AmP wins 4 First Places in 2009 Catholic New Media Awards!

A big papist thank you to my devoted AmP fans for voting me Best Blog by a Man, Funniest Blog (pace Curt Jester), Most Entertaining Blog and Best Catholic News Website (over Zenit, National Catholic Register and CNA!).

Also: 2nd place Best Written Blog, Most Informative Blog, People's Choice Blog and 4th place Best Overall Catholic Website.

No, time to go celebrate our nation's 233rd anniversary of Independence!

Vote for AmP by 6PM EST!

thanks!

Reminder: Vote for AmP in the 2008 Catholic New Media Awards!

AmP has been nominated in eight (8!) categories.

Please spread the word among your friends, too.

--> VOTE HERE! It only takes a few seconds. And every vote counts.

AmP finished 2nd or 3rd in a whole bunch of categories last year.

Vote for AmP in the Catholic New Media Awards

AmP has been nominated in eight (8!) categories.

Please spread the word among your friends, too.

--> VOTE HERE!

AmP nominated for 8 Catholic New Media Awards

Wow. Thank you!

• People's Choice Blog
• Best Blog by a Man
• Best Written Blog
• Most Informative Blog
• Funniest Blog
• Most Entertaining Blog
• Best Catholic News Website
• Best Overall Catholic Website

Voting starts next week.

Fun: Go vote in the 2009 Cannonball Awards

The Crescat blog is organizing a contest to recognize lesser-known Catholic blogs, the 2009 Cannonball Awards. And - I'm completely serious - one of the categories is "Best Catholic Political Blog That is Not The American Papist". I already locked-in my vote, which I'll keep private until the end of the contest in view of fairness.

Do browse the other categories as well!

Pro-Life Blog wins Canadian Blog Awards

... by a whopping margin of almost 60% of the vote!

Thanks to all you Papists who heard my call and voted! Hopefully more people hear about this fine blog.

Nominations for Catholic New Media and Innovation Awards

AmP is in, and so can you. From LoveToBeCatholic.com founder Thomas Hall:

At long last, I am moving forward with an informal award to recoginize excellence in Catholic New Media and innovation. This is my small effort to bring attention to the good work of many talented people who unselfishly find unique and original ways to evangelize the Catholic faith.

I set up a special email account to accept suggestions: awards@lovetobecatholic.com

There are no specific award categories. I prefer to keep the nomination field broad and defined only as new media and innovation. It will be fun to see what suggestions people send to us.

Here is a link to my blog post about the awards.

Spread the word!

AmP wins 2008 "Best Political/Social Commentary" Catholic Blog!

The results are in!

With all of the votes counted, AmP won "Best Political/Social Commentary Blog" in the 2008 Catholic Blog Awards.

Other top finishes:

• Funniest Catholic Blog - 2nd (tied)
• Best Individual Catholic Blog - 2nd
• Smartest Catholic Blog - 2nd
• Best Designed Catholic Blog - 2nd
• Best Insider News Catholic Blog - 3rd (even with my votes being split into two options)
• Best Written Catholic Blog - 3rd
• Most Informative & Insightful Blog - 4th
• Best Overall Catholic Blog - 4th (again, my vote split in two, but it doesn't change the rank)

Wow, four second-place finishes, and four more top-5 finishes. Considering the winners in these categories outstrip my daily readership, I'm happy that proportionally AmP readers more than carried their weight!

Truly, a great big THANK YOU to everyone who voted for me, and congrats to the other winners!

Since moving to Washington, DC in August of 2007, I've been trying to include more regular political and social commentary into my coverage. Recently, I have been publishing more freelance pieces in online publications such as Catholic Exchange and Inside Catholic, as well as increasing the number of interviews I grant.

Considering how recently I've been doing this seriously, I think it's safe to say "you ain't seen nothing yet."

So stick around! There's plenty to come.

update: Special congratulations to Fr. Z. who ran away with practically every award his impressive blog was eligible for. Congrats also to The New Liturgical Movement that worthily won the "Best Designed" award, and best group blog. Fine contributors there. CreativeMinorityReport is the new kid on the block, look for good things from him in the future. And I have to say he's very inventive with his blogger template. CurtJester, it's no surprise, won "Funniest Catholic Blog." Hey, I voted for him, negative campaign and all. :-P

Allright, back to doing what I've been self-referentially talking about the past couple weeks!

Last day to vote for AmP in the 2008 Blog Awards!

AmericanPapist is in the running for nine awards this year!

I've provided some reasons for supporting AmP in each category....

• Best Individual - 2nd (AmP is a one-man operation, with almost 2,800 individual posts to date)
• Best Design - 2nd (AmP has integration with Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, etc.)
• Best Political/Social Commentary - 2nd (Today I present an exclusive post on McCain's position on embryonic stem cell research. I've also covered the 2008 presidential race extensively).
• Best Insider News - 3rd (Recent scoops include details on the pope's upcoming visit to the U.S.)
• Best Overall - 3rd (I strive to provide all the important news of interest to Catholics, often within the hour)
• Best Written - 3rd (I've written a series of bioethics essays, I've also published in Catholic Exchange, etc.)
• Smartest - 3rd (In humility there's no way for be to claim this, that's purely your conclusion).
• Most Informative/Insightful - 4th (I try, and I get plenty of daily assistance from my readers!)
• Funniest - 5th (I just posted my 100th Papist Picture of the Day, Photo Caption Calls, All these, etc.)

