The annual initiation of the new Front Pagers has me thinking of new beginnings, as they make themselves known to all of us, start to define their areas of particular interest, catch our eyes with particular ideas and turns of phrase, and—with surprising rapidity—make the Daily Kos front page their weekend turf.
New beginnings surprise us. No matter whether they were expected, merely hoped for, they never quite happen as anticipated; sometimes they're completely out of the blue. The new 2007 front-pagers were announced on Thursday, but instead of starting in 2007, or even a couple of weeks later, they were posting the next day, December 1, a Friday. We woke up, and our corner of the world had reconfigured.
Sometimes, new beginnings just announce themselves. Nature's especially good at doing this in major and minor ways. An example of the latter: I've mentioned before that I grow bulbs indoors. Last Wednesday, one of my amaryllis from last year, Exotica, decided that dormancy was for the birds, and started pushing its bud stalk up out of its bulb sitting in the dry soil of last year's pot. I happened to notice this rebirth, and gave the soil a soaking. If I hadn't noticed, the stalk would have grown taller and taller, until the bulb finally used up all its energy and moisture and the stalk would have fallen over: pale, not green, but possibly blooming even as it died. This happened once to an amaryllis that I'd put on a closet shelf and then forgotten about. I felt like a murderer when I'd found it, too late, small faded petals collapsed on the shelf at the end of a stem so weakened it could no longer stay upright.
We can miss new beginnings through not paying attention, or if they're inconspicuous. I was on my way out the door Thursday evening when I looked in a shopping bag of recently purchased amaryllis bulbs, some in individual plastic mesh bags, only to see that one of these mesh bags was improbably stretched, and a four-inch stem, with bud bent nearly in half, was doing the stretching. So, instead of leaving on time, I immediately performed emergency surgery on the bag, carefully cutting the mesh so as not to put pressure on, nick, or damage the stem in any way. I could practically feel the amaryllis (Charisma) sigh in relief when the constriction was removed, and I placed it—and another compatriot that was about an inch out of its bulb (Christmas Gift)—where it could continue its growth in safety. Tonight, after this diary goes up, they'll be planted: I've finally soaked and cleaned out some clay pots, and have placed the roots of the bulbs in contact with water for a few hours.
I don't usually seek new beginnings. It's a failing: I prefer to let them find me, and only gradually will I let them into my life. Except when they jump out from behind a bush, shout "Boo!", and attach themselves firmly. These ambushes range from the nasty to the serendipitious, the mundane to the momentous, and I deal with them with varying degrees of excitement, grace, and resignation.
I've been watching some truly inspiring new beginnings take life here on Daily Kos, both on the front page and in many diaries, including Top Comments. Those of you leaping off into the unknown have my unbounded admiration, empathy, and my best wishes.
© sardonyx; all rights reserved
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Now to the raison d'etre of the diary: the top comments themselves. As always, these are subjective; what appears here is what strikes a Kossack as worthy enough to send it in to the email account set up for that purpose.
Thou shalt look for Top Comments and shalt send thy finds to TopComments AT gmail DOT com...or else!!!
wandabee sent:
Here's a great one by Night Owl about how well Pres. Bush would have handled WWII from *One Pissed Off Liberal's diary, What’s Wrong With This Picture?
nonnie9999 sends:
A picture is worth a thousand words, so armadillo's comment must be worth at least 5,000! [Ed. note: it's in Al Rodgers's weekly Sunday talk – Semper Fi diary, which has pictures enough to put the diary into the high-five-figures, wordwise.]
BeninSC spotted this late addition by ilyana to Cronesense's Storytime: Stones diary, which, strictly speaking, is out of recommendability, but as it's a good comment and only the third received by your humble editor with only a few hours to go until posting time, I'm including it here.
carolita sends in several comments:
Rex Freedom expains a key element of the 50-state strategy that a lot of people don't seem to understand in philinmaine's Rural America can go Dem diary.
Heart of the Rockies has a brilliant idea for Miss Laura. I hope she will consider it.
Devilstower has a great idea about recognizing public servants, especially those BushCo has kicked to the curb for doing their job well.
Peeder was going to make an excellent proposal and I hope he still will. It could save some of us dKos addicts like The Lighthouse Keeper and clammyc.
A couple from kestrel9000 (with hopes that he'll forgive me calling him "k9k"):
First, k9k laughed uncontrollably at VoicelessInDC's comment It has always struck me in davefromqueens's diary on renaming the Washington National Airport after George Washington, and says,
Spit beer all over the monitor, and some of it came out of my nose. That hurt.
On the other hand, most unfriendly microbes in the nasal passages have probably been killed, given the unexpected foaming, so that's a good thing. The beery monitor, not so good.
Then, in regarding DH from MD's comment in kestrel9000's diary today, Our honored dead, k9k says, "this one knocked me over. Kind of bulletproof, don't you think? Defeat this reasoning. I dare ya."
From the indefatiguable emeraldmaiden:
From my WAYWO diary tonight:
monkeybiz denies she has a stash problem.
rowanleigh puts my stash to shame.
