Voices from the Dust: June 1997
previous: Voices from the Dust: May 1997
from s██████@j███.com
2 Jun 97, 5:34 p.m.
I guess what the Prophet Joseph said about how once you leave neutral ground, you leave it forever. Either you support the gospel or you try to destroy it. You webpage is a fulfillment of prophecy. So be it. Good luck to you!
Oh, please. Enough people have written in to these pages saying they left the Church and never looked back to blow that "prophecy" right out of the water.
from Leia Tarbox (r███████@p██.com)
4 Jun 97, 1:24 a.m.
This is just a quickie. I've been studying the Mormon religion intensely for a while now. I am formerly one myself but was too young at the time to really know much about it. So much of the information I find is extremely controversial and a lot is biased, too. I really need something that is neutral, but that just might be impossible. My point is I am thanking you for your site about Mormonism and especially for your humor. It makes it so much more easy to digest and still get the point across. It's also a relief to read something not so full of mind-numbing statistics or facts, but still very factual (make sense?).
Makes sense to me. Thanks for the compliment!
from an anonymous reader (/dust/1997/06/voices-from-the-dust-june-1997.html)
5 Jun 97, 12:41 p.m.
No man knows my pancreas either, thank you very much! Your "First Vision" fabrication while-u-wait is the best, particularly where the body part is used. When the Angel Macaroni (or whoever) reached up and grabbed old Joe by the ass, I fell off my chair. I went back several times to name new body parts, most of which my "fine mormon up- bringing" prevents me from sharing in mixed company.
I am recovering from mormonism. I am also an adult child who suffered from mental, emotional, sexual, and physical abuse, so my shrink says. And the perpetrator of these abuses? You guessed it. My high priest father. He is a racist womenizer that supports the militia movement. (yes, he thinks the OK City bombing was justified!) And he's praciticing mormonism in a ward near you! Yes, I got up the guts to report him to my bishop, but it was swept under the rug. After all, I'm a woman, second class from the start in the church's eyes. I'm inactive, been divorced, and didn't have my kids baptized. And my dad is a *priesthood holder* and a member in good standing, so why listen to me? Anyway, where one gets reported, there are four or five that don't, so please, active members, keep an eye on your kids!
Mormons are pretty darn funny in the way they percieve a person leaving the church. The church leaver either a) had a falling-out with another church member, or b) wanted to sin or had already sinned. I'd love to answer to these myths for anyone wondering about why I left, as if that's not already perfectly clear! Yeah, I had a falling-out with a member. Actually it was most of the members! I was of course different, and the mormons couldn't handle that. I don't see "thou shalt not own a motorcycle" in the ten commandments. I didn't go to BYU. I didn't go to school for music, elementary education, or home ec. I didn't get married at 19 either. I went to electronic tech school, bought a motorcycle, got a job, married a non-member, and put my kids in daycare while I worked. Therefore, I was a Relief Sociaty out cast. Of course the things my dad did pushed me further away from the church. In answer to the b) part, my sins are between me and God, and none of anyone else's business. I was sick and tired of the people of the ward poking their nose into my plan for salvation, when they had some improving of their own to work on, if they asked me.
Ah yes, you detect a lot of hate and bitterness. I am working on that. I have hedged around with statements like "If dad wasn't a member, none of this would have happened to me" and "I don't think membership would have made any difference, he would have been the same" and "I'm glad dad was in the church, or things could have been a lot worse". It has been extremely difficult to separate what part was due to the church, and what was just the fact that dad is a very sick individual. The church could have maybe helped him if they could admit that his behavior was socially unacceptable. I will blame the church for that always!
