Happy Birthday Bilbo and Frodo!

This is just a short post to commemorate the birthday of two fantastic Hobbits! In honor of Tolkien week and the Tolkien Blog Party hosted by Hamlette at The Edge of the Precipice (you can read all the other Tolkien week brou-ha-ha and excitement by going there) we shall give Many Happy Returns of the Day to two of our favorite halflings! (Well, except for Pippin and Merry and Sam. They're our favorites too.)

The first: A ringbearer in his time who aided the dwarves on their quest to the Lonely Mountain, reclaiming their homeland and helping in the defeat of the dragon Smaug: Bilbo Baggins!

 And his cousin/nephew (but Bilbo is referred to as "Uncle" so we'll go with that), also a ringbearer on the quest to destroy the One Ring forever! Happy Birthday Frodo Baggins!

Notice how they're both SMILING in those pictures? That makes me happy. They're finally smiling for once! :D 

This is also to wish a happy birthday to two of my dear cousins. Let me explain:  There are ten children in my cousins' family (I'm not going to use names, sorry) and of those ten, two boys were born on Christmas day about eight years apart and two were born on September 22, the birthday of our two Hobbits, eighteen years apart. YOU GUYS! I'M A COUSIN OF BILBO AND FRODO! WHICH IS JUST ONE MORE REASON TO WISH THEM (all four of them) A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Blow the party horns! Pull the party poppers! Dance! Sing! CELEBRATE! HOORAY!

*Ahem* 

That's my last shebang for Tolkien week. So I will say "One last goodbye" (:P) and leave you with this cheery bit of video to end your week. Just...please don't dance like Frodo? Please? Thank you! 

Note: Ok yes I know I posted this the day before the birthday! I wanted to get it out so I wouldn't forget. To avoid confusion, their birthday is September 22. I posted this the evening of September 21, for time reasons. :)

2017 Tolkien Blog Party Tag

Okay. I know, I know, I said I wouldn't be posting much now that college is in full swing. But--but--a TOLKIEN BLOG PARTY? One does not simply not participate in a Tolkien blog party! ;) First off, thanks to Hamlette at The Edge of the Precipice for hosting the party! (Actually, I've never done this before, but hey! there's got to be a first time for everything right?) 

And without further ado, the questions of...LOTR-ness! 

Think, think, think! How shall I answer these?

1. How long have you been a Tolkien fan?

That's tricky. The thing is, I can't remember a time when I didn't know that somebody named Bilbo Baggins existed. I think I always knew about Hobbits (thanks to my dad who read the book to us at a very early age), but I don't think I really know what happened to them. I guess I have been a life-long fan. I grew up with them and The Return of the King came out on I believe my 4th birthday! Also, The Battle of Five Armies came out on my 15th birthday, which is an interesting bit of trivia!  

2. Has your love of Middle-earth affected your life?

Absolutely! I CANNOT have a real conversation without alluding at least once to the Middle-earth sagas and can't see the real world without making parallels to the slightly less real one! 

3. If you had to take the One Ring to Mordor, which character would you choose for your sole companion?

I'm sorely tempted to just say "Sam" because well, that's what Frodo did and it worked out pretty well for him, right? But I think logically I would have to say Gandalf. He always seems to know what to do and could whack me if I started doing something wrong. But he isn't mean and I know I could always trust him. 

4. Which is scarier, Shelob or the Balrog?

Shelob, because BLECH spiders! 

5. Which two towers do you think Tolkien was referring to in the title The Two Towers?  (i.e. Orthanc, Barad-dûr, Cirith Ungol, Minas Morgul, or Minas Tirith)

Orthanc and Minas Morgul were what Tolkien was referring to, but I think Peter Jackson was alluding more to Orthanc and Barad-dûr. 

6. Whose wardrobe would you like to have?

Ooohhh...wow. I think I'm going to say something rather unorthodox. I SHOULD say Arwen or Eowyn, but I'm not. Can I have Pippin's scarf? 

And then for the rest maybe Bilbo's wardrobe. I am exceedingly jealous of his cozy bathrobe in the first movie and overall he seems to have very comfortable, practical taste. (And the acorn buttons. They're the best!)





7. What do you think an Ent Draught would taste like?

Homemade root beer (or maybe ginger ale, whichever one works). Like the really good kind that you get from small companies up north and nobody knows about!

8. Where in Middle-earth would you like to live?

Right here. :D 

9. Do you have any Tolkien-related opinions that surprise other people?

I don't like to correct people's pronunciation, but I am very strong-minded that "Tolkien" is pronounced "toll-KEEN" not "toll-KIN." The Letters of JRR Tolkien: Letter #347
I am nearly always written to as Tolkein (not by you): I do not know why, since it is pronounced by me always -keen.
Also, people hate on Elijah Wood's Frodo. I don't, really. I think he was very young to play Frodo (he was what, 18?) but considering that I think his portrayal was very good. Very good. The first time I watched the movies I was like, "Nope, he stinks!" but each time I re-realize how well Wood played Frodo. I mean, Frodo WAS supposed to be 40 years old, but...still. (I could ramble on for a while, but I'll stop  now.) 

10. List up to ten of your favorite lines/quotations from the books or movies.
I have a couple up on my sidebar! But here are several more:

Again, thank you Hamlette!!!! Loved it! And I'll leave you with one little picture for your enjoyment!

Notice Thorin is in the same stance as Grumpy from Snow White is usually in! :)

As the School Year Begins...

That title's not depressing at all, is it?

Hello all! This is a very short, very quick post just to say...that the summer is officially over. School (college, in my case) has begun and oh boy here we go! I'll be heading down to school again today (I commute, so it's about a 45 minute drive every day back and forth from school), the first of many days.

Needless to say, I'm going to be VERY busy these days. I'm taking 18 credits in this first semester alone, which is 9 classes (WHAT!!!!!) with varying amounts of credits. Two are zero credit. And so I'm not going to have as much time for this blog as I did over the summer. I will mainly be trying to keep up-to-date on Saturdays and Sundays, so if you comment and I don't respond for a while, please don't be mad at me! I WILL respond eventually, I promise! I might be a little late to see things both on my blog and other folks'. 

Well, that's it. That's all I have to say. Talk to you later, Auf Wiedersehen, Au Revoir, Vaarwel, Atsiprasau, Tchau, Mihi, Hwyl Fawr, Proschay, and Mar Sin Leat. Bonus points to anyone who can guess these languages! 

"Let us not say farewell--but as the French have it, au revoir!" 

Me going to school