I’ve made some serious blunders on this site over the years, but none so big as taking down some 500 posts in 2013 before I moved to NYC — including all of the comments. I did it because I wanted a fresh start and, frankly, I didn’t want the new folks at the office to make fun of me. Don’t ever be ashamed of what gives you joy, friends. That plus a redesign almost completely neutered the engagement of the community here and though thousands of you send me emails, it’s been pulling teeth to get public engagement back. It’s taken me almost a decade to rebuild it and now James Fox has entered the top 7 commenter bracket (top 6 if you don’t include me):

Actually, strictly speaking since Doberman / Sedulo / Sedula are all the same person — James is now top 5. Minus me, he’s top 4.

I wanted to post that to inject a little competition into the comments section. I know most commenters are one-offs or two-and-doners (it’s a looooooooong tail on that front), but some of you engage pretty regularly.

Also good news:

Pretty much all of the top commented-upon pages in the last year have been recent posts.

Seems like we — together — are starting to right the ship.

But yeah: looks like the top comment spots are fair game now. IT’S ANYONE’S BALLGAME MOVING FORWARDS. But especially James Fox.

Thoughts?