From November 29, 2005, this “Name The Mystery Fish” blog image remains the readers’ favorite. (You can click on it to make the postcard image above bigger.)

But who remembers blogs or mystery fish, without awards? LOL.

‘Tis the season…let the voting begin; let the year-end awards drumbeat start.

Web awards, of course, are all over the place. There are the Webby, the Golden Web, and the Zorgy Awards, to name a few, for websites and more. It looks like Cryptomundo has been shut out of those for yet another year, and remains as hidden (to award givers) as most cryptids. This is in spite of the fact record-breaking numbers of people did stop by here in 2006.

That’s okay. We know you are reading us. But how about some of the in-the-cryptozoology-community awards? Nay, same thing.

Why? It seems we are just simply being forgotten. Hiding in plain sight, I guess.

Some web-based awards, be they for individuals or sites or books, are granted due to votes registered, while others are purely via a blogger’s own critiques. For example, The Anomalist Book Awards was picked for the years 1996-2004, by Patrick Huyghe (in consultations with his associates). I was sad to see that one go. I have personally annotated a gathering of winners for my Top Cryptozoology Book List since 2000.

But now, add another list that is a combination of a pre-picked group of choices and people voting for nominees, websites, and books. Henry May of Mississippi, who blogs under the "American Bigfoot Society Clearinghouse" umbrella, has posted a list he has created for voting your choices from his limited nominees for his 2006 awards.

I appreciate being on the list. I privately thanked him for that when I learned about it today. But I’ve also asked for him to withdraw my Mysterious America, which has been rescheduled for a April 2007 release date. Folks should pick from his short list of 2006 only books, not one from 2007, I feel. Indeed, I was surprised at what he has left off, such as the new Yowie book, the Bates catalogue, and, ha ha, a certain field guide.

Tales of the Cryptids: Mysterious Creatures That May or May Not Exist.

Cryptozoology and the Investigation of Lesser-Known Mystery Animals

The Field Guide to Bigfoot and Other Mystery Primates

The Yowie: In Search of Australia’s Bigfoot.

And so, finally, here’s a good-bye from Cryptomundo’s most popular image, which, of course, you can click on it to make it bigger. This is the enhanced, darker version by shockbeton.