John Hook

Given my occasional line of work I guess I should watch a bit more television to stay current on trends in pop culture.  Until I saw her video on TV I thought a well-liked female singer was a big Star Wars & Star Trek fan – the song lyrics I heard were, “It’s all…

What’s the #1 store to buy anything in this country? Walmart. State College lives large – we have two! New York City, home to 8.4 million people, has none. Yet, somehow, we “jethros” (the name du jour I heard last week) have one of the best arts festivals in the country in our midst.

I’ll be joining thousands of others to watch our glorious 4th Fest fireworks show. I spent many years living in Orlando. There was a long time when the 4th of July fireworks became an afterthought. Living in the land of Disney will do that to you. There were fireworks every night.

It’s summer vacation. No alarm to shut off, no bus to catch, no desks to sit in, no homework to do, just pure unadulterated nothing! How do these first couple days of freedom feel? Pretty stellar, huh? It could be like this year-round. You read that correctly. Summer vacation all the time.

Off in the distance we could see our destination – Penn State. Beaver Stadium, the Bryce Jordan Center, Old Main, the steam plant smokestack, construction cranes, all are visible along the horizon across the valley. At last, civilization loomed. And then it happened.

Here we are fellow townies, it’s just us! We did it. We finished another Penn State school year. All the students – okay, most of them – are gone. Buh-bye! Here are the ten things you should do before the summer ends and our population swells by 40,000 young folks.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. I’m a true-blue Pennsylvanian, honorable and fair, and I believe in waiting in line in an orderly manner. As soon as I see the “Right-Lane Closed Ahead” signs I move over into the left lane. And this is the crux of the matter – you shouldn’t be doing it.