Meanwhile, in Rivendell . . .

God rest ye, merry gentlemen, and God send you a happy new year!  My friend Rachel  tagged me last month with a festive film questionnaire, and while I 100% squandered several golden opportunities to finalize and publish this post on one of the actual twelve days of Christmas, I've decided to fly in the face of convention and share my answers anyway.  Yes, even though Epiphany has passed.  I'm rebellious that way. The Rules Fill out the prompts (expound as much or as little as you like) Tag some friends (however many or few you feel like)* Have fun (this is mandatory) * I would have done this, but since I'm publishing this post after the season is technically over, I've decided not to.  Abject 'pologies, etc., etc. The Questions 1. A favorite funny Christmas movie: Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) is low-key hilarious. "She has four fatal diseases!"  "And it only takes one." *terrific crash from overhead*  "Now I remember where I left my other s...

His own heart laughed, and that was quite enough for him. A Christmas Carol , by Charles Dickens ⸻ You know them, you love them — expressive little stuffed animals so authentically wrinkled that they appear to be made out of nothing but yards of felt and puddles of toddlers' saliva.  But what commerce, you may ask, have these children's toys, these Muppets, with pillars of Victorian literature? According to Brian Henson, quite a bit. Setting his sights on none other than Charles Dickens, Himself™, Henson released A Muppet Christmas Carol just in time for Christmas 1992, dedicating the film to his recently deceased father, Jim, Muppet mastermind.  In so doing, he initiated decades of Yuletide traditions for families innumerable — presumably, at least.  He certainly did for my family.  My siblings and I grew up watching the oddly corporeal Muppet ghosts cavorting around Michael Caine's relentlessly stoic Scrooge on at least a semi-annual basis. And yet, if I'm to be ru...

Hi, everyone!  I thought that this might be the month that broke my posting streak, but it turns out that old goals  habits die hard, so here we are. 😉   The title is pretty self-explanatory; I thought it would be fun to match atmospheric books, movies, etc. to iconic fall-time hobbies.  (As always, use your own discretion with these; the media listed here encompass a wide variety of content levels.) source If you like hiking , try The Fellowship of the Ring ( by J.R.R. Tolkien) for the ultimate autumnal quest experience, with plenty of cozy cottagecore moments, plenty of mountains, and plentyyyyyyyy of walking. 😜 If you like baking , try Brave (2012) for a tart, sweet exploration of what it means to be family. If you like  leaf peeping , try  In the Forests of Serre  ( by Patricia A. McKillip)  for the chance to lose yourself in a mysterious forest full of fiery color and breathtaking magic. If you like decorating , try Ever Afte...

Well, folks, another Tolkien Blog Party is drawing to a close.  Today is the last day of Rachel's shindig, and therefore, high time for me to post my answers to this year's tag.  Before we begin, though, a moment of silence for the end of a (sort of) era.  For the last several years I've used collages from a gorgeous Tumblr series as graphics for my tag answers, but at long last, I've used all or most of them at least once before.  I don't particularly want to recycle them, so I'm not including any in this post, but I think that Tumblr creator has made other Middle-earth inspired collections, so maybe I can scope out some new ones to use in coming years!  Anyway.  RIP, "modern LOTR aesthetics".  You did us a solid. ✌ On a cheerier note, read on for the 2024 tag questions and my answers thereto.  ⸻ 1. The Shire: What place in Middle-earth do you think would feel the most like home for you? Well, that's the million-dollar question, isn't it?...

Greetings, my dear Shirelings!  Yesterday was Hobbit Day, and it marked the commencement of what is probably my favorite annual online event:  Rachel's Tolkien Blog Party.  Check out Rachel's kick-off post here  and be sure to enter the fabulous giveaway she's hosting in honor of the party as well. I plan to answer this year's tag questions later this week, but for today's post, I'm casting my mind back to this time last year.  During 2023's party, Rachel hosted a game that gave players the opportunity to build a hobbit name for themselves.  (You can check out that post by clicking on this link .)  Per the rules of the game, my hobbit name turned out to be Cloverpin Sackcobble , and you know something?  I actually love it.  "Cloverpin" as a hobbit name?  Are you kidding me??  So cute, so versatile.  Fantastic. Anyway.  I enjoyed playing that game so much that it got me thinking about what my life would actually look like ...