A Personal Message to My Readers

The greatest gift you can give someone is your time.

Those of you who visit my website each day give the most precious of gifts, which is your time.

That’s something I take seriously.

My goal each day to is honor that sense of devotion and curiosity by providing an article or essay which might be humorous, enlightening, shocking, inquisitive, and — on my very best days — perhaps even beneficial.

I.  YOUR FEEDBACK

One thing I desperately need is your feedback.  While the “comments” section allows readers to specifically address what I’ve written that day, what I’m looking for is a greater sense of what people want.  What exactly do you want more of?  What do you want less of?  What topics interest you the most?  Which are the least interesting?

All suggestions are welcome.

Please e-mail comments to me at:  nolandalla@aol.com

Or, you can post in the COMMENTS section below, which is open for public viewing.

Here are a few of the many subjects I shall write more about if there’s sufficient interest:

Past and Current Gambling Stories — I’ve come across many gambling stories from Las Vegas and around the country during my years traveling and covering poker events.  Want to hear more?

Poker Legends Stories — I’ve had quite a few encounters with well-known poker players over the years.  Stu Ungar, Doyle Brunson, Billy Baxter, Phil Ivey, etc.  Is anyone interested in this stuff?

Autobiography — I’m reluctant to write about myself too often.  But I have a number of perspectives and unusual experiences from working and living in places like Ceausescu’s Romania during the revolution of 1989, as well as later in Washington.  Does this interest many readers?

Rants — Something pisses me off every single day.  Big surprise.  Rants are the easiest things to write because they take perhaps a half hour and are simply profanity-laden tirades where I get something off my chest and hit the “send” button.  What more or less?  And are they too profane?  Note:  If anything, I have to tone them down.

Political Topics — Not sure if too many readers come here to read my political opinions.  I enjoy writing these the most, but they probably are the least interesting to a wide audience.  What do you think?

Restaurant Reviews — I could post a lot more of these, but I wonder who wants to read about some obscure restaurant in LA or Miami?  Why do you want to read my restaurant review when you can go to Trip Adviser instead?

Movie Reviews — I realize that I only see and review movies for snobs like me.  Should I keep doing this?

Daily Activities — Many bloggers talk about the details of their life and what they’re doing that day or the day before.  I have avoided this topic for the most part.  Does anyone really care what airline I”m flying today, where I ate, or what I did?

Health and Fitness — I wrote most of the health articles purely for myself.  Writing them helped me to stay motivated.  While I was running, I wrote these articles in my head.  I’ll probably continue these from time to time, because they help me.

WSOP Topics — I almost never write about the World Series of Poker.  I figure if readers are interested in these things, there are plenty of other sites to visit, including WSOP.com — where I contribute regularly.  Agree?

Friends and Colleagues — Should I be writing more about the many people I know and see?  I’ve done some of these topics in the past, usually over dinner, and enjoy them.  But does anyone really care about my friends and that they do?

YouTube Videos — I’ve posted a few YouTube videos.  I have some half-finished video projects, with music put to words and pictures.  Are these things readers want to see?

II.  DONATIONS

I hate asking for money.  But I’m going to take this six-month anniversary since I started this blog to ask for a donation — anything you can send.

The money is to be used for my website design and upgrade, which will begin soon.  Unfortunately, my trusted and talented web designer Ernst-Dieter Martin from Feliz Applications must eat something other than crackers, so he needs money.  I told Mr. Martin that he could stand to lose a few pounds and that he should just do the work on my site for free.  But, he’s proving to be quite difficult and demands payment.

Seriously, I do need to raise some money so I can hopefully take this site to the next level.  Many of you have already sent donations, which helped when I first set up the site.  But now, I need more funding.

No donation is too small to large — especially too large.

And, if there’s someone out there who wants “emeritus” rights here at the site, and wants to bankroll me entirely for a year where I can travel the world and blog about the experiences, that donation would be warmly accepted (hey, you never know who might be reading).

Once again, if you can click the BUY ME A DRINK icon on the right side of the page, that’s the place to donate.  If you don’t use PayPal, checks are also accepted:

Nolan Dalla

3241 Mariner Bay Street

The Lakes, NV  89117

I wish I could say your donation is tax-free, but it isn’t.  So, remember, you can either send a few dollars by way of PAYPAL or by writing a check.  I hope to raise as much money as possible so I can make the site more interesting and interactive.

I promise never to post another message like this again — at least until I run out of cash and need more money.

Once again, thank you for your interest in what I do and what I write.  Your interest in my words is the ultimate compliment for any writer.

Respectfully Yours,