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1st March 2009

week plans

week plans

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many path and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

~ JRR Tolkien.

I am done (mostly) with call for the next 3 months AND I’ll have weekends off as well, as I’m on a stretch where I’m doing more consult work than taking care of my own team/patients. It’s going to be a nice change of pace, aka, freaking fabulous. I’m already booking stuff for every weekend until June, let me tell you.

I’m trying very, very hard to talk myself out of signing up for this: http://www.folklorevillage.org/t2/user_file/English%202009.pdf. An entire weekend of English country dancing. Let me say that again. An entire weekend of English country dancing. Granted, the price is somewhat outrageous (okay, it’s outrageous), but… it’s an entire weekend of English country dancing!! Hopefully, people can show up just for the Saturday night dance. (Must finish, aka start, dress!)

This place also holds monthly barn dances. I’m hoping to drag a few friends out to one of these this summer. So much fun!

I have vacation starting on Friday night. I’m just about to the point where I’m counting down the hours. I need a vacation sooo badly. Even my hair seems fried to the ends (it could be because I haven’t had a haircut since October, I think). It’s been a hard winter. I’ve never really been one who has seasonal affective disorder; I usually like winter, but this one has been brutally cold and everlasting and I’m ready for some sunshine.

I have a pseudo-date-thingy on Thursday. A boy from church and I were talking months ago about finding some good ethnic food around here and he stated that we absolutely had to go out and find some. Last week, he facebooked me (funny how that’s becoming a verb) and mentioned the idea again and we confirmed plans today. It’s a pseudo-date because the guy is somewhat weird and for all I know he could be bringing the entire ward with him. He did say that he wanted this to be a monthly thing, so who knows. My expectations of the evening really consist of hoping that I’ll have lots of good stories to share when I go home. Good or bad.

Oh, and Trouble’s back in town. Apparently his version of “never to return” meant gone for 4 months and then back for a month, then gone for another month and then back for 2 weeks and then, never to return. He’s as much as a flirt as ever, which, since the other flirt in the ward got a girlfriend has been in short supply. Did I tell you that March is going to be fabulous? Somehow, though, I don’t think I’m going to be convincing him that a weekend of English country dancing is just want he needs. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try!

Lastly, on a complete change of topic: every year, since the LOTR fandom sank quietly into oblivion after the movies (it’s okay by me, I like the quiet fandoms just fine, thank you), various groups sponsored a “Back to Middle-Earth Month” in March. I’ve never participated, but I’ve really been missing LOTR. It’s been probably 2 years or more since I’ve seen the movies, longer since I’ve read the books. My poor little discussion group has long since been overgrown with briars and thorns. My website sits unfinished; I felt so guilty about paying the hosting fees every year, but couldn’t convince myself to let it go. I’ve now transferred my blog over there, so it’s not wasted space any longer (it’ll be officially introduced to the public soon), but I’d love to redo the section of the discussions properly.

More importantly, I made some really good friends on my discussion group, that I’ve missed a lot. I’ve missed talking about LOTR, the in-depth analysis of Tolkien and his works. We had a great deal of fun, for over 2 years, until medical school consumed me.

Anyway. For B2ME month, I’m re-reading LOTR and will be posting some of my favorite quotes or thoughts or maybe drabbles throughout the month. For old-times sake.

posted in All About Me, Frivolous Fandom, Lord of the Rings, The Dating Game, The Singles Ward | 1 Comment

3rd January 2006

toast

The Professor!

*raises mug of apple cider*

(http://www.tolkiensociety.org/toast/2006/index.html)

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8th June 2005

Fandom gushings…

I thought this summer would be as most summers. Bereft of new episodes of my favorite shows, my only other option of shows to watch would be old reruns of M*A*S*H. And then, I switched to the USA channel for some good L&O: SVU, and within minutes was hooked on “The 4400”. I had seen it advertised last year, and thought that it was some show about Jehovah’s Witnesses and the religious Armageddon (*blush* What? 4400 is pretty to 144,000!) and it just didn’t seem like my kind of show.

Boy was I wrong! My sister filled me in on the premise and what happened last season, and I’ve become completely absorbed. The acting is incredible–really well done from everybody, the storyline’s great, and it feels like old time X-Files–without the monsters-of-the-week. I’m so excited!

