Check it out: Turn Up the Rad

I'm adding a link in my blogroll to Turn Up the Rad my future sister-in-law Jonalynn's newest creative concoction. She'll be blogging about interior design, music, Phoenix life and more.

Anticipation

Good timing turned the departure of a coworker into a step in the right direction for me. The ADN's special sections editor left the paper for a technical writing job and I happily accepted the job after several meetings with my boss and the executive editor.

Since NewsPageDesigner.com shut down, my digital portfolio is limited to my CollegeFrontPage.com account. Luckily the Evergreeners have such smart, innovative friends as Joe and Brian to invent a Web site that helps us share ideas and showcase our work. I have you both to thank.

Until they fill my current position I've got one hand on the mouse and the other on the drawing board. I'm looking forward to writing, designing and editing once again. Writing, I'll be composing something more than cover letters and blog posts for the first time in a long time. Editing, designing and planning the sections is a chance to do all my favorite things in the same job. I've got lots of ideas and a bit of a learning curve to get my arms around our 107 yearly special sections but I can hardly wait to begin.

So here's to anticipation.

new look

I redesigned my blog for a cleaner, more streamlined look. I still have some tweaking to do and I will probably (definately) mess with the fonts. The new flag features a photo of the sun setting over hills by the Snake River south of Pullman, Wash. Some of you might remember a day of cliff jumping and river swimming with the Evergreen crew. Here's another picture from that day:

three little victories

First, I harvested the first two tomatoes from the grape tomato plant the other day.

Second, the AC repair man visited this morning and fixed the AC. Thank goodness.

Third, I was reading my newspaper while waiting for the AC guy to show up when I see the headline, "Washington appeals court rules against WSU dorm patrols."

Yes, the court ruled that police cannot walk through the halls of dorms, saying students have a certain expectation of privacy in those halls that connect their bathrooms and bedrooms.

"You would think an institution of higher learning would be dedicated to the rule of law," defense lawyer Tim Esser said. "For WSU to think it can rewrite some regulations to get around the Fourth Amendment is bizarre."

Read the story here.

This is a story we covered at the Evergreen and I also wrote about for Washinton State Magazine (which to my chagrin, I cannot find online). It's good to see we weren't shining light on an issue to no avail. I'll be looking forward to seeing how WSU amends it's policy as promised in a news release since the ruling. I'll also be interested to see how the Evergreen follows up on the issue.

Congratulations Jake and Katie Dorsey

Your wedding was lovely. I'm sure you'll both be immensely happy together.

Here are a few more pics from the day:

Katie's sister-bridesmaids.
(And Jennifer Seaman-Miller snapping pictures in the foreground.)

Evergreen girls reunited.

They were putting on a little impromptu entertainment act here.

This is kind of how it went. These are not exact quotes, but I will not be filling out a correction form.

Katie: "How about those Lakers?"

Wedding attendees: Mixed cheers and boos.

Random person: "Are you going on a honeymoon?"

Jake: "For those of you who haven't heard our honeymoon plans: We're staying in a hotel in downtown Seattle for two days before we have to return to work. We don't plan on leaving our room the entire time."

I think his mother was going to have a heart attack.

Evergreeners take Idaho

Back in January the head designer at the Statesman asked all the other designers to pick out some of their best stuff from 2007 to enter into the Idaho Press Club contest. They said they'd pick the best and enter them.

About a month ago a list with names of winners circulated the office. It just listed who won awards, but no specifics. "That's how they get you to show up," our editor said. My name was on the list. Maybe I got an honerable mention ...

Last night was the Idaho Press Club's annual banquet. When it came to announce the page design winners they announced in reverse order:

• 3rd Krysten Bullock - Idaho Press-Tribune - "Dreams do come true; Idaho highway crisis; Cold case"
• 2nd Joilene Topete - Idaho Statesman - "Will eco-city be enough; Men's room arrest reopens questions about Craig; Public Transportation" (Joi is the other page one designer.)

At this point I thought, "well maybe I won something in another category." Then they announced:

1st Annette Ticknor - Idaho Statesman - "Meth: a women's drug; I am proud of my record; Should campaign donations pay for his defense?"

I was very surprised. I am so honored.

These are two of the three pages I won for:
I don't have digital copy of the other.Also, noteworthy:

• One of the old reporters, Jon Meyer, from the Evergreen won 2nd for Rookie journalist of the year for his work at the Idaho Press Tribune in Nampa.
  
• Dan Thompson, another former Evergreener who now works at the Idaho State Journal in Pocatello won 1st place in sports feature stories.
• The Idaho Statesman won newspaper of the year and also took home the most awards from the banquet.
  

the wailers

This is my friend Diana and her dog Riley. We went to see the Wailers yesterday at Julia Davis Park. The show was free and part of Boise State's version of Springfest.

Then, waiting in line to look at the T-shirts, I think the girl with big sunglasses behind the table looks a lot like my friend Amy who worked the main office at Student Publications.

"Annette?" she asked. It was her. She works for the touring company now.