Yesterday morning Jason announced that he has broken the shackles of menial labor and refuses to work for the man anymore. And even though he gave a pretty good brief on what and why he's doing this I felt there were some unanswered questions.
I spoke with Jason yesterday afternoon to to ask the hard questions I knew the editors of Wired would never allow.
Airbag: Jason, this morning you announced that you're going pro...did you make a deal with the devil to pull this off? Does she really have cloven feet?
Kottke: Turns out the devil needs PageRank. Who knew? We've got a sweet little arrangement going, a souls-for-placement deal.
Airbag: I think the first question that America wants answered — do you work in your underwear? If not, why not?
Kottke: I don't because it's freezing in here. Luckily I won't be working out of the apartment for much longer (Airbag scoop! Must credit Airbag!!!)...hopefully the new location will be a bit warmer, albeit filled with people that probably would not enjoy seeing me in my underpants day-to-day.
Airbag: What is your day to day routine now that you're a professional blogger? Are you allowed to leave the house?
Kottke: I hope to leave someday soon. I was at Costco last week and can survive for several weeks here on all the hot dogs and lemonade mix I bought.
Airbag: About the webcam, will it ever pan down?
Kottke: So you can see the keyboard? It's one of those white Apple ones, nothing special.
Airbag: Looking at your webcam shot I've noticed you have a lot of whitespace going on. Any thought of going NASCAR with the decor there? I know some people at Clear Channel Outdoor who could squeeze a billboard or two behind you... yes, no?
Kottke: You're the second person to suggest selling advertising on the wall behind me. "Going NASCAR"...I like that.
Airbag: Do you ever see yourself buying a white suit and becoming the Architect? Because I'm assuming you don't have a khaki pants dress code anymore.
Kottke: If I can be serious for a second, the no more khakis thing is fantastic. And I don't quite know where you're going with the Matrix/Architect thing, so I'm going to ignore it.
Airbag: Are you now the sworn enemy of Nick Denton? If not, why not?
Kottke: I am going to [explicative] bury Gawker Media. (Except for the logo.)
Airbag: There are bound to be Kottke readers/bloggers who are crafting letters of resignation right now. What would you say to those who see your move as an epiphany of their own?
Kottke: Just quit. Quit right now. Don't look back. Wouldn't it be great to see what would happen to the US if everyone quit their jobs all at the same time? I bet it would be great.
Airbag: How does it feel knowing you can never go back to being an amateur, that now you can't participate in Olympic competition?
Kottke: I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of my money counter.
Airbag: How do you plan on explaining this to your accountant? Are you now able to write off things like web surfing? How much are you wrists insured for?
Kottke: I get to write off everything that goes on the site. MetroCards, cab fare, restaurants, clothing, toilet paper, food, travel, hookers, booze, gambling debts, etc. I'm going to write about everything I buy and I'm going to buy things just so I can write about them and get the deductions.
Airbag: Getting paid to blog is like getting paid to ride the buss. Agree or disagree?
Kottke: I don't think Jerry Buss has too much to do with it. The real question for the Lakers is, can Kobe get them into the playoffs this year?
Airbag: Does it bother you to know that Jason Santa Maria has an entire wall devoted to print outs of kottke.org dating back to 1999?
Kottke: Seriously? (No, seriously?)
Airbag: Ok, time to really come clean. In the last year how many times would you say you've ripped off links from Airbag?
Kottke: Between the ones you took from me and the ones I took from you, I think we're doing OK.
Thanks Jason. I still think you should get a white suit and blog in front of a wall of monitors.
On behalf of Airbag readers (and asshats) everywhere we salute you and your endeavor.
Join the fray by reading through and commenting at the end.
Hahaha, amazing interview.
I... uh... it's a small wall... I swear.
Great questions.
Great answers.
Great interview.
I love great interviews.
Interesting read.
I'm still laughing, that was great =)
Just wondering though.... Should the can in this line be can't? Or did is it meant to be exactly as is?
Kottke: I'm sorry, I can hear you over the sound of my money counter.
Figured with the excellent writing this blog has, I'd point out this:
Thanks Jason. I still think you should get a white suit and blog in front of wall of monitors.
Assuming that should be "a" wall. Anyway, a very humorous read!
I'd happy to see I'm not the only one who busts Greg's butt on typos. : )
That's what I get for trying to squeeze in some writing during work. I think it's time I started a labor union that will advocate for blogging breaks at work.
Heh. In light of all the hoo-haa this has generated, hats off for writing this up. V.funny and a timely reminder that, you know, it's only a blog. The earth will NOT spin off it's axis because Jason quit his job!
What? Jason Kottke has quit his job? I am always last to the news.
