Day dreaming that someday I would do something worthy of winning an award, I began to imagine what my acceptance speech would be and who I would thank.
Admittedly, I am not creative or motivated enough to do anything that spectacular enough to be recognized; I am just too lazy to do it on my own.
It would be a shame to never thank those people just because I am waiting vainly for an award that I will never get. These people deserve their recognition regardless and I don't know if I would ever get to tell them in person. So, here it is… my thank you's, in the form of an acceptance speech.
"Wow (fake surprise), thank you! I am so honored to be winning this prestigious award for something that I love doing so much!
First, thanks be to God for making me who I am. There is no other reason why I do what I do. Jesus, for giving me hope to keep going.
I'd have to thank my wife for putting up with the countless hours in front of a computer, learning and working. For randomly bringing me glasses of water, stuffing snacks in my mouth, shoulder rubs, kisses on the forehead, and being my personal cheerleader by always telling me "You can do it!"
Thank you to my brother for teaching me to never be afraid, especially with taking risks.
I've had the great fortune of being able to stand on the shoulders of giants, whom have allowed me to reach such great heights.
To Tony Yzarnotegui, for breaking me out of AOL very early on and signing me up with an EarthLink account, showing me how to use a browser and how to view source code. This opened up a whole new world for me. You created a monster
To Jefferey Zeldman, for teaching me HTML the right way and respecting standards. What I learned from him is so important for what I do today, and made my journey so much easier.
Eric Meyer, for all things CSS, which has made the go-to guy for CSS questions on my team.
Douglas Crockford, who's book made me fall in love with JavaScript's good parts.
Nicholas Zakas, you taught me to be an engineer.
Steve Souders, holy cow! You taught the world how to perf.
Shoot, there's the music, I'm almost done…
Derek Featherstone, thank you for teaching me accessible Ux and how looking through a straw can expose so much.
Heydon Pickering, thanks for making sure I always look at the simplest solution. You make simple look easy.
Steve Faulkner, the Don, I can't ever thank you enough for your expertise and help.
Eric Elliot, who keep's me on my toes and is contstantly challenging me to keep learning more.
Finally, Kyle Simpson, thanks for making me look at JS in a completely different way.
I am sure I left a lot other people out, so I am sorry for that. I hope I can inspire someone as I have been inspired. Thank you all!"
That sounds about right. Now on to doing some good work…