Bryan Adams, my summer plans and a dairy product that tops Tillamook (gasp!)

It used to be that the best way to chronicle summer shenanigans was through song: Bryan Adams, the cast of Grease and the Beach Boys (pre-1967) understood this.

But the times they are a-changin'.

I've determined that in the Technazoic Period the best way to track a summer is through blogging. Thus, I'm joining the ever-growing mob of bloggers to inform you, my loyal reader (Hi Mom!), about my doings in the summer of 2008.

Generally my life isn't so interesting that it requires an entire blog. However, this summer everything will be bigger. As in Texas big. In pursuit of a plush career as the world's greatest sports reporter I will spend 11 weeks interning in the sports department of the 54th largest newspaper in the country, the Austin American-Statesman.

The aim of this blog is to keep you somewhat abreast of my doings south of the border (the Oklahoma border, that is). I will be churning out stories like Land o' Lakes* churns out butter, but should also have time for some fun in the humidity.

We can get into the details of my summer later. Much of it will be spent mischievously -- if not feloniously -- with my former college chum Danny Davis, a Statesman sports intern turned real employee.

Check in regularly for updates starting later this month. In the meantime, go about your regular lives and days. I'm jetting off to Argentina for a week and a half for some pre-internship bird hunting. Then my padre (see, I've already picked up the Argentine lingo) and I will begin the road trip to Austin, which will, of course, be detailed on these pages.

Until then ...
wjo

*According to this Web site, which looks reliable because it uses a chart, Tillamook is only the fourth largest butter producer in the country. And I would have hated for my simile to have made it sound like I wouldn't be churning out a lot of stories. To my readers who are loyal to Tillamook: I apologize for the acknowledgement of a rival . To the cows of Tillamook: pump out more milk -- the kind that goes in butter -- so we can surpass Land o' Lakes.