I was born in the early 70's in Northern Utah. My life was the typical, carefree life of a small-state, suburban kid. One could say it was a time of greater innocence than the present, but I stand more on the side that people just were less afraid of one another (I suppose you can call that innocence.) What I really mean by that is that, as kids, my siblings and friends could leave our houses early in the AM and be gone all day with our parent's biggest concern being having to yell through the neighborhood for us to come home for dinner. Admittedly, we were afraid of the 'Hippies' that roamed nearby Sandridge Park. Mainly based on the intelligence of one friend's report: "They smoke dope and beat up little kids." I guess that's reason enough to avoid anyone--for the beating, not the dope, whatever that was. The city was Roy, Utah, and it was very Mormon. That made me Mormon as well as I was baptized at age 8 by a hunky return Missionary (didn't have any immediate relatives that were 'worthy' in case you're asking.) Things I learned by 3rd grade: Sundays were for sleeping in, and there was no way the church was going to get my 10%. My parents divorced when I was 7. I attended Roy High School where I graduated with honors, and was offered scholarships to George Washington University and the University of Utah.