My Summer Goal

I'm a naturally pale as far as skin color is concerned. I'm the whitest white person you'll ever encounter during the winter. Luckily for me, I tan really easily. I become a little obsessive about it though.
Every summer, one of the girls I work with and I have a contest to see who can get the tannest(I'm not sure if tannest is a real word). She is beating me right now, but just barely. I planned to spend the whole day in the pool tomorrow, just to catch up, but it's supposed to rain.
My obsession actually started a few years ago. I was doing Joseph! and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I was told early on that one of my costumes required me to not wear a shirt. I put up a huge fuss, and eventually was allowed a tank top. I was worried about being under stage lights with my pale skin though, so I got a membership to a tanner.
I went every day for a month. People kept telling me to stop going, I was getting freakishly dark. I didn't believe them though, and kept frying my skin. When I look back at pictures from that time, I laugh at how nasty my skin looked. Someone should have planned an intervention.
I know that I'm not going to age well. I love the sun too much. I think this will be the last summer I worry about getting tan. The health benefits of shielding your skin from the sun are far better then having slightly darker skin for a few months a year.