Another common myth about people who leave the church is that they are unhappy, can't hold down a job, and are social misfits. I'd like to answer this also. Through therapy sessions for years and years, I am getting better every day. I have a wonderful husband who understands what I'm going through and what I need. He is honest, caring, tolerant, loving and sharing, and he's NOT a member of the church. I have two beautiful daughters who are growing up outside of the church. They will never be ridiculed for the path they take, whether it be a career or marriage or both. I have a pretty good job. I don't make a lot of money, but there's food on the table and a roof over our heads, and a little extra money for fun. I have love and security from friends and family. And most importantly, I have hope for the future. I have lots of plans of what I want to do with my life, with no boundries or strict rules.
This is in contrast with what I had as a mormon. I had clinical depression, an eating disorder, a suicidal tendancy, an abusive husband, parents that couldn't tell the truth to save their lives, no friends(remember I was an outcast), nervous attacks and breakdowns, and general unhappiness. Gee! Which would you pick?
Anyway, thanks Bill for letting me speak my mind. I, like you, survived with my humor and love for humanity intact. I'd be funny-farm fodder if I wasn't able to laugh! Unfortunately, three of my four siblings didn't survive. My sister is a alcoholic and drug addict. My brother has five kids with three different women, some he married, some he didn't, and now he won't get a job because of all the child support he would have to pay. My other brother's wife left him when she found out he was fooling around with a 14-year-old baby sitter. Between the five of us, there have been six divorces. Pretty bad odds for a fine mormon family!
I love your stories. I loved reading "Voices from the Dust" and "Terror on Flight 789". I look forward to more "Road to Apostacy".
Please excuse my poor spelling and grammar. Tech, remember? Not a SF writer!
There is much much more to this story. I have submitted it to Eric K. but it hasn't been published yet.
Although I would love to expose my parents and the crap they pull, I love my husband and daughters very much and would like to protect them from the church. The place where I work is crawling with mormons. My daughter's teacher wears a CTR ring, and took her daughter to Utah to college. Guess what she is? I would rather not subject my family to any more crap than we have taken already. Hey! You need to add CTR to your list of terms!
Well, I better go now. Best wishes to you and your %@&@^*!! (she's beautiful!).
Stories like yours enrage me. The Church makes a lot of noise about opposing child and spousal abuse, but when you get right down to it, many of the leaders would rather staple flypaper to their faces than admit that fellow priesthood holders they've known for years could possibly be brutal sons-of-bitches behind closed doors. I'm glad you've gotten out, and I hope you keep on getting better.
from Alene Shurtleff (a█████@c████████.com)
11 Jun 97, 4:28 p.m.
I am very sorry for you. It is truely a sad sad situation that you are in. You're not sure what you think or believe in. I was reading your definitions and couldn't quite figure out where you were coming from. Hmmmm. Kind of a wishy-washy aren't you?
Well, someday, you need to make up your mind. I'm not sure what you are trying to accomplish with your comments on Mormonism. I doubt is anybody who has read them knows what you are trying to accomplish. It's that confusing. I think you are just as confused.
Instead of trying to convince other people of something you aren't even sure of, figure out what you believe first. Only people who love you care what you think, anyway. You probably have lots of people who do love you and want the best for you. Talk to them and then talk to God and get yourself out of the state of frustration you are obviously in.
Good luck and God bless you in your journey.
Out of all the hundreds of people who have written to me, you're one of the few who can't seem to figure out where I'm coming from. Hmmmm. Kind of an idiot, aren't you? Here's a hint -- try Reading Comprehension 101 at your local kindergarten community college.
from Lee E. Fielder (L██████████@w███████.███.net)
