Watermark

A Gratitude Post

Wulfgar! has announced the winners of this year's Montana Weblog Awards, and Watermark is tied with Raven's Nest as the Most Creative Montana Blog. This is company I am proud to be in. I'm also well pleased with Wulfgar!'s observation that it's pretty obvious that Mike, Sharon and a certain Sam from a certain creek have a very broad readership.

I'll post the complete list of winners below the cut -- where you should go, for some enriching discoveries -- but first, a few thank-you's:

• to Wulfgar!, for taking on what must be both a fun and an exasperating task, honchoing this now annual event
• to all of you who took the time and interest to check out Montana's offerings
• and to all who voted for Watermark

I also want to thank those folks, from all over the place, who have given thought and time to commenting in the Introduce Yourself! post. So far, we have:

• John B. | Blog Meridian
• belledame222 | Fetch me my axe
• Cheryl | Journey of Cross and Quill
• Mary Scriver | Prairie Mary
• John Baker | John Baker's Blog
• DrMeglet | randomness revovled around me
• Megan | Flaming Renaissance
• Cathy | The Quiet One
• Laura | Moments, Musings
• Jacquie | wild ink
• meika | meika loofs samorzewski
• pam | MarillaAnne
• Endment | Endment
• Leesa | Peace of My Mind
• Chia
• Theresa Quintanilla | QViews
• Pearl | Humanyms
• Michael | Stick Poet Super Hero
• Bitteroot | Bitteroot and Bergamot
• Anne | Ample Sanity
• Crafty Green Poet
• Lori Witzel | chatoyance

This thread is even more fun and thought provoking than I had anticipated. Even if you don't feel like participating, I bet you'll find the comments, and the commenters' sites, of interest -- check them out -- and, of course, check out . . .

 

Snapshot Poem: the week between solstice & new year's 02006

they say our days grow longer, our nights
more brief, but i don't notice. i act as
humans do, tying up loose ends, filing
important human papers, cleaning signs
of life from tables and floors, speaking
in cliches. sleet sweeps through our dim
streets, keeping us at home, or cautiously
walking, driving, steep-stepping along icy
untrustworthy paths to go spend more of
money that is increasingly scarce, if that
is possible to be. increasingly scarce.

the world grows harder, colder, more
slippery. even the dogs can't keep their
footing. my body clenches to an iron bar,
sure to fall and shatter, when one booted foot
steps outside. under that innocent snow --
sheer treachery, bruising duplicity. never
enough. never enough warning, support,
cushioning. never enough evidence to
coax belief, to elicit the faith my grand-
parents felt every day, with each sure
and certain step. tomorrow, they say, sun.

 

The ballot for this year's Montana Weblog Awards closes at midnight tonight. Mountain Time, of course. Git along thar!

Winter White

This lovely winter scene is by Catnapping, another Montana blogger. A perfect holiday greeting, posted here with her permission.

May we continue to be blessed with beauty and generosity, and may peace come to, and from, us all.

Have you been a good little human this year?

Want to earn some more good-human points, before it's too late? You could go feed some squirrels . . . OR . . . you could go cast your votes for the 2006 Montana Weblog Awards.

... all votes must be registered as comments to [A Chicken Is Not Pillage] website, or to the email address [email protected] ... The voting will remain open until Wednesday, December 27th.  The results will be announced before the new year.  You do not need to be a blogger to vote.  You do not need to be a Montanan to vote.  So, just vote.

Watermark is nominated in the Culture categories of Most Creative and Best Written. I think I might have a shot at Most Creative, but I do believe there are better written Montana blogs out there, and there are lots of categories to vote in.

So, if you think Watermark qualifies, and you feel like giving me a little holiday lift -- go vote for Watermark. If you would like to see just how good Montana Bloggers are, go check out the nominations and pick your winners. The competition is tough, fun, and enlightening.

You can't lose.

Unless, of course, you annoy Squirrel Santa Claws.

 

Montana Weblog Awards 2006 - Nominees

Today is the last day to submit nominations for this year's Montana Weblog Awards. We are allowed to submit three nominations in each category. Wulfgar! tells us:

However, 6 categories remain without the appropriate number of nominees.  Remember, for a weblog to be nominated it needs at least 3 people to nominate it.  For a Category to go forward, it needs at least 3 nominees to appear.

