<u><b> B I O G R A P H I E S </b></u> - (post 2 of 3)<BR><BR>In this post the Bookworm <b>Adopters</b> and our <b>Adoptees</b> give a brief description of themselves. <BR><BR><u><strike>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</strike></u><BR><BR><i><b><u>THE ADOPTERS</u></b></i><BR><BR>As you might have guessed, we're all book-readers, but we have a wide variety of interests beyond that. We hope you get to know us better <img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0><BR><OL><b><u>Alexandros</u></b><BR>"I frequent most of the forums but mainly stay in the Philosophy, Talk, Lighter Side forums. I spend about 8 hours on TORC everyday (except for Thursdays and Fridays). My interests include Books, Cars, Speed Bikes, Discussions and debates of all types, sports (outdoors), Games (Indoor - Chess, Checkers), Movies, meeting different people from different places, making people laugh and smile. I also love all things Tolkien."<BR><BR><a href='mailto:mr@cv.org' target=_blank><b>Armenelos</b></a> (a.k.a. Mr. Enigmatic <img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif"border=0>)<BR>"A son of Los Angeles County, Armenelos was born in the small suberb of Santa Monica. Living in the desert north of LA for most of his life, he fell in love with many kinds of literature, including the subjects of Middle-earth, the Beat Generation, and Objectivism. He befriended and became one of the artists in the area who thrifted toys and made music from them, and even directed a short film. He made a living maintenancing computers at the only Youth Library in California, while acting as a Stage hand at a Performing Arts theater, and eventually a Master Electrician/Lighting Designer, where he worked with the likes of Ben E. King, Earth Wind & Fire, The Turtles and many other greats. He is now awaiting the call of his musical hero, Trey Spruance, to light an islamic, electronic, surf rock, musical tour, while selling baseball cards and designing web pages in Galax, Virginia, the World's Capital of Olde Time Mountain Music, with his significant other and her family, entering into his twenty-first year in less than thirty days from now. -Matthew Rooney; Sep 22 2003"<BR><BR><a href='mailto:CaMinx@aol.com' target=_blank><b>CaMinx</b></a><BR>"Many years ago I heard of Tolkien and saw postings of 'Frodo Lives' all over school campus. However, it was not until I saw the movie 'The Fellowship of the Rings' that I actually read any of Tolkien's works. I read the Hobbit and then The Lord of the Ring (3 times) and loved them!! I mostly visit the Books and Movie Forums and read much more than I post. I am a mom with one tweenage son and a part-time bookkeeper at a law firm. I like gardening, karate, reading, and swimming. I love chatting and meeting new people. I adore this web-site and would be happy to help you find your way around or direct you in any way I can <img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0>."<BR><BR><a href='mailto:edenham@ameritech.net' target=_blank><b>Carnimiriel</b></a><BR><u>aim: Wrexali<BR>yahoo!: Wrexali</u><BR>"I have been an enthusiast of Tolkien's work for almost 20 years and have read just about anything by or about Tolkien I can get my hands on, including most of HoME. On TORC I mostly participate in a few serious, long-running collaborative writing threads in the Prancing Pony, though I also spend time in Books and visit other forums. In 'real life' I am a classical singer and teach voice at a small college in the Midwestern U.S. I also dabble in writing and am an avid reader. I am a member of both the Tolkien Society and the Mythopoeic Society; at the latter I serve on the award committee for fantasy literature. Other interests include music, dance, baking lembas, hiking, yoga, and travel."<BR><BR><b><u>jeanelf</u></b> <BR>"I usually am in Books, both Tolkien and Other, and Films (Tolkien). I've also been known to comment in Philosophy and chat a bit in the the Bird and Baby and Welcome. I've read LOTR annually for 27 years, and the Sil 8 times. I've now purchased Letters and bought some of HOME though I haven't gotten too far along in those yet! There are too many other books that have been waiting in line ahead of them! My outside interests are traveling, photography, reading, gardening and riding when I'm able."<BR><BR><a href='mailto:mahima_hada@delmia.com' target=_blank><b>Mahima</b></a><BR>"I read loads of books, humour, philosophy, sci-fi, fantasy. I frequent most of the forums, but tend to stick to Philosophy, Books (Tolkien and Other), RP in Prancing Pony, VTSG, Lighter Side, Bird and Baby. I'm an Indian,a Mechanical Engineer working as a "Product Lifecycle Management" expert, married, no kids, and like to do a lot of things, but not keep my life too fast-paced. And I'm not as old as I sound <img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif"border=0>"<BR><BR><a href='mailto:sestewart@internode.on.net' target=_blank><b>Nessamelda</b></a><BR>"I first read LoTR around thirty years ago (yes I was rather young!) and I started to read Sil the day it was published. About the only place in the forums that you don't find me is Movies although I actually enjoyed the film immensely it hasn't really occurred to me to chat about it.