Reply to this meme by yelling "Words!" and I will give you five words that remind me of you. Then post them in your LJ and explain what they mean to you.
rabidsamfan gave me these five words:
Bag End
Katrina
MEFAs
reviews
eloquence
Bag End
I consider it to be one word. My first introduction to Bag End was when I read The Hobbit at fifteen. I could barely wait to the next day to read Fellowship of the Ring. And to have the first chapter be another party at Bag End was quite a treat.
Bag End is the essence of hobbitiness! It is comfortable, cozy, with a warm and inviting kitchen, and a study stuffed with books. I love most to imagine it during those years when Frodo lived with Bilbo, and Merry, Pippin and Sam were frequently found there.
I once attempted to make a little model of Bag End, and had a lot of fun doing it. But it did not survive the move to Oklahoma. I think
obeliamedusa's Tiny Bag End is an amazing work of art!
I have a very clear vision of Bag End in my mind's eye. Although it looks a lot like PJ's idea of Bag End, I actually had that picture in my mind before I ever saw the movie. There's a large oak tree growing on The Hill atop the smial, and a smaller tree in the front yard. There is a bench to the side of the front doorstep where Bilbo often sits to smoke his pipe. Frodo and his cousins and Sam often sit on the doorstep to play stones. The kitchen window overlooks the south garden; it has a huge lilac bush beneath it. A little path leads down from the kitchen door. The vegetable beds are to the right of the path, as is a well and a shed, where the Gaffer does the potting and keeps his tools. Another tree grows about halfway down the path on the left, and it has another little bench, and roundabout it are planted some shade loving ferns and flowers. Just below that is a stone retaining wall which separates the main smial and its gardens from an apple orchard.
Inside, I imagine the kitchen to the left, on the other side of a sitting room. There are several guest rooms, one of which was especially remodeled just for Gandalf, and contains a bed and chair sized for a Big Person. There is another small guest room right next to Frodo's own room, which is usually set aside for Merry, and one across the hall that is designated for Pippin. The youngsters seldom sleep in them when they come. I can just see Bilbo's desk, a slanted calligrapher's desk, which sits beneath one of the round windows overlooking the front garden. The walls on either side of the fireplace are lined with bookshelves, and a settee and two comfortable armchairs flank the hearth.
That's "my" Bag End, anyway.
Katrina
The worst experience of my adult life. It affected me far more than I knew at the time. It disrupted a whole way of life, which will never be the same again for everyone it touched.
I still miss my house in Gulfport. We lived there 30 years. But we just could not afford to stay after Katrina.
The thing that disturbs me the most is how bad it all *still* is. When we went back there last summer, there was so much still torn up, so much still broken.
MEFAs
I love the MEFAs. It is such a wonderful way to honor good stories, to help them get wider exposure and to find marvelous fics to read. I've been part of them since the first year, and a volunteer since the second, and I love the way that they evolve in order to accommodate the participants.
They do have a few cons-- for several weeks, my inbox gets flooded with emails, all of which begin with MEFA, and they are work intensive. I simply cannot begin to imagine the amount of work that Marta, Tanaqui and Aranel put in. I am only a lowly liaison, and there are still times for a few weeks that I wonder how I'm going to manage! I have so much admiration for those who are able to do all of the other work involved. And there are the occasional bugs and glitches that are part of any online venture.
But I adore the fact that they are review based. Once the reviews start showing up, I am in hog heaven! Not only for my own nominations but for other stories too!
Which brings us to your next word, by the way, you clever thing you!
reviews
I am a review junkie. I freely admit it. I don't simply mean basking in the glow of the reviews and comments I get for my own stuff, but in posting them for others, and in reading other people's reviews and comments.
I often kill time reading my own old reviews, and sometimes I just go snooping through other peoples stories and reading *their* old reviews! I generally post my own review or comment, though, before I look at the others.
It's also important to me to answer reviews that I receive. I feel bad when something comes up and prevents me from replying to reviews. I think one of the best things about fanfic is the give-and-take between writer and reader; it's how friendships are made and maintained in the fanfic world.
And face it, there is nothing better for the ego than to post a story, and go back in a few hours and find some nice comments!
eloquence
Hmm…what do I think about eloquence?
In speaking, I equate it with clarity and passion. In this matter, for example, I find our new president very eloquent.
In writing? I'm not sure, but I know it when I see it. I have a good many friends whose writing I find very eloquent--it moves me, and yet it does have clarity as well, but it also is very descriptive and sensory. It evokes all the feelings that it is meant to evoke, but not in a fashion that feels manipulative or contrived.
I do not think that in writing I am myself especially eloquent, though I do have a few passages I think come very close. I would like to be an eloquent writer, and strive for it, but I know I fall woefully short.
