Foggy Bottom Tribune

Six Years

2012-01-08T22:27:00.002-07:00

Another year has gone by. Seems crazy to think that we here at the Foggy Bottom Tribune have been blogging for six years. Highlights from the last year:

1. Worked at a law firm in Park City, and started a job at the Park City Attorney's Office.

2. Admitted to the Utah Bar.

3. Returned to the ski slopes.

4. Sang the National Anthem for the Salt Lake Bees for the second time (after being bumped by the Maytag Man).

5. Saw U2 in the greatest concert I've ever been to.

6. Read a new book by David McCullough.

7. Didn't leave the State of Utah.

8. Became much more familiar with Farmington.

9. Got an iPhone.

Historic Occassion

2012-01-06T17:39:00.000-07:00

There are certain events in the history of the world that improved mankind forever. The discovery of America. The invention of the printing press. Man walks on the moon. Tuesday, January 3, 2012, was one of those historic days. I photographed the event for posterity.

My iPhone 4S arrived.

Makes the old phone look pretty pitiful, doesn't it?

A new era has dawned.

Up House

2012-01-01T13:46:00.000-07:00

I love the movie Up. I think it may be my favorite Pixar movie. So I was very excited when I found out that Bangerter Homes built a replica of the house from Up out in Herriman. Yesterday Sam and I went out and took a tour on the last day they were available. Here are some highlights:

Carl and Ellie are saving up for a trip to Paradise Falls!

Sam is all ready to go!

Adventure is out there!

I loved the chairs. I heard that the people who bought the house aren't keeping the furniture. I can understand that they wouldn't want all the furniture, but I really think they should keep these chairs.

Sam loved the kitchen, so we had to take a picture of her with the blue appliances.

I really loved the scene in the movie that shows Ellie straightening all of Carl's different ties before he goes to work, so I was excited to see this tie rack with all the old-school ties in Carl's room. So cool.

The staircase is missing the handicap access lift, but I love the photos on the wall.

I'm meeting Mr. Frederickson later.

We tried to recreate the Carl and Ellie mailbox photo, but I think we needed a better photographer.

I really really loved the house. It felt like being at Disneyland and walking through Mickey's house in Toontown. I am really glad we went before it was too late, and I know you might think I'm crazy, but I would love to live in this house. For a few more photos of the house, check out my Facebook page.

Lesson Learned

2011-11-13T11:49:00.000-07:00

I learned an important lesson last week.

Don't ask an old person to take your photo.

Much better.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-03T19:20:00.001-06:00

I came to realization recently. I blog, AND I post things on facebook. Quite frequently, those two worlds collide. Like today. So I hope my readers don't mind.

Anyway, Halloween was this week. While I don't normally dress up, I had an epiphany on Halloween morning about some really awesome costumes that Sam and I could wear: EFY Counselor and Participant!

Side hug!!!

The coordinators will not be happy if they see this photo. I'll never work at EFY again!

It was a pretty fun night, but not super eventful. We just went to the library at the U and handed out smarties to the students studying on Halloween. (Get it? Smarties? To help them get smart? Ha!) We also dropped by the law school and I went and saw my photo on the wall, which I haven't see before. Not a bad photo to have on the wall for forty years. Then we went trick or treating to a friend's house. Nothing fancy, but a lot of fun!

Weekend in Logan

2011-10-27T18:56:00.000-06:00

Remember that one time I went to Logan last weekend? And went to the Pumpkin Walk? And walked down the old part of Main Street? And found a really creepy looking book in Books of Yesterday? And got kicked out of my high school by Mrs. Bacher? And walked around Utah State and got Aggie Ice Cream? And went up and saw the progress on the cabin renovation? Remember how I did all those things and forgot to bring my camera? Because I forget to bring my camera everywhere?

Yeah, no matter what, I always forget to bring my camera to places where I want my camera. But you know what? I never forget my phone. That's why I want one of these:

The new iPhone 4s. It has a camera in it with 8 megapixels. My current camera has 8.1 megapixels. And I don't have a smartphone. So I don't see why I shouldn't just ditch my current phone and my current camera and get one of these guys.

In the meantime, I'll have to see if I can steal photos from last weekend's travel companion.

Fall Colors Hike

2011-10-18T21:32:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday I went on a hike. The weather was very nice for mid-October, and the scenery was beautiful. It was the weather of summer with the colors of autumn. Truly the best of both worlds. Here are some photos.

Eddie Bauer Catalogue Pose

King of the World Pose

Fall Colors

Sadly, I didn't take enough pictures of all the beautiful scenery, but it was a fun, short hike, and I'm glad I went.

General Conference October 2011

2011-10-04T07:54:00.001-06:00

Last weekend I had the opportunity to go to General Conference. Thanks to my Mom being in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, I was able to go to the Saturday morning session and the Sunday afternoon session. Not only was I able to go and hear some excellent talks given by prophets and apostles, I got to go with this awesome girl here:

General Conference was excellent. Perhaps my favorite talk came from Elder Richard G. Scott, about studying the scriptures and making them a friend in your life. Perhaps this hit me so hard because my scripture study the last few weeks has been minimal and superficial. It reminded me that I need to make that more of a priority in my life.

One fun story from Conference. After the Saturday morning session we were down in the parking garage under the Conference Center talking to my mom as she walked back to the Tabernacle through the underground tunnels. As we were chatting, Mac Christensen, President of the Choir, comes walking up. My mom says hello and he says "I'm going to be pulling my car out here in a minute," and walks off. As he's going, I turn to my mom and we ask in unison why he is telling her this information. Then it dawns on us: we're standing right night to a sign that says "Private Permit Parking Only" that blocks the way to where Mr. Mac's car is. There is also an empty chair right by us. We realize that Mr. Mac thinks I'm with Church Security, and was actually talking to ME, so that I could move the sign as he left. (As a sidenote, where was the real Church Security guy?) So I felt like I had no choice; as Mr. Mac was leaving, I walked over and moved the sign and gave him a little wave as he drove by. I was tempted to salute, but I did not do so!

Road to the Postseason

2011-09-29T19:06:00.002-06:00

I don’t often write about baseball on the blog. Okay, I realize that “often” is a relative term. I’m sure a lot of you are saying “Are you crazy? You write about baseball all the time!” So, let me clarify: I don’t write about baseball as often as I would like to. This is because I fear that no one will read it. But after last night, I just had to put some thoughts to paper. Or, actually, thoughts to word processor. Because last night was a demonstration of why I love baseball. So I write this for all those who mock me for my love of America’s Pastime.

Last night, the final night of the regular season, was one of the most epic, historic nights we’ve seen in baseball in many years. Let me paint the picture for you, in case you’re not familiar with the format of the MLB playoffs (feel free to skip to the next paragraph if you’re familiar with the format). Baseball is made up of two leagues: the American League and the National League. Each league is broken up into three divisions. The winner of each division gets to go to the playoffs, so that is six of the eight teams. The remaining two teams are “wild card” teams. Whichever team has the best record in its respective league, but did not win their division, is a wild card and goes to the playoffs.

So, going into last night, all the division champions had already been determined, but the wild card spots were both still up for grabs. The Red Sox and the Rays were tied in the American League with records of 90-71. The Braves and the Cardinals were knotted up in the National League at 89-72. The Braves and the Red Sox each entered September holding commanding leads in the standings, but slowly imploded, to the point that they were each in ties on the last day of the season. The Red Sox had especially failed to live up to their abilities over the last month of the season: on September 1, they were nine games ahead of the Rays; now here they were, 28 days later, tied with Tampa Bay.

Last night, the Rays were playing the Yankees at home, while the Red Sox were in Baltimore. Early on, it looked very good for the Red Sox, who led the Orioles by a run before getting a rain delay. Meanwhile, the Yankees had a seven run lead through seven innings over the Rays. But as the Red Sox entered the clubhouse to wait out the rain, everything began to unravel for them. The Red Sox were able to sit and watch the Rays score six runs in one inning, then tie the game on a home run in the bottom of the ninth. As the Yankees and Rays entered extra innings, the Red Sox headed back out to the field to finish off the game. In the bottom of the ninth, the Red Sox blew their lead, and lost the game on a walk off single. Now, they needed the Rays to lose to force a one-game playoff for the right to the wild card. Just minutes after they lost, the Red Sox entered their clubhouse just in time to see Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays hit a walk-off homerun to win the game. Just like that, the Red Sox’ season was over. And that is the pain of the Red Sox franchise. Not only did they suffer the worst single-season collapse in baseball history, the baseball gods arranged for a rain delay, just so the Red Sox would have to watch it happen.

Meanwhile, in the National League, the Braves, who in early September lead by eight and a half games, were hosting Philadelphia, owners of the best record in the majors; the Cardinals were in Houston, facing off against the hopeless Astros. St. Louis had no trouble dispatching Houston, 8-0 in a neat and tidy nine innings. But the Braves and Phillies went into extra innings as well, before the Phillies finally won in the thirteenth inning, 4-3. Shockingly, both expected wild card teams lost, and the upstart underdogs won. Tampa and St. Louis are going to the playoffs. The Red Sox and the Braves are going golfing.

Often, people tell me that they don’t like baseball. They call the game boring. Frequently, they tell me they can’t follow the season because there are too many games, and that a single loss doesn’t matter. Really? One loss doesn’t matter? Tell that to the Red Sox and the Braves. Every game matters, and any team can win. And if you can’t appreciate the drama that unfolded last night in Baltimore, Tampa, Houston, and Atlanta, then I just feel sorry for you.

Nights like last night are why I love baseball. Bring on the playoffs and go Yankees!

List-A-Palooza!

2011-09-25T12:24:00.000-06:00

Facebook statuses are weird and random. Can you imagine if someone made a blog post that read like a bunch of Facebook statuses? No? Well, this one does.

1. I was supposed to speak in Church today. 90 minutes before Church the Bishop called and asked if I would mind postponing a couple weeks. I was more than happy to oblige.

2. Did you know that Lion King is in theaters right now? In 3D? I went and saw it earlier this week. It was awesome. I love that movie.

3. Playoffs are only five days away.

4. Aggies are proving once again that no pain and suffering compares to the pain and suffering of Aggie fans.

5. Nicole and Nate brought Will on a visit yesterday. Such a cute kid!

6. I recently finished The Book Thief, a book that I borrowed (but did not thieve) from my friend Meggie. Not bad, as far as Holocaust books go.

7. Did you know that Farmington has a pond?

8. I ate out twice yesterday. I need to do that less often, I think.

9. When I got to Park City on Friday morning, my car thermometer said it was 39 degrees.

10. I hope to have some exciting news to blog about soon.

Birthday

2011-07-27T20:41:00.000-06:00

Forgive me for some shameless self-promotion, but yesterday was my birthday. My awesome friends threw me a surprise party, and Amy, who makes wedding cakes for Granite Bakery, made me this delicious treat:

Coolest birthday cake ever. Jeter on the outside, chocolate fudge with raspberry filling on the inside. Delicious. Thanks to everyone for making my birthday memorable!

Lock Up Your Daughters...

2011-07-06T19:22:00.000-06:00

True, no?

LinkedIn Has No Faith in Me

2011-06-23T22:42:00.000-06:00

You ever been to LinkedIn? It's a website that's trying to be facebook for professional networking. You tell it your resume and job title and connect with other professionals and it's supposed to help your career. Magically, I guess, I'm not sure how.

Anyway, I gave LinkedIn my resume. Told LinkedIn I was a lawyer. Connected with other lawyers. And today, LinkedIn sent me an e-mail, saying that it had some relevant job openings that I should know about. Here's what they gave me:

Construction Project Coordinator
Entry Level Consultant
Research Associate
Assistant Media Buyer
Administrative Assistant (Fixed income)
Content Sales Specialist
Inside Sales Representative
Graphic Designer

Clearly, LinkedIn has no faith in my ability to be a lawyer. I'll show it!

Summer Reading

2011-06-15T22:39:00.002-06:00

For some reason summer is the season most closely associated with reading. Never really made much sense to me, because I read year-round, and it seems like winter would be a better season for reading, since one is more compelled to stay indoors.

Anyway, I've completed my first official book of the summer (now that it's finally here) and liked it enough to write a bit about it. As I have written before, I enjoy Sherlock Holmes stories. I think they are very entertaining, and very well-written, not to mention fairly groundbreaking. So many modern day detective stories are based on the Holmes-Watson model. So, I was eager to read The Sherlockian, a mystery about a modern-day man who studies the Sherlock Holmes stories, and his quest to find the lost diary of Arthur Conan Doyle. It is "historical fiction" (I place that in quotation marks because as a non-practicing historian myself I detest that phrase; it's fiction) in that it also tells the story of a mystery that Arthur Conan Doyle was trying to solve in his time. I found it a quick, entertaining read for fans of Holmes. Why am I writing about it now? Because I really liked the following quote from the book, which sums up why I enjoy the Holmes stories so much:

"Imagine the scene: It's pouring rain against a thick window. Outside, on Baker Street, the light from the gas lamps is so weak that it barely reaches the pavement. A fog swirls in the air, and the gas gives it a pale yellow glow. Mystery brews in every darkened corner, in every darkened room. And a man steps out into that dim, foggy world, and he can tell you the story of your life by the cut of your shirtsleeves. He can shine a light into the dimness, with only his intellect and his tobacco smoke to help him. Now. Tell me that's not awfully romantic?"

Go ahead. I dare you. For some reason, I really love Victorian England. I find the period fascinating. Sure, I love other eras of history too, but when it comes to pure culture and literature, something about the Victorian Era (English or not) just seems so rich and authentic. Anyway, not a bad book for a quick summer read.

Ha ha. Get it? The Holmes-ian pipe is a question mark. Clever!

Why Yes, I Did See the Biggest Band in the World...

2011-05-26T23:14:00.001-06:00

Earlier this week, after a lifetime (almost) of waiting, I saw the biggest band in the world...

U2!

Yes, last year I bought tickets to see U2, and wouldn't you know it, Bono had emergency back surgery a few weeks before the show and they had to postpone for almost a year. The show finally happened on Tuesday, and it was the best concert I have ever seen in my life. They sounded amazing live. If I were half as cool as Bono or The Edge I would die a happy man. And I must say, hearing them in person gave me a new appreciation of Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton. They are quite a talented bunch! Here's some pics.

The Claw! Claw is our master! The Claw decides who will stay and who will go! Seriously, this was such an awesome set. It was ginormous, and they actually have three of them because it takes four days to set up, so while this one was used in Salt Lake, the others were in other parts of the country getting ready for the bands' future shows.

Me with The Claw.

And some photos of The Claw in action.

Concert was great! I only slightly regret that I didn't spring for floor tickets and camp out to be right in front of the stage. They looked like they were having a blast! In closing, a word of advice. If you get a chance to see U2 live, go!

Bumped by a Celebrity

2011-05-20T18:20:00.000-06:00

As you may know, I was recently supposed to sing the National Anthem at the Bees game. Last night, in fact. I was really excited for it. Then about two weeks ago, I got a call from Chance, a nice employee in the Bees' front office. He said, quote "Somebody is coming into town on May 19, and it's the only time they'll be in town all season, and we would really like them to sing the National Anthem. Can we reschedule you? We'll give you 8 free tickets for May 19 and the day you sing." How could I say no?

So, we rescheduled for July 22. Meanwhile, I got all excited to see who this secret celebrity was that would be singing in my place. Several friends and family suggested that it could possibly be David Archuleta. I thought it was a possibility. I went to the game last night nice and early, eager to see who it would be!

So who was it, you ask? Well, as game time approached, the announcer came over the PA system and said "Please rise and remove your caps, as the Salt Lake Bees welcome Clay Earl Jackson, as he sings the National Anthem." Again, you ask, "Who?" You know him better as...

...The Maytag Man.

That's right, I got bumped by the Maytag Man. Insert bruised ego here.

End of Ski Season

2011-04-22T19:07:00.000-06:00

So, despite the continuing snowy weather, ski season has ended for me. Park City and Deer Valley are both closed, which means no more free ski passes for me. Here's some photos of my last ski day.

These guys are all over Park City Mountain Resort. They're like Park City's mascots. They take various poses, and have different accessories, including one who is listening to an iPod. I think they're pretty cool.

Someone pulled off to the side of the run and built a snowman. I liked it. So I took a picture.

After my day of skiing I went walking down Main Street in Park City and popped into some stores, including a little place called Dolly's Bookstore, which, apparently, has some live-in cats, which just hang around the store, including this little guy, Che. See that stool in the corner of the picture? I was watching Che and saw him try to jump up on the stool. He didn't quite make it though, and fell on his back. Then he walked away acting all cool like "I meant to do that" but I totally saw it. Awesome.

My Return

2011-03-23T22:58:00.000-06:00

As you may know, I work for Park City now. Specifically, I work in the Park City Attorney's Office. I was very excited to be offered this job, and enjoy it. I find it challenging, and I'm hoping to learn a lot from it. One of the best perks of this job however, is displayed below...