<BR>I have a severe RP addiction and my disreputable alter ego Alfirin turns up quite regularly in the Pony - and she is a member of the Rings guild. Nessamelda is a Journeyman Bard.<BR>In real life I'm a very junior (in rank, not in age!), very part-time academic, (I teach economics) with two small children. I dabble in just about anything creative - writing bad poetry and fanfiction; calligraphy, painting, embroidery, sewing - Jack of all trades, mistress of none. I'm originally from London, but I've lived in Australia for the last twenty years."<BR><BR><a href='mailto<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif"border=0>rettygaladriel@hotmail.com' target=_blank><b>PrettyGaladriel</b></a><BR>"I live in Sydney, Australia. My nickname is PG, so call me that<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0>. I read LOTR two years ago, and ever since, I've been obsessed. Then I watched the movie, and after that was when I found TORC. I've been here for almost a year (as you can probably tell by looking at the date joined under my name<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0>). I'm cheecky and sarcastic, but don't be intimidated. I'm a very,very nice person<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0><img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0> I'd like to be an adopter because I love meeting and helping out new people<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0><img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0>"<BR><BR><a href='mailto:felagund185@yahoo.com' target=_blank><b>wilko185</b></a><BR><u>yahoo!: wilko185</u><BR>"I'm usually to be found in the books-oriented forums here on TolkienOnline (TORC), but also make appearances in Philosophy, Talk, and Movies. I've been reading Tolkien for about 18 years, my favorite book is the Silmarillion, my favorite film of last year was Fellowship of the Ring and I somehow won the White Council 'Tolkien guru' award in 2002. I've found the people on this site to be friendly, funny and intelligent - I try to be the same, and sometimes manage it <img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif"border=0>.<BR>Outside TORC I'm a scientist from the UK, and love reading, films, roaming the internet and the great outdoors, travelling when finances allow, and some more reading <img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0>."</OL><BR><u><strike>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</strike></u><BR><BR><i><b><u>OUR ADOPTEES</u></b></i><BR><BR>New adoptees, please tell us a bit about yourself, and we'll edit it in here.<BR><OL><b>Teremia</b><BR>"I read Tolkien to tatters as a child -- wrote music for many of the songs -- used the Elvish alphabet whenever possible -- pondered the mysteries of the Sil (would I trade immortality for anything, even love? One of the big shifts in perspective that comes from being older is that I now see that trade as perfectly normal) -- in short, all the usual things one does. Now my eldest child is the age I was when I first fell into Middle Earth. She's reading it, but hasn't yet become fanatically obsessed (must work on that). I no longer, I hasten to say, remember anything useful about Elvish, and in any case I think I was just borrowing the alphabet without understanding a thing about the grammar.<BR>Anyway, I'm a teacher who writes novels on the side. I would like to become the inverse of that: a novelist who teaches occasionally! (Shall we call that my darkest secret?<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif"border=0>All the other ones would bore you dreadfully, I'm sure.) My username belongs to a character of mine. (So -- oh, dear! must fret about this right away!<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-rolleyes.gif"border=0>-- should I become an Eminent Novelist, my cover here will have been blown.) <BR>I play some fiddle and piano in RL, too, but I notice the acoustics are better in the Lounge.<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif"border=0>"<BR><BR><b>striderchick</b><BR>"I live in NZ, i am under 18 so i can't tell you too much, i have a thread on this site about sarumans nails, i actually refused to read the hobbit when i was younger, and then last december i read the hobbit, i read the fellowshisp of the ring about a week before i saw the movie, then afterwards i read TTT and ROTK. i have now frequently read LOTR."<BR><BR><b>Plual226</b><BR>"My history with LOTR's so far is pretty standard i guess, i am 19 now and at uni and first read the hobbit when i was 11/12?? then i found LOTR when i was about 13 and am now into my sixth reading of the entire series. I love it so much, it really means a lot to me. If i ever feel lonely or unhappy i can just open it anwhere and find a feeling of fullness and vitality and pure joy that i cant find anywhere else. Its hard to describe really what it means to me but suffice to say i value it highly.. my old laminated copy is bent and tattered and at all times i have a page marked out as to where im at..."