THANK YOU!

I feel like Stéphane Dion.

Thanks to all my faithful readers, friends, colleagues and cousins who voted over at the Canadian Blog Awards.

Congrats also to my pals Tod Maffin (Inside the CBC) as well as my guys at the Galloping Beaver, Matthew Good, Peace, Order and Good Government, Eh? ... and nominee Sheenavision who shoulda won dammit.

Unfortunately, for this blog, this may well be a posthumous award. Until that decision is made, my treeware columns are here.

I know. I know. Paper. Ewwwwwwwww.

P.S. Note that comments were closed only on that last post. The comments had once again drifted far off topic.

Comments

[Tyler]

Congrats Antonia! Hopefully we see you back here soon minus the off-topic commenters.

[Stephen Downes]

Congrats.

Please keep blogging. I don't get to read anything you write otherwise.

[20/20]

Antonia,

I've been waiting patiently for you to start up again. What gives? Your remark about the award possibly being posthumous is very disturbing. Your blog gave us all something we had not had previously. If it is your decision, so be it. But tell us about it. If it is not your decision, tell us about that.

Cheers to you!

[PhantomObserver]

I'm curious about that, myself. Who's actually making the decision on your blog -- you, or the blogs editor? And is this going to have an effect on the Star's other blogs?

[Antonia Z.]

Honest, nothing nefarious going on.

I took an extended leave, contemplated my navel, hiked the green-turning-red mountains of Vermont, polished my long tarnished silver, took up belly dancing, saw friends I hadn't seen in way too long, went to movies, read books that did not contain the words Washington, Israel, Iraq or Ottawa, never watched CNN or Newsworld, changed my haircolour, changed it back, did tequila shots for the first time, did a whole lot more that's not for public consumption and generally decided that I did not have the time for the pain of some of the regulars here.

Now I am looking at the rest of my life and career and deciding how I want it to play out. Emphasis on the word PLAY. All work and no play makes Antonia a very very grumpy girl. Not to mention a chunky one.

You don't want to much belly in yer belly dancing ya know?

Stephen, my columns are available on line at www.thestar.ca. If you can access my blog, you can access the Star. No registration required.

[Pat Anderson]

Hey, gal:

Congratulations on the award, you deserve it!

Have enjoyed your treeware columns since you got back, and hope that we can convince you to resume blogging: kill the comments feature if it requires too much effort, because what we come looking for is *your* insight into what's going on in the media.

You sound refreshed: glad you're back.

[Barry Kiefl]

Antonia, please let me add my congratulations too. I hope you continue your blog--I always felt that a blog was way too much for any journalist to maintain on a continuous 24/7 basis and a recipe for burnout, so perhaps you could opt for a weekly or biweekly blog...

[Allen]

Pat Anderson hit it exactly on target. Hell Antonia I don't give a rats ass for the comments section if it means I loose your take on events and your geat links. And as a retiree and avid non-conformist I can support your trying to bring the fun into your life. But I sure did look forward each evening to checking out axerbic, sigh.
Whatever your decision I grudingly will accept your right to " do it my way!"

Regards,
Allen

[Dwight Williams]

Understood, Antonia. You have to do what's best for you at any given point. We'll deal with it, whatever it turns out to be, as best we can.

For myself, I don't think I'm yet busy enough to need to ditch blogging. Far from it, in fact.

I'll keep reading the paperware columns, rest assured.

[Todd -- no, not the one from Mississauga]

Well, after all that conteplation, how's your naval holding up?

[k-dough]

AZ- whoah...wait..back up a sec girly girl. The first time you've ever done tequila shots. I don't believe it!

[Jon Spencer]

Antonia, I hope you'll continue blogging.

Since journalism and media operate on Internet time, media analysis is most effective when it does too.

It's mega-fun to have the immediacy of your quick takes on things, as well as the informal blog format.

Screen or eliminate the comments if you must.

Post less diligently than before, if you must.

But please keep on bloggin' in the free world.

