|
10-23-2005, 01:11 AM | #1 |
Half-Elven Princess of Rabbit Trails and Harp-Wielding Administrator (beware the Rubber Chicken of Doom!)
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Not where I want to be ...
Posts: 15,254
|
My 10Kth post - Tolkien and a California Girl
Here it is – hard to believe, but true – 10k posts for R*an, the California girl who types like the wind!
I always wanted to make my 10k post about Tolkien and the people here who love his works, but then some people suggested something on California, so I decided to kind of blend the two. SO – here’s a short history of this California girl who discovered Tolkien 28 years ago at a university in California. As far as I can remember, I had some vague inkling of this Tolkien guy and the silly sci-fi/fantasy thing called Lord of the Rings before I went to college, but I had never read it, and I thought the people that read that type of thing were rather odd. I mean, “Frodo”? What kind of a name was that?! I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, near Los Angeles, loving math and science and horses and sports and reading. In my senior year in high school, I decided I wanted to go away to college, and picked California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo – far enough to be away from home (3 ½ hour drive) but close enough to come home for weekends, if I wanted to (like when the laundry piled up!) I’ve been fortunate enough to have traveled a bit, and I still think San Luis Obispo is one of the prettiest places around. The college campus is set in some beautiful green hills, just a few minutes’ drive from a lovely, quiet beach, and has a quaint little town with a lovely mission when you want to get off campus. My freshman year, I met a nice guy and started dating him. It got pretty serious, and since he was the poem-writing type, he wrote me a poem, saying I must have been a princess of Middle Earth, and that I had some Took blood in me. Well, I thought maybe I should check out this Tolkien guy, so I wandered over to the bookstore and bought LOTR. I was really surprised at how good it was! I especially loved Eowyn’s defiance of the Witch King, which is still one of my favorite parts. It was so beautiful! The writing was so strong, and passionate, and – I don’t know, I just thought it was a great book. Well, that guy and I broke up, but I kept my LOTR books, and read them every few years. I even heard about this Silmarillion thing, and bought it, but couldn’t get into it very much – too many confusing names! But I would pull out LOTR every few years, and every time I read it, I would just be re-amazed at the depth and beauty of the writing. And I could never read the Eowyn part and the charge of Rohan without tears coming in to my eyes, much to my annoyance (I thought tears were a sign of weakness back then). I graduated and moved back home, and went to work at a radar company as a software engineer in research/new product development. I met a wonderful guy and was fortunate enough to have him love me back, and we married, and started our family a few years later, and I quit my job to stay home with the kids. Then came the movies. Yes, there are many parts that are horrible!! Yes, they really foul up some of the characters!! Yes, there are many wonderful parts that are left out. But … they got some things right, and after watching FOTR in the theater, it was like someone had punched me in the stomach and knocked the breath out of my body. I literally physically ached from the beauty that Tolkien had created, and that had come through visually, at least in part, on the big screen. I started searching the Internet for all things Tolkien, and came across Michael Martinez’s informative and interesting articles, which I devoured. Then one day, I looked at the Tolkien links he listed, and noticed this Entmoot thing … I just lurked and read posts for a while, then agonized over choosing my user name (I wanted Idril, but it was taken, so R*an was my next choice). Then I made my first post – and the rest, as they say, is history! I met so many wonderful, interesting, intelligent, friendly people through Entmoot. I read the Sil and just fell in love with it. I learned about the books beyond LOTR and the Hobbit, and started buying them and enjoying them, too. Unfinished Tales, The Book of Lost Tales (where I fell in love with Tuor!), Letters of JRRT, Morgoth’s Ring, etc. etc. I taught myself to write in Tengwar and had great fun with it. I enjoyed discovering, and then taking sides in, the various “unsolved mysteries” (do elves have pointed ears? Do balrogs have wings?) I discovered the Quote game, and am still amazed at how we Tolkien geeks can figure out these quotes without referring to the books! It was just so wonderful to talk with people that knew and loved Tolkien’s works, and loved discussing the various nuances and back stories and histories and things like that. A place where you could say “don’t be so hasty!” and everyone knew you were referring to Ents! A place where you could talk about the Athrabeth and actually find people who knew what it was! It was like I had a pent-up flood in me that finally found an outlet, and I posted like crazy! After about a year and a half, my Tolkien flood finally slowed down, and I started to discover the General Messages forum, where I was intellectually stimulated and challenged by people with radically different viewpoints than I had. And I enjoyed how we could hold a no-holds-barred (except no rudeness allowed!) intellectual discussion on things like evolution/creationism in GMs, then go over to the ME forum and laugh over a quote, or the