.

Yes, I've joined the Banter Media Network within the past couple of months, but as I warned at the beginning -- if you think that banner ad at the top is paying the bills, you're sorely mistaken. I still need your help if you can swing it; in fact, and I'm not sure I've ever been as direct as this, but now more than ever I can really use your help. While I'm working on several different projects at once, they're basically only in the start-up phase -- and that means that I'm kind of working without a net. Bottom line: Whatever you can give will assist tremendously and will be greatly appreciated.

I'll keep you updated on the progress of the pledge drive over the next few days -- but for now, thanks again and back to your regularly scheduled absurdity.

Gratitude Check

Just wanted to take a minute to say thank you to everyone who helped out during our big Spring Pledge Drive. Thanks to so many of you stepping up and showing your support through book purchases and donations via PayPal, the drive was a big success.

It really just humbles the hell out of me that you guys enjoy this site enough to put a few of your hard-earned dollars toward it.

A couple more shout-outs to some especially generous readers: Alexander Stinson, Trish Kozniak, Sarah Michaels and Frank D'Angelo -- I cannot thank you enough for your kindness.

Another three months and we'll do it all over again, and always remember that you can give or pick up a book at any time -- both the donation and the Dead Star Twilight links are over in the right-hand sidebar.

Oh, and thanks to you kitty lives.

Reading, Writing and Revenue: The Reckoning

Hey, where the hell else can you get the poetry of Hannah Giles, jokes about priests diddling deaf kids, a screed against America's tweens and, occasionally, honest-to-God political and media analysis?

That's how I'm setting up tonight's plea for your hard-earned dollars. Need I remind that we're now halfway through our big Spring Pledge Drive around here, and that means you only have a few days left to listen to my digital panhandling.

As you know, there are a couple of ways you can show your support for this site. One is to buy a copy of my book, Dead Star Twilight. It's available as an e-book that can immediately be downloaded to your computer by clicking here.

The other way is to make a donation via the Paypal electronic tip jar in the right-hand sidebar of this screen.

To everyone who's already contributed a few dollars to keep Deus Ex Malcontent going strong, I honestly can't thank you enough. I do, however, want to say a special and public thanks to Helen Stepp, G. Gwaltney, Thomas Bott and Sophia Salanga for especially kind and generous donations; they're so very much appreciated and I promise not to use the money to buy hookers.

As you can see from the picture, I don't need one. (Although the cash is still necessary being that Hannah's nowhere near the prostitute I figured she'd be -- kids these days.)

Just a couple of days left in the drive so thanks again everyone and keep the love coming.

Reading, Writing and Revenue Revolutions

It's been another busy day around here, which makes me feel not-quite-so-ashamed about coming to you with my hat in my hand.

Yes, it's time for another reminder that we're smack in the middle of our big Spring Pledge Drive -- where I ask you to show your support for this site by contributing a few of your hard-earned dollars toward it.

There are two ways to do this, as you know. One is to buy a copy of my book, Dead Star Twilight. It's available as an e-book that will immediately download to your computer. All you have to do is click here and you can be reading in no time.

The other way is to make a donation via the Paypal electronic tip jar in the right-hand sidebar of this screen.

I've been trying to come up with clever ways to get the holdouts to show a little love, I mean besides just busting my ass to make Deus Ex Malcontent the best darn blog on the whole internet. I thought I might offer my writing services to anyone who makes a really big donation -- you know, write a short story of personal erotica for you ladies and maybe threatening letters to the boss for you guys. (My New Year's resolution this year was to stereotype more.) Let me know if something like that floats the ice in your scotch; I'm sure it can be arranged.

Anyway, thanks as always for reading. The numbers have been through the roof lately.

Oh yeah, and kitty's still very much alive.

For now.

Reading, Writing and Revenue Reloaded

Yet another reminder that we're well into our big Spring Pledge Drive.

It's been a pretty decent day for material around here (today's extended piece is even cross-posted over at HuffPo right now) so I figure I can go ahead and give you the extra hard sell. If you're a fan or just a casual reader of this site, I hope you'll be willing to step up and show a little love for it -- and for the sad, humble shut-in who puts it all together for you day after day.