. . . you do not need to be a Montanan or even have a website to submit your nominations.  You simply must be a reader and aficionado of (some) Montana weblogs.  I ask again that you submit your entries as comments to this website [A Chicken Is Not Pillage] (any post will do, what I really need is the email that comes with the comment), or submit to the email [email protected].

This has been a tough one. For one thing, there are so many new Montana blogs that I'm not familiar with, and did not have time to get acquainted before this deadline (though I've added a few to my Bloglines.) So most of my nominations are for blogs I have been reading for awhile -- including this one.  And yes, I have nominated my own blog, where I felt it would be competitive.

I didn't nominate in areas I don't know, and I didn't nominate for "Best Post" -- just too overwhelming. If anyone feels that one of  my own posts  is that good, hey -- go for it.  You have until the end of the day to nominate; then the voting begins.

Here are my nominations -- go give them a look, and Happy reading! Oh -- and don't forget to stop by and Introduce Yourself!

 

Political

Best left leaning blog:

• Left in The West
• NewWest.net
• Wulfgar!

Best right leaning blog:

• I don't read them, so I don't know.

Best independent or libertarian blog:

• City Lights
• Dave Budge .com

Best Political blog:

• Montana Netroots
• 4&20 blackbirds
• Left in The West

Blog that had the most impact on the 2006 elections:

• I really don't know, so no nomination.

   

Culture

Montana Blog that best represents popular culture:

• Better Living Through Blogging
• The Daily Cat Chase
• NewWest.net

Best Montana history blog:

• A History of Montana by Kodak
• Karbon Kounty Moos
• Prairie Mary

Most exemplifies Montana lifestyle:

• Karbon Kounty Moos
• Thoughts From the Middle of Nowhere
• Prairie Mary

 

Creativity

Most creative Montana blog:

• MOTTO
• Watermark
• Zen Life Among the Mountains

Best photographic Montana blog:

• Bitterroot and Bergamot
• Karbon Kounty Moos
• Watermark

Best written Montana blog:

• Prairie Mary
• American Buddhist Perspective
• Watermark

Most humorous Montana blog:

• Montana Jones
•  A Secular Franciscan Life
• A Drivel Runs Through It|Patia Stephens (I realize this is not thought of as a humor blog, but Patia has a sense of humor that runs through everything, and makes me laugh. I especially like her cranky posts. Not that I relate, or anything.)

 

Special

Best post:

Best series of posts relating to given topic:

• Prairie Mary's series on Animal Control. Sadly, Blogger does not provide categories -- but one of the posts is here, and others surround it. She reminds us: Humans are animals but animals are not human.

 

bloggity bloggity blog blog blog

I.

Suzanne Stefanac, author of dispatches from blogistan; a travel guide for the modern blogger is this month's guest at The Well's InkWell.vue. Non-members are welcome: Join us, or email questions and conversational contributions to the Inkwell.vue hosts. If, after hanging out there a bit, you would like to explore The Well  further, drop me a note.

Filled with practical, easy-to-implement advice for making blogging more enjoyable, useful, and profitable, this book covers everything from blogging and how it fits into the history of journalism to practical tips for planning and managing a blog, attracting and retaining an active readership, and even generating revenue. Written by noted technology journalist and interactive media veteran Suzanne Stefanac, the book's fresh and succinct design; quotes and commentary from noted and celebrity bloggers (authors Bruce Sterling, Steven Johnson and Cory Doctorow, Craig Newmark of craigslist.org, NPR news commentator Farai Chideya, blog pioneer Justin Hall among others), accompanying blog site; and more, make this a blog book like no other!

Suzanne also contributes now and then to Blogging Blog, and has her own site at dispatches from blogistan. I got this book a bit over a month ago, sat down and read it cover to cover. Now I look forward to reading it again, more slowly, and this great opportunity to discuss one of my favorite topics -- blogging blogging blogging! -- with a true expert. This is a very cool book!

II.

Well, I've finished this -- a post per day, all of November. And now it's time for:

III.

Holidailies is a free community writing project. All Holidailies 2006 participants promise to update their personal web sites every day from December 1 to January 1. Portal participants post summaries of their entries, which are aggregated on the front page of Holidailies 2006...