<BR><BR><b>Lady_Galadriel786</b><BR>"I’m 21 years old, a Bangladeshi by birth, but I have lived in Durban, South Africa for the past 11 years. I’m a bookworm, through and through. I first read The Hobbit in high school, when I was 12. It was the first day, and we were all bored stiff; with nothing better to do, I headed over to the library and discovered the book by chance, hiding between Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (our set book for that year) and Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer - I was immediately intrigued. Unfortunately for me, though I searched high and low, that’s about as far as I got with Tolkien’s work (our libraries were so limited it’s a wonder they were actually referred to as libraries) until early 2001, when I finally got to read The Lord of the Rings. Since then, the seeds of interest that had been sown 8 years before bloomed into an obsession. It was like meeting an old friend whom I had not seen for a long, long time and getting re-acquainted with all their little quirky bits and little things that made me love them. I read both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings at least once every month and also read The Silmarillion and The Road Goes Ever On. I haven’t been able to find the other books of Tolkien at the library (I really need to move to a country with better libraries)<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif"border=0>( and unfortunately cannot afford to buy the books myself (my parents haven’t discovered the thrill of Tolkien yet - I’m working on that).<BR>Anyway, when the movie came out in December 2001, it only confirmed what I had already known: Tolkien’s genius is one-in-a-billion. And it was nice to see that Peter Jackson had translated Tolkien’s work so beautifully onto the silver screen. I’m also glad to say, the movie release did something I had not been able to achieve before (though did I work awfully hard on it): it made my younger cousins and my university friends as interested in Tolkien’s works as I was, and happily, they are now as passionate and as fanatically devoted to all things Middle-Earth as I am! J I’m currently working on turning my brother into another obsessed fan. (He’s only 7, but hey! You’re never too young to start, right?<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif"border=0>)<BR>I’ve only recently discovered Tolkien Online (as you can see by the date I joined), but already I feel like this is going to become another obsession.<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif"border=0>I can’t wait to go out there and discover!!!!<BR>In real life, I’m still studying (Software Engineering). I’m a writer of bad short stories and depressing poetry, and a dancer (now this I am good at<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0>). I love music, although I’m a pathetic singer (I leave all my singing for the shower<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0>)); calligraphy; hiking; swimming; movies; ice-skating; and- umm, books!<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif"border=0> I have a weakness for cappuccinos and café lattes - give me one and I’m yours for life (oops! Maybe I shouldn’t have said that! J). I love hanging out with my friends and family, they always come first for me; going to the beach or to the theatre; and I love parties!!!J I love to travel and have already been to Zambia, Botswana, New Zealand, U.A.E and India; and of course back to Bangladesh for visits. The places I most want to visit are London, England and Florence, Italy. I’m quite a shy person around new people (for the first 5 minutes!), but usually I’m outgoing, cheeky, sarcastic, wacky and spontaneous; and I actually have a pretty nifty sense of humour (or so my friends tell me<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif"border=0>) and I love meeting new people and making new friends!"<BR><BR><b>RavenX</b> aka <b>RidderMark</b><BR>"I live in Auckland, New Zealand (yes, another one!), um, i love legolas, and um yeah.<BR>Is that alright?" [Yes!]<BR><BR><b>Luvn_Legolas_Girl</b><BR><BR><b>Mr-Moony</b><BR>"I don't go to school. I live in Auckland, New Zealand."<BR><BR><b>Andri</b><BR>"I was born in Greece, but spent most of my life in Cyprus. I am a music teacher, I teach both piano and theory of music to all ages, but I specialize in Music History. I am currently living in London where I study for a MA degree in Music. (Any people from London here?)<BR>I first came in contact with LOTR more than ten years ago after I graduated from high school (I am giving away my age here!). I remember browsing in the city library back home, when I came across a book that had the most remarkable name on its spine: Tolkien. I do not know whether this name sounds OK in English, but let me tell you, it has a most exotic and strange sound in a Greek speaking world!!!!<BR>It was Tolkien's TTT and after taking it off the shelf and reading that it was vol.2 of a trilogy, I decided to wait until vol.1 became available. It was only a month later that I managed to borrow FOTR and I still remember sitting in my garden on a cool Spring afternoon, listening to the birdsongs and smelling the new-born flowers, opening the book and reading about pipe-weed and the Shire and a race of strange (at the time)creatures called Hobbits and Bilbo Baggins. And olkien worked his magic on me. I was totally and utterly hooked !!!!