Nomad

Read this one last year (as well as Green River Running Red) while reacquainting myself with the serial killers who so fascinated me from my adolescence. Forty years since the Tate/LaBianca murders, that's what kicked it off. I think with this book her personal connection to the killer, knowing him separately to his crimes, makes it interesting in that she interacted with him as a person before discovering his (ahem) 'extracurricular' activities. I felt there was a bit of a crush there too, and that appears to haunt her. Knowing Ted the Person, as opposed to just Ted the Monster, or even worse Ted the Media Construct, she tries to get across to us the complexity of his personality and crimes. He wasn't a ravening beast stalking the streets with foam and blood dripping from his mouth after all. There was a chance he could have ended up as a decent man, he was undoubtedly intelligent and personable, but there was something missing inside of him which he tried to fill by killing. Ann saw that potential for good and then discovered like the rest of the world just what horrors were waiting inside of him. She also had to contend with her own disbelief, and the growing realisation that Ted was trying to manipulate her as well. These are just some quick disorganised morning thoughts, I'm not trying to make my definitive statement on the book or anything. I had a big talk with a friend a few weeks ago on this one, and Ann Rule's writing style, which covered a lot of ground. But the head isn't quite together right now and I'd need to refresh myself on the book.

Here's a couple of less obvious ones to try out on the group. That was when I saw the pendulum. Foucalt's Pendulum, Umberto Eco The Third Marines were bleeding and dying for three nameless hills north of Khe Sanh in 1967. The Choirboys, Joseph Wambaugh I did a quick run through of some of my mosty read books looking for those killer opening lines and these two seemed great, especially my favourite Eco novel. Try some Raymond E. Feist novels, he's famous for starting each chapter with a single sentence to set the scene. If you ever expand it to opening paragraphs, The Big Sleep has one of the best. Let us know who comes up with the most obscure/interesting opening line.

Since I'm currently in the middle of my project to read the three great tomes of English language Modernism; Call me Ishmael. Moby-Dick, or The Whale, Herman Melville Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather, on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed. Ulysses, James Joyce A screaming comes across the sky. Gravity's Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon And yes, I know only one of them technically counts as Modernism, but there's a clear line to be drawn and they're all brilliant novels.

Funny thing, the Lovecraft: Fear Of The Unknown documentary was on TV a couple of days back. Have relished his stuff since I was a teenager. It's making me want to read At The Mountains Of Madness yet again, but I've got a schedule to keep with Joyce and reading the BoM at the same time.

An extremely popular theory.

Well I've visited twice now and the security guards haven't tossed me out on my ear (a new experience for a Sunday morning) so I'd have to say we're welcome.

And yet nobody here has come right out and told me, in an uptight self-righteous manner, to stop drinking and listening to Norwegian black metal. Of course, I haven't mentioned either of them before now but... You get the idea. And I'm hoping nobody does because that's just plain rude. Not to mention annoying. Grrrrr.... etcetera and so forth. Of course, we could just ignore this little troll (does anybody get the irony in that moniker given the music?) and hope he goes back to wasting bandwidth elsewhere. I'm happy to do so and concentrate on my concerns over the point where Lehi kills Laban. Trying to formulate that into a serious question and post it in the right forum, but seeing somebody with a name referencing my beloved black metal distracted me. I'm sure a moderator will see to this, the avatar of Per Ohlin's suicide is probably just a little outre for this forum.

If you love your family then how could being with them not be a worthy way to spend the day? I know that sounds terribly glib, and doesn't go into a great deal of theological debate on the issue (actually it ignores debate altogether!) but I think it says something important. A loving and compassionate deity has the time for a child's birthday party I'm sure. After all, it's not like you're wondering whether to spend the Sunday getting drunk and yelling at the TV in a desperate attempt to influence the game. That would be an inappropriate way to spend the Sabbath.

Here's somebody giving black metal fans on this forum (like myself) a bad name. Besides begging the question; why sign up here in the first place? I did so out of an intellectual interest in the people and thoughts of the LDS church, and I've even attended a service and have started reading the BoM to that end. I certainly agree that being a good person does not preclude alcohol and metal, both of which I enjoy although I'm cutting way back on the former for health reasons. And I would be happy to discuss the differing opinions with LDS members in an intelligent, considerate and (hopefully) relaxed manner. None of which I see in your post. I'll leave it at that I think. And go shake my head while putting Belus on the stereo.

I now regret not going to visit the temple in Adelaide when it was opened to the public. It's only a half hour stroll (twenty minutes at a good stride) from my place. I often go past it when my mother is driving between my place and my ex-girlfriend's to pick up my daughter. Always wanted to know what was inside.

My point exactly. The lack of glazed smiles and earnest eyes imploring readers to become 'one of us' (I can hear that creepy chant now) and suddenly live a life of bliss is the strength of this forum.

As a non-member I find the discussions here illuminating because they don't shy away from the harsh realities of life, both the stuff we all have to put up with and those which affect LDS members specifically. If everybody put their lives into a sentimental soft focus I'd actually be suspicious. A place like this allows people like myself to see the variety of opinion and experience of the LDS faithful. Self-censorship is generally a bad thing, although I keep my posts here appropriate to the forum as a general rule (I try to be considerate and gentlemanly) and when I see open and honest communications on this board I know it's coming from real people living real lives. I don't always agree with some posts, but what I'm not seeing here is a bland and lifeless group of people doing nothing but reinforcing each other's worldviews and ignoring reality. That might sound a little harsh and I apologise for any inelegance in my phrasing, but the bottom line is this; keep up the honesty. It shows the world what the LDS church and it's members truly are, and goes a long way to breaking down decades of stereotypes and negative publicity.

Still working myself up for this, but according to everybody here I should be fine. The only threat I appear to face is being the 'new guy' and finding myself the centre of attention. Which isn't as much fun to me as some people find it.

The direct approach sounds interesting, a kind of pre-emptive strike on all those well meaning but potentially terrifying smiles. This is why I asked now, trying to get some kind of strategy together and plan the big moment. The singing is a bit of an issue, not just for me but probably for everybody else. There are UN declarations against my singing after all. Looking everything up on the LDS maps site (useful, even if the marker has a habit of going askew) I also see a phone number for the local bishop. Might have to conside calling that and discussing things with him in person. Thanks for all your advice folks, I knew signing up here would be helpful.

Hmmm, two people can feel like swamping to a guy like me. Not to mention that interacting with strangers is a tricky step for some of us. When I said I'm a private person I really meant it.