This is Dustin May, most of you probably know him as engineerd. A while ago, Dustin got himself wrapped up in a virtual panty raid (ha, nerds) and, along with the rest of the miscreants, we banned him. That was bad, we like Dustin. He's probably smarter than we are and that shows in his comments. Today, in Ray's Manifesto of Awesometude, he came back and he came back with a story illustrating how Jalopnik's gone wrong and what it means for us to make it right:
There was a man who read two blogs. The older blog said to the man, "I am chasing page views and revenue. I am turning my back on you." So, the man left the older blog, but never forgot about it.
You see, the older blog had set off for a distant country and there squandered its wealth in press releases and endless stories about boring cars. After it had spent everything, there was a severe famine in the commentariat, and it began to be in need. So it went and hired itself out to a citizen of the established media, who sent it to their fields to feed pigs. It longed to fill its stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave it anything.
When it came to its senses, it said, 'How many of my reader's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my reader and say to him: Reader, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your favorite blog; make me like one of your other blogs.' So it got up and went to its reader.
But while it was still a long way off, its reader saw it and was filled with compassion for it; he ran to his blog, threw his arms around it and embraced it.
The blog said to him, 'Reader, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your favorite blog.'
But the reader said to his IT department, 'Quick! Bring the best monitor and put it on it. Put a faster modem in for it, and leave it up all day. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this blog of mine was dead and is alive again; it was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.
So it is written. So it shall be.
Ray, I sincerely hope this is real. I may not be as big of a presence on here, but I am willing to make a toast to second chances.
We hope it's real too, Dustin.