Atlanta & Utah

So I never wrote that I recently went to Atlanta for the Intellectual Property Owner's conference. It was a neat trip, met some people, went to dinner at the Georgia aquarium, which was awesome, and got to see a tiny bit of Atlanta.

It was my first time in Atlanta - I really wasn't very impressed. I'm sure that suburbia is fine, but downtown I thought had some amazing buildings coupled with a lot of homeless.

Also, in Lubbock as well as in DC, I've met a lot of people who really have some harsh feelings about the state of Utah. I think it's unfortunate, because I love Utah. Here's why I think some people have hard/unenlightened feelings about Utah:

• They spent all their time in Provo & Salt Lake associating with other Mormons
• They had no money to do anything fun/their idea of fun is going to bars or museums

Because here's the thing, if you spend all your time in Utah hanging out in Provo, or perhaps the BYU bookstore, yes, its going to be lame. But! If you even venture out to Park City, that wild crazy place, you'll get out of the bubble.

Personally, I have a hard time finding anyone who has lived in Utah and been to any 2 of the following places and not enjoyed it. This also doubles as a basic list of places people who think Utah is a horrible place should go:

Snowboarding @ the Canyons/Brighton
Moab
Goblin Valley
Bryce Canyon
The Uintas
The Spiral Jetty
The Sun Tunnels
Nutty Putty Caves (closed)/The train tunnel I can't tell you about, but is in Spanish Fork Canyon
Chasing Wild Horses (may be a violation of the Wild Horse & Burro act, statute of limitations of 7 years)
Snow Canyon
Zions National Park
Capitol Reef
Shoot Guns
Hike Timp

So why did I write all this? Well, the fact is that I really didn't see that much of Atlanta, and shouldn't judge based off a limited experience. What I think a lot of people do is go to Utah, perhaps for years, but have a limited experience.

What do I think of people who make judgments based on a lack of understanding/experience? I feel bad for them - because they're missing out.

Jeff's Wedding

So my little brother Jeff got married on Saturday in the Oakland Temple - it was a quick trip out & back, but a lot of fun to see everyone and participate a little in the wedding.

While I was out there I ran into my friend Shannon, who's brother was married in the session immediately following Jeff's wedding, and a friend from my mission to Argentina.

I also spent a lot of time playing with my nephews & niece, and got to spend a little time sight seeing. But considering I left just under 48 hours from arriving, it was a pretty quick trip.

I hadn't been to Oakland or San Fransisco since I was a little kid - both seem really nice, though I have a feeling my philosophies on life might clash with those of the northern CA lifestyle.

(squinting, not pissed)

Self-Employment

So I've decided to stop telling people I'm unemployed. It makes it sound as if I have lots of free time to watch the cooking channel, go to the park, tour DC, stay out late, and spend money I don't have.

Instead, I'm going to tell people that I'm currently self-employed, looking for work as an associate patent attorney.