I won! I won!

...and that's not, of course, without its risks. But I've been nominated (which seems to mean the same thing as actually winning) for something called a Premio Dardos award. This arrives courtesy of none other than The Phantom Observer, who lives on the other side of the aisle.

The award is "a blogging achievement that is given for recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing."

The rule, for this ill-concealed meme, is to pick five other bloggers to receive the award, each of whom must display the illo and pick five more bloggers, and....I smell a Ponzi scheme in there somewhere, but here goes.

Given Phantom's even-handedness, this author feels compelled to wander across the spectrum in search of his five characters. Let me start with the handsome stylist Dred Tory, who avoids all pigeonholes--a red Tory who likes Baudrillard--and whom I wish would post more often. Come on, Sir Francis, it's been nearly a month now! Maybe this award will be the fillip he needs.

And no such list would be complete if Stageleft and Balbulican were omitted. Not only is the writing consistently excellent over there, but the combox discussions are generally at a level of sophistication that shows what is possible when there is goodwill on all sides.

And in that same vein, although I doubt he will pass to nominations of his own, I nominate David Thompson, a British "muscular liberal" commentator (on the Right, where I sit, although he objects to that description) who runs one of the most elegant blogs in the 'sphere, truly a thing of beauty. I agree with barely a word the man says, but he says it so well.

Jon Swift deserves the nod, too. Grace, style, a satirical wit, and I don't believe his claim to be conservative for one minute. And I'm a sucker for the lolcatz thing, as old a ploy as it may be by now.

Dear me! Not very gender-balanced here. And so many fine people will inevitably be left out. It's like choosing five people from your grade-school class to go to your birthday party. As I said, there are risks in this enterprise. I may lose friends over this. But I can't quit now.

Back to gender. No list of this sort would be complete without the addition of CathieFromCanada. She sings unnoticed, like a bird, pulling the kernels off the daily cob for our reading pleasure (or displeasure). A good, meaty review of the world, loads of good links, and it should be on everybody's must-read list.

Well, that's it! So much for my get-back-to-work resolution.

*ducks*

UPDATE: Whoops! I didn't consult my co-blogger!

*ducks*