Well, this is quite a surprise to wake up to. Bless you -- again. And thank you -- again. Steemit itself is so quiet and depressed ATM I think you should take pleasure that this got any traction at all. I'm hoping it's just the holiday lull that has everything so quiet right now, but I think I'm fooling myself. It's been quiet for a long time and there's no reason for it to revive -- since Steem's price is mostly the driving factor on that -- and it's not going anywhere anytime soon either.

That's really a shame, too, because right now Steemit as a community is in better shape, has more projects available and in development, is making strides in the community options it offers, and is more fun -- objectively -- to be part of than was true back when you and I first joined.

It has so much going for it comparatively, but the morale factor is going to be a killer if it lasts much longer. You can only whistle past the graveyard for so long -- and right now that's what's happening with too many people. You can legitimately say Steem / Steemit is "regrouping" (again and again) -- and on one level I think that's true. But we all know there comes a point in the space between this life and the next one when CPR comes too late -- no matter how vigorously you apply it. I think that's the critical point where we are, TBH.

"The Community" only has so much pulling power for people with actual things to do with their lives and time they need to spend elsewhere. It they want response or conversation or some sign someone actually knows they're alive and gives a damn, they're on FB -- which I know doesn't pay you one thin dime for one damn thing ... and in fact squeezes your effort and your data to further enrich people who don't now and will never again need the money. But there it is. The immutable cold hard truth of life. Steemit and their "top 50 account issue" is just a microcosm of that.

If something ever is resuscitated into a meaningful existence around here, it will have to address that problem -- and that answer is never coming from Ned. He's made that pretty damn clear. He simply has the power to stop it -- and he will -- and he has in the past, if I'm reading some recent comments correctly. He and MZ. Two peas from the same piggy pod.

But I don't mean to be off on a rant. I'm not saying anything we don't all know already ... so I'll STFU and get onto another topic.

I think you actually need to subtract two of my seven votes from the total. As you also know, I've been cruising around, looking for places to spend spare VP from the group account so it doesn't go to waste. Wasted VP should be a crime around here. (But it isn't and it happens too much. Which is yet another problem I won't dissect further.) Anyway uv'ing comments from the group was one of my tactics for that -- and I uv'd Big Tom's comment with the group account before I realized what I was doing. I thought about undoing it -- but I can't undo Ethan's vote ... so I just left it to sink or swim on its own. Anyway, that's why that happened, and I'm kind of embarrassed by it -- so in the interests of "transparency" -- another problem issue I'm not going to gouge any further ... that's why it happened.

I have so many other things I could say here (but, Jeez, look at the length of this thing already!!) So ... let me get back to the original purpose of this comment.

Thank you. For everything you've done. For every word of encouragement. For every word you've written and published under increasingly difficult conditions. For all the SBI you've handed out. For the recommendation initiative you've started. For just being you. Pretty much anyone who reads this blog -- or this comment will join me on those points. Which makes you the actual winner here. Hands down. Believe it.

So ... on to the New Year. With a prayer that it turns out to be everything 2018 wasn't. Special blessings to you. For all the reasons listed above -- and lots more, not the least of which is because you need 'em.