Employees of Park City get access to free ski passes! I skied a lot more when I was younger, but college and law school kind of got in the way, and it had been a long time since I had gone skiing. But I decided I needed to take advantage of this great opportunity, so I've gone a couple times since I started working again, and love it just as much (if not more) than I did then. Best part was, I remembered how to do it still! I really like Park City a lot. It's a nice town, with a nice resort. I love how close we are to the slopes, that you can literally be skiing in someone's backyard. To give you an idea of how close we are, this next photo is a picture of the building where I work, taken from a ski slope.

It's the big brown building right in the middle. Getting to the resort sure is a lot easier than getting to Beaver Mountain! But I have nothing but love for the Beav. Anyway, work is going well, and I am hoping to get some more skiing in before the end of the season!

Sworn In

2011-02-26T11:13:00.000-07:00

WARNING: Sappy, over-emotionally-charged post ahead!

Yesterday, at long last, I was sworn in as a member of the Utah State Bar. One of the benefits of screwing up the date of the MPRE is that, while you miss the October Swearing Ceremony with all of your classmates, you get to create your own private ceremony. I was told by the Supreme Court of Utah that I would have to arrange with someone who has the authority to administer oaths of office to swear me in. Lucky for me, my mission president, John Paul Kennedy, is a third district court judge! So I contacted him and we made an appointment to come down to the Matheson Courthouse to get it all taken care of.

Friday morning I went down to the Courthouse and met up with several family members who were able to come down to the occasion. While they went into the courtroom to wait, I went back to Judge Kennedy's chambers to visit for a few minutes. We talked about my future and about what some of my fellow mission alumni are up to. Then we went into the courtroom for the ceremony.

He sat at the bench and my family and I sat at the tables in front of the bar. It was nice to have it in such a great setting as a courtroom, as opposed to the Salt Palace (where my classmates had it). It just felt more appropriate. Before he administered the oath, Judge Kennedy asked my parents to say a few words. They were very complimentary and Judge Kennedy was very congenial and personal as he also said made some brief remarks. I must confess, at one point, I started to tear up a bit, I was so happy that this day had finally come!

Finally, it came time for the administration of the oath. I stood before Judge Kennedy, raised my right hand, and promised to defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Utah, and to conduct myself with honesty, integrity, fidelity, and civility. Then there was nothing left to do but sign the oath and snap some pictures!

Top row: Me and Judge Kennedy (obviously)
Bottom row: Grandma Gutke, Dad, Mom, Michelle, Steve, Nicole, Nate

Me and my mission president, Judge John Paul Kennedy, after being sworn in as a member of the Utah State Bar.

Me and my wonderful parents, who have been so helpful and supportive through this whole process, and through my entire life.

After the ceremony, I took my signed oath to the office of the Clerk of the Supreme Court, who was an extremely nice and complimentary woman. She said I needed to sign the roll book and she would bring me my certificate. She brought out this giant, leather-bound book, that looked like the admissions book of Hogwarts, where I signed my name. She then gave me a certificate that reads"

I, Pat K. Bartholomew, Clerk of the Supreme Court of the State of Utah, do hereby certify that by an order of said Court, made and entered on the records thereof the 25th day of February A.D. 2011

MICHAEL BRIAN LUNDBERG

was duly admitted to practice as an Attorney and Counselor at Law in the Supreme Court of the State of Utah.

It's a fancy piece of paper with an offical-looking font and a gold seal! And what's even more interesting is that when I got home there was another one waiting for me in the mail, with the date of February 15th on it. Don't know what the deal is with that one!

After the courthouse, we all went to brunch together at Eggs in the City, which I have wanted to try out since I first moved to Sugarhouse, and it did not disappoint. All in all, it was a great day. Thanks to family and friends for the support and encouragement through all of this. Next week I start work at the Park City Attorney's Office. Should be a great time!

Another Random List

2011-02-18T23:58:00.000-07:00

1. I started a new job. I'm working, albeit temporarily, at my cousin's new law firm, located in Park City. I'm not doing any legal work for them, just some clerical-type stuff to help them get started. Nonetheless, it's been good for me to get out of the house, and four people that I graduated with are working up there right now, so it's been fun to work with them.

2. Said new law firm's office is located in the same building as the corporate offices for Skullcandy. Unsurprisingly, the building is often crawling with young guys looking like they came straight from the slopes, which is often probably true.

3. Said corporate office for Skullcandy has a half-pipe for their employees, which is located directly above where I sit all day. I can frequently hear them riding during the day.

4. I am officially in love with Park City. I've always liked it, but I haven't been there in a few years, and I have renewed my love affair with the place. In honor of that love affair, I had an interview with the Park City Attorney's Office today.

5. Unrelated to Park City, I watched Watson vs. Ken Jennings and What's-his-name on Jeopardy! and I must say it was fascinating. Watson pretty much wiped the floor with them, but I have a feeling the domination wouldn't have been so extreme if Watson didn't have electric circuits/currents or whatever to buzz in. Speed was on his side. After seeing Ken Jennings fail to honor the memory of John Henry, steel-driving man, I am convinced we are closer than ever to reaching the days of I, Robot.

6. One week from today I am getting sworn in as a member of the Utah State Bar, which will then free me to be admitted to the United States District Court for the District of Utah. We are SO CLOSE that we can taste it! Even cooler, I'm being sworn in by my mission president, Judge John Paul Kennedy. I'm very excited!

Getting Closer...

2011-02-03T14:44:00.000-07:00

Really?

2011-01-21T16:39:00.000-07:00

So I was at Barnes and Noble recently. While browsing through the store, I found this section...

Really? Have we really gotten to the sad point in American literature that we now need an entire section devoted to this mindless drivel? And I'm just noticing that the book featured under this sign was written by Hilary Duff. Wow. I can't think of anything I'd rather read more than a teen paranormal romance written by Lizzie Maguire. Sign me up. As long as you are paying me $50 per page.

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream...

2011-01-16T22:00:00.001-07:00

I occasionally have some pretty interesting dreams. Like the one where I am in a giant Clue-like mansion, with secret passages and hidden doors, being chased by Gollum from Lord of the Rings, who eventually catches me, but I tell him I have to wake up and he starts crying. Then I wake up. But I digress. Last night, I had three very weird, very vivid dreams, all completely separate from one another. Here they are, in order of appearance.

1. My family and I are being terrorized by the murderer from the Scream movies. Remember him? He looked like this...

Although, maybe terrorized is too strong a word, because it wasn't that scary. About the worst he did was look at us menacingly through our front porch window. It was not a nightmare, but a dream.

2. Dream number two might be the most random of the bunch. I was cast in a floor show of a Disneyland nightclub that was being directed and choreographed by Michelle Obama. And quite the show it was. At one point, I was supposed to turn into a flamingo. The show had a very "Tiki Room" feel to it.

3. This dream actually got me pretty excited, and I want to make it a reality. There I was, walking across Utah State's campus. I was walking past student housing and saw nothing but dark windows, and I realized that none of the students were there because it was Christmas break. But then I came upon the apartment that served as the EFY site office, and it was bustling with EFY people and I realized what was going on: Christmas-themed EFY during Christmas break. Combining two of my great loves. I've been working this out in my head, and I would love to see it happen, but the biggest problem it faces is there's no place for the youth to stay. Dirty darn. I would love it.

So there you have it, my three dreams last night. Bonus points if you know what the title to this post is quoting, and feel free to leave any awesome dreams in the comments.

Another Anniversary

2011-01-08T12:49:00.000-07:00

Five years. That's a long time to be a part of the blogging world. Five years ago when I told my friends that I was going to Washington, D.C. for a semester, someone told me I should start a blog. My response? "What's that?" I said. We've come a long way. As is tradition, I use the anniversary of my first blog post to review some of the highlights of the past year in the life of the Foggy Bottom Tribune.

1. This year, I taught someone the difference between Ron Paul and John Paul II.

2. I helped plan and put on the Annual Conference of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society.

3. Enjoyed a three-peat by the Utah State Aggie basketball team.

4. Went to the Festival of Colors in Spanish Fork.

5. Sang the National Anthem at a Salt Lake Bees game.

6. Graduated from the S. J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah.

7. Played softball on one of my ward's softball team, and beat our other ward's softball team. Bam.

8. Saw my little sister get married AND the Batmobile in the same weekend.

9. Went to Disneyland with my awesome family, thanks to my great Grandma.

10. Passed a little thing called the Utah Bar Exam.

11. Spent a couple months working at a law firm.

Once again, the Foggy Bottom Tribune has had an eventful year. I even got to be a guest writer on a very prestigious blog. I am looking forward to another year, one that will contain admission to the Utah Bar, and, I hope, gainful employment. Wish me luck!

A Very Lundberg Christmas

2010-12-30T18:00:00.001-07:00

Another year, another fabulous Christmas with my wonderful family. As per usual, I am not one to take a lot of pictures for one simple reason: I forget to, whether it is forgetting my camera or not even considering snapping a photo at all, I quite frequently allow events to pass with no evidence of its existence. However, I did get a few choice pictures this year, including one of my favorite gifts ever...

An Official Red Ryder Carbine Action 650 Shot Range Model Air Rifle.

As you can see, I was pretty excited...

...right up until I shot my eye out.

In other news, we also got another fun toy...

Okay, this toy was actually for my nephew, but we had a bit too much fun with it as adults. We set up a little shooting gallery, as depicted in the picture and video below. By the end of the day, my brothers-in-law and I were very seriously considering going down to Wal-Mart and purchasing our own.

It was a very fun Christmas. I hope yours was just as entertaining as mine!

Extreme Makeover: Gingerbread House Edition

2010-12-20T16:21:00.000-07:00

Every year, Santa's workshop gets thousands of letters, asking to be the lucky family featured on Extreme Makeover: Gingerbread House Edition. I was lucky enough to be chosen to work on a new house for the Gingy family, who have seen many hardships in their lives. The mother was badly burned when left in the oven too long, and the father lost his legs to a hungry toddler. To top it off, their gingerbread house was in terrible condition. They were so happy when Ty Pennington showed up on their front lawn one morning, as depicted below...

"GOOOOOOOOOD MORNING GINGY FAMILY!!!!" Here the family is rushing outside their house to greet Ty. As you can see, the house is in bad shape: no candy decorations, and missing a roof, as well as some bad oven damage. We shipped the Gingy family off on a vacation to the Land of Swirly-Twirly Gumdrops, and go to work on the house. After a long, hard week of work, we brought the family home. We concealed the house behind our tour bus...

You know what to say, say it with me..."BUS DRIVER! MOVE THAT BUS!"

The reveal. They were so happy, jumping up and down, cheering. They couldn't believe they had a brand new house, complete with swimming pool!

The neighbors across the street were so happy to have another nice house in the neighborhood...

But the next door neighbors look like they need a visit from Ty Pennington next...

All in all, it was a fun night! The lovely ladies I keep in my basement invited us down to join them and their friends in making gingerbread houses and it was a good time.

In other Christmas-related news, this past week I went and saw the Tabernacle Choir and David Archuleta perform...three times.

Let me zoom in for you, so you can see my mom...

Hmmm...still not the best view. Better whip out my super duper long range lens...

Hey that's pretty close! Who's that awesome guy singing right next to her? Oh, that's just David Archuleta, American Idol runner-up, and international superstar. It was an excellent concert, and I'm glad I got to go three times, although I feel bad that so many people couldn't go, too, but not bad enough to not go at all. :-) Merry Christmas!

I've Found My Dream Job

2010-12-14T22:59:00.000-07:00

Two months has gone by very fast. Friday is my last day working at Christiansen & Jensen. It has been a really good experience, and I'm glad I had this opportunity. Unfortunately, this means I am unemployed again. Right now, that doesn't seem so bad because it means I get a Christmas vacation again. But in the long run, it is better to be employed. So if you know of anything, shoot it my way.

In the meantime, if I can't find legal employment, I have found my new dream job. I really want to be the lead singer of this band. Actually, I don't just want his job, I want to BE him. Working with these guys wouldn't be so bad either. Maybe I'm weird, but I think they're both awesome groups, and I'm glad its Christmas time so I can listen to them again.

MPRE Update

2010-12-08T09:38:00.000-07:00

So, after a long delay, I finally passed the MPRE. I got the results yesterday, and I was actually more nervous opening them than I was when I opened my Bar results. I did tremendously better than the last time I took it, so I guess actually studying for it was a good idea. What this means is that I can now be admitted to the Bar. That will take place in February sometime, but the date is not set yet. I'm very excited that I've finally made it! All I have to do now is take the oath, and I'm in the club! Thanks to everyone for your encouragement and support!

Thankful For Movie Advice

2010-11-25T17:26:00.000-07:00

Today, I am thankful for all of the advice I received from some of my favorite movies, particularly the ones which told me what I need in order to get married. The essential things for marriage include:

1. A Magic Carpet

2. A full 24 hours to get to know the girl

3. A talking candlestick, singing crab, or a few dozen anthropomorphic mice

4. An elf suit and a poorly developed maturity level

5. A girl with a desire for something more than just a pretty face, but goes for the pretty face anyway

6. A pretty face

Some of these I may already have (I'm training a crab right now; he's currently tone deaf, but I'm not ready to give up on him yet). Have I missed anything? What else have movies taught us is essential to getting married.

Guest Writer

2010-11-18T22:27:00.001-07:00

A presitigious blog recently invited me to weigh in on a controversial issue surrounding last night's USU-BYU game. Shortly after the game, the following message was displayed on the BYU Jumbotron: "Dear Utah State, Enjoy the LOSS. Love, your big brother BYU." To view my thoughts on the matter, please click here.

Fun Times Being a Lawyer

2010-11-15T13:19:00.000-07:00

Cases like this make being an attorney fun. In this particular case, the plaintiff needed an expert witness to testify about how he contracted his disease. According to the court, the "expert was qualified to testify on issue of causation in action by veterinary technician who contracted Herpes B Simian Virus (HBSV) allegedly due to being 'tail-whipped' by infected monkey." Canino v. HRP, Inc., 105 F. Supp. 2d 21 (N.D.N.Y. 2001). Apparantly, he had recieved an entire shipment of infected monkeys. I don't know why, but anything that involves even the word "monkeys" is absolutely hilarious.

This Must Be Shared

2010-11-06T12:17:00.000-06:00

So this morning I took the MPRE. Again. This is the exam that tests you on the ethical responsibilities of attorneys and is required for admission to the bar. I took it a year ago. Didn't pass. Signed up to take it in August. Missed it because I thought it was on Saturday and it was really on Friday. So REALLY hoping I passed it. Anyway, I saw this lovely sign in the building where the test was held.

Wait a minute! Slow down! Let me see if I have this straight. To get to the second floor, I go UP the stairs, and to get to the basement I go DOWN the stairs? Brilliant! And the thing I love most about this sign? It hangs in the *Engineering Building* on the campus of the University of Utah.

Logan Lumbering Lundbergs

2010-11-02T23:28:00.000-06:00

So the World Series is over. Congratulations to the Giants and city of San Francisco. They deserve it. Unfortunately, the end of the World Series means that we don't get any baseball until March, which is an eternity away. So, with some inspiration from a friend of mine, I have decided that to help ease the passing of the baseball season by creating my own 1920s-style barnstorming team: the Logan Lumbering Lundbergs! Here's our lineup, with notes on why I put each family member at each position:

Michelle - 3B
A good third baseman requires quick reflexes. Of all players, the third baseman is closest to a right-handed batter, and will frequently see ground balls. With Michelle's vast experience as a performer, including an excellent dancer, she definitely has those reflexes. As our leadoff hitter, we'll rely on Michelle to get on base and steal bases to get into scoring position. Other prominent third basemen include: Brooks Robinson, Wade Boggs, Alex Rodriguez, and Mike Schmidt.

Michael - SS
Let's be honest. I gave this position to myself for selfish purposes. I love shortstop. A good shortstop has to have excellent range, because most groundballs are hit to this position. I don't know that I really have that range. I just want to play shortstop. :-) A shortstop also often acts as a cut-off man, and frequently covers second base, and occasionally third. Batting second, I also am expected to get on base and rely on my speed, but presumably have more power than a lead-off hitter. Other prominent shortstops include: Derek Jeter, Cal Ripken, Jr., Honus Wagner, and Ozzie Smith.

Travis - 1B
I put Travis at first base. He's new to the family, but I think he'll be a great asset to the team. As a first baseman, he'll need great reflexes and instincts, as he will often have to quickly choose between covering the bag or fielding the ball. He also has to have flexibility, as he often gets quick throws that may be off the mark from other infielders. I know Travis has this flexibility after seeing his awesome dance skills displayed in Disneyland. Batting third, he must have the ability to both hit for power and for average. Other prominent first basemen include: Lou Gehrig, Albert Pujols, Hank Greenberg, and Jimmie Foxx.