<BR>I spent the following years reading again and again the LOTR. Every time I read it there may be a small detail that I haven't noticed before that makes the text even more interesting and magical. I also read the Hobbit, the Silmarillion and the Unfinished Tales. Even though I still adore the LOTR, I find myself more drawn these days towards the Silmarillion with its almost unbearable yearning and melancholy. A masterpiece."<BR><BR><b>~*ArwenEvenstar*~</b><BR>I’m from New Zealand (and no, I did NOT get to see the filming of the movie… unfortunately!!! <img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-crying.gif"border=0> ) and I am relatively new to Tolkien’s world. I only read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings after I had seen Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring, and I loved both the books and the movie!! My favourite characters in the books are Sam and Aragorn, and in the movie Sam (although I do wish his part in the story hadn’t been cut down so drastically!), Pippin (because he’s really funny... I loved the scene at The Council of Elrond) and Legolas (because he’s HEAVENLY !!!<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif"border=0><img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif"border=0>). I cannot wait to watch The Two Towers (No, I still haven’t watched it!!!! But I will this weekend, hopefully!! *prays really, really hard* ). I have been trying not to listen to all the comments and reviews, because I don’t want to spoil it for myself, although LadyG has been dropping hints all over the place.. grrrr!!! Anyway, I think it will be just as exciting as the first movie, and I am especially looking forward to the battle scene of Helm’s Deep.<BR><BR>In real life, I am still in high school. *sigh* But I am off to university next year to study Architecture. I have always enjoyed drawing and sketching, and I think it’ll be brilliant to study and later get a job in something I love to do. I love reading, TORC<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif"border=0>, movies and music… the average teenage stuff!<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0><BR><BR><b>karakie</b><BR><BR><b>Faramirjam</b><BR>I'm Dutch (many of us on this forum?) and my father read me TTT when I was 7 (his own version, as I discovered later), I saw the Bashwhatever movie when I was 8 (and have been scared of the black riders until this day) and read LODR for the first time when I was 9. I'm not sure of the amount of times I have read LODR but it must be about 10 times- it's a part of my childhood and of my life. I enjoyed most of PJ's movie.<BR><BR><b>Wicked_Wytch</b><BR>I'm a young woman from America and I love to read and write. (Writing is my passion). I also enjoy anime of all kinds (Esp. DBZ and Cowboy Bebop), as well as animals and children. Video games are one of my favorite forms of entertainment as well. Usually I live in a fantasy world (or two... or three). <BR><BR><b>gwaedh <BR><BR>Tobias_Red-tail <BR><BR>SpawnOfSauron<BR><BR>Marie<BR><BR>Manheyn_Rawar </b><BR><BR><b>lychee_goblin </b><BR>Uh...I'm new? Duh *slaps forehead* I don't really have much time on the net on account of school...which is doing it's best to make sure I never see my eighteenth year roll around @_@, weekends are pretty much it for me, but I would like to learn how to get around this place, at this point I add I am technology retarded ^-^. <BR><BR>Ahh...I like to draw? And write? And read. I want one of those huge libraries where you wheel the ladder across with roof to floor shelves. I also like strawberries. Uh... I'm not sure exactly what I'm meant to be doing, I'm still trying to get a figure out the Adopter/Adoptee thing...oh well. Hullo! <BR><BR><b>jwoolygirl</b><BR>ummmm... Hi? I'm new. Just so you know, you can call me jwoolygirl or Monica.(my real name) I will respond to either of them. The one big thing that you should know about me, is: I'm obsessed with rabbits. yes you heard me right, rabbits. I have five of them, show them and have done very well. They all have heard parts of LOTR. Although I have read them only once each, I did enjoy them. I am currentally reading 'Dune' and 'Raising better Rabbits and Cavies' and a few other rabbit books. I like all animals (with a few excptions) so I am looking for an adopter who likes them too. I am a little shy, but once I get framilar, I open right up. I am a big fan of LOTR, and am even bigger fan now. So you could call me a fan in training. <BR><BR><b>Dovesong</b><BR>Greetings all! I live in Virginia in the USA and am a single mom of two little hobbits-and so have a need to converse with those at least pretending to be adults!LOL!I would like to learn all about this website and ya'll sound like the Most interesting group of people that I have encountered in a very long time!Would you please consider adopting this ol' southern girl? I don't have a problem admitting that I am lost and in need of directions!I love to laugh and I also love to delve into the deep serious side of things.