My Polaris Award arrived safely yesterday and I made a video short unboxing the package, which you can watch here if you'd like. And the photo above shows it in its new home in the bookcase in my studio, nestled among a few other awards I keep out of storage.
To the left is one of two Webby Awards, this one from 2009. On the right is the Diamond Award for being a kick-ass CEO of a medium to small sized company from the Pittsburgh Business Times. Under the shelf you can just see the top of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Far left is part of my collection of Cerebus Graphic Novels, an original un-opened Marvel OverPower box set, and below is some art books with my new copy of The Incal from Moebius up-front. I'm not trying to power brag or anything, I mention these only because they are in the background of every Pirates Corner and I figured some people might like to know what they are. Plus the Polaris Award now sits proudly among them.
Blood, sweat, and tears. That is what all of that represents. Including the new one. I've won more than my fair share of awards I didn't always feel I deserved. Those are all packed away in boxes. Or are currently holding my badges from Eve meet-ups on the shelf above my computer. That one is a very pretty award that I'm not entirely convinced wasn't an award scam. One of the major reasons I suspect that is because the list of judges included Donald Trump. True story. Awards come in all flavors. I have several boxes full of extremely heavy and gorgeous Telly Awards, designed by the same person that designed the Emmy. And I'm also not convinced that organization isn't an award scam either. I have 47 of the damn things. Mostly because they sure looked impressive scattered around the agency. And clients loved them.
I'm trying to build up to something. I may not be doing a good job of it. So let me try to get to the point here - I have a lot of awards. Some earned. Some meaningful. Some quite possibly tainted in hindsight. But none of them mean more to me than the one with the word EVE written on it.
None of the other ones have been given by people I consider friends. Who, if not for distance, would most likely be among my best friends. None of the others represent almost two decades of... good grief. I'll be here all day listing things. So let's skip ahead a bit, shall we?
In other words, this means a lot to me. It is sincerely meaningful. Thank you.
Onward & Upward.