Nate - DH
Assigning Nate as our Designated Hitter will work out great. With his strength and ability to hit for power, he will be perfect in the fourth spot of the batting order and clear the bases. As a DH, he can focus his energies on hitting, and we won't have to risk seeing our best offensive player getting injured while playing defense. Other prominent Designated Hitters include: David Ortiz, Edgar Martinez, Vladimir Guerrero, and Hideki Matsui.

Steve - CF
Centerfield is a difficult position to play, mainly because centerfielders are required to cover the largest amount of territory. You want your centerfielders to be long and athletic. With Steve's height, he is perfectly suited for the position. Batting fifth, he will provide Nate with adequate protection, which hopefully will result in him seeing good pitches. Other prominent Centerfielders include: Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Ken Griffey, Jr., and Ty Cobb.

Nicole - LF
A leftfielder requires good fielding and catching skills because most right-handed batters have a tendency to "pull" the ball to left field. Nicole will also have the obligation to become familiar with the foul territory of the many ballparks we will be sure to play in, since she will have to cover that territory as well. Batting sixth is a great spot for Nicole, where she can become an "RBI man." Other prominent Leftfielders include: Rickey Henderson, Ted Williams, Barry Bonds, and Stan Musial.

Angela - RF
Rightfield is an important position. Perhaps most importantly, a good rightfielder requires a strong arm because they are often required to cut off a runner who may be attempting to reach third base. Like a her sister in leftfield, she will need good fielding and catching skills, and cover foul territory. Given Angela's experience with carrying around two highly energetic children, she definitely has a strong arm. Other prominent Rightfielders include: Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Reggie Jackson, and Mel Ott.

Mom - C
I thought Mom would be great at catcher because of our starting pitcher: Dad. A catcher and a pitcher have a special relationship. Mom and Dad are a great team, and they'll make great battery mates. Batting eighth, she is a backup to batting second, meaning she hits high for average, but not necessarily for great power. All in all, a great contact hitter. Other prominent Catchers include: Yogi Berra, Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, and Roy Campanella.

Melissa - 2B
A second baseman needs quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must be able to make the pivot on a double play, as well as frequently throw across the body to first base. Melissa has these skills thanks to her dance background. Given the fact that she has suffered numerous broken bones, she definitely won't be afraid of any baserunner sliding into her to breakup a double play. Batting ninth, she is essentially a second leadoff hitter, and will be expected to hit for a high average and steal bases. Other prominent second basemen include: Jackie Robinson, Joe Morgan, Ryne Sandberg, and Rogers Hornsby.

Dad - P
I placed Dad at pitcher because I think he possesses the right mentality to play such a demanding position. Pitchers must be confident, and often serve as team leaders. I think Dad has those attributes in spades. Obviously, he needs a great arm, and good command of his throws. Also, he will work well with Mom, his catcher. Since we have a DH, Dad can focus on pitching and we won't have to worry that he'll injure himself batting and running the bases. Other prominent pitchers include: Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Cy Young, and Nolan Ryan.

Addtionally, we will have Jaxton as our batboy, and Megan and Gabby as our cheerleaders. I don't normally advocate cheerleaders in baseball, but when they're that cute, I have to. :-) Wow, that took longer than I thought it would. If you read through the whole thing, you can get first dibs on season tickets to our games.

General Conference Shout Out

2010-10-18T23:00:00.000-06:00

Recently I've been re-reading/re-listening to the October 2010 General Conference. I knew it was only a matter of time: while reviewing David M. McConkie's talk I discovered that he twice quoted my favorite author, David McCullough. Even more fun for me, I was present when he originally said the quotes. It was in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on May 9, 2009. Here's a link to the video of Mr. McCullough's talk if you have never had the privilege of hearing him speak in person. He's just as good a speaker as he is a writer. I have been waiting with great anticipation for his next book, which is supposed to come out this year, but appears to be behind schedule.

In the meantime, I have since finished An Unfinished Life and also read Angela's Ashes. After more than ten years since my first reading, I am now re-reading To Kill a Mockingbird, and I love it even more now. Sometimes it's good to go back to old favorites!

Frustrations

2010-09-25T11:39:00.000-06:00

"If I fail math there goes my chance at a good job and a happy life full of hard work." -- George Michael Bluth

I've been feeling a bit like George Michael lately. Despite the fact that I passed the bar exam, I won't be admitted to the bar until February at the earliest. I don't normally post ranting, frustrated posts on my blog, but I could really use some opinions from other people. I think this was all triggered by a conversation I had with an acquaintance last night. While talking about the bar exam she asked the question I dread more than any other:

"What kind of law do you want to practice?"

I have been asked this question 1,578,239 times. At least. And I don't really resent people for asking it. It's a legitimate question, and I know they're just showing an interest in me, trying to get to know me. Which is cool. I just hate the question because I don't know the answer, and I feel like I should, being a law school graduate and all. Anyway, after talking with about my situation with this girl, she just kind of bluntly told me that I should figure it out, and acted like I wasn't trying hard enough to find a job, making it sound as if I should be able to walk into any firm/law office and start working. For some reason, she struck a nerve, and I've been feeling kind of useless. Since I can't figure this out for myself, I thought I'd open it up to my readers, as few of them as there are. So, my question to you is:

What should I do with my life?

BAR EXAM RESULTS

2010-09-18T22:16:00.000-06:00

I know what you're all wondering...did Mike pass the Bar Exam? Well, I received my results in the mail today. In honor of this occasion, I decided to videotape myself opening my results. So, to find out if I passed the Bar Exam...just push play.

Thanks to everyone for their love and support through this! I couldn't have made it through the exam without your belief in me. I've still got some things to get through before I can be admitted to the Bar, but I'm looking forward to when I can finally get it all behind me!

Summer Reading List, 2010 Edition

2010-09-15T13:21:00.000-06:00

I haven't had much to blog about lately. I am currently looking for a job, and still haven't heard back about the bar exam, and likely won't be admitted to the bar until February. So, I've had a lot of time on my hands. Last summer, I put together a blog post about the books I had read that summer, so I thought I would put that up again, seeing as summer is pretty much over.

First, I read several of these: BarBri books. Not a very exciting read, I don't really recommend them for recreational reading. Once I got past them, I moved on to some more interesting reading material.

Marley and Me was great. I realize I'm a bit behind the times in just barely reading this, but it's easier to get bestsellers from the library after their heyday. At any rate, this was a fun, quick read, and essential for dog lovers. (You'd NEVER see a book like this about a cat.) Basically, it's a memoir by a newspaper columnist that starts when he and his wife went and bought a puppy labrador retriever and how their lives were changed by owning this dog. I may be a sap, but I really liked this book.

The Long Way Home is a return to my normal genre of reading, history. The book follows twelve immigrants who left their homes in Europe to come to the United States, only to be drafted into the military (before they were US citizens) and sent back to Europe to fight in World War I. Two of them won the Medal of Honor. It was a very interesting read, and makes me grateful for those who have the courage to fight wars for freedom, something I probably lack.

The Yankee Years was written by former Yankee manager Joe Torre (but not really, he just gets credit) and Tom Verducci (who did the real writing). It is a less-than-flattering "tell-all" about how the New York Yankees were run during Joe Torre's tenure as manager from 1996 to 2007. Good read for Yankees fans like me, even though it kind of made me squirm at times.

The Lost Symbol by Dan "Moneybags" Brown. I've got to say, after Angels and Demons (his best) and The Da Vinci Code (still pretty good) I was disappointed in The Lost Symbol. I've grown tired of his hero Robert Langdon's seemingly all-knowing omnipotence, and his unending string of mini-cliffhangers to end his three page chapters. Most of all, I felt that his big, plot-twisting, surprise ending was EXTREMELY obvious (I figured it out about 300 pages before it was revealed in the book). Anyway, it is one of this quick, entertaining reads, but his work quality dropped rapidly on this one.

I'm currently reading An Unfinished Life. I've always found biographies of well-known historical figures to be very interesting, and have especially liked learning about their early lives, before they came into the spotlight. This biography on John F. Kennedy is very good, but I'll withhold final judgment until I finish it.

Well, that has been my summer so far. If you have any suggestions, send them my way.

Disneyland 2010!!!

2010-08-17T18:13:00.000-06:00

Last week my awesome Grandma paid for 58 of her family members to go to Disneyland in celebration of her 85th birthday (about one year after said birthday). I really love Disneyland, and I really love my family, so what's not to like? Here are some highlights:

We got to California on Wednesday night in time to go to the park that night. My niece Megan (right) does not like the noise made by fireworks. My niece Gabby likes to copy Megan. Even though the fireworks were a bit too loud for Megan, she must have liked them. After the finale, she left her fingers in her ears and applauded with her elbows. It was hilarious.

Gabby loved Dumbo. She thought it was the best ride ever, even though she was a little nervous that the elephant didn't have a door. I think the look on her face shows how happy she was to be there.

Jaxton and I rode on California Screamin' together. Not sure which one of us was more nervous! In reality, I am in awe of how brave that kid is. I never would have gone on a roller coaster like California Screamin' when I was his age. He went on every ride he was tall enough for, and loved them all (except Matterhorn, but that's a different story).

Yes, I got to meet Max Goof, star of one of the most underrated Disney movies of all time. Everyone should see it. We went to a character breakfast in the park where we got to mingle with Minnie Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Chip n' Dale, Captain Hook, the Fairy Godmother, and others. That was a lot of fun.

Yes, Captain Eo has returned to Disneyland. Quite possibly the raddest twenty minutes of my life.

These signs were all over the park, on every ride. If it weren't for the caption, I would assume that the signs meant that under no circumstances are you to get up and do the YMCA dance while on the ride.

On Friday, there were tons of Aggie fans crawling all over Disneyland! Okay, they were all members of my family. My brother-in-law designed these shirts that feature a picture of my Grandpa Gutke on the back in his football playing days at Utah State, along with the caption "Bringing Back Glory" and we all wore them on Friday and took a picture in front of the castle. This gives you an idea of how intimidating a presence we were as we waited to take the picture.

Of course, we wouldn't be there without my incredible Grandma Gutke, who rolled around that park on her Jazzy, talking on her iPhone, like she owned the place. She's pretty much the bomb.

Thanks for the great trip Grandma! Love you!

If you'd like to see more pictures of the trip, check them out on Facebook.

It's Been Too Long

2010-08-06T19:13:00.001-06:00

Well, my loyal readers probably already know that I have now taken the bar exam, which would explain my sudden disappearance from the blogosphere for the past month. All that studying was a killer, but I managed to get through it, and I feel good enough about it that I don't think I'll ever have to go through it again (at least in Utah).

Since it's been so long, I thought I should post something before I head off for The Happiest Place on Earth next week with 62 members of my extended family. But what could I blog about that would be of interest to you, the reader? I couldn't come up with anything. Then I stumbled across the following on Derek Jeter's website. I really liked it, so I thought I'd share, especially since I recently shared this post:

Derek Jeter's Ten Pillars of Leadership:

1. Morality
2. Taking Initiative
3. Being Respectful
4. Being Organized
5. Having a Positive Attitude
6. Communication
7. Being Trustworthy
8. Being Responsible
9. Leading by Example
10. Living a Healthy Lifestyle

I really admire Derek Jeter. The man has lived under the spotlight on one of the biggest stages in the world and has managed to avoid even the hint of scandal. That's tough to say for an athlete in this day and age. I really think he tries to abide by these pillars. Finally, a sports figure you'd want to be your kid's role model! Plus, he dates the hottest babes in Hollywood. :-)

Melissa's Wedding and Fourth of July Weekend

2010-07-04T15:48:00.000-06:00

This last Thursday my little baby sister Melissa got married in the Logan Temple. Except for a little bit of wind during picture-taking time, the day went perfectly. Here are some photos of the event, starting with my cute nieces and nephews while we were waiting for Melissa and Travis to come out of the temple.

They're so cute...

Here's the happy couple as they came out of the temple. I really like this picture. It's totally a "Melissa" face. She was so happy! I'm really happy for both of them.

Megan and I looking slightly windswept. I hate to say it again, but she is so cute!

Me and baby sis! Too bad I look so bad next to her, she looked so pretty that day!

My four sisters. I got pretty lucky to have all of them looking out for me!

Cutting the wedding cake. Everything turned out great, it was all super fun. Unfortunately, the best part of the night I have no pictures of. I brought my iPod to the reception and after throwing the garter (which I caught) we had a surprise dance party to "Forever" by Chris Brown, as seen in Jim and Pam's wedding. We had a blast. To see a few, much more professional pictures, of the wedding day, click here.

Since it was a holiday weekend, I decided to stick around for a few days after the wedding, even though I should have been studying. On Friday, my Dad, Nicole, Nate, and I went to the Cache Valley Cruise-In (a huge car show) to see all the cool old-school cars. Here are the only two cars I took pictures of:

The Batmobile, Tim Burton version...

...and a DeLorean. Seriously, if you had a DeLorean, wouldn't you put a fake flux capacitor in it? We checked. The owner of this car did not. Lame.

That night we went and watched the fireworks from outside of Romney Stadium. No Carrie Underwood, but still a lot of fun.

Gabby loved the fireworks. She didn't take her eyes off them all night. She kept saying "It's so beautiful!" She was so cute. The next day we went to the Boy Scouts' pancake breakfast, the Farmers' Market, and that night went and saw Toy Story 3, which I loved! Pixar is currently batting 1.000 in my book. It's been a really great weekend, and I wish I didn't have to get back to studying for the bar exam tomorrow!

Graduation (Finally)

2010-07-03T13:19:00.013-06:00

I have finally obtained some photos of my law school graduation, which was about a month and a half ago. Here are some highlights.

Here I am with my parents prior to Commencement. I owe them a lot in getting me to this point.

Receiving my diploma from Dean Chodosh. Well, sort of receiving my diploma. They gave me an empty case, which is actually too small to fit a diploma in, and they made us return it at the end of the ceremony. But I suppose it's the thought that counts.

This was great. So, before every exam I ever took in law school, I listened to two songs on my iPod/computer (as the case may be): "Theme from Rocky" and "Eye of the Tiger" in order to pump me up. At the conclusion of commencement, these two trumpeters came out to play a recessional while all the graduates exited...and they played the "Theme from Rocky" which I thought was very appropriate.

So during the recessional, I was looking for my family, and finally found them a few rows behind me. They pulled out cameras and started taking pictures, so I stopped to pose and suddenly found myself the last graduate in the Hall, with the entire audience focused on me. Slightly embarrassing. But funny.

With Judge Clifford Wallace of the Ninth Circuit, commencement speaker. Nicole was the bold one to ask him if we could take a picture.

Nicole didn't want me to post any pictures of her, but I am anyway, because I want everyone to know that I appreciate my sisters coming to my graduation. Angela couldn't get out of work, which is too bad, but I understand.

One of my favorite Professors, Dan Medwed. I took Evidence from him, and my Wrongful Convictions seminar. He's an excellent professor, and has won an award from the students for best professor several times in consecutive years. He's great.

Dad was in a good mood that day, as you can see.

All in all, it was a very good day. And it has been a good three years. I appreciate everyone who helped and supported me throughout my law school experience. Now, it's just a matter of passing the bar exam. With all of the studying I'm doing, I'm hoping to get it on the first try! Check back soon for pics from Melissa's wedding.

Thoughts on Conference Realignment

2010-06-17T17:16:00.001-06:00

For those of you who have not yet heard, earlier today the University of Utah accepted an invitation from the PAC-10 and bolted from the Mountain West Conference. Such a decision was a no-brainer in my eyes. More revenue. Better options at recruiting. A more enhanced national profile which can lead to all kinds of benefits academically. Association with several prestigious institutions. Yet, despite all of these factors which make me understand why Utah would want to join the PAC-10, I am personally not pleased with this move. Allow me to explain why.

First and foremost, this move is a perpetuation of what almost all college football fans claim to hate and despise: the BCS method of selecting a champion. Think about this for a second. Is there any team in the nation that has a better argument for ending this horrible system than the University of Utah, who has won two BCS bowl games, one of which was an utter beat-down of what most considered to be a far superior Alabama team? Since then, who has been the most vocal opponent of the BCS? The Mountain West Conference, led by the University of Utah. The fans have complained until their voices were sore that the system just didn’t work when it failed to give an undefeated team the opportunity to win a National Championship. Now, with the Utes joining the Pac-10, a conference that receives an Automatic Bid to a BCS game, how likely is it that they will continue to decry this system? I find it much more likely that their attitude will “magically” transform from “we hate the BCS” to “This is the greatest program ever devised! We love the BCS! Long live mathematical determinations of choosing a National Champion!” You can bet that Orrin Hatch and Mark Shurtleff’s crusade to bust the BCS for violation of anti-trust laws will fizzle out as well. I have already seen one Ute fan, a good friend of mine, declare the U’s quest for a National Championship to begin their first year in the PAC-10. This same friend was utterly disgusted with the BCS following the Sugar Bowl. Bottom line is, those supporting a playoff lost one of their most powerful allies today. It is a grim day for college football, indeed.

