Hey, when I redesigned this site late last year I scrapped a lot of stuff that I'm just now getting around to putting back. I never intended to turn comments off permanently, I basically just gave up on the design. They're back on now, and eventually I'll get around to bringing the Demo Club stuff back too. I was having all kinds of weird mental/emotional issues about the number of links and other garbage littering my old design. Actually, maybe that was just "winter."

Turning off comments seems to be a thing and while I can respect the reasons some people have for doing so, I've never felt the action was very welcoming. I'm sure there are people out there with haters to deal with, and I suppose that the presence of haters indicates you're doing something interesting. If you've earned a sizeable readership you've earned the right to moderate the incoming praise and/or scorn.

There's just something off-putting about coming across an insightful blog that has commenting disabled, dispiriting when it includes a multi-point post outlining all the reasons they've turned off comments, and maybe a little graceless when the post goes on to state that people who wish to comment should start a blog of their own. A lot of this is done in the name of "raising the level of discourse" or whatever, with analogies involving living rooms and what should and should not be said in them.

If blogs are the living rooms of the web, there's a contingent out there still covering their furniture in plastic wrap and asking us not to use the good cloth napkins. There is also spam, and haters. So -- pull up the drawbridge and we'll converse from our towers via Trackback smoke signals? Is Trackback still a thing?

Anyway, see you all on Facebook!