Hot Air
Hot Air's comment section is closing tomorrow. In its place will appear a new comment section, courtesy of Facebook.
For many of us, this marks the end of an era. Must less abstractly and much more importantly, this marks the sudden end of a community that was important to us.
I don't know if anyone will be interested in this, but if you are, please "sign the guestbook," so to speak, by posting a comment below. You're also welcome to point to yourself elsewhere online or to otherwise connect with friends. Consider this basically an open thread. (If you don't have a Disqus account, feel free to use a fictitious email address to make a comment. Separately, if you go into moderation, just give me a little while.)
Not everyone has a Facebook account, and not everyone wants a Facebook account. If you are finished commenting on Hot Air and have a new place in mind — where to?
For myself, I’ve made close friends. I can still talk to my closest friends after today, because, and I see now this was a blessing, most of us connected away from Hot Air. But I’ve also made many friendly acquaintances that I'll probably never speak to again. I've talked to them about a thousand things, and for years. We've argued. We’ve high-fived. They’re part of me, people who I think of during the day when I’m supposed to be thinking of something else. That everything’s changing so dramatically is a sudden realization and a strange feeling.
Of course, everyone in the community will survive the change. If we can survive Noah Rothman, we can survive this. :) —But just right now, in the slap-shock, I have to admit that I would not have chosen to live the rest of my life without Dire Straits somewhere in it, and the idea is taking some getting used to. I'm flipping through pictures in my mind. The mighty wereturtle (“Horatia”) is gone? The day-walkers tracking terrible happiness, sunlight, and the smell of coffee into the comfortable gloom-keep of the 4:00 AM QOTD — never again? No more pantless “cozmo”? There are too many people that I will miss to list them all. I’m sure other people are feeling the same way. We know different people and different themes — but I bet the feeling is the same.
Wait — “nonpartisan” is gone!
. . . Anyway, should there be any interest, here's a page for us. If you want, please carve your X into the bark. I'd like to remember.
In every case, my sincerest, best hopes for everyone.
I'll see you around the galaxy.
Axe
Update: oscarwild’s.
Update: Michelle’s take.
Update: I want to thank everyone who took the time to post.
Update: I noticed something last night. Thinking that the Hot Air comment section was about to disappear, and that we wouldn't be able to speak to each other again, what did we do to connect, without thinking or worrying at all? In a matter of hours, hundreds of people shifted seamlessly to Disqus.
Find peeps here (most recent threads first):
Hot Air
New hangouts:
