ERIC OLSEN has a long post on the economics of blogging. I want to be clear, though: I don’t think that money is necessarily corrupting. But I’m keenly aware of what Mark Twain said in Tom Sawyer — that work consists of what a body is obliged to do. If I became “obliged” to produce a couple of dozen (or more) interesting posts a day, I’d probably enjoy it a lot less. That’s my concern, and it’s why I like a donation model: people can donate money if they appreciate it, but there’s no long-term obligation.