11 Jun 97, 4:30 p.m.
I love your Mormon pages. As a non-member who has studied Mormonism intensively for several years, the one thing hard to grasp fully is the culture. Your writings help. I have known quite a few missionaries, not because I have tried to convert them (but that is another story), and I remain amazed that intelligent people can remain in the Mormon faith. One did tell me he just decided not to ask the questions which knowing me had brougt to his mind. This missionary's companion commented that the most interesting thing about getting to know me (a Protestant minister) was discovering that what the LDS leaders had taught about us was wrong (I guess I just don't act much like a hireling of Satan). The obvious question is what else that is taught is wrong? Though I thought the leaders could never be wrong. In your definitions, I think you ought to include APOSTATE MISSIONARY and APOSTATE. As a minister, I found the first diescussions quite interesting, especially as the similarities between Mormonism and Protestant beliefs are played up, but the discussion of the apostasy through me for a loop. (By the way, I, like joseph Smith for a time am a United Methodist.) At the end of the section, the elder teaching it said, "Well, what do you think?" "What do I think?" I repeated, buying some time to decide if I really understood what he had just said. "Yes, do you agree?" "Wait a minute, Elder. Let me make sure I understand. Are you asking me if I agree the entire Christian church has fallen into apostasy? Are you asking me if agree the church of which I am a minister teaches apostasy? In other words, are you asking me if I agree that I am an APOSTATE?" Obviously the elder, fairly new in the field, had never thought about what he taught. "That's not what I asked," he said, "Is it, Elder C.?" looking at his companion for support. His companion, who by now had zipped his sticks shut and was ready half out of his chair ready to bolt for the door, answered, "That's exactly what you asked him, Elder." "Ok, then, do you agree?" Elder B. said. "Well elder," I carefully replied, "I guess I don't agree." "But, dude, I just explained it to you." "I'm sorry, elder, but I don't agree with any of it." His companion cut off his gurgled protests, and when they discovered that I wasn't going to become violent, continued on with the discussion. At the end, Elder C. said that the next duscussion should really throw me. I asked why, and he answered. because we discuss baptism for the dead. I floored him when I said I already knew it was in the Bible and quoted the chapter and verse. I later came to learn that the entire mission quickly knew that these elders were teaching a minister, and, after this discussion I was known, fondly or otherwise, as THE APOSTATE. The mission president was a little uncomfortable when, after we had become friends, I told him this, but I said as long as it wasn't intended to hurt, I did'nt mind what the elders called me, though I knew by the LDS definition, I was not an apostate.
What are you looking for -- sympathy? I think you and those missionaries are equally full of beans.
from Tom Rue (/dust/1997/06/voices-from-the-dust-june-1997.html)
22 Jun 97, 10:21 p.m.
Great job on the pre-release beta test version of your site. Format is attractive and easily navigable, and the content is as timeless as ever. I see you even incorporated some submissions I once suggested to your "Speaking in Tongues" section.
P.S., See "Eight Years a Saint" (under construction)
Thanks, Tom! Glad you like it!
from an anonymous reader (/dust/1997/06/voices-from-the-dust-june-1997.html)
23 Jun 97, 12:54 p.m.
Your new website is well-conceived and tastefully (i.e., minimistically) designed. I tried most of the links and got a couple of "fatal error" messages, but I think that's a problem on my end, because the links always work the second time. I guess I don't know what I'm doing with RealAudio, because I tried to play the complete "Wenatchee Rap" and couldn't get it to work (when I tried to "open" it, like I would a .wav file, all I got was one line of text on the screen and no audio).
I read three of your "Daedalus" essays--did you ever think about applying as a columnist for a newspaper?
Sounds like the problem is that you don't have a RealAudio player installed on your computer -- either that, or you do have it installed and your browser just doesn't know it. There is a section of my help page devoted to just this problem, so boogie on over there for the lowdown.
As for the newspaper columnist thing, I've thought about it but never really knew what to do about it. My friend Bob has had a few weekly columns in his day, though. Maybe I'll ask him.
from an anonymous reader (/dust/1997/06/voices-from-the-dust-june-1997.html)
23 Jun 97, 6:57 p.m.
Bill... Mi complimentias on the new design, man! Very nice work... Framey, but nice... I stand (sit, actually, I'm such a lazy-assed browser) in awe... do you accept students? :)
(BTW, being an apostate Mormon myself, I read your terrorist story with glee and a strange sense of foreboding... Never have I spent that much time reading ANYTHING on the net, but this story, its subject and its style and delivery, had me glued to the edge of my seat (and only occasionally tearing my eyes away from the monitor long enough to make sure Bishop Belec wasn't sneaking up on me with yet another "we want you back" sermon for my listening enjoyment...)) I just thought I'd let you know, I grok your writing style in a big way... Keep it up!