In speaking, I *hope* that I am eloquent when my passions are engaged, but I don't suppose I am the best judge of that.
Bag End
Katrina
MEFAs
reviews
eloquence
Bag End
I consider it to be one word. My first introduction to Bag End was when I read The Hobbit at fifteen. I could barely wait to the next day to read Fellowship of the Ring. And to have the first chapter be another party at Bag End was quite a treat.
Bag End is the essence of hobbitiness! It is comfortable, cozy, with a warm and inviting kitchen, and a study stuffed with books. I love most to imagine it during those years when Frodo lived with Bilbo, and Merry, Pippin and Sam were frequently found there.
I once attempted to make a little model of Bag End, and had a lot of fun doing it. But it did not survive the move to Oklahoma. I think
I have a very clear vision of Bag End in my mind's eye. Although it looks a lot like PJ's idea of Bag End, I actually had that picture in my mind before I ever saw the movie. There's a large oak tree growing on The Hill atop the smial, and a smaller tree in the front yard. There is a bench to the side of the front doorstep where Bilbo often sits to smoke his pipe. Frodo and his cousins and Sam often sit on the doorstep to play stones. The kitchen window overlooks the south garden; it has a huge lilac bush beneath it. A little path leads down from the kitchen door. The vegetable beds are to the right of the path, as is a well and a shed, where the Gaffer does the potting and keeps his tools. Another tree grows about halfway down the path on the left, and it has another little bench, and roundabout it are planted some shade loving ferns and flowers. Just below that is a stone retaining wall which separates the main smial and its gardens from an apple orchard.
Inside, I imagine the kitchen to the left, on the other side of a sitting room. There are several guest rooms, one of which was especially remodeled just for Gandalf, and contains a bed and chair sized for a Big Person. There is another small guest room right next to Frodo's own room, which is usually set aside for Merry, and one across the hall that is designated for Pippin. The youngsters seldom sleep in them when they come. I can just see Bilbo's desk, a slanted calligrapher's desk, which sits beneath one of the round windows overlooking the front garden. The walls on either side of the fireplace are lined with bookshelves, and a settee and two comfortable armchairs flank the hearth.
That's "my" Bag End, anyway.
Katrina
The worst experience of my adult life. It affected me far more than I knew at the time. It disrupted a whole way of life, which will never be the same again for everyone it touched.
I still miss my house in Gulfport. We lived there 30 years. But we just could not afford to stay after Katrina.
The thing that disturbs me the most is how bad it all *still* is. When we went back there last summer, there was so much still torn up, so much still broken.
MEFAs
I love the MEFAs. It is such a wonderful way to honor good stories, to help them get wider exposure and to find marvelous fics to read. I've been part of them since the first year, and a volunteer since the second, and I love the way that they evolve in order to accommodate the participants.
They do have a few cons-- for several weeks, my inbox gets flooded with emails, all of which begin with MEFA, and they are work intensive. I simply cannot begin to imagine the amount of work that Marta, Tanaqui and Aranel put in. I am only a lowly liaison, and there are still times for a few weeks that I wonder how I'm going to manage! I have so much admiration for those who are able to do all of the other work involved. And there are the occasional bugs and glitches that are part of any online venture.
But I adore the fact that they are review based. Once the reviews start showing up, I am in hog heaven! Not only for my own nominations but for other stories too!
Which brings us to your next word, by the way, you clever thing you!
reviews
I am a review junkie. I freely admit it. I don't simply mean basking in the glow of the reviews and comments I get for my own stuff, but in posting them for others, and in reading other people's reviews and comments.
I often kill time reading my own old reviews, and sometimes I just go snooping through other peoples stories and reading *their* old reviews! I generally post my own review or comment, though, before I look at the others.
It's also important to me to answer reviews that I receive. I feel bad when something comes up and prevents me from replying to reviews. I think one of the best things about fanfic is the give-and-take between writer and reader; it's how friendships are made and maintained in the fanfic world.
And face it, there is nothing better for the ego than to post a story, and go back in a few hours and find some nice comments!
eloquence
Hmm…what do I think about eloquence?
In speaking, I equate it with clarity and passion. In this matter, for example, I find our new president very eloquent.
In writing? I'm not sure, but I know it when I see it. I have a good many friends whose writing I find very eloquent--it moves me, and yet it does have clarity as well, but it also is very descriptive and sensory. It evokes all the feelings that it is meant to evoke, but not in a fashion that feels manipulative or contrived.
I do not think that in writing I am myself especially eloquent, though I do have a few passages I think come very close. I would like to be an eloquent writer, and strive for it, but I know I fall woefully short.
In speaking, I *hope* that I am eloquent when my passions are engaged, but I don't suppose I am the best judge of that.