Frodo Lives

I swear I'm not reverting back to adolescence. Well maybe just a little bit. But indulge me this once and maybe we'll get somewhere...

Back six years or so ago I was a die-hard, completely obsessed Lord of the Rings fan. I'm not ashamed to admit it now, it was perhaps excessive. I didn't become anti-social or anything, but I could quote frighteningly large portions of the movies by heart and knew the difference between the Quenya and Sindarin languages.

Maybe you can relate to the feeling I had after the last movie came out. While I loved it, it wasn't too long until the story lost its power. I had lived in that world for too long and it didn't mean anything anymore. Real life took over. I grew up.

A couple nights ago, for some reason, I pulled out my massive boxed set of the LOTR dvds and started watching the "making of" features. Seeing the joy these people had in what they were creating, the intense camaraderie, was like rediscovering something I didn't even know I lost.

It was hope. The hope that good prevails, that friendship endures, and that the most pain heralds the most joy. That MY adventure is just beginning.

That I'm heading to Oxford is purely coincidental.

;)