(PS... You were bookmarked... In case you felt the cosmic twinge, it wasn't a voodoo doll, nor was it a phantasmal fly, it was me and my unstoppable bookmark... I promise not to stick you between the pages of cheasy paperbacks, at least...)
I do indeed accept students, Anonymous-san. You can start by fixing up these pages for me. Bold on . . . bold off. Bold on . . . bold off. Bold on . . . bold off . . .
from an anonymous reader (/dust/1997/06/voices-from-the-dust-june-1997.html)
24 Jun 97, 10:29 a.m.
Welcome back! It's sure nice to see your page active again. Perhaps now we can get answers to those burning questions such as "Why do Mormon temples need lightning rods?" or "If the second coming is nearly upon us, why are Mormons building new temples?"
Whom else could we ask questions like this?
As always, I wish to hide my identity from the faithful so to avoid having a flock of sea gulls sent to mark my car.
Well, you could always ask your bishop . . . but my answers will be a lot more entertaining. (And I won't ask for the grungy details of your sex life either!)
from an anonymous reader (/dust/1997/06/voices-from-the-dust-june-1997.html)
25 Jun 97, 1:43 p.m.
I like your new web page, Views from the Left, and thanks for updating Voices from the Dust. As I continue to read Voices, I keep experiencing the same emotions over and over. Anger and empathy probably being the two most often felt. Anger at those who obviously have no compassion for a person who is only sharing his life experiences. Empathy for those who carry the emotional scars from time spent in Mormon chains. I don't have a computer at home and only have small time at work to read your web pages but I thank, whoever, for the day I discovered them. I hope my continued reading doesn't get me fired as we have been told to only use the internet for work related things. But the relief I have found in reading the stories of others, who share my own feelings about the LDS church is worth the risk.
I E-mailed you once before and have no clue if you even received it. Maybe you will not receive this one either but I wanted to write one more time and share some of my own experiences with LDS. I joined the church when I was 23 because the girl I had chosen to fall in love with would have me no other way. Although at the time I convinced myself I did it because I had a testimony. Our first marriage ceremony was at the local chapel because I was newly baptized and was not allowed to go to the Temple. It seems new converts have to wait a year. For what reasons I will never know. My parents who did not like my spouse and did not like me joining the church to begin with, came to the ceremony 5 minutes before it was to begin and left immediately afterward. They did not attend the reception. This was in June, my father did not start speaking to me again until Christmas of that year. My father and I worked in the same company, rode in the same car pool, and worked right down the hall from each other. It was very awkward.
I do not want to write a book here, although I could, but let me back up for just a second. The 2½ years before I joined the LDS Church I had the missionary discussions 3 times and after the third time I finally joined the Church because it became apparent to me that my spouse would never marry me until I did. It took me 10 years, a divorce, and a remarriage to the same woman to finally admit the truth to myself though!!!!!
Many things have led me down my road to apostasy. My first big shock that began my disbelief, or the realty of what I knew all along, was the year after my civil marriage and my first encounter with the House of the Lord, that is, the Temple. To coin a phrase from Diana, IT WAS NOT WHAT I EXPECTED, IT WAS WEIRD.
The next big shock was when I discovered that Mormons were not perfect. Laugh if you will but even though I had some problems with doctrine before I entered the waters of baptism one of the reasons I doubted my doubt was because LDS people seemed so perfect. Compared to my upbringing in a catholic family, my spouse and her family glowed with love for each other and their close relationship with each other and those at church was something I had never experienced.
The next brick in the wall was reading the book "The Mormon Murders." Reading this book I guess you could say was the straw that broke the camels back. I will never be able look at the present prophet of the Church without remembering his role in this tragic story. How can a church professing to be the true church of Christ call a man to the head position, claim that God told them to, who was involved in such goings on?
