Shutter Boredom

Day 52/365: Canada mints

Meranda Watling — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:26:24 +0000

I came across these wintergreen mints at the store yesterday and had to buy them. These Pepto-Bismol pink mints bring back happy childhood memories. My childhood next-door neighbor, Mrs. Drown, a wonderful elderly woman, used to trade us kids these mints from her always well-stocked candy dish in exchange for chores we’d help with, such as picking up twigs in her garden or raking her leaves. We used to chat with her as we enjoyed the melt-in-your-mouth mint flavor.

Day 51/365: Reading material

Meranda Watling — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 22:29:33 +0000

A lazy Saturday with nothing to do except sip tea, read and relax. Here’s a sampling of my reading material for proof I’m both a geek and a girl. :) There’s the most recent Glamour, Marie Claire and WIRED magazines. And on top, the tome is Thomas Wolfe’s “Look Homeward, Angel.” Ryan and I are both reading the book ahead of our trip to North Carolina in mid-March. We’re going to see the home that inspired the boarding house in Wolfe’s novel, so we wanted to read it first.

Day 50/365: Blue skies

Meranda Watling — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:34:11 +0000

It was nice to see clear blue skies for a change today, after weeks of gray skies and plentiful snow storms. While it won’t last, today was a glimpse that spring is indeed on its way.

Day 49/365: Front door

Meranda Watling — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:38:56 +0000

By the time I got home from work tonight, I was exhausted and without a snapshot to share. So I took this one of me unlocking my front door.

Day 48/365: Watchdog journalism

Meranda Watling — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:41:58 +0000

Today, I got the first of three sets of administrative contracts from the public schools in my county. This is the Lafayette school superintendent’s original contract, as signed in 1996. I’ll be combing these documents (hundreds of pages of contracts) in the coming week or so to see what goes into the superintendent and principal gigs and what they get for it. Then, I’ll be reporting on what I find.

Day 47/365: Copy machine

Meranda Watling — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:48:11 +0000

One of the things my newspaper does annually is post a database of public school employee salaries. This week, while the projects editor was formatting that database, I was at work writing about budget cuts and teacher salaries. This year, we decided to post the teacher contracts with the database. I already had them on hand — as booklets. So I spent an hour today scanning the contracts into PDFs.

Day 46/365: Dead battery

Meranda Watling — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:08:15 +0000

Tonight’s picture is a bit meta. As you’ve probably guessed by now, that camera pictured is in fact my digital camera. It was nearing midnight when I realized I’d forgotten to take a photo today. I went to grab my camera only to find its battery entirely drained. I was talking on my phone, so I couldn’t use that camera to snap something quick. So what you see here was an off-the-cuff shot from the Web cam of my MacBook. Not great quality, but at least I didn’t miss today. (P.S. Yes, I should organize my cords.)

Day 45/365: French toast

Meranda Watling — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 22:53:38 +0000

Ryan made us French toast for breakfast on Valentine’s Day. <3 It was tasty, of course.

Day 44/365: Circle the State with Song

Meranda Watling — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 23:17:41 +0000

One of the things I had to cover today was this “Circle the State with Song” Festival. It’s always reinvigorating to listen to children sing, and this was no exception.

Day 38/365: St. Elmos shrimp cocktail

Meranda Watling — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:50:11 +0000

Tonight, Ryan took me to St. Elmo Steakhouse in downtown Indy. It was out first time there, a trip in honor of our six-month anniversary (last week) and Valentine’s Day (next week). It helped that this was Devour Downtown weekend, so the prices were much more reasonable and affordable than normal. We both tried the world famous shrimp cocktail. (No, really, this is the stuff Gov. Daniels bet on the Super Bowl against the Louisana Governor. It’s that good.) It was very tasty, but, oh man, the horse radish had some kick!

Day 15/365: One Size Fits All

Meranda Watling — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 23:46:19 +0000

Tonight, we checked out the Lafayette improv comedy troupe, “One Size Fits All.” They were performing at Lafayette Brewing Company. Very funny and a good way to get out and laugh.

