I voted (did you?)

Remember… if you don’t vote, the terrorists win!

In case you hadn’t heard, the JIB Awards (Jewish & Israeli Blog Awards) are underway over here.

I’ve been chastised by some of my readers for not making mention of the awards during the nomination round a few weeks ago. At the time my excuse was that I had no idea which category might be broad enough to contain my unwieldy subject matter, so I decided to say nothing.

In the end I was nominated by some very nice people in the following categories:

Best New Blog 2004

Best ‘Life in Israel’ Blog

Best Personal Blog

Best Series by a Jewish Blogger (for Photo Friday)

Then I got more grief from the same readers (as well as my wife) for not mentioning the awards during last week’s preliminary round of voting. To be more specific, some readers were bothered that I hadn’t mentioned the awards… and my wife was miffed because I used up our one vote (both our computers use the same IP address) on blogs other than my own.

I responded to the readers who wanted me to post a plug for treppenwitz that I was uncomfortable with the "vote for me… vote for me" aspect of the awards. As I understand it, the goal of the awards was to draw reader’s attention to blogs that might otherwise have gone unnoticed… not just to reward the most popular blogs.

As for dealing with the flack from my wife… I agreed to let her cast our collective home vote as she wished, and I would vote my conscience from work.

Well, I’m a bit stunned to find that treppenwitz is a finalist in all four of the categories for which it was nominated. This is particularly amazing to me because my journal doesn’t fit well into any of the four categories. It is a trapezoid peg that a lot of good-hearted people seem hell-bent on shoving into a round hole.

Another issue that had me casting my vote for others is the simple fact that in each category there are at least one or two blogs that are far better written than mine.

Don’t get me wrong… if there had been a category for ‘Best overly-optimistic, stream-of consciousness blog lacking a central theme or structure and which makes far too frequent… and mostly incorrect use of ellipses (not to mention parenthetical asides)’…then I would be out actively campaigning!

But since the powers-that-be wisely decided not to create that perfect category for treppenwitz, I feel honor bound to tell you about some of the folks who deserve your vote:

Best New Blog:

Chayei Sara is a sensitive, compelling read that conveys its message with humor, sarcasm and occasionally tears. Sarah puts herself out there for all to see, and has single-handedly put a face on the pain of being single.

Random Thoughts, otherwise known as Jack’s Shack, is an honest, straightforward, no-holds-barred look at the world through Jack’s eyes. He is a talented, prolific writer who even occasionally audioblogs (yes, you actually get to hear his random thoughts in his own voice).

Best ‘Life in Israel’ Blog:

On the Face is a journal written by Lisa, a young, witty Tel Avivian. She nails things with a journalist’s eye for detail without the typical journalist’s detachment or self-importance. She is a central character in her compelling story and is not afraid to portray herself as human. I actually wish she had started posting her most recent ‘How Lisa Came to Israel’ series before the nominations because that would have been a shoe-in for the ‘Best Series by a Jewish Blogger’ category.

Not a Fish is an extremely well written blog that allows the reader a glimpse at the often-conflicted views of an Anglo who has had the benefit of having lived in Israel since elementary school. Politics… literature… parenting… religion… nothing is out-of-bounds. The author, who writes under the name Imshin, is one of the original Anglo-Israeli bloggers.

The View From Here… the name says it all. Harry pulls no punches when discussing Israel’s place in the world… its culture (or lack-thereof)… and of course its television shows. The straight dope from a straight shooter.

I would add Allison’s ‘Unsealed Room’, but she is more correctly placed in the Best Israel Advocacy Blog category (why she wasn’t also nominated for the Best Politics, Current Affairs, Academic Blog category I’ll never know!).

Best Personal Blog:

Chez Miscarriage. It doesn’t get more personal than this folks. Besides being a fantastic writer, this lady (she calls herself GetupGrrl) makes her readers laugh, cry and rant along with her at every turn in her quest to have a baby.

I’m a huge fan of other blogs in this category such as Celestial Blue and Chayei Sarah… but I’m sorry, nobody comes close to Chez Miscarriage. It was just bad luck that the rest of us have to compete with that kind of greatness.

Best Series by a Jewish Blogger:

Here again, there are just too many good one’s from which to choose!

Harry’s hilarious commentary on the ‘Ambassador’ TV series is priceless… pure gold. I’ve never seen the show, but I wouldn’t dream of missing one of Harry’s posts about it. That should tell you something about the way this guy writes.

‘Pop Culture Entry’ is an ongoing Friday phenomenon over at Shai’s place. These aren’t some dashed-off movie reviews or half-baked cultural observations. Shai spends G-d knows how many hours compiling a truly scholarly weekly dose of Israeli culture. The only way you could learn more about old Israeli Movies and the ‘behind-the-scenes’ stories of the Israeli entertainment and political arena (hard to separate the two, actually) than reading Shai’ pop culture entries would be to actually grow up here.

‘Shabbat’ was not a long-lived series, but it was compelling none-the-less. It was Sarah’s diary entries for the singles shabbaton from hell. For two breathless days, the entire Jewish blogosphere cringed in unison as Sarah described the horrible things to which singles must subject themselves in order to try to find their soul mates. Plenty of frogs in this story…and a decided lack of princes.

Well… what are you still doing here? Go vote!