The next two incidents I will mention here would be considered by dyed in the wool Mormons as strictly the failings of human beings. But again I have to ask, if this is the true church why would the lord call such men to positions of power within his kingdom. Both incidents involved the spouses of two of my wife's sisters. The first began one night as I and, for the sake of anonymity, my spouse Sally were sleeping. At 10:30 we hear a loud banging on the door. I get up look through the peep hole and see my sister in law, Ann, standing there crying hysterically. After opening the door and attempting to calm her down I got the story out of her. Seems her and her spouse Fred got into a fight. During the scuffle she ended up with bruises up and down both arms, he claimed he was only trying to restrain her and that if she had not struggled no marks would have been on her. As she left their upstairs bedroom he tried to push her down the stairs, I am not sure what he was trying to do here. Sally asked her if she wanted to call the police, she said she did not know. She ended up calling our Bishop. He asked her the same question, eventually she did call the police and had Fred arrested. Two weeks later Fred's out of jail, him and Ann are happily married once again, and Sally and I are in the Bishop's office being told by him that we should have kept our noses out of Fred and Ann's personal life. That none of this affair would have occurred if we had just minded our business.
Now let me get this straight, a human being knocks on my door at 10:30 PM crying hysterically, with bruises up and Down both arms and I am supposed to say "Sorry I cannot become involved."
Sally's other sister Lori and her spouse Tom met and were married in Hawaii. A year later Lori got pregnant and when it got close to delivery Tom asked her if she would like her mom to fly out to help her. Lori said no I would like Sally to come and stay with us. An argument ensued and Tom's dislike and eventual hatred of Sally began. As the years passed Tom did all he could to keep Sally and Lori apart and never hid his feelings about Sally. About 3 years ago Sally came to me and asked if I would be willing to meet with Lori, Tom, and their Bishop. I asked why. She said to try to work out these feelings of animosity Tom had for her. I reluctantly agreed. We drove the 4 hours to their town the night before and stayed in a hotel. The next morning we all got together with their Bishop. The outcome was exactly as I expected, nothing. Tom sat right in his Bishops presence and said, "I hate Sally always have and always will." If she and Lori want to visit when we go to their folks I guess I can live with it. What did the Bishop do? He told Sally, you have done all you could you held out the Olive branch so to speak and Tom will not accept it. Did Tom get called to repentance, no, why because Tom was at that time the Elders Quorum President. For the first time in that ward's history they were getting 100% home teaching. Inactive Elders were coming back into the fold and Tom was the Bishops favorite Elder. Of course the Bishop wasn't going to chastise his best member.
I should mention here in all fairness that Tom did not care for me either. When we were in the same house for family gatherings he would not even acknowledge a hello or offer a hand in mock friendship. Did I care? At first yes but after a couple years, no. Why do I mention this? So that people can see that I just might be biased against old Tom.
Anyway I left many personal feelings and observations out of both these stories and tried to state just the facts so that my apparent bitterness would not enter in. I am sure I failed. Moving along though, I would just like to state for the record that I do not mention any doctrinal reasons for my disbelief. First because they alone could fill a library, slight exaggeration, and secondly because whenever you mention doctrinal holes, or black and white proof that the Book of Mormon is pure fiction a hard core Mormon will just give you their standard response of, you guessed it, PRAY, STUDY, PONDER, READ THE SCRIPTURES, PRAY, STUDY, PONDER............. I think you get the point.
Well, I want to wrap this up and I am not sure how. I was hoping after all this that I would feel better, I do not. I guess my one great hope is that all those who are struggling to break from the Mormon Church will be successful. I truly mourn for those I have grown to love who will never be able to see the light.
