Checked out: Summer series preview

The sun’s torrid touch tiptoed into our lives last week and made everyone’s life a little brighter. Get it? Brighter. The sun, it’s bright.

Last week’s sunshine had me thinking it was summer. If you stood directly in the light, squinted and held your breath long enough, it felt just like summer. It had many of us fooled.

Sadly, given the terribly gloomy, downright-rotten weather we’ve had since, it was all a big joke the sun was playing on us and we are actually in for another month of shades of… gray.

While still in my Vitamin D-charged stupor, however, I started to think of all the amazing things that are coming up this summer: music festivals, ample time to explore and eat at new restaurants, hiking, swimming, floating, disc golfing, sleeping, tanning – and all in the glory of the sun, our shy friend who only wants to play when we get him wasted, which is apparently what happens during the months of July, August and September. (Hopefully, we can get him to do shots in June.)

As a result of a general shared excitement over potential summer fun, we at The Advocate began talking about covering these activities in a special section.

This section will take over Page 3 of the newspaper for the remainder of this school year. “Checked Out” will cover how to cool off in the heat while staying alive; food carts/awesome places to eat on a college student’s budget in Portland and where and when to listen to music that doesn’t suck.

The name comes from the intense feelings of “senioritis,” or, as I describe it, being “checked out.”  As in, I am no longer present (mentally) in class, here at the newspaper or in anything else other than while skating, swimming and generally enjoying the sun’s warmth.

Perhaps this will justify my incredibly laid-back writing style, both to you and my editors.

We hope you enjoy this section as much as we are hoping to enjoy working on it.

And, remember, only three weeks until school is out. That’s a lock, regardless if the sun gets drunk or not.