<BR><BR><b>arielmoonbow</b><BR>Hello Lounge and Garden-ers,<BR>You seem like a fun bunch, and I would like to be adopted! I have been lurking on the site for several months, but only really started posting last month, so I'm pretty darn new. <BR>I love the books; read 'em first when I was ten (after seeing the Rankin/Bass cartoon special at Thanksgiving, a friend of the family bought the set for me for Christmas), and have re-read them every few years since. Recently I tackled some of the HoME series, and am currently on The Treason of Isengard. I've enjoyed the movies, and although some of the changes in TTT were irritating to me, I'm hoping the SE of TTT and RoTK will solve some of my "issues".<BR>I hang out in the Gardeners Guild, the Faramir Fan Club, and sometimes venture into the philosophy and music boards--but I don't really seem to "belong" anywhere yet, and I'd like to. <BR><BR><b>FrrodoLives</b><BR>My dad tried to read me The Hobbit when I was 8, the ringwraiths horrified me so he stopped. I read it on my own two years later, read it multiple times after that, then moved on to other Tolkien books. I am (hopefully no one will hate me for this) a fan of the movies, more or less. I find them acceptable to watch; I realize it is virtually impossible to stick to the books, so I deal with the changes and inconsistencies because they are enjoyable to watch. I only recently realized what a geek I am, but I'm proud of it. The only problem is, my closeted geeky friends are fans of Star Wars (so far no Trekkies that I know of). Therefore, I have sought like-minded people online. I love reading, I am an English major, so that is a good thing I guess. I've been feeding my obsession on my own for a few years now, but I hope to nurture it until it takes over my life, hopefully you all can help. That is all. <BR><BR><b>Snapdragon_Brandybuck </b><BR><i>Snapdragon meanders down the path of blue-green pebbles. She has been this way a few times before, but only for a quick sip of lemonade. Today she has decided to actually venture up the curving elvish stair and into the lounge itself.</i><BR><BR>Hello! I'm new around here, and, although I've been enjoying myself immensely, I'd like to take advantage of your adoption offer. <BR><BR>A little about myself. I've been a Tolkien fanatic since I read LOTR at age 11 or 12. I've read them dozens of times since, and, finally, just read the Silmarillion (sp?). <BR><BR>I am something of a bookworm myself, though I am usually more engrossed in children's literature, being an editor with a children's magazine. I live in the Northeast of the U.S.<BR><BR>This site is incredible. But I really don't want it to take over my life! How do you manage not getting swallowed up in this huge and inspiring place?<BR><BR>About my name: it is a flower name. Half the maid-children in the Shire have such names, and what could be better? But my parents obviously didn't follow the wise advice: make it short so you don't have to cut it short before you can use it. You can call me Snap if you like. <BR><BR><b>Alassante_Estel </b><BR>I 1st read Tolkien about 10 or 11 years ago - stole the books from my dad and have never given them back<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif"border=0> Read the Sil for the first time in ten years and wonder how in the world i got through it when I was 13 - I don't think that I did, lol. deluded myself on that one for a while<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif"border=0> anyway, I suppose I should say something about myself that isn't Tolkien related. I am a (3rd year) senior in college (I changed my major far too many times) and will be graduating on May 11 (my dads b-day<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0>) with a degree in Archaeology. I'm 23, soon to be 24. ummm, I grew up in the Marshall Islands (its in the Pacific, half way between Hawaii and Australia, and about 2,000 miles from everything) till I was ten and then my parents had this brilliant idea to move to Wisconsin. They told me that blizzards would happen all the time, and that I would love snow. Then when they retired, they moved to Padre Island Texas and left me here. Course, i don't know if i would've wanted to move to texas

Can I come live with you guys that live in Australia? Its pretty close to where I grew up - only about 2,000 miles away, lol. <BR><BR><b>Elessar15</b><BR><BR><b>Arwen1989</b><BR>Bit Of Info on me:<BR>obseesed with books, love Lord of The Rings, Harry Potter and stuff by Tamora Pierce. Also Obsessed with Buffy and love most types of music. Have Read the LOTR Trilogy + the Hobbit and the Silmarilion. From Scotland. Argumentative and sarcastic most of the time but very shy, Pretty sure you'll all hate me by the time you get to know me <BR><BR><b>SiriusBlack</b><BR>A few things about myself.. I get my name from my favorite character of the Harry Potter series obviously, which means I love books, Rowling and Tolkien mostly, though I enjoy reading other fantasy books, Midevil fantasy in particular, do not care much for the sci fi, other planets type thing, but I love the stories, with Kings and knights, swords, even elves and dwarves, that type of thing. Weis & Hickman, G.R.R Martin are