Lastly I regret that I have only one life to live and that I will live that life in the chains of Mormonism. As you have mentioned to so many who have written you, leaving the church when you have a spouse and kids who believe is practically impossible. When I left the Catholic church I didn't have home teachers who tried to talk me out of it, I didn't have to write any letters, no one made life hard on my family who still believed, and the Priest didn't come to my house to warn me of the dire consequences of my actions. In other words I did not need an act of congress to walk away from my faith. From what I have been told only cults make it that difficult for its membership to leave.
Well Bill if you read all this without falling asleep your probably wondering why I remarried the same women. I can only say at the time I still had my head up my ass. I love her but she's a devout Morman, I'm not, she knows this now and it's a constant source of contention for us. I told her when our youngest turns 18 and leaves home I won't step foot in the Church again. He is 2. If there is a Hell then I am living in it. Because I love my children I agreed to go to church till they were all raised, if only she knew how hard it is for me to drag myself out of bed each Sunday. Well life's a bitch and then we die, whatever. Enough crying and whining.
Thanks for being considerate enough to share your life story with those of us who can truly benefit from it. In the words of Spocks brother Sybock, "Share your pain and draw strength from the sharing."
Thanks for your moving letter, brother. I'm really sorry to hear what you've gone through and what you're still enduring. I can only hope things get better for you.
from Dave (/dust/1997/06/voices-from-the-dust-june-1997.html)
25 Jun 97, 4:08 p.m.
The other day I followed a link to your page and have spent a few days reading your stories. I enjoyed your writing and wanted to thank you for putting your stuff up on the web. It's weird to get such a personal account of some portions of a stranger's life, while knowing nothing about the other portions. I still haven't seen (or perhaps you don't have it on the web) the actual reasons you left the church. It seems to me, your "airplane" experience could have actually made some people stronger in the church. I think it's pretty incredible when someone who has gone through the brainwashing process of missionary work actually manages to recover their mind. I hope you finish your apostasy story.
I had to send you an email after seeing some parallels between your experiences and mine. The rest of this email inflicts some of my personal experiences on you as thanks for your site. If you have no interest stop reading here.
I'm about a half-year younger than you, born and raised Mormon in California, with six brothers and a sister. My B.S. is in Computer Science also. Currently I'm agnostic and living with my girlfriend. I'm a software engineer, not a writer (obviously), but have made some interactive fiction computer games (silly and/or pornographic) just to remind myself that I can't write.
I was called to a mission in Argentina. I went through the longer, foreign language training at the MTC but was sent home on Christmas eve, just a few days before my flight to South America was to leave. Seems the MTC's strongest effect on me was to convince me to confess some serious past sins I'd failed to confess before leaving on my mission. I had decided I needed to enter my mission with a clean conscience. They decided I needed to go home and ponder and pray about my sins for some undetermined period of time until they decided I was forgiven and could come back to the MTC. (Note that I wasn't a drug dealer or anything, my sins weren't outrageous or even illegal).
For nearly a year I was treated like human refuse in a sewage treatment plant (with an emphasis on refuse). I was taken to confess my sins in detail to every church leader from the remote and heartless geezers just below President Benson at the Church office buildings in Salt Lake City all the way down to my ward's bishop in California. The first few months were an endless parade of traumatizing experiences, including the first day home (or "The Christmas Morning of Shame") and having to face my ward only a few weeks after my farewell party. Even a simple 3 minute talk I was supposed to give in our ward's sacrament meeting was too much for my strained emotions. Sitting on the stand in front of a hundred people that knew I was sent home for unknown reasons, my mind literally collapsed and I was unable to speak one word on the simple topic I was given. I couldn't speak, so I just walked off the stand and sat numbly in the pews for the rest of the meeting.
Within a year (time flies when you're having fun) I received a letter saying that I had been forgiven and I could go back on my mission. The letter was actually signed by the highest of the high, President Benson himself as well as his left and right hand mucky-mucks (I don't care, nor can I remember who they were, or what position they held). I guess when God chatted with Prophet Benson about how I was finally "clean and whole" again, he forgot to mention that I'd been waiting around so long, I'd begun losing my faith in God, started recovering some shred of self respect on my own, and was probably fucking my non-christian girlfriend even as the letter was being signed several states away.