*******
Tagged by eponine119!

Fandom meme

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24th January 2005

Protected: More Park City/Utah pics

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24th January 2005

LOTR ramblings – wow, it’s been awhile.

Am very bummed and am feeling like a very bad fan-girl.

Apparently, Elijah Wood was within mere miles of me, at a premiere that I could have attended, if I had of realized that he would be there. But the only celebrity news I had heard of Sundance was that Paris Hilton was going to be there, and I really have very little desire to meet her. Elijah and the other Hobbits are a different story.

*Pouts* And I just know that he was supposed to bump into me and fall instantly in love. That’s the only thing that’s been holding us back.

To top it off, I missed seeing the premiere of “Ringers: Lord of the Fans” because I was out of town when the tickets went on sale. I’m hoping that I can grab some same day tickets on Thursday, but I’m not holding my breath. However, Ellie, you’d better keep those toes crossed!

There’s pics on the slamdance website of my LOTR friends here in their costumes at the premiere. *sigh* I haven’t been able to go to a meeting in months. I miss the lembas bread. And raving about Tolkien.

In fact, I miss my Tolkien group online too, my LOTR Inklings. We started reading LOTR again and it just fizzled. I know I didn’t help matters by taking forever to get my chapter out and I’ve been a perfectly lousy list mommy. But I’ve been working on my webpage and hope that tomorrow, I will have all of Book 1 finished, and at least the index page looking nice. And since I’ve had to reformat all of the emails into a readable, pretty webpage, I’ve been reading all of our old discussions. I’m just amazed all over again of the insights we discovered together, the life lessons, the ties into mythology that left me astonished. I’m lost as to how to reactive the group to get that again. I’m hoping that the website will help – having all of the basic pages actually say something and actually have something to which you could navigate would probably be nice.

I suppose I could just let it die naturally, but I am really reluctant to do so. We really had something, something that I haven’t found in another group. But maybe, it’s just like everything else in my life and I don’t know how to say goodbye. Any ideas?

Enough pointless fretting about something that nobody wants to read anyway. It is definitely time for bed!

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13th December 2004

A measure of comfort

Into the West

Lay down
Your sweet and weary head
Night is falling
You have come to journey’s end

Sleep now
Dream of the ones who came before
They are calling
From across a distant shore

Why do you weep?
What are these tears upon your face?
Soon you will see
All of your fears will pass away.

Safe in my arms
You’re only sleeping

What can you see?
On the horizon.
Why do the white gulls call?

Across the sea
A pale moon rises.
The ships have come
To carry you home.

And all will turn to silver glass.
A light on the water
All souls pass.

Hope fades
Into the world of night.
Through shadows falling,
Out of memory and time.

Don’t say
We have come now to the end.
White shores are calling
You and I will meet again.

And you’ll be here in my arms
Just sleeping.

What can you see?
On the horizon.
Why do the white gulls call?

Across the sea
A pale moon rises.
The ships have come
To carry you home.

And all will turn to silver glass.
A light on the water
Grey ships pass
Into the west.

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1st November 2004

The marriage of fantasy & science?

Awesome!

Hobbit

Am much excited by this! I knew there was a reason that I still(?) believed in fairytales!

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31st October 2004

Internet and Howard Shore

I am truly fascinated by this thing called the Internet…

Today, I was wasting time (my favorite past-time) exploring LJ looking for some Star Trek: Voyager icons (unfortunately good ones seem to be a particularly rare species) and just started clicking on links taking me to different people’s journals.

It’s astonishing how much people reveal of their lives… some blatantly, others in obscure threads throughout their posts. I mean, granted I talk a lot about my personal life–but a good portion of it is put into friend posts–where I can control who sees it.

What’s more amazing is that some of them don’t seem bothered by the fact that they have 500 people that they don’t know reading and commenting on their day to day lives… Take for example epicyclical. I stumbled onto her journal because it’s the personal/HP LJ of the woman who wrote the hilarious “Very Secret Diaries of LOTR.” Her “friends of” list has 2706 people!!