Sil forum and discuss the question of why Tolkien used singing in the Ainulindale creation story. So this California girl is really looking forward to finally meeting the great Professor one day, and thanking him from the bottom of her heart for keeping up the fight and getting such a great work to publication so others could be blessed by it, and how through his work, she got to know some absolutely wonderful people from all around the world. When I see the beautiful ocean off the coasts of California, I think of Eärendil and the Silmaril, and I always mentally wave across the miles to my friends over the water. When I see the lovely rolling hills around San Luis Obispo, I think of the Shire, and remember the bookstore where I first picked up those funny books, and how I though the author’s name was “Irr Tolkien” for years because the “J” was written rather stylistically and I didn’t realize it was the initials “J.R.R.”. When I see the stars at night camping in the mountains of California, I think of Varda and the Elves, the people of the stars. When I see the waterfalls in Yosemite National Park in California, I think of the beauties of Middle Earth. And I love the same God that Tolkien does, even though California is many thousands of miles from England, and I feel a fellowship with him in that area of life that is so special to both of us. SO – thank you, God, for making such an awesome universe and such amazing, wonderful people; thank you, Professor Tolkien, for creating and sharing your beautiful stories with us; thank you, Ben, for making Entmoot; thank you, mods and admins, for keeping it in shape; and thank you, Mooters all, for making such a special experience in my life! I’d like to try to work through the Entmoot members’ list alphabetically, through the next few weeks, and write a line or two about all the Mooters I know and special memories I have of each of you. You guys are so awesome! You are like a handful of shining, sparkling jewels, all different shapes and sizes and colors and cuts and intensities, and I treasure you all. So Mae govannen - well met! - and I look forward to the next 10k posts!
__________________
. I should be doing the laundry, but this is MUCH more fun! Ñá ë?* óú éä ïöü Öñ É Þ ð ß ® ç å ™ æ ♪ ?* "How lovely are Thy dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! ... For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside." (from Psalm 84) * * * God rocks! Entmoot : Veni, vidi, velcro - I came, I saw, I got hooked! Ego numquam pronunciare mendacium, sed ego sum homo indomitus! Run the earth and watch the sky ... Auta i lómë! Aurë entuluva! Last edited by Rían : 10-23-2005 at 01:15 AM. |
10-23-2005, 01:33 AM | #2 |
King of Nargothrond
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Canada! eh?
Posts: 2,002
|
Wow...that was an AWESOME 10,000th post. And thats a lot of posts! Cheers Rian...you inspire us all.
__________________
"THE EAGLES ARE COMING, THE EAGLES ARE COMING......AND A MOTH!!!!!" Last edited by Finrod Felagund : 10-23-2005 at 01:34 AM. |
10-23-2005, 02:13 AM | #3 |
Entmoot Secretary of the Treasury
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Campsite-by-Giraffe
Posts: 5,408
|
Congratulations! Now only 55,000 more to beat HOBBIT.
__________________
KI6PFA Amateur Radio Operator
|
10-23-2005, 03:09 AM | #4 |
The Black Númenórean
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,773
|
Cheers Rian! Here is to 50,000 more where that came from! Huzzah!
__________________
Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. |
10-23-2005, 03:18 AM | #5 |
High King at Annuminas Administrator
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Wyoming - USA
Posts: 10,752
|
Congratulations R*an!
__________________
My Fanfic: Letters of Firiel Tales of Nolduryon Visitors Come to Court Ñ á ë ?* ó ú é ä ï ö Ö ñ É Þ ð ß ® ™ [Xurl=Xhttp://entmoot.tolkientrail.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=ABCXYZ#postABCXYZ]text[/Xurl] Splitting Threads is SUCH Hard Work!! |
10-23-2005, 04:25 AM | #6 | ||
Co-President of Entmoot
Super Moderator Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Canada
Posts: 8,397
|
R*an, you rock so very much.
Happy 10K! A Marathon of posting.
__________________
"I can add some more, if you'd like it. Calling your Chief Names, Wishing to Punch his Pimply Face, and Thinking you Shirriffs look a lot of Tom-fools." - Sam Gamgee, p. 340, Return of the King Quote:
Quote:
|
||
10-23-2005, 06:51 AM | #7 | |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: here and there
Posts: 3,514
|
Quote:
... best 10,000th post i ever read (or didn't - if you take my meaning) Rian: a post worthy of the grand 10,000 landmark! .... i really enjoyed reading it, are you truly the second only to plant their flag upon this summit? I know there are some "suspicious" higher post counts ... but is it only possibly even California and New Jersey that have really planted their house emblems on this highest of summits? What's the view like up there? *imagines pure white snow sparkling, swirling brilliant blue sky with light feathery white clouds forming tolkieneque shapes - with some footprints leading off to a steep drop ... ( ) * Later, when this thread has been widely read, i'd like you to post some, all or more of your moot experiences that you have so eloquently written about above, in the Jd syndrome and moot experiences thread ... but leave that for later. Congratulations on the BIG 10,000! very best BB |
|
10-23-2005, 06:57 AM | #8 |
The Chocoholic Sea Elf Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: N?n in Eilph (Belgium)
Posts: 14,363
|
Congrats R*an, nice 10 000th post!