I did this a couple of years ago, then forgot and was too late to register last year. Since I seem to be on a roll, here, I thought I'd see if I can keep going.

And then we have:

IV.

The 2006 Montana Weblog Awards at A Chicken Is Not Pillage. Wulfgar! is soliciting nominations in many categories, including (hint hint):

Creativity

Most creative Montana blog.
Best photographic Montana blog.
Best written Montana blog.
Most humorous Montana blog.

Special

Best post. (include a link, please.)
Best series of posts relating to given topic.

There are also categories for Political and Culture blogging. Voting has not yet begun; this (until next Tuesday, December 5th) is the nomination period. You needn't be a Montana blogger to nominate someone, or to vote, but the nominees must be Montana blogs.

Watermark won last year for Best Culture Website. I don't think Blogging Blog or Abide has ever been nominated -- and I'm not sure they would fit any of the categories anyway. And gosh, there are a lot of us. The competition will be as tough as Montanans.

I will be mentioning when voting opens.

Calling All Writers

The Masthead is "where the writers are" in the Missoula area. This publication is designed to offer a much-needed resource, haven, and stage for the writers of our great mountain town. Missoulians always seem to be saying, "There sure are a lot of writers in this town,"—and they're not wrong—but being one of the thousands of English program graduates who stayed in my college town, I often find myself asking, "Where are they? How do I find all these writers in Missoula? How do I get in touch with my people: worshippers of Shakespeare, torch- bearers of Ginsberg, brooding Bloomsday sojourners?" Read more...

. . . and The Masthead is seeking submissions for its fall issue. From The Masthead staff:

Due to a low volume of submissions for the fall issue, The Masthead, Missoula's Writers' Magazine, is accepting submissions until November 11. We need poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, rants, writing tips, photographs and artwork to print in our fourth (already!) issue, due out in late November.

To submit, either email us at mastheadmsla AT hotmail DOT com, or mail to The Masthead, P.O. Box, 17883, Missoula, MT, 59808.

No submissions over 6,000 words, please. Email submissions are preferred, but paper is accepted. In either format, please supply a mailing address for receiving your contributor's copy, should your work be accepted. If sending attachments or paper, please include your name on every page. Visual art will be rendered in black and white.

They tell me that they do accept reprints, with no restrictions on what medium it was published in before. As long as you have the rights to have the piece published again, that's fine. Humor is always good, because so many people only write things that are serious. But really, we just want good writing.

They also do not give preference to local or Montana writers. This means that those of us who publish on our own websites, wherever we live, are welcome to submit. And I'm not very funny, but many of you are -- so go for it.

Montana Cat RoundUp

First, a reminder: not this Sunday, but next Sunday:

The Conservative Cat has taken down his carnival submittal form, but Blog Carnival still has theirs, and  that is my strong preference for entries. The form makes things much easier on carnival hosts.

Today, though, some other people's terribly cute Montana cats. First up, a new shot of my cousin's cat, BibsTheCutestCatEver:

Photo by Sue Pinkerton

Staying with the black & white theme, this photo from Cute Overload, via David, who insists that his cat is the only true, authentic cow cat:

Photo by ?ellagirl?

Actually, I don't know if the above cat is a Montana cat, but David's Cow Cat is. Another authentic Montana cat is Sarpy Sam's Buster:

Photo by Sarpy Sam

Just for a little color, from Bitterroot and Bergamot, we have Gus, the Yoga Cat:

Uploaded on October 16, 2006
by Bitterroot

Not enough cats for you? Want cats from elsewhere? Want other critters?

Try:

Friday Ark
I and the Bird
Carnival of the Cats
Carnival of the Dogs
Circus of the Spineless
Weekend Dog Blogging 
Weekend Cat Blogging

UPDATED to add: Most of the fun of this post is in the comments.

Montana Festival of the Book ~ Poetry

Saturday morning, tired but inspired from Friday's adventures, I headed out to our newly renovated Missoula Art Museum for Montana Poetry: A Conversation, with Sandra Alcosser, Tami Haaland, Kim Anderson, Rick Newby, Beth Ferris, Arlynn Fishbaugh, Lowell Jaeger, Megan McNamer, Mandy Smoker, and Corby Skinner.

