2005 Bloggies

Whew!

I've just finished going through the nominees for the 2005 Bloggies. It took me three hours, but I've finally put together the ones I'll be voting for in a few minutes. Unless specified, I've viewed/read every one that was nominated in each category.

What do I look for in a blog?

1. Easy to look at - no animations, nothing flying around the screen, colours easy on the eyes, etc.


2. Original writing, not just links.


3. Things of personal interest to me (teaching, travelling, photography)


4. The tone of the writing.


5. History: Why did you start blogging?
   
6. When voting - one that hasn't been nominated in several other categories.

Here are my choices:

Best Meme - Photo Friday - I'll be attempting to participate in it.

Best Article or Essay - New Kids on the Blog - where I found Rob's blog.

Best applications - Haloscan - the only one I know anything about.

Best OZ or NZ - Spiceblog - not much to choose from.

Best Asian - Tokyo Times - the only one that was even slightly appealing.

Best African or Middle Eastern - 360 Degrees of Sky - Africa fascinates me.

Best European - Zoe - No need to view the others.

Best British or Irish - London Underground Tube Blog - I'm a bit of a transport geek.

Best Latin American - Overcaffeinated

Best Canadian - Bacon and Eh's

Best American - Tequila Mockingbird

Best Tagline - Random Acts of Reality: "Trying to kill as few people as possible..." - definitely the best and also and a fellow Anonymous Work Blogger.

Best Photography - The Narrative - not much to choose from, but this was definitely the best (Andre next year!).

Best non-weblog content - The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Blog

Best food - Simply Recipes - easy to use and understand.

Best entertainment - none even mildly appealing.

Best weblog about politics - 1115.org

Best web development weblog - 456 Berea Street - one of the only ones I understood.

Best computers or tech - couldn't find one that was even mildly appealing.

Best topical - The Policeman's Blog - a fellow Anonymous Work Blogger.

Best glbt - Hot Toddy's Toaster Oven - quite interesting, and I loved this post.

Most humourous - Defective Yeti - none of them really appealed to me as far as humour goes (JonnyB is totally funnier than any of them), but I liked what Matthew had to say.

Best writing - Real E Fun - a fellow Anonymous Work Blogger.

Best group - A Fistful of Euros - none really appealed to me.

Best community - Fark - one of my regular reads.

Best designed - Jason Santa Maria - Quite tasteful.

Best-kept-secret - Manhattan Transfer

Best new - Preshrunk

Lifetime Achievement - Ernie Hsiung (little.yellow.different) Ernie! Ernie! Ernie! No need to read the others.

Weblog of the year - This Fish Needs a Bicycle - Definitely the best choice.