Sigh. I had a whole long post raving about LOTR and stuff but my computer locked up. Again. So, let me begin again. [pause] No, there is too much. Let me sum up: Hobbit – finished it this week, never read before. Yay! Return of the King (book) – didn't get through it last year, trying again now. ROTK (movie) – wantwantwant; attempting Xmas eve day, if not, waiting until mad rush is over Prep for said ROTK movie – having a veritable orgy of the extended dvd collection. Multiple times. Ooooh. Legolas/Aragorn/Sam – Ooooh… sigh… drool…. yum…. (oh, shut…

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Well, I was .2 pounds short of my 25 pound gold star and magnet last week – got 'em this week! Weigh-in was 265.2, down 1.8 from last week for a total loss of 26.6 pounds. Currently losing at a rate of 1.45 pounds per week. So now I'm around the weight I was for at least a couple of years, and I'm feeling more fat and healthy, rather than fat and not feeling good at all. That is such a relief. This weekend we accidentally had to go to the mall – the battery in my car decided it…

Stolen from because it deserves to be spread far and wide… Slingshot Santa! My best so far is 299.5 meters.

My LiveJournal 12 Days My True Love gave to me… 12 bronxelf_ag001s a-smooching. 11 crankycatladys a-falling. 10 enoelies a-hopping. 9 ericaps a-hooting. 8 ernunnoss a-snorting. 7 icecelts a-skating. 6 ijks a-staring. 5 copper literaryladybugs. 4 chuckling moonwalkers. 3 Scottish scarcrests. 2 bull sqlrobs. And a teri_lee in a apple tree. Get gifts! Username: Another fun meme brought to you by rfreebern.

Too perfect: Digital warriors thought for themselves – and their first thought was to run away It's the greatest and most spectacular battle in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. But filmmakers faced one surprising challenge – how to keep the computer-generated soldiers from fleeing the battlefield. Director Peter Jackson had laid down his requirements for the Battle of Pelennor Fields – the climactic engagement in The Return of the King in which the heroic defenders of Middle-Earth face the overwhelming might of Sauron and his armies of Darkness. Jackson wanted the computer-generated antagonists to have absolute authenticity on the…

and I just had a sock fight, after attempting to make the bed with a kitten in it. Now I'm going to go make pancakes. :)

An accomplished diplomat who can virtually do no wrong, you sometimes know it is best to rely on the council of others while holding the reins. There are some words which I have known since I was a schoolboy. “With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably.” These words were uttered by Judge Aaron Satie — as a wisdom, and warning. The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged.

What a great start to a weekend. Had some friends over last night for dinner and a movie. It was so nice! I forgot how nice it was to have people over! This morning, got up to feed the cats an hour late, then back to bed and slept in til' noon. Gotta love that. We'll probably just vegetate this afternoon, and tonight I want to go looking at Christmas lights. I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas, or as I call it now, Giftmas. I'm hanging on to the traditions of my family, when I don't really have a…

Game maker apologizes to Haitians Here is a LTE sent in response: Mr Diaz, I would like to comment on your article “Game maker apologizes to Haitians”. In it, Mr. Nelson states “A video game is something you buy to please the kids. When there are so many other good messages they can put in a video game, why does it have to be about killing?”. I would like to suggest Mr. Nelson do quite a bit more research before spouting off. The number one consumer of video games is ages 18-34, far from something intended for pleasing kids. He…