some of my favs. <BR><BR><b>Tar-Elestirnë</b><BR>I love Tokien and his works. Took my name from one of my favorite stories in the Unfinished Tales. Umm, I think the movies are ok. The second one made me a bit mad just because some of the changes that they made (Osgilath in particular) would have actually messed the whole plot up. But I've been told not to go into the movies area until I am not a newbie anymore so I guess that I won't<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif"border=0> Ummm, I am 23 years old, still live at home, and am taking summer classes. I don't know. Umm, I really can't think of anything to say really. I love Tolkien and I signed onto the website after reading some of a Tolkien Virgin so that I could find other people to talk to about the books, especially the ones like the Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. So, yeah, hi <img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0><BR><BR><b>Dad-human</b><BR>I first read Tolkien in high school about 30 years ago but then somehow didn't until about 4 years ago when I rediscovered his books. I've been visiting another site for about 3 years and just thought I'd drop in here to see what it's like.<BR><BR>I'm married with two teen-age children. My family all like Tolkien but are not as fanatical as I am. I live in Northern California and work managing a gift store in a mall.<BR><BR><b>Finnabhair</b><BR>Salve...I'm a newbie to this site. Are you still taking adoptees? Anyhow, my name's Finnabhair and I'm from southern California. I became a Tolkien addict after I read "The Hobbit" when I was 9. Since then I've read and re-read "The Lord of the Rings," and "The Silmarillion." I love fantasy books (though Tolkien is still the king of all fantasy writers!). I enjoy writing, history, and archery. What else...I play the harp, am taking Latin, and am a newbie to the local SCA group.<BR><BR>Ave,<BR>Finnabhair<BR><BR><b>mytherielle</b><BR>A bit about myself? Well, I'm an Aussie chick, working in the Sydney region. I've always been a bit of a fan of the fantasy genre, and for a while wondered why the greatest review accolade was usually something like "x is the next Tolkien" or "Not since the Lord of the Rings have we seen such literary mastery!" etc etc. So I read it, and now I understand!<BR><BR><b>Dev</b><BR>I've just discovered LOTR -like many people- when the Fellowship movie was released. I've always heard about tolkien and LOTR but I believed (wrongly) that it was some tale about witches and fairies, just like, you know, all those 80s movies like neverending story, willow and stuff, that seemed very childish to me. When the movie premiered I finaly gave the books a chance and when I saw the Fellowship I was more or less on page 150 on the book. As any bookworm knows, the book ALWAYS tops the movie!<BR>Right now I'm reading the Sil as I told you and it's great to know there are many other people who have read it too, since it's not so easy to find readers in the neighborhood with big toolkien knowledge.<BR>Thanks for your welcome! I think it's time to start the journey!!!<BR><BR><b>mar</b><BR>Hi, I am from Buenos Aires, Argentina and I would like to be adopted by you. I read Tolkien books about 7 years ago and since them I have not left the Middle Earth. I never joined any group, I always kept this sacred treasure to myself. I started looking for information when the movies appeared to learn about the opinions of other fellow Tolkien readers and here I am, ready to learn and share and enjoy. I like reading very much, Literature from every part of the world. I also love travelling around the world when ever I get the chance to do so.<BR><BR><b>BigMama</b><BR>My first introduction to Tolkien was over 35 years ago when my high school advanced biology teacher decided to write all the extra credit questions on his exams in elvish. We had to learn Tolkien's elvish alphabet and respond in kind to receive extra points. Since that time, I have read the Hobbit and the LOTR at least once a year, and often more than twice. By conservative estimate, I believe I have read these works 60+ times! Since I am able to quote long passages from memory(at my age that is all I can remember!), I find some of PJ's changes quite difficult to rationalize, but I have enjoyed the films in spite of this. Since I am extremely bookish and a speed reader, I will read anything worthy of print. My other favorites in this genre include Kristin Britain's Green Rider books, but I also enjoy Jack Higgins and Clive Cussler--all great mind candy! <BR><BR><b>niphredilmaiden</b><BR>Hullo! *waves enthusiastically * <BR><BR>From as far back as I can remember I have been into books, and even now my friends think I'm a freak when I go into the library or open one up at lunch time... haha. Well that's why I would like to be adopted into the book worms! I started reading Tolkien's works after LOTR - FOTR came out, and now I have a severe passion for both. The books are sooo better though. More passion I reckon. <BR>I'm under 18 (awwe I feel so young and stuupid!) and final exams are coming up so I have to be studying for those instead of being on the computer, like I am now. uuuuummmmmmmmmm. I