I must admit that my second reason for opposing this move is much more personal and selfish. As most readers know, I am a Utah State Aggie fan, so my opinions are highly based on that bias. And as an Aggie fan, there is no real bright spot for me here. USU already has an extremely difficult time competing with Utah (and BYU). How much more difficult will it be now that the U has PAC-10 leverage in recruiting? And you can forget the annual Utah/USU football game. More likely than not, Utah will pull a BYU move and the teams will rarely play, ending a decades-long rivalry (albeit a one-sided one of late). Same goes for basketball. Will the U really want to play the Aggies now that they’re a BCS school? My experiences with these conferences suggest the answer to that is an emphatic no. They can’t afford the loss they would surely get up in Logan. Meanwhile, with Boise State joining the Mountain West, the WAC is looking at a big step back.

Now, a friend of mine pointed out this so-called silver-lining. He suggested that with Utah moving to the PAC-10, their recruiting style would change, opening up new doors for the Aggies to walk through. This is probably true of in-state recruits, but Gary Anderson was making plenty of headway on that front anyway.

In sum, conference realignment does not look too pretty from where I’m sitting. Another friend suggested that my only hope is that the Aggies are invited to replace Utah in the Mountain West. But we all know that it’s more likely that I sprout wings and fly.

Graduation Preview

2010-06-15T13:32:00.004-06:00

By the way, I graduated. But I lack pictures of the event. So this is all you get to see for now. Most of my days are currently spent studying for the Bar Exam, which is July 27 and 28. It's pretty time consuming, but it really hasn't been too bad.

I've also been playing Stake Softball. Here I am icing my sore shoulder after a long game at shortstop. My roommate was making fun of me and insisted on taking this picture. Hey, when you are team captain and shortstop, you have an obligation to your team to always be ready to play! I'm sure Derek Jeter is the same way. Am I just like Derek Jeter? It's not for me to say...but yes. Seriously though, softball has been way fun, and a good weekly escape/vent from bar study. Perhaps I'll get a more interesting post up soon. But I doubt it.

Oh, Say, Can You See? And Hear?

2010-05-13T16:42:00.003-06:00

The long wait is over. I have finally been able to get my hands on some photographic evidence of my singing the National Anthem at the Bees game on April 22nd. So I can now blog about it.

In short, it was awesome. I really did enjoy this mesh of two of my favorite things: baseball, and singing. And when you think about it, we can throw in history too, since singing the National Anthem is such a huge tradition.

Well, I arrived at the Park early and met my family. I went into the front office and met with the Bees' Assistant Vice President of Game Day Operations, Promotions, and Hot Dog Sales (or something like that) who gave us our complimentary tickets. My family went off to their seats while I was led into the bowels of Spring Mobile Ballpark, finally emerging onto the field via the home dugout. I know I'm a geek, and I know it was only a AAA team, but I was so excited to be inside a professional dugout, and step onto a professional field.

Unfortunately, there weren't many people there. Let me rephrase that, there was next to no one there. The game started at 5:30 due to a rainout the day previous, resulting in two seven inning games that night. But I did have family and friends there. My friends came over behind the diamond and took some pictures of me on the field.

I totally went and stood in the on-deck circle. While I was waiting to sing, two Bees players came out and took some warm-up swings right by me. I had looked up the Angels top prospects earlier, and these two guys (Hank Conger and Peter Bourjos) were their number 1 and number 2 ranked minor league players. I'm a geek, I know.

Anyway, I wasn't that nervous, and the actual singing went very well (I thought). Nonetheless, I have been very hesitant at posting video of the song, because people often think they sound good when they so obviously do not (see: American Idol, Seasons 1-9). But, after several reassurances from my family that I did not embarrass myself, I decided to post the video. But I haven't. Why, you ask? Well, because blogger is being extremely difficult and will not post it. It just will not upload, and I am getting very impatient. So, if you would like to see the video, it will be posted on Facebook, here. So if you are my Facebook friend, you can see it there.

Anyway, the game itself was also pretty great. The Bees spent most of the game behind, but came back to win in extra innings on a walk-off hit. We didn't stick around for the second game, but went and had dinner instead. For more pictures, visit the Lundberg Family Blog.

School's Out For Summer

2010-05-10T13:10:00.000-06:00

Final is done, papers are in, and I'm done with law school! Graduation is on Friday, and there will be pictures of that up soon. I finished up everything on Thursday, and decided to make the most of my Friday. So that morning, I hiked to the top of Ensign Peak, something I did last year after the last day of school. Here's some pictures I took of that quick little jaunt.

Ah, the beautiful, green landscape of Utah. Okay, maybe not so green, but the flowers were actually very pretty in person. When it comes to photography, I'm no Dave McClellan. Anyway, on my way to the peak, I saw a sign directing me to the Ensign Peak Amphitheater. I thought to myself, "Wow, I had no idea they had one of those up here." So I went to check it out. Behold, below, the might Ensign Peak Amphitheater:

Look out, Red Rocks Amphitheater, you might have some competition for best mountain venue.

View of the peak from part of the trail.

View from the top of Ensign Peak.

Evidence that I did in fact go on this hike. I'm so rugged and wilderness-y.

I went and visited this park across the street from the trailhead and found these unusual birds just hanging out. If anyone knows what they are I will be much obliged. They were very chicken-like, but not chickens, and did not at all seem disturbed by my presence.

It is a very nice park. I like how the trees have grown around the posts.

After my trip to the Ensign Peak area, that afternoon I went on a walking tour along South Temple with my friend Elaine. I obtained all this information online about all the cool old houses, mansions, and buildings along the street, and we read about them as we walked. It was really interesting. Here are some pictures of that.

We found this really interesting bench, where someone seems to have left their hat and umbrella. Elaine is likely trying to return it.

Of all the houses on South Temple, the Governor's Mansion (aka Kearns Mansion) is probably my favorite, and the one I'd want to live in the most. However, there's really only two ways to live in that house, so I think I'm out of luck. I'm doing my best Mayor Shinn impression in front of the Governor's residence.

After our walking tour, we ate at the Lion House. My first time, and it was delicious. Anyway, it was a very fun weekend. Next day I had a great BBQ at my house with some old EFY friends (BYU Blue Team 2007) and I am now in Logan for a few days, just hanging out. I'm making the most of my time before Bar Review starts! Oh, and I know that I still haven't posted the National Anthem, but that is coming this week, before graduation. I promise.

New Month, New Post

2010-05-01T16:54:00.000-06:00

So as many of you know, I sang the National Anthem at the Salt Lake Bees game on April 22nd. I would love to blog about it, tell a good story about how it all went down, and how much I enjoyed doing it, etc. But here's the deal. I have no photos of it. Zero. None. I forgot to bring my camera to the game. However, my friends and family have photos AND video. And if they would send those to me, I would blog about it. So feel free to go to my friends and family's blogs, facebook pages, homes, places of employment, etc. and tell them to send me said photos and videos so you can enjoy them in a future blog post, and maybe it will be up before graduation.

Only one week to go before my last law school final. I'm almost there.

Opening Day

2010-04-17T12:54:00.000-06:00

Last night I went to Opening Day for the Salt Lake Bees. I am so glad baseball is back. There's just something so great about going to the ball park on a warm spring night, eating a hot dog, and watching a baseball game. I also used the opportunity to scout the pre-game ceremonies since I am singing the National Anthem at the Bees game on Thursday, April 22nd. (For tickets, simply click here.) I managed to convince some friends of mine to go, who were conveniently split up into two groups on either side of me.

Group #1: Me and two of my friends from my ward: Marianne, and Paul.

Group #2: Bad picture of me, good picture of old roommates Dave and Ryan, and Jeni, another friend from our roommate days.

The game was really fun, despite the Bees losing. Final score was a whopping 13-11, and the game had around six errors. But the Bees have a great center-fielder, Peter Bourjos, who is ranked the #2 prospect in the Angels system. Last night, he showed why. He had three triples (a Pacific Coast League record) and covered the outfield like a circus tent. He was so quick out there, and covers a lot of ground. I think the Angels could call him up pretty soon and he'd do well. Granted, I only saw him in one game, but still.

Anyway, I highly recommend Bees games, especially next Thursday's game. :-) Come early if you want to hear me sing. Last night the National Anthem was at about 6:25 (ten minutes before first pitch).

Rules For Staying Young

2010-04-09T20:06:00.000-06:00

Once upon a time in 1953, an incredibly awesome pitcher named Satchel Paige created these rules for staying young:

1. Avoid fried meats which angry up the blood.
2. If your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts.
3. Keep the juices flowing by jangling around gently as you move.
4. Go very light on the vices, such as carrying on in society—the social ramble ain't restful.

5. Avoid running at all times.

6. And don't look back—something might be gaining on you.

More recently, in 2010, an equally incredibly awesome pitcher, Mariano Rivera, wrote his own rules for staying young:

1. You have to get your rest. You have to get your eight hours of sleep.
2. No alcohol, or light alcohol at most.
3. Run all the time.
4. Avoid fried foods.
5. Stretch every day.
6. Respect others the way you want to be respected, and respect the game. And if you do that, everything will pretty much take care of itself.
7. Make time for others.
8. Pray every day.

Good rules, despite the fact that Satchel's Rule Number 5 and Mo's Number 3 directly contradict each other. Either way, the advice must have worked for both of them. Mo is currently 40 and is still dominating opposing batters, and Satchel pitched in his last major league game at the age of 59!

Festival of Colors

2010-03-28T22:14:00.001-06:00

This weekend I went down to the Festival of Colors at the Hare Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork. I went down Friday night where I stayed the night at my sister Nicole's house. We had a delicious dinner of tacos and watched an amazing movie, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. Try not to be too scared by that preview.

The next morning, Mindy came over and we made our way to the Hare Krishna Temple, where we met up with her roommates, and I promptly realized that I had left my camera at my sister's house. So, these photos are courtesy of Mindy, and were also seen on her blog, but I really feel like pictures need to accompany this blog.

The Festival of Colors, or Holi, is a Hindu festival meant to recognize the arrival of Spring. It is celebrated by throwing colored chalk in the air and on each other. It has gotten to be pretty popular with the BYU student crowd. Here are Mindy and I before...

...and here we are after.

You do get pretty messy, and believe it or not, we were some of the clean-looking ones compared to others. To see more photos of the craziness, visit Mindy's blog.

All in all, it was pretty fun, one of those things you should do once if you get the opportunity.

Spring Break

2010-03-24T16:18:00.000-06:00

I've been on Spring Break this week, and it has been very nice. I decided not to go home to Logan this week because I need to work on my seminar paper for school and know that I would get very little done when I could be playing with family. So I stayed down in Salt Lake. Here's what I've been doing so far...

1. Went running and to the gym on Monday and Tuesday.

2. Hit up Jamba Juice.

3. Sleeping in.

4. Birthday party on Tuesday night.

5. Haircut from my sis.

6. Went to J-Dawgs in Provo.

7. Watching "The Office"

8. Watched a Yankees Spring Training game.

9. Planning trip to Festival of Colors on Saturday.

10. Temple later this week.

11. Selected student notes for publication in the journal.

12. Meeting with student author to discuss note for publication in the journal.

13. Bought sunflower seeds.

14. Enjoying the sunshine.

15. Wrote this blog post.

And now I present you with a list of things I have NOT done during Spring Break...

1. Spent more than one hour on the aforementioned seminar paper.

Thoughts on The Foggy Bottom Tribune

2010-03-13T23:57:00.000-07:00

I recently watched Julie and Julia. I liked it. First off, Meryl Streep is just incredible. She seems like a completely different person in everything she is in. But the concept of the movie got me thinking. Amy Adams's character has a blog with a great premise. Ever since I got back from DC I've felt like my blog has been a bit dry. I've had nothing really exciting to blog about to keep my reader(s) entertained. I guess I've just been thinking this because I haven't had a really good post in a while. Anyway, if you have any good suggestions for blog posts, feel free to leave them in the comment box.

Three-Peat

2010-03-08T17:56:00.003-07:00

Once again, my Aggies are WAC Regular Season Champions. That makes three years in a row. Once again, however, despite an awesome year, the Aggies are still considered a bubble team by most tournament prognosticators. Nonetheless, I'm confident they'll do well in Reno at the Conference Tournament and wind up in the NCAA Tournament. In other news, the All-WAC hardware was handed out:

Senior Jared Quayle was named All-Conference First Team...

Tai Wesley was also named All-Conference First Team...

Pooh Williams was named All-Conference Defensive Team (notice him above stealing the ball from some dude named Jimmer), and Tyler Newbold was robbed of the same honor...

And Stew Morrill was named the Conference Coach of the Year for the second straight year.

Once again, another great regular season for my Aggies, but it's not over yet! The post-season awaits, and here's hoping the Aggies make some noise this March!

My Dad

2010-03-01T17:04:00.001-07:00

Recently my dad has had some pretty cool things happen to him. A couple weeks ago the Utah Dental Association gave him the Distinguished Service Award, which is the highest honor they can bestow. My dad has been involved with the UDA for many years, and was the President of the organization about ten years ago. My whole family went to a luncheon at the UDA's annual convention for the presentation. The lunch was great, my dad's speech was great, and the speaker was...entertaining. Then that night we went to the big entertainment event of the conference, this guy who does musical celebrity impressions in a Las Vegas-style show. He was pretty funny at times, but he's no Danny Gans (who I had never heard of until he died when I was in Las Vegas last May).

The photo in this post, however, was taken over the weekend, after my dad was released as the President of Student Stake in Logan. He pointed out that he's essentially has been sitting on the stand during church for almost as long as I can remember, and now that he can finally sit with my mom, she's in the Tabernacle Choir and singing in the broadcast during our ward's sacrament meeting. Anyway, I think my dad is pretty cool, and we're all proud of him. For more pictures of these two events, see the Lundberg Family Blog.

Oh, and let it be known that my niece Gabby is adorable.

I Survived the Annual Conference

2010-02-15T11:38:00.000-07:00

I managed to survive the last week. For those of you not aware, I've spent a little more than the last year as the student Co-Chair of the Planning Committee for the 2010 Annual Conference of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society. You may remember that last year I went to Boston for the 2009 Conference. Well, this year, the Conference was held right here in Salt Lake City, mainly at the Institute just up the road from the law school. Here are some highlights from the Conference, in chronological order:

Thursday, the Conference began with a fireside that night featuring Elder Lance B. Wickman. I was surprised at how many of my non-law friends hadn't heard of Elder Wickman. He's been a Seventy since 1994, and is currently the Church's general counsel. I got to conduct this meeting and sit next to Elder Wickman on the stand. He gave an excellent message in which he asserted that the greatest challenge the Church faces is the threat to religious liberty in the public sphere. I also think he kind of looks like Dana Carvey. Thoughts?

After leaving the Institute at a little after midnight that night setting up chairs, I was back up there at 6:30 Friday morning to make sure that breakfast was set up and ready to go. Eerily similar to EFY. That morning we heard from President Cecil O. Samuelson and President Michael K. Young, Presidents of BYU and the U of U, respectively. I had met both of them before, but it was still good to hear from them. I didn't make it to any of the sessions during the day after that, as I was running around all day making sure that everything was in order and going smoothly.

That night, I had the chance to both sing and sit on the stand at the Tabernacle during our broadcast of the Keynote Address from Stephen Covey. It's been a long time since I last sang in the Tabernacle, and I forgot how much the sound just jumps back to you when you're right there at the front. I think our musical number went very well, and I also loved sitting in a red, cushy, General Authority chair (a lot of people have asked who's chair I was in; I do not know, they aren't labeled). After the fireside that night, we had a dinner and reception across the street at the Conference Center, where I finally met my blog's anonymous fan in person, which was cool. I actually got to bed at a decent hour that night.

Finally, on Saturday, the Conference wrapped up just after lunch. During lunch I was presented with a lovely gift by the Executive Committee in recognition of my hard work on the Conference. What was that gift you say? A fancy pen? Heavens, no! It was TWO fancy pens!!! I know, awesome right? With the help of the Conference attendees, I managed to have the building back in order by 3:00 and am just glad it was over. Thanks for enduring the boring play-by-play of my weekend, but I just wanted to get it out there because it is great to have it all over. If you read this entire post, give yourself a pat on the back.

More Confusion...

2010-02-08T10:39:00.000-07:00

Same friend as the last post

This is Warren Buffett...

...and this is Jimmy Buffett.

Only one has a song called "Cheeseburger in Paradise." I trust that by the photographs you can determine which one.

Just To Clear Up Any Confusion...

2010-01-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

While talking last night with a friend of mine, she seemed a little confused. Just to make sure everyone is on the same page...

This is Ron Paul...

...and this is John Paul II.

Only one of them ran for President and has bumper stickers. I trust that by the photographs you can determine which one.

New Year, New Changes

2010-01-08T17:17:00.001-07:00

Loyal readers of the Tribune will note that today marks the fourth anniversary of this prestigous publication. In honor of such an auspicious occassion, we have added a picture of the Foggy Bottom Metro Station in the banner. Okay, in all honesty, I scoured the web for a newspaper-themed blog template and came up empty-handed. I couldn't find a single thing that I really liked so I'm calling this picture a major change.

