From the department of "Whaaat?"

Did you know that Dooce makes an estimated $40,000 a month by blogging?

If your jaw just dropped and accidentally swallowed a moth, you are not alone, my friend. I knew that Dooce was popular and advertiser-pursued, but I did not know that she made more a month than I did in an entire year as a reporter.

And while I don't want to knock the ridiculousness of such a salary - mostly in the event I ever have one - it does seems crazy that she writes a few snippets every day and gets paid oodles more than someone who is required to attend a 5-hour long city council meeting and then write 15 column inches about a P-overlay zone.

But the more I think about it, the more I can understand why professional blogging is harder. I mean, writing about yourself is precarious - not too snobby, not too meek, not too much detail about that family member that everyone doesn't like, but she doesn't know it. Also, you have to get creative. I mean, the diaper explosion at Target story was funny the first time, but now I have to make it wittier - "the pooh was like spackle." And don't even get me started about the constant pressure to post, even when on vacation.

Since I'm not as funny as Dooce, and I religiously refrain from F-bombers, I probably will never garner the readership necessary to net $40,000 a month. But I'd be happy to settle for $10,000. Shoot, $1,000 would be close to $1,000 more than I'm currently making as a freelance writer, hand model and amateur mechanic.

So tell your friends. I promise things are going to get hotter, funnier and possibly chewier around here.

Now, where's my check?