well i dunno about the praise part. i would rather have free beer than another t-shirt. don't know why you say mortified; it's situation normal. i'm shocked that there is admin bullying going on here, and veteran editors will push back inappropriately. i saw the "huggle" study where they gave a warning not to bite newbies, and some took that as an invitation to bite more.
there is clearly an ideological clique that blocks who they cannot "discourage". i'm only half way through DNB12, and lot's of loc commonist uploads to do. see you at meetups. ⇔ †@1₭