It has been another landmark year here at the Tribune. In the past year I have had some great adventures, including trips to Boston, Lake Mead, and Washington, D.C. In the education world, I became a Wildcat as I taught a class at East High School, finished my second year of law school, spent the summer working at the courthouse in Logan, and am now just one semester away from graduating. In the sports world, my Aggies won both the WAC regular season championship and the WAC conference tournament, and my Yankees won the World Series. I also learned that any sort of contest I try to have on my blog will be a complete and utter failure (three failed contests this year!) and that one can do a surprising amount of reading in the summer when EFY isn't getting in the way. In short, we've had another successful year. I'm really enjoying living in Sugar House and am getting anxious about what lies ahead for the coming year, most notably graduation and (hopefully) full-time employment! I can't wait to see what happens. Thanks to all of you for your loyal readership.

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T11:07:00.000-07:00

Last post of the year. Just wanted to wish everyone a happy new year! I've just been at my parents' house with the family since the semester ended. Just been a lot of relaxing, playing, Office-watching and over-eating. I'm afraid that during Christmas break I'm going to gain back all the weight that I've lost in the last six months. Anyway, not a lot to say, just wanted to get in one more post for the year!

Pardon me, while I geek out...

2009-12-11T22:47:00.001-07:00

Back in August, some of you more loyal readers of the Foggy Bottom Tribune may recal this post recounting the books that I read over the summer. You may have noticed that I read quite a few books by David McCullough. I've been a fan for years, but thanks to this summer I have now read every book he has written. He is definitely my favorite historian. His books are so engaging. So naturally, I was thrilled when I found out that he would be a special guest artist for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert this year. I went last night with my family and, as usual, the Choir and my mom did a fabulous job. It was fun to see Natalie Cole, but for me the star of the show was David McCullough. He told the story of the writing of two popular Christmas songs, "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "I'll Be Home For Christmas" and their relation to World War II. It is easy to see that he is a two time Pulitzer Prize winner. I could just sit and listen to him talk and tell stories for hours.

So, being such a big David McCullough fan, I was excited to find out that after the Friday night concert he would be doing a book signing at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. So, even though I went to the Christmas concert Thursday night, I went downtown and waited in line for him to autograph my copy of "Truman" for which he won his first Pulitzer Prize.

And here is the man himself, next to Natalie Cole and her awesome earrings.

My only regret is that they were so fast to get people in and out that I didn't really get to talk to him, and they wouldn't let us pose for pictures either. Nonetheless, it was awesome. And yes, I know I'm a nerd.

Foggy Bottom Tribune Photo Caption Contest!

2009-12-03T10:37:00.000-07:00

In honor of Utah State's victory over BYU in Men's Basketball last night, the Foggy Bottom Tribune is having a photo caption contest! Leave your best caption for any or all of the three photos below in the comment section:

Photo #1

Photo #2

Photo #3

Thanks to the Deseret News for their awesome photos! And congrats to both teams on a hard-fought, great game.

Warning

2009-12-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

Please do not place your baby in storage.

This Is It

2009-11-16T18:55:00.001-07:00

I recently had an incredible experience. It was a night that changed my life, one in which I realized that if I want to make the world a better place, I need to start with the man in the mirror; I discovered that I need to strive to make the world a better place for you, for me, and entire human race; I understood that no one wants to be defeated, but I should nonetheless just beat it; and I learned that crazy girls named Billie Jean will spread all sorts of vicious rumors about you (I'm watching you, Billie Jean King!)

Yes, I went and saw the Michael Jackson movie, "This Is It" and wow, I left totally impressed. I am a Michael Jackson fan (despite his overall weirdness and creepiness factors, which are through the roof) and always said that I would pay big money to attend one of his concerts. Well, after seeing the rehearsal footage in this movie for his London shows, I can now say with all sincerity that I would DEFINITELY have paid big money to see this concert. It looked like it would have been such a great show. I feel bad that no one gets to see it, and for all the people who put so much time and energy into it and never got to see it materialize.

The photo accompanying this post is me and my three friends on the night we went to see the show: Jamie, me, Amy, and Elaine. Roommate Steve insisted on taking a picture of all of us in our hip coats with buttons. Sadly, mine was not double-breasted, but looked great anyway. So, summing up, go see the movie if you have any sort of admiration of the talent of Michael Jackson. It was great.

P.S. There is still time to enter the contest in the post below.

Some Slight Changes to the Blog

2009-11-13T15:20:00.000-07:00

As you may or may not know, I'm not necessarily a big fan of change. Just as an example: when I was in high school I had a really cool, extremely comfortable, pair of Airwalk shoes that I wore quite frequently. For years. And years. My mom would suggest I get new shoes and my thought was "Why bother? These are just fine and they are super comfortable." Even now, I only have a few pairs of shoes (that I've had for a while) and wear constantly.

Anyway, what I'm getting at is that if I am comfortable with something, I don't see a lot of reason to change it. I only today finally updated my stone-age version of linking to my friends' blogs and installed that gadget that notifies you when there are new posts. An excellent example of this is my blog's template. The Foggy Bottom Tribune has had essentially the same template for nearly four years now. Looking at the other templates blogger has to offer, I figure "Why bother changing it? These aren't any better." But I hear there are all kinds of templates out there in the blogger world. So if you can find one that is masculine enough to truly represent me, and is an improvement on the boring ol' template the Tribune currently has, I will put it up for the Foggy Bottom Tribune's Fourth Anniversary, complete with a complimentary post dedicated to the finder of the chosen template.

START SPREADING THE NEWS

2009-11-05T12:36:00.007-07:00

There's no better way to say it than this: The New York Yankees are World Champions again! I realize I am definitely a minority around these parts, but I am so excited! I have been a Yankees fan pretty much my whole life, however, this was essentially my first chance to really celebrate a Yankees World Series title. The last time they won was in 2000, and I didn't become extremely obsessive with following the Yankees until the postseason of 2003, when they lost to the Marlins in the World Series. Since then, I've followed every game, read every box score, and died a little inside at the end of every year. Except for this year. I realize that my "pain" over the last few years is nothing compared to fans in Cleveland, San Francisco, San Diego, and of course Chicago, among others, but it feels so good to finally get this win! Oh, and mad props to the Phillies. They're a great team, one that really gave me a scare.

Due to some unusual circumstances, I didn't start watching this game until around 11:45 PM last night at my sister's house, where she so graciously TiVoed it for me. I stayed up until 3:30 AM watching the game, enjoying the victory, and having a celebratory root beer. Given the fact that this is the Yankees 27th World Series Championship (most for any team of any sport all time) and that I am 27 years old, I thought I would present...

27 Things I Loved About The Yankees 2009 Season

1. Seeing how good CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixeira look in pinstripes.

2. Brett Gardner's second career home run is an inside-the-park special, the day after a girl in a children's hospital gave him a bracelet that she said would help him hit home runs.

3. Watching the Captain break the Iron Horse's record.

4. Nick Swisher and his crazy haircuts exceeding my expectations by far and rejuvenating a once-docile clubhouse.

5. Walk-off wins and A.J. Burnett's cream pies.

6. Beating the Red Sox nine of their last ten matchups of the season.

7. A-Rod's walk-off homerun against the Red Sox in the 15th inning on August 7 in the Bronx.

8. Brett Gardner's amazing catch in Game 5 of the World Series.

9. Jay-Z coming out with the perfect anthem for the New York Yankees: Empire State of Mind.

10. The opening of a new, absolutey beautiful Stadium, and saying goodbye to the old one.

11. Finally seeing A-Rod live up to his potential in the postseason. I always knew he had it in him.

12. Hideki Matsui winning the World Series MVP and putting up 6 RBI in what could quite possibly be his last game as a Yankee.

13. As if to shut his detractors up, the Captain has an absolutely stellar season on offense, and shows vast improvements on defense. Still, by far, my favorite player.

14. The Gang of Four win one for the thumb.

15. Yankees have a monster run following the All-Star break to clinch the AL East.

16. After a slow start, CC Sabathia finally gives the Yankees a reliable, near untouchable ace at the top of their rotation.

17. Mariano Rivera gets his 500th save and has another outstanding year, all but assuring that Enter Sandman will be played at the Stadium for years to come.

18. Andy Pettitte becomes the all time leader in postseason wins.

19. After what had to be for him one of the most miserable offseasons ever, A-Rod hits a home run on the first pitch he sees in the 2009 season. Then, on the last pitch he sees in the 2009 season, A-Rod hits his 30th home run and 100th RBI of the year, giving him a record 13 consecutive years with at least 30 home runs and 100 RBI.

20. Johnny Damon's 2-for-1 steal in Game 4 of the World Series.

21. The Yankees proving, once again, just who is Pedro Martinez's daddy.

22. 114 wins. 65 losses.

23. Getting screen shots of Kate Hudson and Minka Kelly during tv games.

24. Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano competing all year for the team's highest batting average and the team leader in hits. They wind up being the only middle-infielder combination in history to both have over 200 hits.

25. Melky Cabrera hitting for the cycle.

26. Getting to watch baseball in November.

27. This.

Go Yankees!

Just Another List

2009-11-02T12:46:00.004-07:00

1. Halloween was great. I watched Game Three of the World Series, handed out candy to trick-or-treaters, and then went to my friend's Halloween party in the following costume, where I got the high score for the night in karaoke.2. Speaking of the World Series, it's going well for my team so far. Yankees lead 3-1. However, I can tell that I am too emotionally invested in the outcome of this Series: last night, I woke up in the middle of the night and could not get back to sleep because I suddenly became very worried that A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, and CC Sabathia would all be pitching on short rest for the remaining games of the Series. If they don't win, I might not be able to speak for a few days.

3. This makes me happy.

4. I'm going to my sister Michelle's show Curtains at the Hale Centre Theatre in Salt Lake for the second time this week. It runs until November 21 and you should totally go see it. It's a pretty great show, and my sister has a huge ol' part. Only problem is I don't know who I'm going to take with me to see it.

That's all for now. My 1:00 appointment will be here any minute. Thanks for checking in.

Fall Break

2009-10-20T13:13:00.003-06:00

So Fall Break is over and I'm back to school again. I was extremely lazy over the break, and am now in the midst of a fairly busy week, so I'm really missing my vacation already. Just to give you a little idea of my break festivities, I went to my good friend Shallie's wedding in Idaho Falls. You might remember Shallie as my coordinator partner at EFY from Summer 2008, The Farewell Tour. The wedding was very nice, and some of my old team members were there, so it was good to see old friends. For photos, click here. They were taken by my former Seminary teacher, who does excellent work. It was a very nice wedding, with very professional wedding invitations, as you can see in the picture below. Shallie is very formal with titles.

Editor's Note: I decided to delete the photo, as it contains my home address, and given the nature of the internet these days, I've thought better of having it on here. I will just tell you that the invitation was addressed to "Rev. Dr. Sir Michael Brian Lundberg Esq. III." I loved it.

Although I was pretty lazy during Fall Break, I got started on one important task: putting together my bar application! It is an ordeal. Aside from the normal stuff, like name, birthday, SSN, etc., they want every address you've had for the last ten years, your driving record, a list of any tickets you've ever had, six character references, your credit history, all ten fingerprints (for the FBI background check, of course!) and a full body x-ray and MRI. Okay, kidding about those last two, but it feels like they want to know everything about you. After getting through this, I shouldn't have any trouble running for national office, right?

On my last day of the break, Sunday, Steve and I had a dinner group from our ward at our house. I managed to make my mom's delicious Swiss Cheese Chicken without messing up, and it received rave reviews. All in all it was a very successful evening. Here's a picture of our happy diners.All right, that's all for now. Thanks for checking in, and have a great day!

3L Year

2009-10-06T17:47:00.002-06:00

I think this chart adequately displays my level of attentiveness this school year.

Some Thoughts About the Weekend

2009-10-04T20:26:00.004-06:00

I lucked out recently and had an extended weekend (of sorts) and thought I would share with you some of the events. On Thursday and Friday I attended the National Leadership Conference of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, of which I am a Student Chapters Board Member (if you click on this link and scroll all the way to the bottom, you see my name). The first day was held in Provo at the BYU law school, and that night and the next day was held at Aspen Grove, a camp that BYU owns up Provo Canyon. I had never been before and I wish that I had brought my camera. It was so pretty up there, especially at this time of year. The leaves were just beginning to change and the tops of the mountains were just barely dusted with snow. I arrived early Friday night and spent some time walking around the camp, taking in the peaceful beauty of the area. No wonder Robert Redford lives just down the road from Aspen Grove. I saw a lot of "For Sale" signs on the drive up, and found myself wishing that I had the money to someday buy a place up there. Sadly, that remains unlikely.

Another exciting event of this weekend was General Conference. I went to the Priesthood Session in the Conference Center with my dad. It was kind of sad because this will probably be the last time for a while that we'll get to go together because he's being released from the Stake Presidency before the next General Conference so we probably won't be getting tickets anymore. Too bad. I also went to the Sunday Morning Session, which was great, and then enjoyed the Sunday Afternoon session at home. I am sad to announce though that I was already asleep for Elder Holland's talk, which I hear was one of the best one's of the Conference, so I'm upset with myself.

Most exciting of Conference for me, however, was Elder Nielsen's talk. He spoke about serving in Finland and hearing an older member talk about Viipuri, a town that became part of the Soviet Union during World War II, and of all those left behind who did not enjoy the blessings of the Gospel. He said that he and his companion used to go near the border between Finland and the Soviet Union, see the fences and the guards, and wonder about the brave missionaries who would go over there first. He talked about praying that one day missionaries would be able to bring the Gospel to the people of Viipuri. Then, years later, his son was called to the Russia St. Petersburg Mission, and his first area was the town of Vyborg, which was at one time known as Viipuri. Elder Nielsen realized that those many years ago he was praying for his son. Well, the cool part for me is that I served in Vyborg for four months, so Elder Nielsen was praying for me too! Hearing his talk brought back a lot of memories. I'm very grateful that I could go to Russia on my mission. Looking back on it, I wouldn't want to have served anywhere else, and I'm very glad that I could go to Vyborg and enjoy the benefits of the first LDS chapel built in Russia. I'm also thankful that my parents could come to Russia and see Vyborg themselves. It's truly a beautiful city.

Anyway, I know I'm biased, but that was possibly my favorite thing from Conference. And I know this wasn't the most exciting blog post, but I just wanted to write about some of these cool experiences I had this weekend. Congratulations if you made it all the way to the end of this post.

Celebration

2009-09-28T08:37:00.004-06:00

I know I'm opening myself up for all sorts of ridicule and possible death wishes from the biggest bandwagon in baseball, but I just wanted to say that celebrations look better in pinstripes.The playoffs are just around the corner and the Yankees have won the AL East. 100 wins and counting. Looks like they'll have home field advantage throughout the playoffs as well.

Sorry Boston. But the world's natural order has been reinstated.

New Digs

2009-09-09T20:12:00.008-06:00

My laptop finally returned to me, and it appears to be functioning just great. I got it back last week and no problems. I took it with me to Logan this weekend, where I had a great Labor Day with my family, involving football (watching), golf (playing), board games, grilled burgers and other Labor Day associated food, and a few rousing rounds of Name That Tune I'm Whistling. Anyway, my computer survived the weekend, so, as promised, here is a post about the two places I spend the vast majority of my time these days. Both are new and exciting.
First is my new office, which I am totally in love with. Please note, the awesome rug is not mine, it came with the room. I do all of my studying in here now, which is really nice. I can close the door and put music on or watch youtube videos or sports highlights without the need for headphones. But my favorite part of my office is...My mini fridge! Unlike the rug, this IS mine. As you can see, I am using it to store my beverages of choice, root beer and gatorade. I also am keeping string cheese in there at the moment, and am planning on eventually graduating to other food items later on.

When I'm not in my office at the law school, I am most likely to be found at this location:My new house! Okay, technically, it is not my house, it is my roommate Steve's house, but he graciously lets me live here for only a monthly fee, plus utilities. It's located in Sugar House and has several perks, including,a big backyard with fruit trees and a shed for my bike (which I've been riding lately, very fun),a living room that DOESN'T look like two students are the only ones who use it,and of course my private sanctuary. It's been a pretty good school year so far. My classes are all manageable, I like my new ward, and I have a good roommate. So if you're ever in Sugar House, feel free to drop by, I love having visitors!

Yes, I Love Technology...

2009-08-29T12:01:00.004-06:00

Recently, I've been having a little trouble with my two-year old laptop.

