text: Support Catalogue of Organisms!
  
  Hi all. I've been writing posts here at Catalogue of Organisms for nearly nine years (nine years come Friday week, in fact). And in that time, I hope that you've been enjoying reading what I've had to say as much as I've enjoyed writing it. I've found some wonderful things in the course of writing this blog, and I've had a great time sharing them with you all. We've debated whether you can make a pillar out of a mat, contemplated whether wasps can have venomous claws, even seen massive reefs produced by single-celled organisms! Unfortunately...
  
  Excuse me a moment, where did I put that violin? Ah, here we go...
  
  Some of you may be aware that, in late 2014, I was made redundant as my university lost the contract that I was working on. Since then, regular employment has proven a little hard to come by. I worked for several months as a casual lab technician, but that has also since come more or less to a close. A combination of factors, including a strong economic downturn in this part of the world, a high level of competition for available positions, and just plain bad luck, have not made things easy.
  
  With that said, I've taken the step of signing up for Patreon. If you would like to show your support for Catalogue of Organisms, and help to keep this site a going prospect, then please chuck a couple of bucks my way. And if enough people do so, then I have some rewards planned: I'll be writing a series of posts on the Patreon page that will be readable only by Patreon supporters. These posts will be a little different from the usual ones here at CoO, in that they'll focus in on an individual species. The first post, which I'll put up if we reach the $100 mark, will be on the so-called 'alien goldfish' of Mazon Creek, Typhloesus wellsi. The current plan is that a new post will appear for every $100 I earn from Patreon. If anyone has suggestions for anything they'd like to see further, then please let me know!
  
  These exclusive posts will be on the Patreon page for a month, and then they'll be released into the wild on the main page here, which will continue to be free to all comers. I have no plans on stopping writing here any time soon; probably nothing short of a major coronary will stop that. And whatever happens, I'd like to thank you again for all the support you've shown me over the years. Thank you!
  
  When I signed up there was a notice saying (if I understood correctly) that new accounts don't get activated for the first few days, presumably so the moderators have some time to check that I'm on the level. Please let me know if you're still having trouble in a few days' time.
  
  And note that higher-level donors will be given the opportunity to dictate subjects to me! Details on the Patreon page.
  
  It would appear that Patreon doesn't allow for one-off donations at present. Of course, you could always set up a contribution and delete it after one charge, but that is not really fair on your end. I'll look into providing a one-off facility as well.
  
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  The Author
  
  I'm an entomologist and taxonomist, currently based in Perth, Western Australia. If you'd like to comment (or offer work), I can be e-mailed at gerarus at westnet.com.au.Subscribe to Catalogue of Organisms