So, if you were thinking of voting for AmP, but weren't sure or didn't want to take the time - please - it doesn't take that long and there are many fine Catholic blogs that would love to see you participating! I sure would.

Vote today!

Quick reminder: Last weekend to vote for AmP in the 2008 CBA!

Just a quick reminder that the 2008 Catholic Blog Awards end this coming Monday, March 17th at 12:00 EST, so this is your last weekend to vote for your - *cough* - favorite blog.

Yes, an email address is required, but they promise not to spam you and I'm sure it's to prevent abuse.

AmP is currently competitive in nine categories (pretty much every category it is eligible to win).

Thank you so very much.

Also, I'm happy to say the AmP Facebook fanpage has almost 300 fans. Join up and invite your friends!

Humor: AmP campaign responds to vicious underhanded slander

My esteemed colleague in papist punditry, Curt Jester, has also been voted into the top 10 of the 2008 CBA’s “Funniest Catholic Blog” category. In his ingenious (tongue-in-cheek) style, he has launched a “negative campaign ad” against myself and the other top 10 nominees.

I urge you to go read through his list to make sense of what follows....

I have decided to respond in similar (light-hearted) kind.

Please read the following text while imagining it is being read aloud by a certain noted Democratic presidential nominee candidate from Illinois at a campaign stop:

=======================================

[begin transcript]

“I wanna thank you’all for coming out this evening. I know most of you have jobs and obligations, but have still managed to be here, and I appreciate that. But folks, I want to set the record straight on a few matters. I want to give you some strait, frank talk.

You’ve all probably heard the claims made by a notable opponent of mine recently. And while I respect this individual, I don’t think he’s being quite fair to me, or honest with you.

*boos and hisses heard in crowd.*

Now, now. It’s all right. We’re used to this sort of thing. It’s the same tired politics that some individuals are unable to avoid. That’s not the way I choose to operate, or conduct my campaign. But that’s a separate issue. For now, let’s get to my first point.

You’ve heard it said, for instance, by some, that word order makes a difference. Some people see fit to cast an aspersion on my character because I may choose to proceed one word – Papist – with another word – American. Well let me say right back: word order does indeed make a difference.

We all know that. But more important is what words you use. Now I think all of us would agree that I am both a Papist and an American. And to anyone who’s tried to say “PapistAmerican” and felt it to be a tongue-twister, well, that’s the only reason I’ve chosen to use the phrase “AmericanPapist.” I stand on my record in supporting Papists before Americans, and have done so for a long time, back when some other individuals in this race could barely spell either word, or find the Vatican on a map of Italy.

*wild cheers and applause.*

Thank you! Now on to my last point - bear with me, bear with me here – this is important, too:

You’ve maybe heard it said that I’m a prideful person, going around claiming to be not your average Catholic.

*scattered laughter.*

I know, it’s pretty comical, isn't it? But folks, let me just say, without a moment's hesitation, that I am not your average Catholic – and neither are you! The people down inside the St. Blog’s beltway want to practice “Catholicism as usual.” To them I say, we won’t stand for “Catholicism as usual” anymore!

*wild cheers and applause*

That’s right! I believe in the capacity of every Papist to be - not an ordinary Catholic, but an extraordinary Catholic. That’s what my campaign is about, and I pledge to you, that if I become the next nominee for “Funniest Catholic Blogger,” I will reverse the mistakes of the previous administration and give you, the hardworking readers of this blog, the opportunity to become true AmericanPapists! That’s the Audacity of Catholicism.

THANK YOU, ST. BLOGS!

*descends from podium, clicks “publish”.*

[end transcript.]

update: The opposing campaign has responded with an attempt to frighten Catholic blog readers into voting for the candidate they think would be funniest at 3A.M in the Vatican. :P

Vote for AmP in the 2008 Catholic Blog Awards!

Yes, it's that time of year again.

The time of year when I annoy readers with persistent requests to vote for AmericanPapist in the 2008 Catholic Blog Awards.

Now honestly, please consider taking the time to register and vote for whomever you want. Many Catholics provide a wonderful service to us all through their faithful blogging, and we really get a kick out of this yearly contest (I sure do).

update: with one week of voting left, it looks like AmP is in the top 10 for each category it was nominated!

• Best Designed
• Best Individual Blogger
• Best Insider News
• Best Overall
• Best Political/Social Commentary
• Best Written
• Funniest
• Most Informative/Insightful
• Smartest

That's quite a list! Thanks to everyone who has already voted. Now, go tell your friends! =)

It couldn't hurt to ask, right?

AmP has slipped to 3rd place in the religion category of the 2008 Blogger's Choice Awards.

Ya know, if you have a couple minutes to spare this weekend. There are many fine entries.

In related news, the 2008 Catholic Blog Awards - which are far closer to my heart - begin on the 15th.

Keep the CBA in your prayers

Evidently they had over a thousand nominations to sort through this weekend. Yikes!