>I got a 1st place prize in a Textpattern theme design contest and won my first ever prize, and quite a big one for a Ukrainian student — an iPod (the original one, 60GB).
That sounds a lot like:
Am I close?
Edit: it was you!–
https://www.textplates.com/2007/08/01/the-results
>Loved it for its simplicity, easy customization and a friendly community.
It's still simple-ish, lots of previously external plugins have been merged into the core, and the community is friendly, helpful and mostly harmless.