Hey, look who won “Best Blogger in the Capital Region!”

So I wasn’t expecting this news.

But today, I received word.

That’s right. Even though I never received this honor during my years in the Times Union blogfarm, apparently now … as you can clearly see …

Yeah. Hell, I didn’t even know I was nominated. I wasn’t even aware there was still a category for Best Blogger in the Capital Region. And even if there WAS such a category, I thought Kristi Gustafson Barlette had already won it, seeing as she works for the Times Union and the Times Union does all the ballot-counting.

But there it is. Somehow, someone must have written my name in one of the ad hoc categories, and next thing you know, the TU is telling me that … well … the logo’s right there on the top of the blog post, figure it out for yourself.

So what does this mean for little old me?

Well, to start off, there’s plenty of people to thank for this honor. First off, I’d like to thank the people who wrote my name in, whether they did it as a joke or as a protest or as a “Oh, you’re mad at me for submitting The Olive Garden as Best Italian Restaurant? Well, take this, Big Hearst…”

Don’t mind me … I’m just going to bask in this day-long glory. Wow. Best of the Capital Region. I bet this is the equivalent of someone in some nondescript corner of the Times Union’s statistics department, looking over the data and the spreadsheets, and suddenly saying, “We gave that to HIM?!?!?!?”

This is definitely fun. More fun than you can imagine.

And with that … as I accept this award that virtually nobody at the Times Union would knowingly give me in a hundred years …

Rather than allow myself to give a speech over this occasion…

I’ll let someone who’s more versed with happenings on this day express my feelings for me.

Happy April Fool’s Day, Big Hearst!!