I was especially looking forward to seeing Beth, a poet and person I greatly admire. A bonus was a conversation with B.J. Buckley, another poet I've crossed paths with over the years, and whose work I like.

What a great setting this was -- a line of poets sitting at a long table in front of several works by Rudy Autio -- facing a room full of poets. Introvert though I am, I felt at home.

I did take some notes, and will offer a list of websites to visit at the end of this post, but NewWest offers audio of this conversation -- you can go listen to it yourself. There are so many projects and books in process; now including a Missoula poetry critique group, the organization of which has been delegated to me. Those who signed up at the conference will hear from me in the next few days; if any of you are interested, email me.

Some links from the poetry panel, and a brief wander amidst the tables:

• Drumlummon Views, the Online Journal of Montana Arts & Culture
• Drumlummon Institute:  ... to promote and publish art and literatures created in Montana and the broader American West; to encourage, promote, and commission critical writing about cultural productions—including film/ video, visual arts, literature, performing arts, food, scientific discoveries, architecture, and design—created in Montana and the broader American West; to research and publish scholarship about the natural and cultural landscapes of the region; and to produce and promote audio recordings and film/video documentaries on a variety of cultural subjects.
• Camas: The Nature of the West, the online journal of the Environmental Studies Graduate Program of the University   of Montana.
• MontanaPoetry.org, currently under construction, but added here for future reference.
• Here's another that's under construction: Missoula Writing Collaborative
• Montana Center for the Book ... a program of the Montana Committee for the Humanities, the Montana Center for the Book conducts a variety of programs and activities. Foremost among these are the Montana Festival of the Book and the state's Letters About Literature program. Its principal mission is celebrating and promoting Montana literature, literacy, and libraries...

I was surprised at the late entry onto the web of many of these organizations -- and that there weren't more offerings at the conference for web-based writers. Perhaps because it's the Montana Festival of the Book. Still, lots of us are online, and I expect that future conferences will offer more on web-based writing and publishing.

Next time, let's arrange a bloggers' lunch. Yes?

Montana Festival of the Book

My encounter with Camille, the Clark City Press baby, was unquestionably the most delightful of this particular conference . . .

. . . but she did have competition.

Well, not precisely.  Other encounters were pleasant, thought-provoking, informative, and fun -- but Camille would be pretty much unmatched in the delight category.

On Friday morning I attended the panel titled: Who Tells the Tale? Cultural Issues in Writing about Native Americans, with Dorothy Patent, Curly Bear Wagner, and our own Montana blogger, Mary Scriver. The panel was moderated by poet Vic Charlo. I took notes (as I did at the other two events I attended) but I keep putting off this post in order to include them -- and decided I need to just post.

Briefly, this panel had a lot to offer, but little on the subject I was anticipating -- who owns what stories; who can tell or write these stories; what are the implications of white writers telling stories from cultures not their own? Are the implications any different than they are for any writer tackling stories/ subjects/ cultures/ characters that are not their own?

This was a polite group, with some history among them, I believe -- and Mary was the one most willing to tackle the politically loaded issues. No surprise to those of us who read her blog.

Then she and I went to lunch, to get acquainted -- two cranky past the midlife divide white women, are we. She gave me a copy of her book, Twelve Blackfeet Stories, which I am embarrassed to say I have not yet even opened.

But I will.

Later that day I went to Kiss Tomorrow Hello: Women Writing from the Other Side of the Midlife Divide, with Claire Davis, Annick Smith, and Mary Clearman Blew. I stayed for the reading, only, then staggered home to sleep. This would be a good book to own, by the way. Lovely, powerful writing.

Confession: For many years I have wanted to be Annick Smith when I grow up. A slight case of heroine worship.

I think I'll save the poetry panel for another post -- but let me bring this one back to the beginning. Click the image below to go to Clark City Press. A wonderful list. A skilled and prolific artist. My hometown. A beautiful child. How can you lose?

I almost forgot -- one more thing I wanted to share. As Mary and I were hugging goodbye, she noticed a woman trying to squeeze past us. Mary said "We must move or hug this woman" and we stepped apart to let her pass, which she did. Then she paused, turned, opened her arms and said "What a good idea!"

And so we three strangers blocked the passageway with our pleased Montana hug.

UPDATE: Mary responds, on her blog, to the question Who Tells the Tale?