FEATURES
6A
Is blacking out a big deal?
Editor’s Note: “Dear Annie,” by
Annie Lane, is the successor column
to “Annie’s Mailbox,” whose writ-
ers, Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar,
have retired.
Dear Annie: I’m a 21-year-old
college junior. I love college for every
reason you would think.
I love the autonomy to select my
own classes and study the things that
interest me. I love the freedom to
make my own schedule. I love being
treated like an adult, in that nobody
is making sure I go to class or do my
schoolwork.
I also love college for the parties.
Though I am by no means a lush, I go
out and drink heavily Thursday, Fri-
day and Saturday night almost every
week. Most of those nights, I cannot
remember chunks of the evening. I
know that this might be jarring to hear,
but it’s the norm in college. The joke
around campus is to ask your friends
the next morning, “Did we see each
other last night?”
I’m sure most doctors or alcohol
treatment professionals would say that
I (or a large percentage of American
college kids) have a drinking prob-
lem, but it really doesn’t feel that way.
I have a cumulative 3.4 GPA, and I
am telling you, everyone drinks and
blacks out. It’s not a big deal. So my
Dear Annie
By
Annie
Lane
Creators
Syndicate
Inc.
question is: What’s all the fuss about
when it comes to blacking out? Isn’t it
just a rite of passage? — Fuzzy Student
Dear Fuzzy: Blacking out is not
normal. Let me repeat: Blacking out is
not normal. It might seem as if every-
one is doing it, but people with drink-
ing problems have a way of conve-
niently overestimating how much
everyone else is drinking.
I would be willing to wager that
your peers aren’t blacking out so
much as you think. If they are, you
may be seeking out heavy drinkers to
normalize your behavior.
I won’t try to scare you out of
drinking — mostly because that
wouldn’t work but also because drink-
ing in moderation can be ine, if you
can do it. So try it. Slow way down,
and stop earlier. If you can’t, then
you have a problem. And the fact that
you’re writing to me indicates that on
some level, you already know.
Dear Annie: My husband is
obsessed with fantasy sports leagues.
Right now, it’s baseball. It’s the irst
thing he does when he wakes up in
the morning and the last thing he does
before he goes to sleep at night, and it
takes up a lot of the time in between.
I am so sick of coming downstairs to
see him glued to his iPad, checking
scores and doing whatever else people
do for fantasy leagues. I really don’t
understand any of it.
He’s retired, so he has plenty of
free time to waste on this stuff. He
does have other hobbies. He plays golf
and tennis and occasionally volunteers
at the soup kitchen. But as soon as he
gets home, it’s right back to his iPad.
When we go out to eat, he’s constantly
checking his phone. I feel invisible.
Do you have any tips on how I can
get him to spend more time in the real
world? — Tired of Fantasy
Dear Tired: If you’re at all inter-
ested in sports, you could try partici-
pating in a league with him. This could
help you understand what he’s so pas-
sionate about. And who knows? It
might even be fun.
If that doesn’t appeal to you, then
tell your husband how you feel —
without harshly judging the hobby
he cares so much about. Remember,
you’re on the same team.
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 1, 2016
Tomorrow’s horoscope
By Holiday Mathis, Creators Syndicate Inc.
ARIES (March 21-April 19). Though you
don’t like to dwell on upsetting experiences
of the past, you can now see them as though
you were a casual observer, not the one at
the center of the scene. Doing so will help
you work out today’s dilemma.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You’ve dis-
charged quite a lot of emotional energy as of
late, and now there’s a hum of mental calm
to accompany your every move. It’s a good
soundtrack.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Speaking in
abstract principles won’t help what’s going
on for you personally. Ground your conversa-
tion and anecdotes in the facts and happen-
ings of your life.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). You’re tough
and so you have to do the tough work. After
you clear up this bit of gnarly (or perhaps just
inordinately tedious) business, you’ll be back
to your charismatic, hilarious, sparkly self.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You sometimes
wonder if the person you’re being in a rela-
tionship is intrinsic to who you are or only
showing up because of the circumstances
present in that particular dynamic. Take your-
self out of it and see.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). It’s an ideal
day to assess your current status in concrete
measures. Whether it’s counting your bless-
ings, children, money or body stats, size up
the facts and find out exactly where you’re at.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You may be sur-
prised by a sudden awareness of a respon-
sibility you didn’t know you had. Probably, it’s
something you’ve already been taking care
of, though now, instead of acting automati-
cally, you see the choice in this.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Was it some-
FRANK AND ERNEST
BLONDIE
THATABABY
SALLY FORTH
PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN
B.C.
LOLA
DILBERT
SIX CHIX
BIZARRO
MUTTS
NON SEQUITUR
BABY BLUES
WIZARD OF ID
ZITS
ROSE IS ROSE
thing bad that happened or was it a wis-
dom-building experience? Well, if you never
thought of it that way before, you’ll run with
the idea today and apply that wisdom all over
the place.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). The
computing power that’s woven into almost
everything you do will have a definite effect
on a main relationship today. It could, if used
well, bring you much closer to your love. If
used badly, it could cause a wedge.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You want
to excel, but when you do, there is a set of
feelings on the other side of it that catches
you off guard. Remember how it was last
time. You’re going to succeed again, so it’s
important that you prepare yourself for it.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). The perti-
nent question is whether your current sense
of what you’re capable of is actually balanced
or it’s a distortion you’ve created based on
the expectations and needs of those around
you.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). On your way
to the next evolution, the one in which you
gain what you’ve been wanting, something
gets lost. It’s most commonly something you
weren’t using and don’t need anyway, but
grieving may be called for.
SATURDAY’S BIRTHDAY (July 2). You
see yourself as not only a person, but also
a producer of a kind of feeling that you give
the people lucky enough to be around you.
Your warmth and the quirky way you look at
life will add much joy to the lives of others.
There’s a big payoff in August. You’ll meet
one you’ve long admired before 2016 is up.
Aquarius and Libra adore you. Your lucky
numbers are: 9, 20, 14, 33 and 42.