I like it that people are so honest with strangers. It makes me feel good about this world–that (at least when there’s some anonymity) we do allow others to see exactly who we are. I find it fascinating.

On that note: how many of you have RL people reading your journal? Does it make you write different things than you normally would?

A particular gem from http://www.thisfish.com. Her motto is the best:

It’s lovely to be a feminist and all. I have gotten in plenty a tizzy over the inequity of the female role in this bizarre universe. Have even tried out the independent, “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle” track, and been quite good at it. Eventually, however, I settled upon this conclusion:

This fish needs a bicycle.

If not for comfort, at least for entertainment’s sake.

I think I am such a fish too…

~~~~~~

(Since I seem to need updating before I ever get an entry posted)

Spent the evening in tears.

Now, now, don’t get worried. I wasn’t (entirely) depressed or heart-broken. In fact, I paid money for these tears.

I just saw Howard Shore conduct his Lord of the Rings Symphony!! With a full choir and children’s choir. A young soprano male with the voice of an angel. And a background of the art and sketches of Alan Lee and John Howe.

I got emotional walking into the hall (a big feat for me actually–am terrified of building and I went alone) where a small group of musicians performed the Fellowship theme. And it just got better from there. It was amazing seeing it “live”–the artwork was amazing and part of it felt like this must have been when HS was first writing it–just going off the artists’ ideas.

Got teary during the sweet Shire music. Cried during the Fellowship themes. And openly bawled during Into The West. Wearing mascara was not the best idea. Looked like raccoon.

Only one complaint: it was too short!

posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

1st February 2004

LOTR Drabbles

I’ve been so busy that I’ve only just had time to catch up on some of the challenges. So there’s a few here.

Title: Afternoon Tea
Word Count: 100
Characters: Hopefully you can figure that out…
Notes: Started out for the introduction challenge, but since nobody really got introduced, don’t know if it fits.

Afternoon Tea

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19th January 2004

Hilarious!

Laughed my socks off!

Return of the King–by Finger Puppets!

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17th January 2004

just for fun

merry
Congratulations! You’re Merry!

Which Lord of the Rings character and personality problem are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Sounds like me. (gives evil little chuckle)

The bloodlust is unquenchable tonight!

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9th January 2004

For the lotr100 honesty challenge

Cross posted on [info]lotr100

Title: Deliverance
Word count: 100
Adult content/slash: no
Notes: For the Honesty challenge and the apparent Dying!Boromir theme going on…

Deliverance

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5th January 2004

LOTR 100 Fear challenge “By His Side”

Cross posted on lotr100

Title: By His Side
Word Count: 100
Team: Hobbits
Characters: Sam, Frodo
Adult Content/Slash: Only if you read it that way… No.
Author notes: For the Fear Challenge, although maybe a little more subtle definition of fear. More movieverse than book.

By His Side

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26th December 2003

Site of the Day

Once More With Hobbits: A Lord of the Rings and Buffy: the Vampire Slayer Musical Adventure.

My personal favorite: “I’ll Never Tell” with Legolas and Gimli for the laughs and “Standing” with Sam for the tears.

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25th December 2003

Might Have Been LOTR Challenge

Cross-posted on lotr100

Title: Ringbearer’s Choice
Word Count: 100
Team: Hobbits
Characters: Frodo, Fellowship
Slash/Adult Content: No
Notes: Movieverse of FOTR

Ringbearer’s Choice

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3rd December 2003

The dead will arise and speak again…

Wow, do you realize that the last time I posted here was back in August?? I realized that today was December, December 2nd my calendar tells me. I’m not really sure what happened to September and October and November–are you sure we really even had a November?

First of all, updates: Yes, to those few people who know what I’m talking about, I’m still working on my Gilmore Girls story, Like Never Before. Honestly, I swear. I’m working on chapter 8 and have been (bit by painful bit) for the past three months. It’s sixteen pages long now, sixteen pages and I think I hate it. Which is funny, because when I first started thinking about this story a year and a half ago, this was one of the major chapters of why I wanted to put my ideas to paper. But right now, it’s hitting too close to home. I’ve had a hard time writing this fight scene and having such an easy resolution, when I know from hard, personal experience that it never goes this smoothly. Even when you’re trying so hard to communicate, things still get mired and knotted. And yet, to change it, would just lengthen the story out even longer. If it wasn’t necessary to move the “plot” along, I’d just trash it. I have one scene left. One scene that’s probably less than two pages long, but do you think I can write it? NOOOOO! Stupid story.

