I feel a bit like Woody Allen right now, winning an award and failing to show up to accept it or thank those who made it happen (that’s a Golden Globes reference right there, and not a very good one). As I’m sure you all know, Jessica from The Art of Education announced the winners for the 2011 Art Ed Blog of the Year AGES ago. And yet you haven’t heard a peep from me about it yet. FAIL. (Do people still say that?)

I have an excuse though, and I’ll let you be the judges on whether or not it’s a good one… You see, right after the nominees were announced, my Bug-a-bug (that would be my baby) and I were struck down with colds. They lasted for a full week. Actually, mine lasted longer than hers. It was rough. We weren’t sleeping, we were all sorts of snotty and I lost my voice for five days. I understand that none of those things have anything to do with my ability to type, except that they do. To add to this sob story, my Bug hasn’t been sleeping well lately, and I’ve been suffering from headaches for a good month or so. But enough about my recent woes.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for voting. I’m continuously amazed that anyone even reads this blog, let alone thinks it’s worthy enough for a Blog of the Year title. Back when I started ATHG, well, it was called something else back then, but back when I started it I had visions of filling my blog with original lesson plans, student artwork and all sorts of fun glittery things. Obviously it evolved into something entirely different.

I was working as a graduate assistant in an art education department at a university, and it aggravated me to no end that the undergrads were being regaled with tales of rainbows and unicorns. They were being taught how to write good, solid lesson plans, of which they practiced teaching on each other, all the while under the impression that that was all there was to being a good art teacher. As long as you went in armed with a well-written lesson plan that met your state’s standards, you were good to go. Ha!

ATHG became a place where I wanted to set the record straight. The thing is though, I never told anyone about it. I never anticipated that people would actually be interested in reading about the snark I spew. Funny story, when Jessica announced the nominees, I decided it was time to fess up, and I took to my personal facebook page to confess that I wrote a little blog called Art Teachers Hate Glitter, and could you please go vote for it, blah, blah, blah. I was surprised by how many people who knew me in real life had come across ATHG one way or another, enjoyed it, and had no idea I was the T behind the blog.

At any rate, thank you, and I’m sorry for not addressing this sooner. I am thrilled that, with all the great art teacher blogs out there with real art teacher content, you all not only enjoy this blog, but based on the comments and emails I receive, you relate to it as well. In the lonely land of the art room, it’s good to know you’re not alone.