Blog Awards

Robert Wilensky is a distinguished professor of subjects so complicated I have no idea how to even describe them. At any rate, he is well known for the quote, "We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true."

We have all seen unreadable schlock out there. But what blows me away is the fact that if you wade through the bad, you will find absolute gems.

One such gem is my friend Marc’s blog Wheelchair Kamikaze. Marc is funny, erudite and a visual artist, as demonstrated by his photography. Marc also has Primary Progressive MS, which has worn him down physically and emotionally. PPMS is a more debilitating and more advanced stage of MS. Through all his challenges, he’s a mensch and I just love him and his wonderful, wonderful wife.

I would strongly urge you to take a peek at Marc’s blog for sheer pleasure. He is witty and poignant and some of his Wheelchair Kamikaze death-defying films are hilarious.

Marc’s blog has also been nominated for an award as the Best Patient Weblog of 2009, sponsored by Medgadget.com. This award is prestigious and an honor, so I would love to see him win. He deserves it for the general excellence of his blog content, the writing, photography and films.

Voting can be done at this link:

Voting

If you scroll down you will find the category.

All the nominated weblogs look great, but I do have a few personal favorites.

The Blog That at Manhattan by Dr. Peggy is a fun site that combines both wry and serious observations about food, life in New York City and the practice of medicine. Her recipes are amazing. And, through her posts and comments, she strikes me to be a great doctor.

Musings of a Distractible Mind is a great blog I recently discovered. The author, Dr. Rob, is very, very funny. But he can be serious as well and provides a wealth of information about working with your doctor. I love Dr. Rob! He picked my blog post as his favorite in a recent Grand Rounds. What could be not to love? Sigh.

Unfortunately, Dr. Peggy and Dr. Rob are positioned against each other in the category of Best Medical Weblog. I don’t know how people can decide. They are both awesome.

And finally there is the gentle and sometimes harrowing blog of an Emergency Room physician. His words positively glow off the page when he talks about his family, especially his late mother. It is beautiful. He is also a compassionate physician who displays nothing but respect for his patients, even the most difficult ones. I know he would be thrilled to find StorytellERdoc (he is under best Literary Medical Weblog.) a winner.

Thanks if you vote and thanks any way if you even think about voting. The polls are open until February 14. You don’t have to go anywhere, you can vote right in your pj’s at your computer.

I want to say may the best blog win, but since they are all great that is just too hard. But DO vote for Wheelchair Kamikaze if you can, because he is my dear friend and a brilliant thinker.