Thought I’d take tonight’s diary to share a little bit about today’s New England Kossacks meet-up, although if you are hoping for pictures I have none to share because I was so busy talking I forgot to take many! I am sure there will be some in coming days either in a standalone diary or in C.U.A.! Grab a beverage (I’ve got a lovely pinot, not quite as good as the delicious Malbec at the Portland Maine Flatbread Company, site of today’s meetup!) and follow me below tonight’s message from our sponsor…
Here at Top Comments we welcome longtime as well as brand new Daily Kos readers to join us at 10pm Eastern. We strive to nourish community by rounding up some of the site's best, funniest, most mojo'd & most informative commentary, and we depend on your help!! If you see a comment by another Kossack that deserves wider recognition, please send it either to topcomments at gmail or to the Top Comments group mailbox by 9:30pm Eastern. Please please please include a few words about why you sent it in as well as your user name (even if you think we know it already :-)), so we can credit you with the find!
There were about 20 people at the venue when Mr. Brillig and I arrived, a wee bit late thanks to traffic on Rt 95 in New Hampshire and a full parking garage next to the restaurant! It was a wonderful mix of people I have known for many years (Bill in Portland Maine and his wonderful partner Commonsense Mainer, our organizer nhox42, a number of other people whose dkos names I can’t remember [see: lovely delicious Malbec, above] and fellow Top Commenteer Ed Tracey) plus a variety of people I either had met once or twice, or were complete new-friends-I-hadn’t-met-yet. Bill is looking fantastic and we lamented that for the first time in the history of Netroots Nation/Yearly Kos, Casa Bill&Michael and Casa Thome will NOT be flying in so close together that we can share a shuttle. He promised that if he’s removed from the plane he’ll arrange a later flight to coincide with ours :).
There was much hugging and talking- I think there were 15 conversations going on simultaneously, and periodically we’d all get up and move around to talk to new people, not quite speed-dating but definitely a way to get a few minutes with almost everyone. I heartily recommend to everyone that if you are even remotely within range of a group (see the list in any of the Connect! Unite! Act! diaries) to get thee to a meetup!! You WILL be welcome. If there isn’t one in your area, PLEASE consider starting one. I know that navajo would be more than happy to talk to you about doing so!!
We had a wonderful guest at our meetup- Daily Kos Senior Campaign Director Michael Langenmayr. It’s always wonderful to have a chance to catch up on what’s going on (and in this case to finally ask the question “OK, so what exactly do you DO?”) and Michael was a very good sport as I talked his ear off all afternoon.
I put in a plea for the DailyKos staff to recognize the hugely important work that Cheers & Jeers, Top Comments and ALL the community diaries do in building a network of people invested in the site and each other, and to find ways to direc the many, MANY (Michael gave numbers but again, Malbec) people who come to dKos via clicking thru Facebook or Twitter links and have no connection to the site except as a news source to our communities. He in response to a direct question from me (I want to be clear HE didn’t bring it up first) let me know how much the site depends on us for its existence- advertising does NOT fund the site; in fact, a majority of the budget comes from the contributions of you and me. I intend to throw a bit more often than I have been because this place is vital to me.
And now it’s on to what you really come here for… the trio of Top Comments, Mojo and Pictures that this community diary series is founded upon. Thanks to BeninSC for his support and assistance tonight and every night!
TOP COMMENTS
Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down. Please remember that comment inclusion in Top Comments does not constitute support or endorsement by diarist, formatter, Top Comments writers or DailyKos. Questions, complaints or comments? Contact brillig.
Highlighted by P Carey:
Is this excellent comment by Gooserock about one of 45’s most glaring first 100 day failures.
Highlighted by 2thanks:
Is this comment by samanthab showing a couple of clever signs from climate protest marches.
Highlighted by slksfca:
Is this pictorial comment by The Marti!
Highlighted by Murfster35:
Is this funny, screen-captured tweet comment by annieli!
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday, April 28th, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
TOP PICTURES
Top Pictures for yesterday, April 28th. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment or picture. Thank you jotter!