The View from a Drawbridge

Have you ever had a friend or relative who is irrepressible, irreverent, shocking, out of control, and often does things that are, at best, ill conceived, but you can’t help but love him to pieces anyway? In the wild and whacky family that is WordPress, that person, for me, is Pouringmyartout.

He makes me laugh. He encourages and supports fellow bloggers. He’s got a heart as big as California. He comes up with ideas so completely out there that you don’t even try to predict what he will do next. He’s the literary equivalent of taking a roller coaster ride in the dark, while wearing sequined pajamas that chafe but look fabulous. Whatever that means.

Well, the other day, dear Art got an idea and I thought, “Oh, here we go.” Because I really knew it was a bad idea. Bad. As in poking-a-sharp-stick-at-a-grizzly-bear bad. He wanted to make fun of those illiterate spam comments that all bloggers seem to get, whose sole purpose is to sell something that no one in their right mind would ever buy. That part was funny. But here’s where he went all stupid. (Sorry Art.) He decided to encourage people to create these mock spam messages and actually, well, spam with them. And because of this, WordPress has seen fit to block his ability to make new posts.

Frankly, I can understand WordPress’ ire. I really can. However, I would beg their indulgence in this matter. I think a little flexibility is warranted. Yes, the court jester has gotten a little out of hand, but I don’t think he deserves a death sentence. I think Art has learned his lesson, and I also think that WordPress would be a much more vacuous place without him. Put him on probation if you must, WordPress, but please bring back our dear friend and creative inspiration. Please.

Update 19 June, 2013: Art is back!!!!!  Yay! To check out his wild and wacky blog, go here.