Update number two: And I’ve been once again hit by the drabble bug, so look for an update to my drabbles, as well as some LOTR ones–I’ve got an inkling to write a Eomer drabble, and I don’t know where that one came from!! As of yet, no one has taken my drabble challenge, although Agent M at ff.net wrote a perfectly delightful one entitled Tana and Kirk. Read it, it’s fabulous.

And speaking of drabbles, I just finished reading The Da Vinci Code and really really enjoyed it. The author did an incredible amount of research to justify every one of his theories and well as add layers and layers of details and symbolism. I feel like I need to read it again, just to understand all of the symbolism. Right after I read it, I stumbled across another of fileg‘s beautiful drabbles that struck me as ironically appropriate: Earth, Water, Fire, Air. Read the Arwen drabble….And then do yourself a favor and go and read the rest of fileg’s stories and see why I love her writing so much.

Update number three: We’re starting to discuss The Hobbit on my Tolkien discussion group. I just posted the first five chapters of musings and thoughts, the next five chapters will be done by this weekend. I hope to get all the way through it before RETURN OF THE KING opens….Can anybody guess how excited I am??? Today, I saw one of the tv trailers for the first time and it induced the “moment-of-silence” followed by “utter-squeal-of-excitement.”

Um, yeah. That’s all the business I guess. School’s been kicking my butt, mostly because I’ve become so apathetic towards it. I cannot wait for Christmas. One of my best friends is flying in and spending almost two weeks with me!! I have two lovely weeks with no classes, no endless hours of studying the disease processes of anemia or the electrical circuits of the heart, no trying to avoid certain people because things have gone so horribly wrong. Nothing but sweet, delightful boredom.

And I had to laugh. Last week, driving home for Thanksgiving dinner, I heard the new Evanescence single, My Immortal, and completely, totally, head over heels fell in love with it. Seriously, it was one of those songs that caused an emotional reaction where I felt the words and music just beating in my veins. I haven’t been able to get enough of the song since then. And what was the quote from GG tonight “And those who bring Evanescence will be severely mocked.” Yeah, I’m ridiculous.

Only 14 more days until ROTK!!!!!!!!! Just wait until the day before, then I’ll be shouting it!

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15th August 2003

Drabbling

Drat. I’ve been sucked in.

I blame it all on the thread at henneth-annun. Of course, they would have to create a challenge to write drabbles and then write some of the most beautiful, poetic 100 word fics that I have ever read.

Of course, I’m still scared to touch any Tolkien subject with my keyboard. My two fics are still only two painful paragraphs long and will probably stay that way for years to come.

So I tackled GG, the project of the day. There were definitely scenes that I wanted to explore, but I knew that I didn’t have enough to make an actual story out of them–Jess’s leaving, for one. And I think there’s still more that I might add later.

There’s incredible power in this form–each word has to be just right. I think some of mine are still weak, but some seemed to get what I wanted. I had to find the tendency to make it sound like a prose-ish free verse poem.

And so I issue a challenge: I want more and I want yours. Any GG character, any pairing, any situation, any time. Directly from the show or an AU. I’d love to see some that managed to capture the humor and wittiness of GG–I only got the angst. Email them to me, post them here or on my review, wherever. Heck, you could even write me and say that while you wrote one, it’s been put where all the bad fics go; I don’t care. I’d just like to see people write.

On a more personal note, but still related to my fic, my shoulder has been giving me a lot of problems again–recovery has not been as smooth as I could wish and I’ve been in some pain. Thankfully, I have therapy tomorrow–my salvation, I swear, but I think I’m causing the pain by being hunched over my computer and I know my doctor’s going to want me to back off. Thus my ambitious plans to have the next chapter finished and posted in a week probably won’t pan out. And I was so excited!

I don’t know, listening to the Buffy musical seems to make everything better. I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do without a Buffy fix!

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