Last chance

To vote in the Nunavut Blogging Awards...

Head on over to Clare's site: kiggavik.typepad.com!!

PS, I'm totally losing so go vote for ME! What other blogger is begging for votes while in MEXICO??? (And yes, this is NOT a pre-scheduled post. I left the beach to write it. I'm dedicated).

Nunie update

Just so you know, the voting for the Nunies will wrapup January 20th at 11:59 PM EST.

So get your votes in, NOW!

:D

Nunavut Blogging Awards... 2008!

So it's every Nunavut blogger's favourite time of year again... the NUNIES are up and running for the second year in a row. Aren't you excited??? I am!

Okay, I'm a *little* bit excited. Why? Because we've got a really cool thing going on up here (wa waaa). Something that's a little unique, and a lot interesting.

I have started and more or less abandoned 4 other blogs in my lifetime. Two of them were for my time in France (I actually thought I needed to have two one that was parent/family-safe and one that was for friends) and while I had some people comment, neither really ever took off and both ended when I left France. No biggie. Also, I wasn't really very good at the blogging thing at that point. I wrote REALLY long entries that would recoup all the events of the past week's travels etc. It was my first go at it, what can I say. The other two I abandoned more-or-less for the same reason. No one read them. And if I didn't want people to read my writing, it might as well be in a journal under my pillow.

And that's why I think the Nunies and our little Nunavut-blogging-community is so great, so important. We are an active part of one another's lives. We give advice, we lend an ear - even though we may live thousands of kilometers away. And that's pretty darn neat.

Like all the other bloggers have said, there are a lot of really great writers up here. And this year's is going to be a stiff competition, I'm sure. Some (like mine) have "graduated" from New Blog status, and have joined the ranks of the senior blogs (wow, write the word "blog" enough and it loses all meaning...).

But I digress.

Because just about all the Nunavut bloggers know the contest is on, I'm actually writing this for my southern readers, because they likely don't follow the same blogroll, and don't know the "rules" for the nominations.

So this is the deal:

There are two "rounds" for the blogging awards. The first is the nomination round. Any person, anywhere in the world can nominate up to five blogs in each of the two categories (Best Blog and New Blog). The blog MUST be written by a current or former Nunavut resident and/or be ABOUT Nunavut. If you are nominating for the New Blog category, then it has to have started up in 2008. My blog is NOT eligible for the New Blog category.

BUT only the TOP FIVE NOMINEES will actually get to the second round, the voting round. So if you like a blog, and you want to see it compete against other Nunavut blogs for the crown, SEND YOUR NOMINATION TO... nunavutblogs@yahoo.ca

You can send nominations up until the 12th of January (that's next Monday, folks). Shortly thereafter the voting will begin.

One last thing:

There's a small change in the Best Post category. A blogger nominates what they think is their OWN best post from 2008. Only the blogger can nominate a post from their OWN site.

Here's where I'd like some input. I've written a disgusting amount over the past year. 300+ posts, and frankly... I really can't remember most of them haha. I plan on going through my archives, but I wanted to ask YOU, READERS, if there is anything I've written that stuck out in your mind. That you remember in particular. That would make this whole self-nomination process a lot easier for me.

So, thanks to you, the readers, thanks to Clare, for the contest, and thanks to the many dedicated bloggers out there who tap away at their computers day in and day out, giving me ample material to read, think about and write on my own blog.

You rock.

Spark some interest in the north....

Okay dear readers, especially dear NORTHERN readers, who do not always post in comment sections but I know you visit (because my Statcounter says so) I NEED YOUR HELP.

I am doing a story for one of the CBC's southern programs, called Spark. You can read about the show here. I have long been a fan of Nora Young, and now I'm going to be on her program!

The story I'm doing is about the use of the internet in the North - and how it differs from the south. You may remember I wrote an entry about this back at the end of September. Well that response turned into them asking me to go on their show, do a little chat with Nora and a short documentary.

Just let me say how thrilled (but also scared and nervous) I am to be doing this story. But I need some help. I know useage is a bit different in Iqaluit (thanks TB) but I don't know anything about the other communities - or territories for that matter.

So here's the deal.

I'm looking for a couple different things.

First, if you live in the north (specifically Nunavut), and are interested in being in a fun little documentary about internet usage (subjects include banking, shopping, blogging and whatever else you do "differently" from the south) please let me know. I'm especially interested in talking to a fellow blogger (I can't talk about myself ALL the time) and someone who lives in a community where there isn't a physical BANK (Cape Dorset? Arctic Bay?). Most likely (unless you live in Rankin) it will be an interview over the phone. Pretty relaxed, just a chat about what you do and how you do it. I'm nice.

Second, if you live in the NWT or Yukon, and can shed some light as to how internet works there (is it satellite? Is it through the phone line? Cable? How fast is it? How does it compare to "down south" how much does it cost?) I'd really appreciate that too.

I know most people aren't used to being interviewed but I'd really appreciate it if you'd even just consider helping me out with this. It's a huge opportunity for me, and a chance for the North to get heard about something that's not snow or polar bears (or seals).

Thank you so much (in advance)
Jackie

Holy Crap...

I won a Nunie!

It's kind of funny. I went to be early last night, because that's what I've been doing of late... I've set up my own little geriatric ward in my apartment... and kind of let fate take its course.

Wow, I can't believe I just used the f-word. I'm generally all kinds of an anti-fate-ite. So let's rephrase. I just kind of let nature run its course. There we go. I believe in nature.

I had decided I was going to try and keep my "campaigning" as minimal as possible. I made a couple of posts on my blog telling people to go vote... and I changed my MSN screen name to something similar (figuring there were a decent chunk of folks on there who didn't read the blog).

I also tried to be as un-competitive as possible.

Curse all you who scoffed at that last statement. It's TRUE! I'm not going to deny chronically checking the Nunavut Blogs site every 5, 10 minutes... but it was a pretty intense race between Kennie and I.

I don't know what the final numbers were, but I don't think we were much more than 10 percentage points away from one another at any point in the voting process. And that was a bit an anomaly on the last day. For the most part, we were within three per cent of one another.

But I do have to put out a crazy big thanks to my sister, Danielle. She worked her magic over in NB, and was up VERY late watching the progression of the polls. Long after I went to bed, in fact. Which is actually kind of funny, because it was MY contest (or rather, my blog's).

So thank you Danielle, thank you everyone who took the time to vote, not just for my blog, but for everyone's. I think this was a great little event that hopefully Clare will continue in the future... it has given the blogs (old and new) a bit more exposure, and has encouraged me to keep writing.

Apparently someone likes it :D

PS, congrats to Jen as well, who won Best Nunavut Blog (I just won the "new" category). Her blog is always good for a chuckle... and not to mention some amazing photos. Between she, Kennie, Bob Izumi Jr. and Kate Nova... I've been inspired to take better photos. Or at least dream of a digital SLR in the far-off future (gotta wait for my beautiful baby Canon to kick the bucket first :P)

Last chance!

Voting closes tonite! So get on over to http://kiggavik.typepad.com/nunavut_blogs and VOTE!!!!!!
(I used to be a mere 3 per cent behind, and now I've dropped to 10 :( if I truly am your favourite nunavut blog, get over there and vote!)