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

[Allen]

Just curious, where's Sooey?

[lazlo pink]

congratulations antonia and welcome back to the interweb. as i'm sure you've gathered, your efforts are and have been appreciated. and you should also know that whatever choices you make regarding the future of your blog, you have the general support of we the rabble. hell, since my dad passed in the beginning of the summer i've posted nearly nothing. the only difference being that you have been greatly missed. ;-)

[V.K.J]

I think you are a victim of your own success, attracting too many viewers who got drawn into commenting, then into arguments. Then you got stuck being the referee.

There are various forums on which people can argue Canadian news, politics, etc. I don't know if there is one specifically about Canadian media. Maybe the commenters here could start up a forum or find one where they can discuss Antonia's blog regularly.

[Jiminy C]

I hope the decision was your own and not that of the new management.
Too damned much fiddling around with stuff that isn't broke - just to appear to be doing something -IMO.
Heck - all that and Bev Oda too - life's going to hell in a hand basket!
Does this mean that you plan to belly dance on table tops at festive occasions in the future?

[D.J. Allen]

Thanks Antonia and Marky Mark for the speedy response.

[True North]

The recent return of your columns reminds me of how important and unique your voice is, and how your blog gave it to us without tree-ware restriction.

If The Star had any sense they'd try to develop what is a very good (now award winning) thing by laying on some support.
It's no wonder you're wary of jumping back into full blogging mode. I think you went at it too hard - blogging like four people instead of one. And that's not taking into account dealing with all those poison pill comments designed to shut you down.

Please do us all a favour - blog a bit less, and screw the comments if needs be. Or even hook up with Rabble.ca .
But don't the bastards shut you down!

[arthurdecco]

I’m asking you as a person who means absolutely nothing to you to go on with your blog so that I can get my selfish fix of your media mind’s spin and of your almost-always even-handedness in response to your posters' more outrageous opinions, (with the consequent levels of exhaustion that must entail.)

Mostly I want you to keep your blog comments so that I have a forum to spout my own self-centred third rate diatribes just like those other mostly-mealy-mouthed guys that seem to lurk in the shadows near you here.

(Creepy, isn’t it, when you think about it that way...?)

I hope you realize I write mostly with a retarded grin writ large across my face.

But hey - I don’t drool. Honest.

(Though I can't know what will happen if you stop blogging permanently...I might become a drooling fool. Do you want that on your conscience?)

As fo Allen's query...sooey's here: www.sooeys.com/blogs/sooeysays/

Go say hi.

[scout]

was just over at buddy sheena's blog and k-dough alerted her to her mention here. i know i emailed congrats, and you responded, thanks.....but i wanted to say that i was promo'ing sheena too.....a hell of a fine blogger!!! maybe next year for her?

[ivan prokopchuk]

Stephane Dion.

So the country isn't really stupid after all?
It has lasted 400 years.
There is this wisdom the journalists miss completely.

[stephen.reeves]

A great blog for paranoid lefties such as Arthurdeco,it is a wonder what some poeple do with their lives when your blog is not around, maybe they should do what Antonia does and go out and smell the rosies now and again.

[Tim]

A well deserved win, Antonia, and at the risk of sounding like an echo, let me add my voice to those encouraging you to get back into the blogging game. Almost every blogger has suffered from blog burnout at one point or another, so I think we can understand where you are coming from. Even if you never return, you have left a legacy of blogging excellence that I and many, many others truly appreciate. Best wishes to you, and Happy Holidays.

[Gerry]

The person who regularly takes the piss out of Eckler's horrifying blog should have at least got an honourable mention in the humour category. He/she -- or whoever is behind ninegrambrain.blogspot.com -- gives me a huge laugh every post.

[Saskboy]

Congrats on the win. I was happy with my bronze, and shared Gold, so I know it's nice to be recognized. I almost peed myself with excitement. Well, not really, but considering how you'd run across my blog before, I thought it appropriate to bring that up.

[mark f]

Hi Antonia.

I will miss your blog, if you decide to give it up.

If you have more spare time, take a trip to Winnerpeg, to check out the roots music scene here. I think the Dhuks have a cd release party coming up.

M.Freed

[brushfire]

Antonia,

Your column is incredibly important. Please keep writing. Why are you the only one pointing these things out? With genius comes resposibility... Wait, are you running for office? Antonia as the new Bev Oda! Hallelujah!

[Greg Felton]

Well done, Antonia:
You deserve it. Open, well-moderated blogs are a rarity, and you did the best you could with all of us.

I still hope you'll stick around, but then there's the thrill of going out on a high note.

I mean, what can you do for an encore?

Greg

[stephen.reeves]

The Canadian Blogosphere has Kathy and Rondi amongst others on the right, and has plenty of grumpy old leftie men in the left, what we need is a privaleged white women on the left, so you are definitely needed (along with Naomi and Linda).

[sheena]

I'd miss your blog, Mme Z and thanks for the very gracious mention. Between you and Raymi the Girl Wonder, my hit rates have quadrupled this week...

And I've been too busy to even read the comments...

Oh, and sooey can be found at http://www.sooeys.com/blogs/sooeysays/

I've already promised to nominate her for the 2007 awards. Sheesh she's a pain in the ass sometimes.

[Michael Barwick]

Antonia:

Let me add myself to the chorus:

CONGRATULATIONS!

(But you must have at least suspected you were going to win...)

It will be a sad story if this victory becomes your swan song. Your treeware is always insightful but I am missing the playful immediacy of your posts.

Can you tell us if there's any truth to the rumour that the Star is planning to put its best content behind a wall?

Always,

--M.

[Antonia Z.]

Thanks.

As for the rumour, I have no clue. I haven't even heard that one. I work on the third floor of my house, far away from the sixth floor of Torstar where these decisions are made.

All I can say is -- and this is based on nothing more than my own not-so-educated guessing -- I hear we have sold tons of advertising for our website and blogs so it doesn't make sense to me.

But, like I said, I haven't heard the rumour...and if I did, I wouldn't respond to it here or in this manner.

[Teena]

Congrats!

[Kenn Chaplin]

Please, please come back. I know how personal crap can drag one down but I hope you will not give up on this blog!

Hugs,
Kenn

[Dwight Williams]

Wanted to say thanks for the recent hardcopy coverage of the CRTC/Heritage hearings(I'm sure it's one or the other of those two). It's something I'm trying to keep an eye on of late.

[Big G]

Congrats on the award, I wonder if Kinsella is going to write a coloumn about you wining the award :)

[Dave W]

Thanks for the link to Andrew Mitrovica's piece on Maher Arar in "The Walrus". It's why I read you: to try to get past the BS put out by the N. American MSM.

And it's good to have you back at work.

Suggestion: be more Zen