My friend Leo D

By some wierd twist of fate I've ended up on the official celebrity-fan-club-charity mailing list*. In the last week I've recieved a plethora of mailings vying for my disposable income**: Amnesty International, The Smile Train, Environmental Defense Action Fund and even Leonardo DiCaprio's Polar Bear SOS. (Note letter above begins "Dear Friend.")

*Don't ever expect me to write about celebrities again. You will probably be disappointed. I inwardly - and often outwardly - cringe when I have to read the "people" briefs for the paper, and they pay me to do that.

**Someone should tell these people I don't have any disposable income. My roommate (who subscribes to US Weekly) was especially taken with my letter from Leo. (That should be a band name, Letter from Leo).

Good luck, my friends

I just realized what time of year it is.

Today, I walked all over downtown with an iced vanilla latte and for the first time in months the sun felt hot.

But it's not the weather that struck me. It's the fact that one year ago my last Evergreen printed. I was days from graduating college.

When I got home from work tonight, I sat down at my computer and read the graduating Evergreener's senior columns. Just 366 days ago I was putting the finishing touches on mine:

Dear reader, I saw you.

I was there when you picked up the Evergreen and sat down at a table with your latte. I noticed when you scanned the headlines on the front, maybe took a peek at the weather, and then flipped straight to the horoscope and crossword.

Thanks a lot.

I was going to write a column to thank all the incredible people who encouraged and challenged me during my five years here – but I don’t have space for that. So I simply want to thank those I owe the most gratitude to as a student journalist.

It’s you, reader.

Thanks.

When you went straight to the crossword, you humbled me. I spent hours on that paper. read the full column.

It's hard to believe that was a full year ago. Sometimes when I meet new people I still tell them I "just" moved to Boise. I "just" graduated college. Kind of shifts my perspective a little.

Good luck to all my graduating friends. Give 'em hell.

Baby carrots.

These are my broccoli plants the gardening columnist at my paper gave me. I asked her if they'd grow in a planter, because I only have a porch at my apartment. She said to give it a try.

But if you look closely you can see the little tufts of green sprouting in the center. Those are my carrots I planted from seeds peaking through the soil. They appeared Saturday. I'm very excited about them. I had to resist the temptation to pull one out and see what an infant carrot looks like.

Blog 2.0

I know what you're thinking: Annette already bores us with one blog, why must she plague us with a second?

Maybe it's bloggers' envy seeing my friends' random musings -- something that is simply not part of the mission of my design blog. Maybe I just have a lot of free time. Perhaps I'll never tell.

But I'm hoping my friends and family will enjoy the noteworthy little tidbits I intend on posting here.