15 march 2000 | back | archive | forward | girl | sign | e-mail

last night i stumbled into my bedroom, threw my luggage down and went straight to my desk. first, i checked my voicemail and then my e-mail, two things i'd missed while i was gone (although i was at an interactive festival, the only interaction i had was face-to-face over beers and margaritas).

there in my inbox sat 49 e-mails, half of which were spam (a word that i've hated since i was a little girl because my dad would fry that sickening canned meat for breakfast). i went through them quickly, doing my usual read delete delete delete read delete delete. and then i came to this:

"Dear Christine:

It is our pleasure to inform you that Maganda.org has been nominated for a 2000 Webby Award in the personal web site category. This honor signifies the highest standard of excellence on the part of your web development team. Congratulations.

As a nominee, your site is eligible for two of the industry's most sought-after awards, The Webby Award and The People's Voice Award."

my first thought: is this one of those teenybopper domain awards? is this some kind of joke? what the heck is this, anyway?

it was late, and i was groggy from travel, so i figured my mind was perhaps playing tricks on me. i continued to sift through my e-mail, read read delete, and then i got one from matt. "oh my god, congratulations!" he said. "you got nominated for the best personal site at the Webby's today!"

me? huh? what? WHAT?!

i immediately clicked over to the webby's website and realized this was indeed for real. my head begun to spin.

it's still spinning.

now as i sit here, 24 hours later, all i can say is i am amazed. this is so incredibly amazing. for so many reasons. like how i've only been doing web stuff for about a year. or how there are not even 10 images on my site. or how it's so plain and simple and it just revolves around me, some girl and her words. what's even more amazing is i am in such brilliant company -- like jason kottke and john styn, who also happen to be incredibly nice guys, i found this weekend at south by southwest.

i may never know how on earth i managed to get nominated, and i may not even get close to winning, but seriously, it's an honor just to be nominated -- and noticed.

maybe that's all i ever really wanted, to be noticed and heard.

and now i know: someone really is listening.

inspired:
how can i not be at a time like this?

lost:
my gray Old Navy coat, the classic in my wardrobe is most likely now being worn by some Texan.

found:
the word "maganda" is a deragotory term in Turkish, describing uneducated, unmannered men (those who grope, stare or whistle at women in dance clubs, crowded buses, etc).

thanks for the lesson, volfi!

overheard:
"now i forgive you for writing all those things about yourself." -- dad.

nonsequitur:
i still have yet to unpack and unwind.