Ladles and Jelly spoons, please allow me to take a moment of your time to direct your attention to the bright, orange button on the side of the screen. The one that reads “make a donation”. See it? Awesome. Keep it in mind as I yammer at you for just a little bit.

Now, I’m just a guest poster here at Time Well Wasted. One day, GeminiFatcat asked if I would cross post something I’d written in my Live Journal, and I said, “Sure.” (Actually, it was the original version of the Cloversuck post that she got such a kick out of) So, she set me up a member name and I became a regular poster. Ever since then, I get the occasional “OMG! Halp! I need an article, like NOW! Come up with something, Plz!! Kthxbye!” It’s a lot of fun, and there’s a whole lot of work that goes on that even I don’t have to worry about.

I’m sure I don’t have to tell anyone reading this that the economy is dangling somewhere between the terlet and the last couple squares of paper on the roll. We’re all feeling the crunch. Gas prices skyrocketing, the job market collapsing- it’s pretty crappy these days. And it’s getting harder and harder to keep the little perks in life. Time Well Wasted for example.

Gem puts a lot of work in to keep the posts fresh and interesting, and seriously, if it wasn’t for her some of us would be missing out on a lot of great podcasts and books- weird websites and all that groovy jazz. She’s benefiting not only the audiences of the world, but also the performers looking for an audience, and that really rocks. She loves doing this, and her only wish is to spread some joy.

TWW takes a lot of Gem’s time to keep going with new articles and fun links. ‘Cause, remember this, she’s not only gotta write these posts, but she’s gotta listen to all these podcasts, watch all these movies, read all these books- you should SEE her library! It’s crazy! And these things ain’t free all the time- even the hosting costs money.

So, what *I* am asking of *you*, is that you help Gem out. Toss a buck or two into the popcorn fund, so that she doesn’t have to worry so much about keeping this place afloat with the rising price of gas and groceries. I know that I for one would hate to see TWW fold cause the decision had to be made between food and fandom.

But, you know what? Making a donation is not the only way you can help gem out! See the list of Amazon.com books on the side there? It’s not just a stupid banner to be ignored. If you click through there before doing your amazon shopping, you actually help Gem out, cause that tosses a few pennies into her account there. And, I know you buy stuff on Amazon! We all do. How hard is it to stop on through TWW on your way there? Seriously. It’s no more money from you. It’s just one little extra click. Do it. Help the lady out. She busts her hump daily to keep us all entertained.

There’s even MORE though. Look to your right. No, not that far.. just to the right of the screen. See in the LINKS there where it says “Comfort Cooking”? *nodnods* that’s GeminiFatcat’s own cookbook- a collection of her favorite recipes (and some of my favorites, too) and you can buy a copy of it over on LuLu. Don’t wanna spring for the whole paper copy? Fine, you can get a copy of the PDF for just a few bucks.

I’m not here begging you for your money. I don’t get a CENT of the stuff that comes in to TWW. It all goes into Gem’s coffers to keep this place and her own house running. *I* am just here to help you all find these ways you can lend a hand. I’ll even resort to bribery. If Gem tells me that the donations and sales and clickthrough have skyrocketed. Then I’ll Um – *thinks* – I’ll draw a stupid webcomic about a stick-figure dragon. How about that? Maybe some of my posts will be drawn instead of just text. How about that? Will that get you to clickthrough? Srsly. Give us your $.02 .. literally.