You know how it works: If you haven't done so already, please pick up a copy of my book, Dead Star Twilight. It's available as an e-book that can immediately be downloaded to your computer by clicking here.

If you've already read it, and have bought twelve more for your friends and family, feel free to make a donation via the Paypal electronic tip jar in the right-hand sidebar of this screen.

To those who've already made generous contributions, I just can't thank you enough. To everyone else, please know that if you don't give me some money I'll behead that kitten in the top left-hand corner of the post -- the one I kidnapped and am now holding hostage in the name of my God. Look at him. He knows I'll do it, too.

His fate is in your hands. I know you'll do the right thing.

Reading, Writing and Revenue Redux

A quick reminder that we're in the middle of our Spring Pledge Drive.

If you're a fan of this site -- or at the very least somebody who enjoys killing a few minutes of your daily drudgery with it -- there are a couple of ways you can help keep it going strong.

One is to pick up a copy of my book, Dead Star Twilight. It's available as an e-book that can immediately be downloaded to your computer by clicking here. Just think -- you can get it tonight, finish it by morning (because who needs sleep?), and then your life will finally be complete.

The other way you can show some support is to donate money via the Paypal electronic tip jar in the right-hand sidebar of this screen. If you've got a few spare dollars to drop into the till, it'd certainly be appreciated.

We're off to a really good start so far this pledge week, and I can't express in effusive enough terms how much it means to me that so many of you are willing to step up and help keep Deus Ex Malcontent running. To those who haven't contributed yet, obviously if you can't I understand -- but if you feel like you can, hey, don't pull a Kitty Genovese and assume that just because somebody else might be helping, you don't have to. That's the kind of thinking that killed the dinosaurs.

Thanks again, folks.

Reading, Writing and Revenue

It's that time again -- time for another of our quarterly pledge drives around here.

By now, you guys know how this works: I strap on my hand-written sandwich board for the next five or so days and wander the virtual sidewalk aimlessly, like the pitiful human catastrophe that I am, and you hopefully put a couple of bucks into my cup just to make me go away.

As always, if you like the stuff you find here at Deus Ex Malcontent, there are a couple of ways you can support the site.

It amazes me that there are still people out there who read this site regularly but have yet to pick up a copy of my memoir. If you're one of them, what are you waiting for? You can buy Dead Star Twilight as an e-book that will immediately be downloaded to your computer by clicking here. It's the feel-good book of the new millennium, I promise you.

The other way you can show a little love is to donate money via the Paypal electronic tip jar in the right-hand sidebar of this screen. You've heard my spiel before but it bears repeating: This site is free and will stay that way. I don't clutter it up with ads and banners for products you probably wouldn't care about anyway; I don't demand a subscription or anything silly like that. I put a lot of effort into Deus Ex Malcontent, but it's always been a labor of love and one that means the world to me.

I'm not trying to play on your sympathy or compassion, but I really do want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who makes this site a part of their day -- the people who come here regularly and who comment, lend support and suggestions through e-mail, and who just plain contribute to the conversation. DXM is kind of your site too -- because if it weren't for you guys, it would just be one idiot talking to himself. I also want to say a really heartfelt personal thank you to those who've been exceptionally kind to me during what's been one of the most difficult and painful periods in my life. With everything I feel like I've lost recently, this site has been the one thing that's grounded me; it's my home -- the one safe place I've always been able to come to when everything else looks depressingly unfamiliar. Yeah, I've paid a hefty price throughout the past couple of years for some of the things I've said here, but the people who read my inconsequential ramblings and who've backed this site and personally encouraged me to continue writing are what keeps me going some days. Things are really starting to look up on at least a few fronts, and the number of people who read DXM and seem to enjoy what I'm doing here are part of the reason why.

So, again, whether or not you can afford to contribute a few of your hard-earned dollars toward keeping my little corner of the internet going strong, I still want to make sure you know how much I appreciate you reading.

We'll have updates on our Spring Pledge Drive throughout the week.

Now back to our regularly scheduled crap.