This, of course, is not my laptop, but at times I get so frustrated with it that this is what I would like to DO to it. The above picture is actually the same kind of laptop I have, and it may as well be mine because I'll bet they both have the same level of functionality at the moment. Here's the condensed version--
A few weeks ago my laptop decided that it really was just tired of living, apparently under the impression that two years is a long, full life, so it decided to crash on me. I had in the past had troubles with this sort of thing, but my brother-in-law Steve had done some remarkable work on it and it had been running great for about 8 months, so this was very unexpected. After that, I couldn't get it to reboot and run successfully. So Steve looked at it and determined that it was probably in need of a new motherboard, which is very pricey, so I was worried that I would have to buy a new laptop. Thankfully, we discovered that it was still under warranty, so we took it to get repaired and we all lived happily ever after.
Oh, wait, no that's not true. We took it to the Computer Hospital and they worked on it for three days and then gave it back to me, claiming it was good as new. I took it to school, turned it on, and after about 10 minutes it must have realized where it was, determined that it just couldn't handle a third year of law school, and decided to drop out. It didn't just crash, it completely shut off, as if it was a desktop that was suddenly unplugged (the battery was fully charged and plugged in). And now, it won't even turn on, let alone reboot. So I took it back to the helpful Computer Hospital, told them what happened, and they said "Sounds like it needs a new motherboard." Ummm, thanks, isn't that why we brought it to you guys before? Did you not do that last time? Because that probably should have been done. So, they still have it, and I have no idea when it may return to me, because when I asked if they had an estimate of when it would be ready, the same helpful man who determined that it needed a new motherboard told me "We'll get right on it." When I pressed him for more information, he repeated "We'll get right on it." Hmmmm. Okay! So meanwhile, I have been using my grandmother's borrowed laptop. Good thing I have a nice grandma!
Anyway, due to the lack of my laptop, I have been unable to post pictures of my new house and office (I can't get them on this laptop for some reason) but look for them soon, hopefully. School has been good, I like my house and my roommate, so I think this will shape up to be a good school year, and my last one ever, I might add! Keep an eye out for more exciting news in my life, which may or may not involve moving to the woods and living off the land, in an attempt to distance myself from the plague of technology.

Summer Reading List

2009-08-12T11:45:00.004-06:00

So, this is mainly going up because Mitch McConnell is creeping me out a bit, so I'm sure my readers will appreciate having him bumped down. However, I was trying to come up with something blog-worthy and was having a tough time. THEN I thought about how much free time I've had this summer due to lack of EFY (which still makes me sad) and how I've been filling up that time. The result is that I've been able to do a lot more reading this summer than I have in a long time. Here is a list of the books I've read this summer.

1. The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough2. The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough3. Harry Potter 1-6 (I didn't mean for this to happen; it just kind of did) by J. K. Rowling

4. Brave Companions by David McCullough5. A large chunk of The Great Bridge by David McCullough (it was due back at the library before I could finish it and they wouldn't let me renew it)6. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (not sure why I picked this, but I do enjoy a good Sherlock Holmes story)As you can see, this has been my summer to catch up on my favorite historian's works. As soon as I can get a hold of a copy of The Great Bridge and finish it, I'll have read all his books. Although, he has a new one coming out soon about Americans in Paris in the 19th century which I'm sure I'll read. Anyway, he's a very good writer and always seems to keep my attention. He's also very inspiring and a captivating speaker. If you ever get a chance to hear him speak, do it, you won't regret it (I've heard him twice now, he's great). So, here's to the Summer of David.

What I'd really like though is suggestions from you, my loyal readers, of books you have enjoyed. I really want to try to read more this summer, so I would love any suggestions you have. Please leave any suggestions in the comments.

Wow, we haven't done one of these in a while...

2009-08-08T09:53:00.002-06:00

As some of my earliest readers may recall, when I was an intern in Senator Orrin Hatch's office I regularly saw several senators during my adventures through the Capitol and Senate Office Buildings. Whenever I would spot a new senator, I would put up their picture and give a little background information on them. Well, today I was reading an article about Senator Al Franken (that still sounds funny) and his time in the Senate when I remembered that on my recent trip to Washington, during our tour of the Capitol with Adam, we saw Senator Mitch McConnell. After checking through the Foggy Bottom Tribune's archives, I discovered that I never posted a picture of him. So here he is, the Senator from Kentucky, and current Senate Minority Leader. It's amazing who you can see just coming off of the elevator these days.

The Return of the Intern

2009-07-30T13:19:00.016-06:00

After a three year absence, I recently made a return trip to Washington, D.C., the location where the Foggy Bottom Tribune was founded. I went out with my good friend Mindy Thornley and her roommate to see our mutual good friend Adam Ruri, who is currently interning in the office of Senator Bennett (R-UT). It was a pretty fun trip, but one I did not take a large amount of pictures on, since I already have so many. In the interest of saving everyone a lot of time, here are some of the highlights of our trip, mostly things I've never done before or really enjoyed.

We went to the Smithsonian Musuem of American History (which I rather enjoy) and in addition to seeing THE Star-Spangled Banner, numerous possessions of American Presidents, and a really cool exhibit on Abraham Lincoln, we saw these two items, one I like very much, one I do not care for at all:We also went to the National Air & Space Museum, where we saw the Apollo 11 Command Module and a Lunar Excusion Module. As you may recall from my previous post, I've become pretty obsessed with the moon landing lately.We also went on a paddleboat on the tidal basin, which seemed like a good idea at the time. When we put on the lifejackets, we noticed they were wet. Not until we were out on the water in the blazing heat did we realize that the wetness was not water, but the previous users' sweat. Despite our happy looking faces, we weren't particularly enjoying ourselves.On Pioneer Day, we went to a baseball game between the Washington Nationals and the San Diego Padres. Being a huge baseball fan, I really enjoyed it. The Nationals have a brand new park, and it's pretty nice. We also had pretty decent seats for what we paid. We even got our picture taken for the fan website.During the fourth inning of every home game is the famous Presidents Race, featuring the four presidents on Mount Rushmore. Here are the current standings: Lincoln has 107 wins, Washington has 73 wins, Jefferson has 69 wins, and Teddy Roosevelt has 0 wins. Poor guy, he's never won, not even once. Lincoln managed to win this race because everyone else fell down.Here's a photo of Ryan Zimmerman, the best player on the worst team in baseball. He hit a homerun on the next swing he took after I snapped his photo.As I said, the Nationals really do have a nice park. Here's the view of the Capitol from the the stadium.We also went to the Iwo Jima Memorial, which I really liked. Here's the memorial next to the photo that inspired it.We went to Adam's ward on Sunday where, lo and behold, I saw four of my friends that I lived with in the Barlow Center three years ago. I only expected to see one of them there, I had no idea the rest were in that ward. Here's Eric, Lindsay, me, Chris, and Shannon.We went to Mount Vernon after church. Here I am at the Old Vault, where Washington was interred until moved to a new, grander vault. No one answered.Finally, we also got to see William Howard Taft's bathtub. He weighed about 340 lbs, so he required a rather large one. To give you an idea of how big it is, here's a photo of some other people in it.So that about sums up my trip. I also got to celebrate my birthday while I was in D.C. When I got home, there was a big envelope sitting on our kitchen counter addressed to me. The return address was the White House. I had no idea what it was and then opened it up to see this:My dad thinks he's so funny.

July 20, 1969

2009-07-20T15:31:00.003-06:00

I have lately become somewhat obsessed with the landing of the Apollo 11 mission on the moon. Today is the Fortieth Anniversary of the day that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon. How amazing would it be to walk on the moon? The perks alone would be pretty great. Yesterday, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins all spoke at the Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. My trip out there was clearly planned three days too late. Sad. Incidentally, how would you like to be Michael Collins? He got the shaft! "Okay, you two go on down to the moon. I'll just wait up here in orbit until you're done making history." At any rate, there's a new book out about the Apollo 11 mission and I'm nerdy enough that I'm probably going to read it. I read a portion of it in Reader's Digest and thought it was really good.

As I said, I'm going on a trip to D.C. this week. I leave Wednesday and I'll be back on Monday. It's my fourth trip to our nation's capitol, so it will mostly be reruns, but I love D.C. and I'm going to have some great friends to spend time with, plus we're going to a Nationals game, so it should be a great trip. Look for a report to come.

Grandma Gutke's Birthday

2009-07-12T13:37:00.007-06:00

Last week my Grandma turned 85. To celebrate, we had a big dinner at the Bluebird in Logan. We had quite a lot of family there, missing only those that live too far to make the trip. We had a good time celebrating with Grandma, and she did too, as you can see. My Grandma is doing great at 85. She is in great health, but unfortunately broke her wrist a few weeks ago. This put a crimp in our plans for her birthday, but we pressed forward. My Grandma has wanted her entire life to learn to play the accordion. Not long ago, we saw an article in the paper about a girl in Logan who teaches accordion lessons, so my sister thought it would be fun to have her come to the party and play and then afterwards we'd tell Grandma that we were going to pay for her to have accordion lessons. Sadly, her wrist isn't cooperating, but as soon as she's fully recovered she'll be able to start. Here's a photo of the accordion player.Oddly enough, it turns out I had a class with her at BYU. We were both in Paul Kerry's Jewish History class and I actually remember her bringing her accordion to class one day and playing us a Jewish folk song. She played three songs for us, including our family anthem, "I Am a Little Gypsy Girl." To see evidence of our extremely lame family, view the video below. Try to ignore my blaringly loud, awful voice, the camera is right in front of my face. I probably shouldn't even post this, but I thought it might be fun for everyone to see how dorky we are.

We sing this song every Christmas Eve at our family party. This is only the final chorus, where we declare that we are the Gutke's and will forever reside in Cache Valley. :-)
All in all, it was a good party despite my neice Megan's complaints. She said "What kind of a birthday party is this? There's no balloons, no streamers..." I can't blame her, we didn't even have cake! Although there was pie. Here's me and the birthday girl.Happy Birthday Grandma! We love you!

Mr. Lundberg Goes to Washington

2009-07-03T10:13:00.012-06:00

So, believe it or not, the Foggy Bottom Tribune has a fan. Although the Tribune is not nearly as popular as some people's blogs, I'm pretty excited about this. Here's the comment my fan left on my last post:

"So, I may or may not be the intern in DC who randomly found your blog on google...and in the spirit of this post am hoping you could make another list. What are the the top five things I should do/see/eat in D.C. before I come back to Utah in a couple of weeks? Extra points will be awarded for originality and creativity."

Well, I figured since I am heading to D.C. in a few weeks it might be a good idea for me to make a list of some of my favorite things to do there. Not only will it help out our anonymous friend, it will allow me to think of some of the things I would like to do. Here is my top five of things to do/see/eat while in D.C., in no particular order:

Five Things to See

1. Okay, I know that points are awarded for originality and creativity, but I had to start off with The National Ma ll. I know, super touristy, but a must for everyone, right? Some of my favorite places on the Mall include the American Museum of History (where you can see a real Nauvoo Temple Sunstone), the Korean War, Vietnam War, and World War II Memorials, the Presidential Memorials (don't forget FDR's, his is cool), the Air and S pace Museum, the Holocaust Memorial, and tours of the White House, Capitol (contact your Senator) and Supreme Court buildings. I know that's a lot, but it's not nearly exhaustive. You could spend a lot of time at the National Mall.

2. Arlington National Cemetary. Again, not exactly creative, but this is one of my favorite places on Earth. Make sure you see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, it's awe inspiring. Other sites include JFK's grave and the Robert E. Lee's mansion.

3. Two things that few people see when they come to Washington are the National Cathedral and the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (not pictured). I think this is because they are both a little out of the way, but if you're in D.C. for an extended period of time, they're worth checking out. They're both extremely impressive buildings. If you're into architecture, they're pretty cool.

4. I was in D.C. from January to May, which meant I was around on Presidents' Day. Lucky for me, because Mt. Vernon has free admission on Presidents' Day. It was a great day to go because they had all kinds of things to do and see there besides the regular tour of the house and the tomb of George and Martha Washington. In any case, I sure wouldn't mind living in that house, right on the banks of the Potomoc. He had a great view from his front porch.

5. Well, if George Washington is making the list, I'd better include Abraham Lincoln. Ford's Theatre has a neat little museum in the basement, and you can also visit the house across the street where he died. Another fun little site. If you get a chance, you can also see a show at Ford's. The first time I went to D.C., when I was in high school, we saw "A Christmas Carol" there.

So there you have it, Five Things to See. How about, Five Things to Do?

1. Every day at 6:00 the Kennedy Center puts on an absolutely free concert, and anyone can come! It's the best deal ever! You should go at least once if you're an intern in DC.

2. One of the most fun things our group of interns did while in D.C. was kayaking on the Potomoc River. We found a place right on the river that will rent you a kayak by the hour. It was a lot of fun, and really easy.3. This one is really random, and can actually be done anywhere. However, given the great number of excellent picture spots in Washington, D.C., my friends and I couldn't resist taking fake engagement pictures. We took these during the Cherry Blossom Festival. Here are my two favorites.4. Another thing that I would try to do in D.C. is to get out of D.C. You are a lot closer than you think to a lot of cool places. Some of the places we made excursions to during our time in the Capital include Harper's Ferry, Gettysburg, Philadelphia, and New York City.5. One last thing I recommend doing is to take advantage of the people you work with. They can give a lot of great ideas about what to do, and may even be able to hook you up with something really cool. For example, on of my co-workers was a Secret Service Agent who got us a tour of the Secret Service Headquarters, and got us in the garage to see the President's Limo!Honorable Mentions: There were a ton of other things we did in D.C. that were just way fun, including a Georgetown University basketball game, a Washington Nationals baseball game, a walk down Embassy Row, our weekly Ethnic Cuisine Restaurant Night, etc. etc. etc. Keep your eyes and ears open and you can find a lot to do.

Few! If anyone is still reading this they should get some sort of Blue Ribbon. But we can't stop now! On to Five Places to Eat:

1. Okay, I have to start with my absolute favorite hamburger place in the entire world, called Five Guys Burgers and Fries. I was first introduced to this place by my sister way back before my mission, on my second trip to D.C. It has now grown, and we now have at least three in Utah. But it is phenomenal, I love it, even more than In N' Out (don't worry, that loud rush of wind you just heard was every Californian in the world collectively gasping).

2. Potbelly Sandwich Works. A really good deli. It has a bunch of locations, probably one near you.

3. Tortilla Coast. Really really good, just across the street from the South Capitol Metro stop, but apparantly has other locations as well. On Saturdays they have all you can eat fajitas, which is what I recommend.

4. Clyde's. Located in Georgetown, it is a D.C. classic. It is a bit on the pricy side, but a just an all-around great restaraunt.

5. Lastly, I would recommend finding your own place. We really had a good time exploring the restaraunts/bars around our building. Bars have pretty good food. We had some great places just right by our door, including the 51st State, La Perla, the National Grille, and others.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this post, and I hope it wasn't too boring for people. Especially since about a month from now there will be even more photos of D.C. on here!

Another List

2009-06-20T10:31:00.003-06:00

Goings-on in the last month...

1. I started work in the Logan Courthouse.

2. I went and saw "Up" and, like everyone else on the planet, loved it. Pixar knows what they're doing.

3. Speaking of movies, I've been obsessing about Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which comes out July 15. I may or may not have read the majority of that book in a two day period this week. Also, been spending way too much time on the Harry Potter Lexicon.

4. Speaking of things I may or may not have done, I may or may not have shortly crashed the EFY dance last night.

5. The stupid Lakers won another stupid championship, and LeBron and I had to watch it from our couches, powerless.

6. My mom is currently on tour with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The day after she left I went to the Deseret News website and there she was on the front page! Here's the photo, so enjoy a little "Where's Waldo" for you. (Answer at end of post)7. My dad and I have mowed the lawn up the canyon twice. Those riding mowers were a lot more fun to use before I had a driver's license. Oh, and by the way, the mower I use is a John Deere (that's for Mindy. She is OBSESSED with John Deere!)

8. I found out that some interns in Washington, D.C. found my blog on Google and read it.

9. I got called to be the Linger-Longer guy in my ward. Feel free to leave any food ideas in the comments.

10. I haven't done anything interesting enough to be considered blog-worthy.

Answer: Did you find my mom? No? She's on the second row, seventh from the left, right in front of The Black Lady.

Lake Mead!!!

2009-05-28T11:51:00.007-06:00

Hey everyone! So this weekend I took a trip down to the Las Vegas area for a weekend vacation. No, there was no gambling or other unsavory activities involved. We went for the lake nearby, created by the wonderful Hoover Dam. However, due to popular demand, let me give you a quick update on the cat situation. On Friday I had to make my way to Salt Lake to pick up my friend Jessica, then to Provo to pick up our other friends, Emily, Shallie, and Jesse. Before I went to Jessica's house I stopped by my storage unit to see if there was actually a feline in said unit. I opened 'er up and looked around, checked between pieces of furniture, etc. and found NO cat. So, unless it is dead under the couch, there was no cat in the storage unit. Anyway, on to the trip...You can kind of make out everyone who made the trip down in my car in this one. We can clearly see Emily (foreground) and Jessica, and parts of Shallie, me, and Jesse. The trip down was pretty fun. After I saw four people I know whenwe stopped at In N' Out in St. George (none of whom actually LIVE in St. George) we made it to Henderson, Nevada (outside of Las Vegas) where we stayed with Jessica's aunt and uncle. Jessica's parents and sister Emma also came down and brought a boat, which made the next day even better! Sadly, I never brought my camera on the boat, so no pics for you. Saturday we spent the whole day on the lake. You can drive your boat right up to the back of Hoover Dam, it's pretty cool! Then that night we went to dinner at a fabulous BBQ joint. Deliciousness.
Sunday was a very fun day. We went to church with Jessica's aunt and uncle where I met Gary Wilkinson (I'm such a nerd) who is Jessica's cousin and was in town for an NBA camp. After church we went and visited Hoover Dam.Here we all are, looking very much like the Brady Bunch (unintentionally) at the Dam: Jessica, her sister Emma, Emily, Shallie (asleep), Jesse, and me. Please enjoy also this video.

