That $40K we’ve been paying our PR agent annually has finally started to reap rewards with a mention of t&p in Saturday’s “Blog Report” column in The Vancouver Sun. Columnist/novelist Kevin Chong responds to our concerns that his column might mean our web log neighborhood is in decline by calling us “dude” and promising not to play his Foghat records so loud.

We can’t recall the last time we’ve been called “dude” so we’re not entirely sure how to react (should we blush modestly? should we notify our solicitor?), but we’re grateful to Mr. Chong for offering to turn the volume on his boombox down below 11. While we pride ourselves on the catholicism of our musical tastes, we were starting to develop serious neck problems trying to bang our head in time to “Chateau Lafitte ‘59 Boogie”.

Later Kevin confesses that the reason he doesn’t have his own blog is that he writes for money.

We tried that once, but found the steady stream of cash pouring into our bank account to be quite unsettling. The keyboard became little more that a money machine, and disturbing visions of King Midas tap-danced through our dreams.

Each morning we would sit ourselves in front of our computer at 7:00 am precisely, adjust the various controls on our Aeron chair, throw our shoulders back, flex our fingers and, ignoring Truman Capote’s rather catty put-down, begin to write. By lunchtime most days we would have earned enough for another summer place on Saltspring Island.

But at some point it all began to seem rather monotonous — just how much waterfront acreage can a web log writer use? — so we gave up all that Grub Street striving and now pen our ghazals gratis for various charitable causes.¹

• • •

¹ We did wrestle rather strenuously with our idealism when we heard that J. K. Rowling earns £1,393 per word. No wonder she insists upon making those damned Harry Potter books so thick…