live in New Zealand (i didn't see no filming *sob*) but a couple of days ago I bungee jumped off the bridge above the Kawarau river that the fellowship were supposed to have rafted from. Or something like that. The water looks soo like the River on the movie, I was buzzing! <BR>OOOOOHHHHH YEAH! I just finished reading the Silmarillion!! I am so proud of myself and happy cause it's such an awesome book - I can't believed why I hadn't read it before! The tale of Luthien and Beren caught my heart the most... oh so sad and yet oh so brilliant. And most of all I can't wait to actually talk with people who know about Tolkien, since nobody will listen to my ranting and ravings about Ungoliant, and Beren, and how I finally know why Elrond is called 'half-elven' haha duur!!! Ok so after that I was a tad excited...<BR><BR><BR><b>Sandorf</b> <BR>As you must notice, I´m a newbie to this land but also a book-eater (specially Tolkien works, The Silmarillion rules!!!!<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif"border=0>)so I decided trying to find an adopter in here. <BR><BR>By the way, as you surely notice, I´m not an english speaker. I´m from Argentina so spanish is my foreign language. So I beg your pardon in advance for my idiomatic mistakes. <BR><BR><b>ErynofLasgalen</b><BR>I'm a 26 year-old French-Canadian girl (there's your explanation about the origin of all those nasty mistakes I make or even the weird words I invent.<img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif"border=0> Sorry about that. A friend of mine is trying to help me polish my English, but well progress as never been a fast thing... So for now, you'll have to suffer at the hands of my appalling grammar!). <BR><BR>I've been a translator for the last 4 years and a public servant, and have a graduate certificate in localization, which is where I've discovered myself a love of computer sciences and Webdesign.<BR><BR>So besides French (obviously) I've learned English (even more obvious <img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif"border=0>), German, Russian, Spanish and Italian (does Latin counts? <img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif"border=0>), most of them I have lost now, at least let's say my ability to carry a conversation is now "dormant". But it still amazes me how I haven't lost all of it totally even seeing since how long I haven't practice in anyway. I love travelling and went to Europe twice and many times to the USA.<BR><BR>I like, no love, no adore, no worship all things Tolkien, whether they are the original thing or the new modern version. Meaning that even if I didn't read much on the Tolkien front yet (sorry to disappoint you all, I'm afraid I'm not a veteran Tolkien reader), I'm getting around to it, as fast as real life and the movies will permit it (I'm careful not to read anything before seeing it, since that tactic as worked for me for the first movies. It's not a matter of not getting spoiled, but rather not imagining things for myself and then getting disappointed - Cause I have one majorly rampant imagination <img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif"border=0>). <BR><BR>Somehow, I manage to love the books AND the movies, without any preferences. Maybe it's a lack of discernment on my part, but I prefer to see it as being open-minded <img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif"border=0>. I'm also always seeing the glass as half-full and is absolutely incapable to be angry or depressed. I do have my melancholia episodes, but they never last as I'd do anything to have fun and laugh and make everyone happy around me.<BR><BR>I'm crazy about art, crafts and costumes (which explains the fact my house looks like a war zone in preparation for the Gathering of the Fellowship <img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif"border=0>). I tend to try everything and learn about anything I can, which makes me a beginner at all sorts of thing but never mastering anything I've undertaken (just look at how many languages I've studied). I know, I know, I have to work on this and learn some measure of focus. <BR><BR>I've recently discovered or rather rediscovered fanfiction and I've even been trying my hand at it, with inconclusive results. Well at least it's a great deal of fun, is an excellent opportunity to meet people and is a really good mean to improve on my English writing skills. <img src="http://www.tolkienonline.com/mb/i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif"border=0><BR><BR>So that's about it. That's me in all my silliness, with my red hair and my crazy dream of buying a motorcycle next year...