Monday, September 21, 2009

Welcome to sunny Las Vegas!

http://www.arborteas.com/teablog/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/las-vegas-sign.jpg Well, it finally happened.

I've grown up in Utah for most of my life, so I haven't experienced too much of life outside the Beehive State. Even a two-year mission to Venezuela only gave me a limited perspective on life outside the confines of "Mormonville."
So it makes sense that after graduating from Brigham Young University with degrees in Spanish and print journalism, my world would change by accepting some kind of a job offer in another state (or country, even, right?).
And when the
Las Vegas Review-Journal needed a copy editor, it seemed like a good chance to finally "get my start" and "make my way" in the business I had been training to do through five years of college.
So now what do I do? I've officially moved to Las Vegas, renting a place near the Las Vegas Temple. But I'm unable to start working and earning money until my paperwork is filed, a drug test is passed, and I'm properly trained in what one editor called "the unique intricacies" of AP Style as applied to the Review-Journal. In the meantime, then, I guess I'll start a blog.
This is my attempt at capturing life in Sin City for a Utah-raised Latter-day Saint trying to make a start in the journalism field at a time when a down economy, record layoffs and technology are striking hard at the newspaper's viability in the open marketplace. But as much has been written to the contrary, newspapers will never die. In fact, newspaper web sites will never become the only medium for readers to catch news in their area. As a 24-year-old rookie, that seems like a bold thing to say. But it won't happen.
This blog is meant to be my opinion and views on topics relevant to Latter-day Saints, Las Vegas residents and budding (and established) journalists. It will also likely contain my thoughts on relevant issues in sports, politics and current events (issues I love to debate); still, I will try to maintain the specialized nature of this blog, which is to be more Mormon-centric than many others.

If you have a comment, question or concern, feel free to leave it in the comments section, and I may address them in a future post. If not, just sit back, read on, and feast upon the snarky and often sarcastic musings of a single Mormon twentysomething in Las Vegas.

Enjoy!