You know how actors say it’s an honor to simply be nominated? And you know how you don’t believe them? Well now I find myself saying it but also really meaning it.

No, no, no. I haven’t been nominated for an Oscar. (Besides awards season is over, remember?) I found out this weekend that She’sWrite is a finalist for a Peter Lisagor Award. The Lisagors are handed out by the Chicago Headline Club, the largest local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. The awards are to honor top-quality journalism in the Chicago area. (Ack!! I’m a finalist!)

Sorry. I had a Cathy moment there.

Anyway, I submitted a few pieces from my blog and some of the ones I’ve written for The Huffington Post. None of the HuffPo pieces were chosen, but it’s kind of special that She’sWrite, my own little corner of cyberspace, was picked as a finalist.

Also, the HuffPo pieces were under the category of affiliated blogs and a finalist in that category is the one and only Roger Ebert. I’m totally cool with not going up against that level of talent.

Not that my category is easy either. One guy is a freelance photojournalist who blogs about, among other things, his view from Behind The Tape and his shots are clever and compelling, like his writing. The other is a freelance journalist and regular contributor to ChicagoNow.com. His Gaggin’ in the Grove blog is a hyperlocal and sometimes whimsical look at his suburb. My favorite is his police blotter.

I’ve never won a Lisagor, I’ve been among the “staff” listed before, but nothing that was all me. The winners are announced at the awards dinner on May 4. I’m stoked, but scared.

I may not win, but it’s all good because I’m delighted to make the list of finalists. After all even if I don’t win, like Chicago Cubs fans say: There’s always next year!

*image by Cathy Guisewite