I have crazy thoughts sometimes.
When my workweek tops 40 hours, or I'm up until 5 a.m. polishing a project, I start to have mad fantasies about just chucking it all and playing "World of Warcraft" full-time.
But I know it's a crazy dream. It's one I may indulge in when I'm operating on a few hours of sleep - and that's at least once every week or two - but I wouldn't actually do it.
I mean, how would I pay for Internet access or my "World of Warcraft" subscription if I didn't make any money?
I know other people have similar fantasies - but one guy is actually taking the plunge. Only he's figured out the solution to the whole "living expenses" drawback.
Jason Kottke, who runs the Web journal kottke.org, announced last month he was quitting his job so he could work on his blog full time.
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And he wants his readers to pay him to run his blog. According to a Feb. 22 post, he is conducting a one-time fund drive for contributions.
If people contribute $30 or more, they'll be entered into a contest with various prizes. The prizes, the donation page says, were donated.
In the post explaining his switch to full-time blogger, Kottke talks about how he almost quit his blog last year because it was getting to be too much work and wasn't fun.
His goal is to make about one-third to one-half of his former salary, according to the post, so it's not like he's looking to cash in on his readers.
On the one hand, I admire his guts. Who hasn't yearned to give up their dreary daytime pursuits so they could have fun and do their hobby full-time?
I can understand where he's coming from. I never have time to update my Web site or post on my blog, let alone play "World of Warcraft" as much as I want.
And when the "real world" stuff - school and work - gets too frustrating, it's all too tempting to just say, "Forget it."
But I'm not quite convinced that my hard-earned money should go to a guy who wants to stay home and do his hobby all day so that he doesn't have to put up with the dreary world I'm still stuck in.
Kottke says he doesn't want to use advertising to support his site because he doesn't want to introduce a third party or worry about how it would affect what he writes about it.
He wants to find another way to support content on the Web, his post says, and that's an interesting idea. Kottke talks about expanding the concept of arts patronage to the Web, where an Internet writer or artist can rely on their readers' support instead of waiting around for a grant.
It's all very democratic and noble-sounding. After all, the Web is all about communication and giving people who don't own media outlets a way to publish, right?
Plus, plenty of sites ask for donations to support the site. I fully admit I have sent small donations to help with the costs of Web sites I enjoy.
Popular Web sites that receive lots of hits have to worry about paying for all that traffic.
But as far as I know, none of the people running those sites are trying to make a living off the donations. The operators of the sites just appreciate help in paying Web hosting and bandwidth costs. They usually have ads to help pay the bills as well.
I'm not sure why that makes a difference, but it does. I don't mind donating a few bucks to people to help them out with their hobby. But something just rubs me the wrong way about giving money to a guy who quit his job so he can do his hobby full time.
Or maybe I'm just jealous. Because if I could figure out a way to get paid to play "World of Warcraft" all day, I'll be all over it.
