Brick magazine is looking for some help to get a new computer -- and a chair

Managing editor Nadia Szilvassy perched atop her rickety chair

A good natured example of the vagaries of publishing a cultural magazine in this country? Brick, the respected and award-winning literary magazine, is using crowdsourcing to get the money to replace its computer and some other office equipment. 

It's using the site Indiegogo to manage a campaign for $1,500 to purchase an up-to-date iMac on which to produce the magazine and to replace the managing editor's "hilarious, rickety chair" and get a new phone. While the magazine says it prides itself on being up-to-date and deeply engaged, its wheezing computer and office furniture is not.

"[While] our content is on the cutting edge, the equipment we work on struggles to keep up with the times. As you'll see from our picture, our managing editor currently works on an iMac G4—the model that was discontinued in 2004! Our office chairs are more than a little worse for wear, and our phone, well, we'll post a picture so you can see for yourself.

"Here are some phrases you may hear as Nadia waits for a file to download onto her computer:"It's fine, really. It teaches me to practice patience." or "I'll just go water the plants..."

As with most such donation drives, the more you give the more swag you get, from a published thank you for $10, some Brick postcards for donations up to $50 to a subscription and a signed book from one of the editors for giving more than $150. So far the campaign, which in intended to run for 3 4 months, has raised $250, or about one-sixth of its goal.