A Blog Begets A Blog

And therefore He said, "let there be a blog."
And there was a blog.
And I saw that it was good.

...And I hope mine is as well.

I'm not going to lie, my best bud Chris is the reason this blog exists. He suggested it to me months ago after I had left my home state of Minnesota for the browner pastures of Utah. I was telling him my frustrations with the overwhelming conservative culture out here and he had an idea. "Write a blog," he says. "It'll be great," he says. The guy even gave me the title for it. But alas, I was skeptical of a blog.

Turns out the dude started up his own blog yesterday called Suburban Back Alley and its quite good. It instilled in me a sense of "I can do this". I mean, if my best friend is going to put some of his deepest thoughts out for the whole world to scrutinize, I can't just let him go at it alone. No. That is the way of cowards. So I'm also going to be writing my thoughts, feelings, and ramblings in a forum that requires no face-to-face with anyone.

We are fearless warriors.

And such are the origins of Blue Man in a Red State.

Now, I'll give you a little background on myself. I am 21 years of age and will be 22 on the 19th of this month. I was born and raised in Coon Rapids, Minnesota - a suburb just outside of Minneapolis. In my last five or so years there, I developed some great friendships with an amazing group of people. Between my friendships and the exciting political scene this last summer, things were great. So why did I move in September? Well, friendships and politics were really the only things developing for me. I was still living with my parents, not going to school, and working at McDonald's. I was stuck. Not just in that situation but with a select few relationships. Then my brother offered something different.

Jordan had been living in Utah for about 3 years at that time and was working for Nestle at the Stouffer's factory making frozen dinners and getting pretty decent pay for it. He had been suggesting that I move in with him out there and saying that getting a job at the same place as him was really easy. I fought that notion for the better part of six months before the bitter truth of my life in Minnesota became more apparent. Everyone would no longer be in town by the time fall came around. Sad as it is, my friends were the only thing lifting me up. If they were going to be gone and I had to live everyday without some sort of distraction from knowing that I'm literally going nowhere, I don't think I could've handled it. So there needed to be a change. Unfortunately, that change was Utah.

Don't get me wrong. I love mountains. Love 'em. But therein lies the beginning and the end to Utah's beauty. It is written the when Brigham Young first looked on the valley that became Salt Lake City with the pioneers, he stated "This is the place." I firmly believe that he was just sick of trekking at that point, because there is no way- none- that this could be anyone's promised land. It's a freakin' desert for crap's sake! A desert covered up by the fact that there are buildings and people around. Oh and they try to make it sound pretty by calling it a deseret. There is even a hymn in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints hymnal entitled "In Our Lovely Deseret". Propaganda. Straight up. (Did I mention that I was raised Mormon? Cause I was. Although I don't go to church anymore and haven't since right before I moved to Utah...weird, right?)

ANYway, I'm now out here surrounded by an overpowering culture and horrible drivers (I'll touch more on that in a later post). But at least I've unstuck myself from the life that had me doubting my personal worth, right? ...right?

The posts you'll find in this blog will document my thoughts and adventures in what Utah Mormons (although most Mormons living elsewhere know better) refer to as Zion.

I hope you enjoy this blog and maybe even take something away from what I have to say.

-Matt


P.S.
I was hoping to make this blog look a little more aesthetically pleasing before making it public, but I know I'd never get around to actually posting if I did. So expect some visual revamping down the road. Or at least hope for it. I know I will.

P.S.S.
And yes- Chris played the part of God at the beginning of this blog for the sake of humor. I'm sure God is cool with it. I wouldn't worry. Plus if you knew Chris, you'd know he'd appreciate the boost of ego.
...I kidd, buddy.