Day 10/365: Bub’s Pancakes

Meranda Watling — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 23:28:08 +0000

This delectable breakfast was from Bub’s Café in Carmel. The food was standard fare, but very tasty and reasonably priced. What impressed me at least as much was the bright and cheery decor of the restaurant. A multitude of seriously bright colors and country touches, such animal salt & pepper shakers and painted tables and chairs, made the place feel very homey. Not to mention there was plenty of natural light. Definitely a good antidote to winter — and to hunger.

Day 8/365: The 6 a.m. shift

Meranda Watling — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:29:05 +0000

This photo is about as simple as they come: No artistic license or artsy angles. Just me staring up at the clock as it reaches 6 a.m. and I begin my shift at work. Every day, the first reporter starts at this hour to catch up on breaking news overnight and to update the Web site so the news is fresh when people awake before work. The normal morning reporter is on vacation/furlough this week, so we’re rotating the shift. Today, unfortunately, was my lucky day.

Day 7/365: Big snow

Meranda Watling — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:18:03 +0000

I for one find waking up to a fresh batch of snow to be breathtaking. I realize most Midwesterners don’t share that sentiment. Maybe it was growing up in Northeast Ohio, south of Lake Erie, where the few inches Lafayette saw today is a dusting not a real snow event, but I don’t mind snow in the winter. (Ask me in March how I feel about it.) I truly enjoy the seasons. They’re what keep grounded in the Midwest. This scene, the twisty tree in my backyard covered in fresh and still descending snow, was a moment of zen for me today.

Day 6/365: Home work

Meranda Watling — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:51:00 +0000

This was the scene in my kitchen this morning as I worked from home. My work day officially begins at 2 p.m. today, when I actually go in to the office. (I have a 6:45 p.m. school board meeting to cover.) But because of a crazy busy week and breaking news, I spent the better part of my time off today making calls, conducting interviews and writing stories from home before going in for my official shift. At least I ate breakfast (oatmeal) and had a little tea. I don’t understand why reporters’ lives are glamorized. Really.

Day 5/365: Who turned on the AC?

Meranda Watling — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:24:38 +0000

When it’s 14 degrees outside (today), and the thermometer in your office registers 64 degrees (true story), you know that’s probably a problem. My desk also happens to be ideally situated for ongoing frigidness: I sit between two cold-air spewing vents. After feeling a brush of the cool air himself one of the editors decided to try and re-direct the cool air from the vent away from us. His method: The top of a box of paper, held to the ceiling with paper clips. Creative, though unfortunately, ineffective.

Day 4/365: Good morning, Indiana

Meranda Watling — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:18:18 +0000

I noticed this beautiful sunrise in my rearview window as I drove north on Interstate 65 from Indy to Lafayette on Monday morning. I pulled off at the Frankfort exit so I could capture the moment because, let’s face it, I’m not usually awake and aware of the sunrise. This was one of those moments where I definitely was in the moment, and it was a good start to the week even though I was tired and wasn’t feeling my best.

Day 3/365: Love

Meranda Watling — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 05:09:00 +0000

Sunday was the last day of the Sacred Spain exhibit at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. So we headed over there for a short gallery visit. This sculpture is outside the museum. I have a photo very similar to this one as the backdrop on my phone from a previous visit, but I made him pose again because, well, it’s such a cute picture. :) Also… I promise, this is the last portrait of Ryan for awhile since this isn’t a “365 photos of my boyfriend” project.

Day 2/365: Getting around to it

Meranda Watling — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 05:02:14 +0000

Over Labor Day weekend, Ryan and I went to Chicago and visited the Art Institute there. He bought this poster at that time. Fast forward to Jan. 2, 2010, and he still had not framed the massive 42×30 picture. So, together we put the frame he had specially ordered online together and after a few choruses of “that can’t be right” as we pieced each section together, he had a beautiful portrait to hang on his currently bare walls. It is a nice piece of art.

Day 1/365: Boiler Up

Meranda Watling — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 04:47:39 +0000

On Jan. 1, 2010, I did something I’ve never done before: I attended a college basketball game. Not just any ol’ game either. Ryan (the biggest Boilermaker fan I know) bought tickets in the fall for New Years Day because it was one of the few days that matched both our schedules. That turned out to be a great choice with two undefeated teams. Purdue was triumphant, 77-62 against West Virginia. And even though I’m not a sports nut and didn’t scream my voice raw like someone else I know… I did have fun.