Tuesday, April 15, 2008

You tolerate me! You really, really tolerate me!

Huh. So I'm actually on the ballot for the Mouse & Trowel awards. Only in the one category (Best New Garden Blog), but hey: am I complaining?

I am not. Though I'm almost certainly going to lose, since one of my competitors in that category (Gardening Gone Wild) is also up for Best Design, Most Innovative, and Garden Blog of the Year, suggesting a level of readership (or ballot-stuffing, or blackmail of Mouse & Trowel's Colleen Vanderlinden) far beyond anything I can dream about yet. I suppose it's, as they say, an honor just to be nominated.

I put in my votes already; I like the general tone of Garden Rant, but I'm somewhat embittered against them for a post from 2006: Top Ten Reasons Why I Hate Houseplants. I kept running across it in the course of searches for one thing or another, and it annoyed me every. Single. Time. I like it even less because I can't tell whether it's tongue in cheek or not. (I'm not sure which would please me less: if it's not a joke, then it's just ignant; if it's tongue in cheek, then they got me all riled for no good reason.) So Garden Rant didn't get any votes from me. Not that they needed my vote anyway.

Which is probably unfair and childish of me, but so be it. Don't nobody come between me and my houseplants. Perhaps next year, after they write a new post praising indoor plants and apologizing for their sad, sad attempt to build up their own plants by tearing down those of others, I'll think about it.1

(UPDATE: Added a link in the sidebar to Garden Rant. I'm not above being sweetalked, and Susan was persistent.)

I would encourage readers to throw some votes to Mr. Brown Thumb for Post of the Year. Although it's looking more and more like the blog has been retired (though I've seen claims to the contrary, nothing has happened yet; I'm kind of losing hope), Everyone's a Garden Coach is pretty awesome in its randomness.

One of the three sites listed for Best Photography crashes my browser when I try to load it, so I skipped that category. I am not technologically advanced enough to be comfortable with podcasts, so I skipped that one too, though I'm sure they're all very nice.

In any case. Voting is now open, and will remain so for a month. There may be periodic outbreaks of kitten photos from now until the results are announced, as well.2 Oh my god -- here comes one now!



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Photo credits: both from Icanhascheezburger.com.


1 I'm kidding, to the extent that I'm not really that angry about it, but not kidding insofar as -- what the hell? Houseplants are all that some of us have. And they're perfectly harmless. What'd houseplants ever do to you? My Yucca guatemalensis would like to have a word with you, Amy, if you don't mind.
2 (Referencing this post and this post.)


7 comments:

Colleen Vanderlinden said...

Congrats, Mr_Subjunctive!

I love the post title--you had me laughing, and I needed it, so thanks!

Good luck in the final vote!

Unknown said...

No, we don't tolerate you...we adore you! (well, I do.)Your humour suits me to a t, and those kitty photos, well...
Best of luck--your blog is a fresh drink of water to me every time I land here.

Anonymous said...

Mr. S, pleeeeze come back to the Rant and give us some shit directly - we need you. And can I say without seeming to be sucking up (hell, you've already voted for everyone BUT us, anyway) that maybe the coolest thing in this year's nominations for me is discovering this blog.

Aiyana said...

Good for you! I just completed the final ballot. I agree with you that Mr. Brown Thumb's post deserves votes--it was one of the funniest posts of the year! I still wonder what happened to him.
Aiyana

Tracy said...

Well I left my vote, I hope you win, what a cool honor that would be. You have accumulated quite the audience over the past few months. Super Job on a super blog!!

I still check Mr. Brownthumbs blog every day in hopes that he has returned. I really miss his blog. WTF ever happened to him?? Can't we form a petition and force him back....lol.

Plowing Through Life (Martha) said...

Ha ha ha... I love your title! It reminds me of the movie 'Let It Ride' starring Richard Dreyfuss as a small-time compulsive gambler whose luck suddenly changes when he puts his stakes on a horse and wins, marking the beginning of a streak that nets him thousands of dollars. At one point he calls out "God loves me! He really, really loves me!" The way he says it is just hilarious...

Anyhow, you have my vote! I enjoy your blog very much, especially your sense of humour!

Anonymous said...

Definitely a few notches above tolerance! Congrats on the nomintation, you have my vote! After all, your plant recommendations to me on GW are what have all these new plants taking over... that was your plan, though, wasn't it? Get me addicted and then I can't even walk through the grocery store without looking!