That night, we played games, including Twister......and Octopus. This was a really fun game. You put these colored velcro straps around your head, ankles, and feet. Then someone will roll the dice and tell you which two colors you are supposed to stick together. We really had a good time with it.On Monday we went out on the boat again. Here I am wakeboarding.Okay, that may not actually be me. In reality, on my second attempt of trying to get up I managed to hurt my shoulder and was unable to try again. It's still sore. So no wakeboarding for me. :-(
All in all it was a fun trip. Hope the post wasn't too boring for you due to lack of any great pictures!

Hectic Day

2009-05-21T14:07:00.004-06:00

What a day this is so far. Normally, of course, I am not one to enjoy pictures such as the one on the left, but today I got quite the interesting phone call. Since I'm in Logan for the summer, I'm keeping most of my furniture in a storage unit in Salt Lake. A nice lady from said storage facility called me this morning with some interesting news:

Me: Hello?

Lady: Yes, this is Lisa from Public Storage. Is this Michael Lundberg?

Me: Yes.

Lady: Well, the tenants in the unit next to yours came into the office today and told us that they heard a cat in your unit today. Are you missing a cat? Or was there a cat nearby when you were packing boxes?

Me: Ummm...no.

Lady: Well, it's possible one crawled in the unit somehow. Is there a way you could come and open up the storage unit?

At this point several questions came to mind, including "If I were missing a cat since the day I packed for a storage unit, wouldn't I have checked the storage unit by now? How would a cat crawl into a supposedly secure storage unit? Do I really want to drive all the way to Salt Lake to open a storage unit and find that there is no cat? On the other hand, do I want to NOT drive down, only to open the unit in three months and THEN find a DEAD cat?" At any rate, I've decided that I'm going to Salt Lake tomorrow anyway, and if the cat is truly in the unit, it can survive one more night. Just don't call the ASPCA on me.

Meanwhile, the Utah Supreme Court is taking applications for clerkships post-graduation, so I've been frantically trying to put together my packet. All sorts of obstacles have arisen, but I'm pressing on. Wish me luck, I'll need it!

Call For Clever Ideas

2009-05-19T09:23:00.002-06:00

About a week ago, right after I moved home, I noticed an envelope with my name on it sitting in my parents' kitchen. I opened it and found an invitation to my Grandma's 85th Birthday party next month. I am, of course, very excited about going because my grandma is great. I do have a problem, however. Allow me to quote from said invitation: "Please contribute to a scrapbook we are putting together. Make 2 or 4 coordinated pages of your family photos and comments for Grandma. We will compile them into a book." This invitation, of course, was sent out to all of married siblings and cousins. Of my Grandma's 15 grandchildren, 13 are married and most of them have children. In other words, my sister Melissa and I are the only ones who do not have family's to take photos of and scrapbook. So, I've decided that I need clever ideas from people on something funny I can do with my scrapbook pages. To give you an idea what I'm looking for, someone suggested that I get a pet goldfish and take a bunch of pictures with it, which I thought might be funny. So please leave a comment and give me some ideas! Or, if you would like to become a part of my family and be in the pictures with me, feel free to contact me personally.

I'm Back!!! And a Special Bonus Tribute

2009-05-11T09:40:00.005-06:00

Hello everyone! I'm back to blogging after finally finishing up final exams, moving to Logan, and trying to convince myself that I am now a third-year law student. It's nice to have exams behind me, but I don't feel like I have a break coming up at all! I have a lot to keep me busy. I still haven't unpacked, and I have a lot of boxes of all the stuff I have accumulated over the past 20+ years sitting in my parents' basement that I promised my mom we'd go through and decide what to keep. Also, applications for judicial clerkships will be due at some mystery date this summer (no one really knows; once one judge starts, the rest fall in like dominoes) so I have to get my application ready. Finally, it looks like I'll be doing some work for the First District Court again this summer. So exciting times are ahead! Now, on to the real purpose of this post

On a recent post on her blog, my friend Mindy said the following: "I need a husband so he can brag about me on my blog and visa versa. Right now I am not sure who or what to brag about. The only thing I know for certain is no one is bragging about me. It's tough. I just want to fit in the blogging world." Well Mindy, I know it's not the same as a husband, but consider this as...

A POST DEDICATED TO MINDY MARIE THORNLEY

Mindy is a fantastic person and all-around great friend. One of the things that makes her such is her ability to remember all the people in your life (as well as hers) that need to be kicked. I know that may sound odd, but it's an indication of her ability to remember important things about her friends and look for a way to help them feel better. And all that kicking must pay off, because Mindy is a world champion leg-wrestler. Trust me, if they had a Leg-Wrestling Hall of Fame, Mindy would be a first-ballot, unanimous inductee. And while we're on the subject of Mindy's legs, she is also a great runner and a former member of Utah State University's Cross Country Team. Those legs also contribute to her height, which she tends to complain about, but I find to be just perfect for her.

Aside from her amazing legs, Mindy also has a fantastic sense of humor and is always up for an adventure. Aside from our trip through the steam tunnels of Utah State and our EFY days together, one of my favorite memories of Mindy took place shortly after I graduated from Brigham Young University. I had just returned to Logan and we realized that Utah State was still in the middle of finals week. Out of the goodness of our hearts, even though we would never have to take another undergraduate final exam, Mindy and I took a bowl of assorted candy to the Merrill Library on campus and delivered candy randomly to all of the poor Aggies still studying for finals. This not only is indicative of Mindy's sense of adventure, but of her generosity as well. But I suppose a generous nature comes naturally to someone as dedicated to the Gospel as she is, which probably also contributes to her optimistic outlook on life.

Well, this is turning into a rather long post, which could easily be longer. In sum, Mindy is great, and if you don't know her you really should make an effort to do so. You'll never regret it!

Signs of Spring

2009-04-15T11:03:00.003-06:00

I finally feel comfortable saying that Spring has arrived. This is due to a number of recent occurrences that cannot be ignored. The first is that the baseball season is underway! I, of course, love baseball, and practically count down the days to Spring Training. We are more than a week into the new season, and things are looking great. Last Friday I went to the Bees game and took this lovely photo at the entrance to Spring Mobile Park (they changed the name of Franklin Covey Field! Can you believe it? Ball parks should be named after people or the team, and while I know "Franklin Covey" doesn't qualify, it at least sounds like a person!) I enjoyed this sign because of my torts class, and just a few days before I was telling my students at East High that if they got hit by a ball at a baseball game, they likely couldn't recover, so I took this picture to show them.
This picture signifies two very important signs of spring: Easter and Baby Animal Days! I went home for Easter this weekend and for the first time in quite a while we had all of my siblings together under one roof, so it made for a great weekend. On Saturday, we went to the Jensen Historical Farm at the American West Heritage Center in Wellsville (Cache Valley) for Baby Animal Days. You take kids and they get to see and pet all the new baby animals born at the farm. For more pictures of this exciting event, see the Lundberg Family Blog.
The last sign of spring does not warrant a photo: final exams! This is likely the last post until exams are over, unless something truly remarkable happens. So, until then, best wishes!

Separated At Birth???

2009-04-01T09:39:00.006-06:00

I realize that it is April Fool's Day, but I really am not going to have anything clever or tricky to try and fool my readers today. This is mainly due to a lack of desire and time. April Fool's Day isn't as fun as it once was. Although, I did like what my classmate did today. Our classroom has two doors, one at each side of the front of the room. She put a sign on the door that most people use that said "Please Use Other Door." When they got to the other door, there was a sign to greet them that said "Please Use Other Door." I thought it was funny.
The real purpose of this post is to ask everyone's opinion on something. On Sunday I gave the opening prayer in sacrament meeting, and the week before that I blessed the sacrament. After Church my bishop came up to me and said "You know, the last two weeks when you've come up to the stand I've had the same thought: 'He looks like that guy on American Idol.'" My friend immediately said "Danny Gokey?" and the bishop said "Yeah! That's his name!" I haven't watched much Idol this year, so I've done some research and I want your opinion. Do I look like this guy? If so, he must be the heartthrob this season.I especially like this one.You be the judge. If you have facebook and we are friends, you can also view this video, which may help you compare the two of us.

Important Lessons I Have Learned in the Last Week or So

2009-03-24T12:05:00.004-06:00

1. If you are a 5 foot, 90 pound female and home alone, you should NOT open the door to your apartment when you think that the guy outside the door is trying to break in. (Glad you're okay, Courtney!)

2. When your roommate's girlfriend tells you to take home some alcohol wipes, take them because you never know when you'll use the restroom and then find out that your downstairs neighbor has turned off your water. (Thanks Jeni!)

3. Cinderella may get to go to the Big Dance, but she doesn't always stay until midnight. (University of Arizona does NOT count as a Cinderella!)

4. Speaking of the tournament, always fill out your bracket by following your head; NEVER fill it out by following your heart.

5. It is possible for your sister and her two children who live in the Philippines to wind up on your front porch with absolutely no notice whatsoever.

6. If you're calling a girl to ask her out, it is best to have some idea of what you will say BEFORE you dial the number.

7. Walking out in the middle of Twilight will incur the wrath of your closest female friends.

8. Don't mess with law professors who live in Israel.

9. If your friend tells you about a place in Reno named "Mustang Ranch" and you don't know what it is, do not Google it. (Seriously, don't do it. If you want to know what it is ask me and I'll tell you.)

10. Making a list of lessons learned in the past week is harder than I thought it would be.

Let the Madness Begin

2009-03-19T09:34:00.002-06:00

Yes, it's that time of year, the one that thousands, nay, millions look forward to all summer, fall, and winter. The best of the best are coming together to display their skills. Which seed will impress (and surprise!) the most! Yes, you know what I'm talking about...it's time again for the Southwest Rare Plant Conference! Right here at the University of Utah! Good thing it coincides with Spring Break because I will be partying so hard all week long! WOO!!! Oh, and apparently there's some basketball tournament thing going on, too.

The Moustache Incident?

2009-03-14T09:51:00.002-06:00

Quick post: I thought this story was hilarious. You should definitely read it. Meanwhile, the Aggies play tonight for the WAC Tournament Championship.

Gary and Stew...What a Combo!

2009-03-10T15:52:00.004-06:00

As I mentioned before, Utah State won their Conference championship recently. Last weekend, I drove up to Logan to see them play in the final home game of the season. Once again, the Aggies won, giving them two consecutive seasons of being undefeated at home. The next day, the WAC Season Awards came out. As I predicted, Gary Wilkinson won Player of the Year, and Stew Morrill won Coach of the Year. Go Aggies. Rah.

Random Stuff

2009-03-04T08:47:00.003-07:00

Aggies are WAC Champions! I wish I had gone up to the game to see the victory and watch them cut down the nets! Sadly, I was too concerned about school to make the trip. Nonetheless, I am happy that they finally clinched the outright championship. Stew is one of ten finalists for the Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award, given to the best coach in the nation. If he doesn't win WAC Coach of the Year it will be a travesty.
In other news, I have been teaching Law at East High School the last couple of weeks. It has been a bit of challenge since they are all from foreign countries and english is their second languange. Some speak and understand better than others, but they're all bright kids and come up with some really intelligent questions. It's been pretty fun. Plus, I've seen some of the awesome sights of High School Musical, including the awesome commons area!
Finally, I just wanted to share with you the phenomenon of Mario Paint youtube videos. Mario Paint was a video game for the Super Nintendo and included a music composer feature. Some people have gotten really creative with it and posted videos of their work on youtube. For my favorites, click here (best one), here, and here. There's tons, you'll get addicted.

Boston: Day Four

2009-02-25T16:22:00.006-07:00

Yes, I'm finally completing my blog on my trip to Boston. Sunday I was a bad little Mormon and did not go to Church, but I did visit a couple of churches.This is Trinity Church, a spectacular cathedral style structure. The whole thing is so heavy and on such unstable ground that they put all of these huge logs upright in the ground underneath and then built these huge granite pillars on top of them. I'm probably pretty bad at describing it, but that's the best I can do. We also went to the Old South Church across the street. They were both very pretty inside and out.This is the reading room of the Boston Public Library, which is very similar to the reading room of the Harvard Library. I wonder what that balcony is for?After our church excursions, we finished up the parts of the Freedom Trail I missed, which included the Bunker Hill Monument, commemorating the first major battle of the Revolutionary War. We climbed all the way to the top, all 294 stairs, which left me with spaghetti feeling legs. I don't do enough stairmaster I guess.View of the North End from the top of the Monument. You can see the steeple of the Old North Church across the river. Paul Revere would have been closer to the shore, but this would have been the general area he would have watched from to see the lanterns hung in the steeple.
After Bunker Hill, we went aboard the USS Constitution, and before I knew it it was time to take me to the airport. It was a super fun trip and I am really glad I could go. Thanks Matt and Suzie for putting me up (or putting up with me) while I was in Boston! I highly recommend this city to anyone!

Boston: Day Three

2009-02-23T15:55:00.007-07:00

First, I would like to thank all those giving condolences on the Aggies' loss. I would like to point out, however, that their RPI nonetheless increased and they are now in the top 30 in that ranking.
Now, on to Day Three of Michael's Boston Adventures! Day Three was Saturday, February 14, Valentine's Day! The only Valentine I received all day was a giant banner I saw hanging from an overpass on the drive to Cambridge with Matt. It said "Nobody Loves You." Despite it's negative message, it made me laugh pretty hard. Again, there were more meetings at Harvard Law School, including a really interesting one about the legal history of the Boston Temple (remember the big fuss about that?) and another about the lessons lawyers can learn from Lincoln. I don't think the speaker meant to make that title a tounge twister, but he succeeded.This is Austin Hall at Harvard Law School. We had all of our Saturday meetings here. It is the main administrative building of the law school. Notice the giant chimney; Suzie pointed out that it is placed directly over the admissions office, leading one to believe that many applications find themselves directly in the fireplace.So this is a fun story. Oh wait, fun? I meant GROSS! So this is a picture of me rubbing the foot of the John Harvard statue. The statue is in Harvard Yard and when Matt and Suzie were showing it too me they said "Go rub his foot! Students do it for good luck before an exam!" So I did so, documenting it for posterity with a photograph. Fast forward to Sunday night. While sitting in JFK airport during my layover, I decide to kill some time by reading the wikipedia article on Harvard Yard, and come across this lovely phrase: "Also located in the Old Yard is the statue of the university's first benefactor, John Harvard. This monument is a frequent target of pranks, hacks, and humorous decorations...Harvard students urinate on the very foot that tourists rub for good luck." WHAT!!???!?!?!? Thanks a bunch, Matt and Suzie! I'm hoping you didn't know that lovely tidbit of information when you told me to go put my hand on the urine-drenched statue!I wish I could have captured the opulence of this stairway. This is the entryway of Harvard's library. Insane, no? It reminded me of the Grand Staircase in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. The library was a very impressive building, one we could only get into with the aide of Matt and Suzie's student body cards! I wish I had a picture of the reading room, but they specifically state "no photography" in that room. It is very clear that Harvard has the largest university endowment in the country.This is the interior of Memorial Hall, a massive building erectd as a monument to all the Harvard graduates who died in the Civil War. Each of the plaques in the picture contains the names of each one who was killed, organized by college. I wish I would have taken a picture of the exterior (see this page for more photos). The building also contains a dining hall that reminds me of Harry Potter. It was pretty cool, and currently serves as a freshman dining hall.Matt and I at the impressive entrance to Harvard Yard. That night we had dinner at this amazing hamburger joint near campus called Mr. Bartley's. We got there at a good time, because when we left the line went out the door and down the street. It was extremely good, and they even gave me a pickle spear without asking. And Matt gave me his, so double-good.
That about sums up Day Three. There are more pictures, but they are in the possession of Matt and Suzie. Anyway, we're winding down on the marathon posts of Boston. Only one day to go!

