I appreciate appreciative e-mails, but this one particularly caught my fancy, so I thought I’d post it (with identifying details removed):

I just want to thank you for your blog. I’ve been living in [a major city in Europe] for almost a year, doing a job that is charitably described as mind-numbingly boring. It will shortly come to an end, but I dare say I wouldn’t have made it without spending several hours every day reading through the archives of your blog (I’ve now run out). Partly on account of your demonstrated enthusiasm for UT and the city of Austin, I’ve decided to pursue my doctoral studies in [area omitted–not philosophy] at UT, starting in the fall.