<BR><BR><b>Sky4</b><BR><BR><b>soul_warrior </b><BR>i'm from the good ole usa lol......i discovered tolkien by going through my mother's bookshelves and reading the hobbit and then i had to read it again for class a few years later and i ended up reading the whole series. lol actually i found TORC because a little cousin of mine who frequents the sites was picking on a friend because of some of her rp's and somehow i ended up finding the site one day when i was bored............ummmm...........there's these two guys who keep chasing me and pumping me full of chemicals whenever i start to act......"odd" lol. i did roleplay 101 and 102 the opening statements to role players and i've scrounged through a few rp's and threads that were closed and figured out exactly what caused the mod's to get on there butt's about there post's lol and i've already started in on an existing thread lol(i dont think i jumped the gun)<BR><BR><b>Chizala</b><BR>Since I have an insatiable appitite for books, I thought that this would be the best group to get into! I love mostly non-fiction books, because I love to learn new things. I particularly have an appitite for books on Egyptology or archaeology in general. Tolkien has got to be the first fiction writer that really caught my eye and held it. What I love most is the history that he created for his world. As for my own intrests (besides reading)they lie in drawing, writing fiction (though it's funny cause I don't really like to read it...lol), dancing, daydreaming, learning new things, RPing (which I'm intrested in doing here...though I'll need help to develop my character...hee hee) and tons of other stuff that I won't bore everyone with here!<BR><BR>Misty (A.K.A Chizala) <BR><BR><b>seren</b><BR>Umm, hello. I'm a bookworm who's been here for some time already but have not yet found the place to flop down and bury my nose in a book. Would you mind if I came in? Is there any room here?<BR><BR>(eyes longingly the comfortable sofas and armchairs just made for sinking into with a favourite tome and a cup of tea)<BR><BR>I'm quiet and well behaved and I won't make a lot of noise. Plus I clear all my debris away when I've finished with it. You won't find sandwich wrappers and chocolate bar paper strewn all over the place along with dirty half finished cups of coffee. I also put books back when I've finished with them.<BR><BR>I love talking about books and enjoy role playing, though I haven't really tried any out 'cos there's such a mass of threads devoted to that. I was hoping someone would take me under their wing and show me the ropes, as it were. I also like writing and have ventured into the Scriptorium of Imladris to take up the pens and paper lying there. I have submitted a couple of my efforts too.<BR><BR>I've watched the big screen in Movies and joined in some of the 'debates' going on in there. But I'd really like to have a safe haven I can retire too when I need some peace and quiet. This sounds just like the place. Can you squeeze in one more? <BR><BR><b>Mrfrodo </b><BR>Thanks very much. About me...I'm from London (born West, now living East. Not quite Mordor East. Unless you consider Hoxton finns to be Orc-worthy haircuts.). I'm a copywriter at the moment. Did Illustration before that. So, a general words and pictures theme in my life. I studied English at university(Tolkien's old college). I'm 25. Anything else you want to know about me in general, Just ask!<BR><BR>But on to the important Tolkieny stuff:<BR><BR>When I was six I had a fever. My old gaffer told me the story of the Lord of the Rings. Read the Hobbit, and then the LOTR about a year after that, and I was hooked. I don't have the same Elijah-Wood-eyed conviction that he's the greatest writer in the world, but he's embedded in my head like a silmaril. <BR><BR>More recently, got into Buffy, and have been discussing the similarities between Tolkien and Whedon on a Buffy forum recently - Spike as Gollum, anyone? <BR><BR>I've always been a comics fan (Halo Jones and Maus are two particular favourites).<BR><BR>But Tolkien's my first love, and watching the films (ROTK in particular) has rekindled the old flame. So now feel the need to talk about it with people who won't glaze over after ten minutes.<BR><BR>What else? I can never resist a subtext discussion: "If that’s being queer, then we could do with a bit more queerness in these parts." <BR><BR><b>elatan</b><BR>A bit about myself. As most of the Aussies have guessed that is where I'm from. Melbourne, Victoria to be exact. Also partly the reason why i asked for adoption here. Anyway, I've just finished my last year of school, being 17, and hope to do medicine in the coming year or as soon as i can get in. I'm reading LOTR for the fourth time and read it for the first time half a year before the Fellowship came out. I didn't even know they were making the movies till about a month or two before it came out. I love all the detail involved and hence i love the silmarillian, unfinished tales and the hobbit. haven't managed to get hold of HoME, but i hope to soon. <BR><BR><b>celebalqua</b><BR>I have lurked around TORC for about a year, but finally signed up last December. My friend who I usually discuss my Tolkien concerns, in particular the PJ movies, has sadly left me to go to a better place, and so I decided to have a go at these forums.<BR>I am also in Melbourne Australia, have been reading Tolkien since I was 17 (20 yrs!), and try and pick up at least one book of his each year. <BR>I am a mother of three kids, aged six, five and three, wife to a kid aged 34! I work and am studying my matsers.<BR>I love reading, in particular SF, I don't usually read any fantasy other than Tolkien but I don't class this as fantasy any way. </OL>