__________________
We are not things. |
10-23-2005, 06:58 AM | #9 |
The Supreme Lord of The Northern Eagles
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: trondheim, norway
Posts: 1,388
|
Congratulations with 10,000 posts, and this post was amazing!
__________________
Don't Panic! |
10-23-2005, 07:42 AM | #10 |
the Shrike
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: San Francisco, CA <3
Posts: 10,647
|
I might have hit 10,000 if I hadn't had a Split Personality.
__________________
"Binary solo! 0000001! 00000011! 0000001! 00000011!" ~ The Humans are Dead, Flight of the Conchords |
10-25-2005, 02:55 PM | #11 |
Half-Elven Princess of Rabbit Trails and Harp-Wielding Administrator (beware the Rubber Chicken of Doom!)
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Not where I want to be ...
Posts: 15,254
|
thanks again, guys
You guys are what make the Moot
__________________
. I should be doing the laundry, but this is MUCH more fun! Ñá ë?* óú éä ïöü Öñ É Þ ð ß ® ç å ™ æ ♪ ?* "How lovely are Thy dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! ... For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside." (from Psalm 84) * * * God rocks! Entmoot : Veni, vidi, velcro - I came, I saw, I got hooked! Ego numquam pronunciare mendacium, sed ego sum homo indomitus! Run the earth and watch the sky ... Auta i lómë! Aurë entuluva! |
10-26-2005, 03:04 AM | #12 | |
of the House of Bëor
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Eastwards.
Posts: 979
|
A bit belated CONGRATS, R*an
After I read your 10kth, I was... *speechless* Such a lovely post. :') Quote:
__________________
I'm good in bed - I can sleep for days Last edited by littleadanel : 10-26-2005 at 04:50 AM. |
|
10-26-2005, 08:42 AM | #13 |
Advocatus Diaboli
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Reality
Posts: 3,767
|
you gotta know how to spam... r*an joined eight months after me and she's got 5x my posts
*tease*
__________________
Your reality, sir, is lies and balderdash and I'm delighted to say that I have no grasp of it whatsoever. |
10-26-2005, 06:08 PM | #14 |
Half-Elven Princess of Rabbit Trails and Harp-Wielding Administrator (beware the Rubber Chicken of Doom!)
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Not where I want to be ...
Posts: 15,254
|
*tweaks brownie's ear* You naughty guy! What a thing to say! *adds one more to her post count* 0:-)
__________________
. I should be doing the laundry, but this is MUCH more fun! Ñá ë?* óú éä ïöü Öñ É Þ ð ß ® ç å ™ æ ♪ ?* "How lovely are Thy dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! ... For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside." (from Psalm 84) * * * God rocks! Entmoot : Veni, vidi, velcro - I came, I saw, I got hooked! Ego numquam pronunciare mendacium, sed ego sum homo indomitus! Run the earth and watch the sky ... Auta i lómë! Aurë entuluva! |
10-26-2005, 06:09 PM | #15 |
Fair Dinkum
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 2,319
|
Woohoo! Congrats, R*an! What an effort.
|
10-24-2005, 07:05 PM | #16 | |
"The Bomb"
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: all over the place
Posts: 1,601
|
Quote:
I'll be looking forward to them, too! By now, you're practically a feature here at Entmoot, you're so often seen and heard, and always with something meaningful to contribute. Congratulations on 10,000 of the nicest and most insightful posts on the moot!
__________________
Could it be that one path to enlightenment leads through insanity? |
|
10-25-2005, 01:40 AM | #17 |
the Shrike
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: San Francisco, CA <3
Posts: 10,647
|
OT, but I love the sig, Bomb... kinda describes me too.
__________________
"Binary solo! 0000001! 00000011! 0000001! 00000011!" ~ The Humans are Dead, Flight of the Conchords |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Research paper on Tolkien | The Telcontarion | Writer's Workshop | 10 | 12-16-2007 12:04 PM |
Whats on your Bookshelf? | hectorberlioz | General Literature | 135 | 02-12-2007 07:26 PM |
New Tolkien book out next spring | Draken | Middle Earth | 44 | 12-13-2006 06:52 AM |
The Sundering of the Tolkien Fans | Black Breathalizer | Lord of the Rings Movies | 55 | 01-22-2003 01:27 PM |
a little orientation needed | DrFledermaus | The Silmarillion | 9 | 02-12-2001 05:48 AM |