Quick Check on the Sports World

2009-02-21T12:57:00.003-07:00

For those of you tuning in for Day Three of Boston, that is coming soon. But I had to quickly comment on a few things:
1. Yesterday, Larry Miller, owner of the Utah Jazz died. His health declined so rapidly and it's very sad but at the same time maybe for the best; he was suffering a lot with several ailments towards the end. At any rate, he was a good owner who really cared about his team (as the picture indicates), the city of Salt Lake, and the state of Utah. Thanks Larry!
2. The Aggies are still doing great this season. They were ranked as high as 17 in the Coaches' Poll and 21 in the AP Poll and had the longest win streak in the nation until they lost to Boise State. They're currently 25-2 (tied for most wins in the nation) and play Saint Mary's today in ESPN's Bracketbuster. This is a pretty big game and could decide a lot about the Aggies' post-season chances. The Aggies are starting to get some national attention: click here for an ESPN article about Gary Wilkinson, and here for a New York Times article about the team.
3. Spring Training is underway! The baseball season is getting closer and closer, and I can't wait to see what the new Yankee lineup and rotation can do (yes, I'm aware of the A-Rod thing going on. I don't care to discuss it as it upsets me. I will just say that I am very anti-PEDs and very disappointed).
That's all for now. The Boston adventures will continue sometime next week.

Boston: Day Two

2009-02-20T12:14:00.007-07:00

Welcome back to the continuing adventures of Michael Lundberg in Boston, Massachusetts! Today we'll be discussing Friday, Day Two. Day Two was devoted entirely to the J. Reuben Clark Law Society National Conference. I had to get up bright and early because I was supposed to go to a meeting at 7:30 that morning. It takes about 30-45 minutes to get to Harvard from Matt and Suzie's apartment. I managed to get to the bus stop, get on the right bus, get off at the right stop, find the subway station, get off at the right stop, navigate my way across campus, and find the law school without getting lost once. I am very proud of myself!
The day was devoted mainly to various lectures by outstanding people in the legal community. I'm sure many of you would classify it as "boring" (you know who you are) but I found most of it to be pretty good. In late afternoon/early evening we had a dinner/reception at Ned Devine's Irish Pub in downtown Boston, right across from Faneuil Hall. We rented out the entire place and had several buffets available. All the bars were open too, but were stocked with juices, Pepsi products, and all the water you could drink. I'm guessing they found it kind of odd that out of 400 people pretty much none of them drink, and are probably annoyed that they're not making money off of the alchohol. But the food was great, especially the clam chowder, prime rib, and crab cakes. Most delicious. The evening's entertainment also featured Irish step-dancing, which was pretty cool. Anyway, I do have some photos of the next few events...It's kind of a dark photo (nighttime, you know) but this is the Old South Meetinghouse. This is where we had our program that evening. This is on the Freedom Trail (see last post) and is most famous as being the gathering place of the Boston Tea Party. On December 16, 1773, the Colonists were gathered here, waiting for the midnight deadline to resolve the Tea Act Crisis. When it appeared that no compromise could occur, Samuel Adams announced from the pulpit in the above picture, "This meeting can do nothing more to save the country." The meeting immediately adjourned and the Colonists headed for the harbor. You know the rest.At least one other important announcement was made from the pulpit of the Old South Meetinghouse. This is me announcing the location for next year's National Conference of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society: Salt Lake City, held at the University of Utah Institute! Standing next to me is Kaycee, the representative from BYU that's on the planning committee with me for next year's conference. This was really cool, I loved speaking from the same pulpit as Samuel Adams!The speaker that night was Ken Starr. You may remember him as being the independent counsel that investigated Bill Clinton during the Whitewater/Lewinsky scandals and as one of the top ten punchlines of the 90's. He is also a very accomplished lawyer, a former U.S. Soliciter General, a Federal Appeals judge, and current dean of Pepperdine Law School.One last view of the interior of the Old South Meetinghouse. That night we also heard from Harvard Professor Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, who coined the popular phrase "Well-behaved women seldom make history." She's currently a Relief Society instructor in her ward.
Well, that pretty much sums up Day Two. Once again, I think an award is in order for reading the whole post. Bethany, what did you have in mind? Tune in later for Day Three!

Boston: Day One

2009-02-18T15:56:00.011-07:00

Yes folks, I have returned from the homeland of Red Sox Nation. Despite my aversion to the national religion of this land, I had a fabulous time in Boston at the National Conference for the J. Reuben Clark Law Society. My good friends Matt and Suzie Blahna were gracious enough to let me stay with them. They live in the South End of Boston on the most Bostonian street you have ever seen in your life. Here's a picture of their street. They live in one of these awesome row houses.I flew in on Wednesday and Matt and Suzie picked me up from the airport and then we went out for some real Boston-style pizza. Very thin crust, but delicious nonetheless. The next day Matt and Suzie had to work, and I didn't have any conference-related events until that night, so I took it upon myself to visit Boston's historic Freedom Trail. The Freedom Trail is a walking tour of some of the most historic, Revolutionary War-related sites in Boston. It is marked by a red line on the sidewalk, so you just follow the Red Brick Road! Being the history nerd I am, with a particular affinity for the founding of our nation, I absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, I had left my memory card in my computer, so I wasn't able to get a ton of pictures. Here's what I have:The Freedom Trail begins on Boston Common, which is a park in the middle of town. Established in 1634, it is one of the oldest public parks in the United States. Here is a picture of the Common with Beacon Hill in the background, the nicest neighborhood in Boston.Next is the Massachusetts State House. Boston is the capital of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and this seat of the state government was completed in 1798, just across the street from the Common. It replaced...The Old State House, pictured above, further along on the Trail. This picture was taken just a few feet from the spot where the Boston Massacre occurred. Royal Governor's often read official proclamations of the Crown from the balcony in the picture; in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was first read to the citizens of Boston from the same balcony.Just down the street from the Old State House is Faneuil Hall. This meeting house was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others who advocated Independence. I couldn't go inside because that day it was hosting a United States Citizenship Ceremony. Fitting setting if you ask me.One of my favorite stops on the Trail was Paul Revere's house. I really liked the street he lived on. He lived in this house when he made his famous midnight ride. He lived here for about 30 years with two wives and sixteen children! At the time, it had a third floor. When he bought it in 1770 it was already around 100 years old, making it the oldest house in Boston. It was built on the site of a house owned by Cotton Mather and Increase Mather that burned down in 1676.Speaking of Paul Revere, here is a statue of the famous rider with the Old North Church in the background. For those of you who don't know the story, the night of his ride Paul Revere waited across the river in Charlestown waiting for Thomas Newman to signal from the steeple of Old North Church the route the British would be taking to Lexinton and Concord. One lamp hung in the steeple meant they would be traveling by land, and two meant they would be traveling by sea. For the poem that made Paul Revere famous, click here.Aside from the trail, I managed to meet up with Suzie during her lunch break. We ate at Cheers (a fake one; not the original location). They may have known my name, but they didn't know that I was supposed to get a pickle with my lunch. I had to ask for it.
There were many more stops along the Freedom Trail, and I couldn't possibly begin to tell you about every one. I'm sure you're bored enough already. You should get some sort of prize if you read this whole post. Due to time constraints, I didn't even finish the Trail and had to do the rest Saturday.
That night I went up to Cambridge for the first night of the conference at Harvard Law School. The speaker that night was Clayton Christensen, who is a professor at Harvard Business School and an Area Authority Seventy. It was an incredible talk, probably the best of the conference. Afterwards, I met up with Matt and Suzie and some friends of their's at an Indian Restaraunt in Cambridge. All in all a full day. Expect more of my escapades later. For now, check out the Lundberg Family Blog for pictures of my Dad's presidential-themed birthday party!

Reasons I Love jetBlue

2009-02-11T10:43:00.006-07:00

So, I'm sitting in an airport on a layover. As you may (but may not) know, I am on my way to Boston to participate in the J. Reuben Clark Law Society National Conference, hosted by Harvard University Law School. Where am I currently, you ask? Long Beach Airport. Yes, that's in Southern California. You may be asking why I'm flying to Boston via Long Beach, since it is a little bit in the completely opposite direction of Boston. There is a very reasonable explanation for this: I love flying on jetBlue, and jetBlue only has one direct flight to Boston from Salt Lake, but it leaves at 11:15 PM. I've flown red-eye before, and hated it, so I opted for the cheapest connecting flight, which goes through Long Beach. Why do I love jetBlue so much? Let me give you my top three reasons:
#3. Terra Blues potato chips. As you can see they are the Official Snackfood of jetBlue airlines, and made from naturally blue potatoes. Besides that, they are delicious. Definitely my favorite airline snack of all time.#2. Each jetBlue seat comes with your very own television that gets DirecTV, giving you the option of watching multiple channels during your trip. (I'm watching ESPN in the above picture.) I hate getting to my destination (but love being there) because I get bored and uncomfortable. This helps alleviate the boredom when I get tired of reading.#1. The legroom. As I mentioned in number 2, I get very uncomfortable when I travel. Thankfully, jetBlue provides each passenger with 34 inches of legroom, and even lets you upgrade four inches for like 20 bucks. I can actually stretch out and I love it. So kudos to you, jetBlue, my favorite airline.

Well, that's all for now. Sometime next week, expect to see pictures of Boston and of my Dad's upcoming birthday party (his birthday is today and his only son is miles away! Sad! Happy Birthday Dad!)

Troy Bolton, Gabriella Montez...Michael Lundberg?

2009-02-05T17:32:00.003-07:00

What do those three things have in common, you ask? They're all Wildcats! Yes, I have received my placement for my Teaching Law in High School class (finally) and I am being sent to a World History Class at East High School, home of Disney's High School Musical! Okay, I know that East High's mascot is actually the Leopard, and I know that it contains more hazing-oriented football players than singing and dancing teenagers, but still, it should be cool (you know, in that "so-lame-it's-cool" sort of way). I just hope that everyone believes me when I ask them to take my picture and explain that it's for my 12-year-old neice who loves High School Musical. My partner and I meet with the actual teacher of the class next week, then we start teaching the week after that. I'm excited, but nervous. I'm not sure I can actually teach for an hour and twenty minutes! Glad I'll have a partner (most of the time). Anyway, Go Wildcats! Get your head in the game!

New Semester, New Changes

2009-01-16T13:29:00.002-07:00

Christmas is really over. New Years is past, and the Tribune's anniversary is over. Yes, I have started yet another semester in the never ending, Bhatan Death March-like journey towards financial independence. I thought I'd give everyone a brief look at what my life will be like this semester, but first a recap of my Christmas break.
You'll notice there are no pictures in this post. For some odd reason, despite bringing my camera up to Logan and having tons of family around, I didn't take a single picture this Christmas. Oh well. It was a great break nonetheless. My sister Angela and her husband Kessee were in town with their kids, Jaxton and Gabby. They live in the Phillipines so we don't get to see them very often. We were all really glad to be able to spend some time with them. We also had Nicole and her new hubby Nate for a few days, which was great. And of course my little sis Melissa was around too, always glad to see her. The only problem with all of these relatives in our house is that we don't have enough beds for everyone. So, being the only son and having no spouse of my own, I got to camp out in the computer room on an air mattress! Fun!
Most of the break was spent watching movies, playing with Jaxton and Gabby, going to, watching, and listening to Aggie basketball games, and just being lazy in general. We also had the traditional Gutke family party (my mom's side) with our regular Christmas tree dancing, which is absolutely one of my favorite parts of Christmas. The only downside was that Michelle and her husband Steve and their daughter Megan were in Sun Valley for Christmas where Michelle was singing in a caroling group. But, they were able to come visit us for a few days after New Years.
Unfortunately, as always happens, the break ended and I had to go back to school. It's going to shape up to being a busy but interesting semester. The boring classes I'm taking that you're likely not interested in are Constitutional Law II, Business Organizations, and Legal Professions (lawyer ethics). The interesting stuff is Moot Court, which is kind of like a giant debate competition, the journal (I'm going to have something published this semester!) and Teaching Law in High School, which is really exciting but really intimidating. We're actually going into local high schools (East High and West High; I'm praying to be a Wildcat) to teach law to real students. So, all in all, it's going to be an interesting semester. Onward and upward!

Three Years? I Could Have Finished Law School In That Time!

2009-01-08T12:44:00.004-07:00

It's that time of year again. Today, the Foggy Bottom Tribune celebrates it's Third Anniversary. Yes, it really has been three years since I first began blogging about my experiences in Washington, D.C. Once again, we have seen a pretty eventful year here at the Tribune. I saw Jaycee Carroll and Stew Morrill break records at Utah State University. The Church mourned the loss of a Prophet, and witnessed the calling of another.
I experienced some success in the academic world as well, as I saw my Senior Capstone Project from BYU published. I also finished my first year of law school and joined the staff of the Journal of Law and Family Studies.
The year was not without travel, as I flew to Los Angeles on the spur of the moment to witness former EFY participant and current super star David Archuleta square off live with David Cook in the final round of American Idol. Then in August I made a mecca to New York City to see a Yankee game in the last year of the House That Ruth Built. Finally, I took a little road trip to Las Vegas and saw the Blue Man Group (sorry, no Tobias Funke sightings).
The year was not without some hard work either. I spent the month of May working for Judge Tom Wilmore of the First District of Utah and then in the Fall worked for Judge Carolyn McHugh of the Utah Court of Appeals. Best of all, the summer was spent working as a Field Coordinator for EFY, something I've wanted to do for years.
One of the most exciting events of the year, however, was my sister's wedding. She got married on October 11 in the Logan Temple and we are all so happy for her. Love you Nicole! Oh, and I saw Troy and Gabriella on the big screen. That might tie with my sister's wedding. (JK!)
All in all, it was a pretty exciting year here at the Tribune. Hopefully I have some fun things to write about next year, too!

Hey BYU and Utah fans! I have HAD it!

2009-01-07T01:50:00.004-07:00

I am going to try my very best to be kind and respectful in this post, because there are many BYU and Utah fans that I love dearly and would never want to offend. I must say though that I have had my fill with the arrogance of some fans of said schools and their refusal to give ANY sort of respect to my favorite team: the Utah State Aggies' basketball team.
Keep in mind that I am ONLY talking about the BASKETBALL team. It seems that many Cougars and Utes can't go ten seconds without mentioning the success of their football teams and in any discussion of college basketball will inevitably interject with a comment such as "Well, our football team is a million times better than yours!" Trust me. I am aware of the fact that Utah State has a very, very poor football team. I am also aware that Utah has won two BCS games (a fact I am actually very happy about) and that BYU won a National Championship 25 years ago. I know that both football teams have enjoyed quite a lot of time in the national rankings in the past several years, while my football team has endured quite a lot of time in the Bottom Ten rankings. I get it, and I agree, Utah State currently stinks at football.
Basketball, on the other hand, is quite a different story. Despite the repeated denials of the truth by some fans of the U and Y, Utah State has a darn good basketball team. Let's look at some of the recent accomplishments of this team.
Utah State has won 235 games in the last seven years (the seventh highest total in the country during that span) and won 23 games a year for the past nine years (a feat matched only by two other teams).
Utah State has the fifth best winning percentage in the nation during the last seven years (behind Duke, Kansas, Gonzaga, and Florida; you may have heard of them).
Utah State led the nation in field goal percentage AND free throw percentage last year and currently leads the nation in field goal shooting this year.
Finally, since Stew Morrill became the head coach in 1998 Utah State has a record of 151-12 at home, and currently has the longest win streak of non-conference games at home (61 and counting; Duke is in second place).
Why am I telling you all this? Because many Cougar and Ute fans refuse to recognize that Utah State is a caliber Division I basketball team. Many relegate them to second-class status, insisting they drop out of the WAC and join the Big Sky or the Summit League. No offense to Weber State or SUU, but this is utterly ridiculous. ATTENTION BYU AND UTAH: UTAH STATE NOT ONLY WINS CONSISTENTLY IN THE WAC, THEY CONSISTENTLY COMPETE WITH YOU! Don't believe me? Let's look at the record:
Utah State vs. BYU in the last ten years:
1999: BYU 82-73
2000: BYU 69-67
2001: USU 90-81
2002: BYU 66-56
2003: USU 76-74
2004: USU 71-57, USU 84-62
2005: USU 91-80
2006: BYU 75-62 (This is the game where I got kicked out of the Marriott Center for wearing a Utah State shirt, but that is another story).
2007: No Game
2008: BYU 68-63
The record? All tied up at 5-5. The average margin of victory is 9.7 points. How can you deny that these programs have been evenly matched in the last few years? Check out how the U has fared in the last decade:
1999: Utah 77-42
2000: USU 58-57
2001: USU 78-65
2002: USU 59-54
2003: Utah 56-46
2004: USU 71-45 (This is the year Andrew Bogut and the Utes went to the Sweet Sixteen)
2005: Utah 67-66
2006: USU 60-57
2007: Utah 78-42
2008: USU 68-64
Yes, you read it right. USU is 6-4 against the U since 1999. Average margin of victory is a little higher, at 12.1, and the last time the Utes won a game in Logan was 1996!
What is my point, you ask? Believe it or not, I am not here to tear down the U or the Y. I think both have great programs with a long, winning tradition. I am simply asking that those BYU and Utah fans who dismissively write off the Aggies as a sub-par team get off their high horses and face facts. I'm not asking you to cheer for them; heck, you don't even have to like them. I only ask that you respect them. Get over yourselves.