[Marilyn Anderson]

Congratulations on your blog award, Antonia. You deserve it, big time! You also deserve time off for yourself and I applaud you for that. As a retired Star staffer, I remember well how you put your heart and soul into your work. Take your time in contemplating your future. If you do come back to blogging, dump the comments section...as others have said, it's your words we cherish!

[Scotian]

Congratulations Antonia and I hope it is not going to end up being a posthumous win but after what I have seen your blog devolve to over the last several months I must admit I can understand why it may be. If that ends up being the case so be it, but I for one will consider it a significant loss to the Canadian blogosphere as I found your work at this blog to be very interesting, enjoyable, and always worth checking. So if this to be the last at least let me say thank you very much for all the enjoyment and edification your work at this blog has brought me and clearly many others as well, you will be missed.

[Antonia Z.]

My navel isn't holding up so well, despite the belly dancing.

As for the tequila shots ... t'is true.

http://mividaentoronto.blogspot.com/2006/11/salt-shoot-suck.html

Just look at that expression on my face!

[Bill Lee]

You have silver to polish?

We peons only have stainless and
silverplate.

Does Best Blog come with silver?

Miss the commentary. I guess we
will have to guess what is published in
eFrank then.

Better to have a weblog for the extraneous bits.
You could turn off commentary for every other entry.

It was as a metor blazing across the northern sky,
now fallen to earth, the fire out and it's 2004-2006 glory
remembered with fondness.

[skdadl]

Congratulations on your win, Antonia -- that was one of the easiest votes I was casting each day.

I also hope you keep on blogging, although I can guess at the strains. Couldn't resist giving you a bit of a positive nudge, though.

[Maria]

We had so much fun drinking the tequila. Aaaah, good times!

[Stephen Downes]

Ah, it's not the same. In the Star your comments are flaked and formed. I'm not reading you, I'm reading your editor's and your publisher's version of you.

I totally understand the navel-gazing thing, though. So I hear you.

[Antonia Z.]

Flaked and formed?

That's an interesting way of putting it.

But my columns are not Pringles. I find out how much space I get and write exactly -- to the letter -- to fit. Nothing is changed. But I do get spell checked and Lord knows I need that!

As for extraneous bits ...

Yeah, that's what this blog was supposed to be when it started out. Then look what happened!

[Dave]

AZ, I know well your need to pursue the more fun side of life. Been there. In fact, I was once happily semi-retired only to find the demand, (and some ego-stroking), dragged me back into near full-time work.

I DO hope you keep this blog going. We all do. You're a valuable contribution to the discourse in this country.

If, however, you choose to wind-down the full time pursuit I hope you'll still find a way to make an entry somewhere to get our gears turning.

Congratulations on a well-earned award. And, thanks for mentioning us. And, yes, Sheenavision shoulda won!

Cheers
TGB

[D.J. Allen]

Congrats Antonia! Reward was well deserved and you will be missed if this blog should not be revived.

I have a note about media news in our town, Peterborough, and I would like feedback from any commenters that have knowledge. When the local rag requested info from city hall regarding gross budgetted travel amounts and amounts spent broken down for each of this past year's staff's expenses, the rag was given the regular run around and finally told it would take nine months to find the information and it would cost $100,000. Is this the same kind of rigamarole every city gives their news media in Ontario? IMHO I think heads should role .. but I'm just a citizen. Can you shed light?

What'll I do if I don't have Antonia and this blog for answers and discussion?

Hugs to you all. D.J.

[Antonia Z.]

D.J. -

I can't answer your question but I expect some people on this site can.

http://blog.canadianjournalist.ca/blog

Why not pose your question there?

[Marky Mark]

I'm pretty sure that this link contains the Ontario legislation that governs access to information in the case of municpalities:

http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/DBLaws/Statutes/English/90m56_e.htm#BK5

The basic requirement to provide access is contained in sections 4 and 5 and then the various exemptions to that rule follow in sections 6 to 16.

[Antonia Z.]

Thanks!