What? Jason Kottke is trying to claim he isn't the Architect! Next he will be telling me I am not The One.
Ergo, concordantly, vis-a-vis, micropatron.
Go Jason!
Great interview, it's very funny!
You guys are my hero...
Seriously i'd be interested (as would the rest of the world) to see a tally on how much money Jason can make from donations... I know, I know, that's private.. but man imagine the bloggers that would be inspired by seeing that Kottke has scrapped in 6 figures in his first week!
I think someone needs to interview Kottke's Better Half. Just how did he convince her (assuming he did) that quitting his job to blog full time was a Good Idea? A Jedi Mind Trick or what? Come on, Greg; Enquiring Minds need to know.
Finally a way to write of hookers. Brilliant! Bloody brilliant!
Ha, fantastic.
LOL! That was great. Um, didn't get the Nick Denton joke though...what loop am I out of here?
Good interview. Um, I'm new to this whole blogging thing, but I'm not sure I understand how money is to be made being a professional blogger, outside of what he explained on his site.
Please don't take this wrong, but I would like to be able to pay my own bills, not sure how many folks will want to help pay someone else's...? The whole "advertising on the forehead" idea might do well in front of the web cam. Speaking of NASCAR, how about a white shirt with all kinds of ad patches on it?
Congrats, I know many people would love to be able to break their cubicle tethers. Good luck and Godspeed!
I like the interview.
If we're going to be pedantic about spelling, check "How much are you wrists insured for?"
But anyway, kudos to you, Jason. My other half would kill me before she let me quit work to blog full-time.
Dan.
Crazy interview. I think everybody was having a good time and the product is kind of contagious. Excellent work.
Hey, when Airbag turns into a career, I'll make time to catch all the missing R's. Until then it's English as a second language around here.
Blake: Nick Denton publishes the for-profit Gawker Media blogs, headed by flagship Gawker. He employs over a dozen people, and his readership is well-off and influential. Note the link in "logo." Nick Denton is also fairly well-off. But his blog empire runs on high-profile ads, and if Kottke is successful it will shock many blog experts. Current consensus is that blogs make money best by advertising.
Greg: I loved the interview.
I think he was lying about his working in the underwear thing.
Kudos to Jason for creating a new profession for the IRS to tax, and for us to write stuff off!! Best of luck man! ^^
David, you never know. The webcam only shows so much. ;-) I liked this post enough to add this to my site to my list of reads. Good job!
That was awesome. Pure awesomeness
*links*
Nick: Ahh, I understand now. I visited his blog but didn't put 2 and 2 together.
This was a really hilarious read.Good to know that despite all the hooplah, in the end no one takes themselves That seriously. And even if the "profi" bloggers do; they are great at disguising it.
I've only been blogging since Dec 2004 and i can definitely say [start commercial] it's changed my life! [end commerical]
I am a very faithful Kottke reader and in a wierd coincidence, I hadn' checked his site out for 2 days and read suddenly what happened. Great surprise!
lol awesome interview!
a brilliant social experiment, kudos to you for not filling every square inch of you site with adds..
good luck Jason, I hope it all works out
Very insightful interview! Kottke has given me hope that one day I'll be able to quit my job and so I can blog full time... As for the money he has earned so far... If he starts living in luxury and posting from 5 star restaurants we know he is onto a winner.
Even tho I've given Jason maxi micropayment cashish, the blog I really want to have to pay for is Mr. Sun, who today, lobs a sort-of anti-blogsteria piece of conceptual art, made in just one hour!
Well done my good and faithful servant.
Per Kottke's advice, I'm quitting my job right now and buying a money counter.
But screw this micropatron crap - I'm going straight for macropatron. Hook me up, ya'll...
Wow! I really hate the fact that I'm just now hearing about this whole Kottke thing......and from the mainstream MSNBC.com) press, no less:
Jason Kottke is a foundational blogger and exemplifies the qualities that constitute skilled blogging -everything from technical proficiency to diversity of interests to writing ability. He's a blogger and he's good at what he does, and that's why Kottke news is news (here).
I hate that queesy, "how-long-has-this-been-going-on-and-where-have-I-been feeling.
Good luck. And man, am I jealous!
Haha... Crazy stuff Greg! Awsome Interview!
Great interview.
"Airbag: Getting paid to blog is like getting paid to ride the buss. Agree or disagree?"
"Kottke: I don't think Jerry Buss has too much to do with it. The real question for the Lakers is, can Kobe get them into the playoffs this year?"
HA HA!
First the webcomics, now blogs. Hopefully the time will come soon when everyone recognizes posting quality online content to be a valid full time job.
Good luck Jason! Wish you lots of luck and moolah!