As I sat to write tonight, I knew that Canadian music once again had to take a backseat (soooorrry Canada!) because I’d had such a good weekend I forgot to work on the diary. Yesterday was K1’s 25th birthday (I last wrote on the actual birthday back in 2019), it was Father’s Day, and we had an absolutely lovely dinner with K2 and both K1 & their significant other. As I was scrolling back to see what else I’d written on at this time of the year, I stopped in my tracks: somehow, one very important anniversary had been forgotten since 2018.
oopsie
That’s right. This past June 14th was the 17th anniversary of Top Comments!! Gizmo wrote that excellent 2018 diary on the 12th Anniversary, where he reminded us how active Top Comments was in those early days and he also gave us the list of every person who’s penned a TC diary. For the record, I wrote my first TC diary on September 26 2007, shortly after YearlyKos in Chicago where gloriana voluntold me into the TC Crew :). This is my 955th diary bearing the #TopComments tag.
I went looking back through my diaries to see when I last helmed an Anniversary diary, and it turns out it was for our Tenth TCAversary in 2016 (I’m mortified to see that I have a glaring typo in the First TC Date that is now seven years out of editing range ::blush::). That one has links to the first nine anniversary diaries and they’re fascinating reading.
I’d like to quote from my 2016 diary, on the three goals Carnacki had for this series:
1. Highlight informative, funny, interesting comments that might not have been seen.
2. Shine a spotlight on comments that need troll-rating. This is not to open up a troll war. This is simply to help the moderation of this community.
3. I hope this diary becomes a nightly feature. And I don't want to post it every night. What I hope is that others volunteer to do it. In particular, I'm thinking the best volunteers will be those who aren't people well-known on DailyKos for diaries, but who comment often and read quite a few diaries.
I think we’ve done a great job on #1 and #3; and while we don’t spotlight trollish comments I’m in many ways glad that’s not the path we’ve taken. As I said in 2016:
I think Top Comments has succeeded in those goals but has fulfilled a fourth: it has become a Community. It’s a regular stopping point for many in the same way that other community diary series develop regulars. It’s a safe spot, a gentle harbor in the rough seas that the site as a whole can be.
While we don’t publish every night any more, we aim for as often as possible, usually six nights a week. And much as it’s been for many years now, we STILL cannot do it without you! We need you send in those insightful or funny or poignant or other comments that might not make it to Top Mojo but deserve a wider audience. In many ways, this diary series is a partner to Community Spotlight in that we try to find the comments that deserve more eyes whereas Community Spotlight/Rescue finds the equivalent diaries.
We also welcome anyone who’d like to join us in writing the diaries that accompany the nightly Trio of Tops. If you’re interested in finding out more, feel free to message me or any of the Top Commenteer regulars, OR drop a note to our kosmail or gmail.
So, Happy Anniversary to us here at Top Comments! Come celebrate with us in the comments after you peruse tonight’s Tops!
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!
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.
The TC mailboxes were dusty tonight. Help us celebrate by sending in a comment for tomorrow!
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday (Sunday), June 18th 2023, 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 (Sunday), June 18th 2023. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment or picture. Thank you to the wonderful dKos staff who made it possible to continue this feature in memory of jotter!