As I'm sure you know, extracting oneself from the life of church, family, friends, culture, habits, etc., that comprises Mormonism is an extremely long and painful process, but the further I get out, the happier I get--I wouldn't go near that masochistic insanity again. I don't need any documentation or other evidence that the Mormon Church is flawed. To me it's clear that Christianity in general has been and still is nothing but a twisted jumble of hate, intolerance, pain, fear, humiliation, prejudice, war, murder, horror and deception. I pity all the people who are blind, misguided or foolish enough to be Christians.
You know, I worked it out once -- if there are 50,000 missionaries out now, then 25,000 or so go out every year, and if the prophet spends 300 days out of the year signing mission calls, he has to do over 80 every day. And that's not even counting all the time he has to spend talking each one over with God. It's a wonder he has time for anything else. Like buying forged historical documents with tithing funds.
from a reader who has since repented of emailing (/dust/1997/06/voices-from-the-dust-june-1997.html)
26 Jun 97, 12:41 p.m.
Welcome Back Bill. I'm assuming that you have fell into a pot of gravy, or something, so you aren't having to devote so much time to working for the almighty dollar and can now spend your time on things that really matter, like flattering your loyal following with all manner of trivialities. Cool Shit!
I was pleasantly surprised to see that even during your brief respite from the site, the loyal opposition was diligent in feeding you material, especially that schmuck, Mr. Ivie. (I'd call him "Brother", but I'm an only child, and I'm pretty sure my "Heavenly" Mother" died at birth.)
Umm, by the way, get your ass in gear and finish your "Road to Apostasy" epic. I'm still waiting for you to have sex . . . I'm ASSUMING something there, now, aren't I.
Viz a viz "loyal followers" - You oughta come out to San Diego. We get some real cool cult-types out here. You could probably make some bucks. But I want 10 percent off the top.
Again, welcome back. And don't waste too much fucking time trying to make a living . . . hey, what's really important?
It's US!
Gravy? Well, I've fallen into a little Stove Top Stuffing, maybe, but that doesn't mean I'm working any less. In fact, I'm working more -- but the strange thing is, I always seem to accomplish more when I have a lot to do at work. Go figure.
And never fear -- the sex is coming. Watch for it around Installment Twenty.
from Andreas (a██████████@h██████.com)
26 Jun 97, 3:41 p.m.
Great page! :) But I missed something: Please add a Zip-file of the entire site! Think of my telephone bill!
Oh, right, so anyone out there could download my site and install it on his or her own Web server. Sorry, I don't think so. But thanks for playing.
from Tonya (e██████████@w██.net)
29 Jun 97, 2:35 a.m.
I have just recently begun to write and I'm having trouble finding information on how to do the chapters in my book for the manuscript.Could you please tell me how to do the chapters in the manuscript?Thank you.
You see a lot more variation in novel manuscripts than you do in shorter manuscripts, but it's generally a good idea to start every chapter on a new page and to skip down several lines from the top of the page before typing the chapter number and/or title. Hope this helps.
Oh, and you might keep an even more basic element of manuscript formatting in mind -- putting two spaces after the punctuation at the end of every sentence.
from Tyson Rogers (t███████@a██.edu)
30 Jun 97, 10:00 a.m.
You've done a great job remodeling your web page. Simplifying the color scheme has made it load a lot faster. I first encountered your page last December when I read your bomb threat story. As an almost former Mormon (haven't quite got my name taken off the records yet), I'll keep coming back for your insight and humor. I know you're busy, but I'm still curious about some of the details that remain to be told in your "Road to Apostasy." I'm looking forward to the next section, your first Provo entry.
Keep up the good work.
Simplifying the color scheme (and related interface elements) also has the benefit of making it simpler for me to update my site -- which means you should be seeing "Apostasy" installments with greater frequency. (Of course, I could write a new installment every three months and that would still be greater frequency . . .)