Now my haul as TC editor du jour. A couple of these comments would have been submitted if people knew how:
pHunbalanced strongly commends this comment by pioneer111 on how presidential candidates (in this case Edwards, Obama, and Clark) deserve thoughtful criticism.
I was expecting this one from gloriana, but I liked it so much I'm co-opting it from her TC diary last night: ImpeachKingBushII on Books are the best...
Liberal Thinking on The Acid Test every politician must pass to get LT's vote.
Rex Manning on why Prison is the one place a person should be safe from violent crime, but all too frequently is not.
EdSF writes on why the Democratic congress needs to be aware of why rigorous investigations of the Bush administration are necessary in One Pissed Off Liberal's diary Democrats ’08, Impeachment & the Conventional Wisdom. [Ed. note: and how could I resist a diary that quotes (and pictures) Lois McMaster Bujold?]
And finally, because I have a free hand in the Balkans, I'm going to point all those picture mavens who didn't get enough kilowords from nonnie's pick to take a gander at the San Francisco Kossacks Holiday Party Photos diary for pictures of many Kossacks, including Fearless Leader Markos. Some nice photos in the comments, too; I found the whole by checking a comment from ilona, so I think I can sort of explain this away when the Secret Masters of TC knock on my door in the middle of the night. :)
BeninSC has supplied tonight's Top Mojo. (Yay, Ben!) Top mojo is gathered using the Daily Kos search function, so if search is temporarily unable—for whatever arcane reason—to see your comment, it won't be here no matter how much mojo it has attracted. If you know of one that has been omitted here, please put a link to it in the diary's comments so visitors here can find it.
First, those comments that don't have the extra advantage of being clear tip jars, in C&J, or similar mojo attractors:
1 Thanks -- I originally aimed to by beachmom — 180
2 A Socialist in the Senate by maryru — 148
3 TY by DarkSyde — 119
4 When are the DA meetings? by Devilstower — 108
5 Leahy has his sights on Cheney by steelman — 84
6 How about no more lying scumbags by JLFinch — 70
7 Love Story in Four Pictures by armadillo — 66
8 Yes. It's OK if it's violence against Women by means are the ends — 65
9 I'll fight anyone for the gig. by Bob Johnson — 64
10 This is an important diary by Matt Z — 57
11 (Video) Colbert: "It's Dinner Time" by Al Rodgers — 56
12 it's about fucking time, Al... by Trix — 54
13 I didn't ask him if he would go on record. by hcc in VA — 54
14 i am lying on the floor right now by buhdydharma — 53
15 Is that a first? by kovie — 53
16 Hi, my name is BarbinMD by BarbinMD — 51
17 He also giggled and chuckled, by vigilant meerkat — 50
18 You are correct to point to the danger by Rolfyboy6 — 48
19 Jim Lehrer by Maggie Mae — 47
20 I almost didn't post — OLD NEWS, right? by winstnsmth — 47
21 Mmmm....,,,,, pie. by irate — 46
22 I believe by BarbinMD — 43
23 that animation is seriously, seriously disturbing by Wee Mama — 43
24 Bush's support by James Earl — 42
25 I think by mango — 42
26 Do you mind by kestrel9000 — 42
27 Good idea. I forgot to mention it. by shergald — 41
28 "...he's going to piss off senators on both by Sybil Liberty — 41
29 Impeachment followed by indictment and trial by Lepanto — 41
30 The ridiculousness and danger of buhdydharma '08. by David Boyle — 39
Now, Top Mojo strictly by the number of recommendations:
1 Tipses by odum — 609
2 Recommended? Well, here's a TIP JAR! by winstnsmth — 305
3 here i am! by buhdydharma — 223
4 a little by clammyc — 205
5 Thanks -- I originally aimed to by beachmom — 180
6 People like David McMenemy by quaoar — 171
7 Tips for justice? by One Pissed Off Liberal — 153
8 A Socialist in the Senate by maryru — 148
9 TY by DarkSyde — 119
10 When are the DA meetings? by Devilstower — 108
11 Leahy has his sights on Cheney by steelman — 84
12 tip jar, and also wondering by hcc in VA — 74
13 here i am! by buhdydharma — 72
14 How about no more lying scumbags by JLFinch — 70
15 Amen to that, recommend this diary by nathanielpowell — 68
16 Love Story in Four Pictures by armadillo — 66
17 Yes. It's OK if it's violence against Women by means are the ends — 65
18 I'll fight anyone for the gig. by Bob Johnson — 64
19 Thank you for continuing to contribute by peeder — 62
20 Tonight's Resource by pastordan — 58
21 This is an important diary by Matt Z — 57
22 Ponies for everyone! by buhdydharma — 56
23 (Video) Colbert: "It's Dinner Time" by Al Rodgers — 56
24 Smile! errrr,, be happp,,, Tip Jar!!! by PhillyGal — 55
25 it's about fucking time, Al... by Trix — 54
26 I didn't ask him if he would go on record. by hcc in VA — 54
27 Is that a first? by kovie — 53
28 i am lying on the floor right now by buhdydharma — 53
29 Farming for tips by ew73 — 52
30 Hi, my name is BarbinMD by BarbinMD — 51