version 34: To welcome in the New Year...Túrin Turambar slaying the dragon Glaurung, from JRR Tolkien's The Silmarillion, the beyond brilliant prequel to The Lord of the Rings. The son of Húrin, one of the great Lords of Men of Middle Earth, Túrin at a young age swore revenge upon his father, who was killed by Morgoth. His quest ended in tragedy, with him inadvertently causing his sister's death before he himself committed suicide. He is famous for his slaying of the great Dragon Glaurung.

 
[ Technomancy's Denise... ]
[ kinyoubi 01.04.02 | x japan, kurenai ]

...on Tolkien, slash, and why they just DON'T and SHOULD NOT mix. Here. I couldn't have said it better myself.

ger saw dragons at 2101 hours

 
[ final fantasy characters ]
[ kinyoubi 01.04.02 | glay, shitto ]

Didn't blog yesterday...forgot. Not much went on either XD so you didn't miss much.

I'm just chillin'...enjoying my last week and a half of vacation before going back to hel - I mean, school and ROTC. Yeah -_- I'm sick of it...but aren't we all?

Took the What FF8 character Am I Most Like? quiz after I saw it on neesan's blog. *dies laughing* I knew it, I just knew it. Here are my results:

# 1 Seifer Almasy
# 2 Ultimecia
# 3 Fujin
# 4 Sorceress Edea
# 5 Squall Leonhart
# 6 Cid Kramer
# 7 Quistis Trepe
# 8 Rinoa Heartilly
# 9 Selphie Tilmitt
# 10 Zell Dincht
# 11 Irvine Kinneas
# 12 Raijin

No wonder I don't like any of the characters from #8 on...I guess I'm just not like them. XD

ger saw dragons at 1751 hours

 
[ ONE LOVE! COMMUNICATION ]
[ mokuyoubi 01.03.02 | fushigi yuugi, blue eyes blue ^^;; ]

Hard to believe it's another year. It still kinda takes me by surprise when I see that '02 up in the year.

I've been thinking about running for wing commander next semester. I went after it this semester and I didn't get it. People kept asking me why I, a junior, was running for wing commander, and I'd just kind of grunt and say that I'd always wanted it. Which was part of the reason, but I knew deep down that THAT was the best semester for me to be wing commander. Because if I waited until the fall, I wouldn't know if I wanted it anymore.

And I don't.

I've been thinking...there are so many things I want to do. This break has shown me how much I've really been missing, with the school and the stress. I want to play in the church orchestra. I want to go to that after school Japanese conversation class. I want time to work on my websites and not feel rushed. I want to just have time for myself, and it didn't happen at all last semester. Yes, I slacked off, and I know it...but I felt incredibly burdened. I hate feeling that way, as if I have things hanging over my head every single minute and that I'm dreading to deal with.

So as of now, the wing commander thing is up in the air for the moment. And really, it's looking like more of a no than a yes for me running. I don't know...I really just think I need a break. *shrug*

Maybe it's just a mood and I'll get over it, but I expect I'll be feeling very much the same way at the end of next semester, and what the wing needs is a wing commander that really cares about it. I cared first semester, and I expect I'll still care next semester...but I'm already beginning to feel the vestiges of discontentment.

My New Years' Resolutions, then, are as follows (geez...I'm such an Air Force dork...I even sound like I'm reciting knowlege while blogging ^^;;)

1. STOP PROCRASTINATING: Seriously. Everyone says that, but I get bouts of depression very frequently in which I just sit and stare at the computer, knowing that there are things I have to get done, or even that I could be having fun instead of sitting there. And yet I sit there. I guess this could be called the "make an effort not to get depressed" resolution...

2. EXPLORE MY SURROUNDINGS: I've spent 2 and a half of my college years in the shadow of Air Force ROTC, and I feel like I haven't really tapped into the rest of the college experience. I want to join some clubs, get involved with church, really play my guitar. I want to start up playing computer games again: got a joystick and some flight sims, dug out Warcraft and C&C. I want to read more. I've missed it. I've been too stressed out, not because I have too much work, but just because...I don't know. Maybe just because I've spent too much time in RAS?

3. STOP SPENDING SO MUCH MONEY ON ANIME AND JROCK: ....this can also be called the "yeah right" resolution. But hey, there's no harm in trying. ^_~ I do intend to start spending more on reading books when I actually finish all the new books I bought for reading last year, as well as rereading LOTR...

4. LEARN AS MUCH JAPANESE AS POSSIBLE! I want to learn to understand everyday spoken language. I'm not talking about classroom spoken Japanese. That's easy. As of now, I can probably understand half if people speak slowly. If they go fast...ha ha. No way. >< I intend to remedy that by the summer, when I go back to Japan. Look for me to be listening to my drama CDs over and over in my free time ^_^

I know I've said this to my "family" before: I love you guys. You're the best. You've seen me through some tough times and have never ever judged me, just listened and offered real advice.

LAUREL, I don't care what kind of trouble you're going through. You never need to hide from me.
NEESAN, same to you. You especially. We have the same soul, you and I.
LYRA, knowing you has been exceptionally fun. I look forward to more interesting gatherings next year. ^_^
MEARL, you're one of the strongest, most thoughtful, and intelligent people I know. I told you this in your card, but I'll say it again.
QUICKSILVER, we're both arrogant, quick-tempered, and sometimes downright strange, and I'm glad.
JEN, I've missed you during the semester, and I'm glad I got to talk to you during break, no matter how short.
STORMY, ARI, AND YUME: I don't know you all very well, but I've really enjoyed each and every conversation we've had. Know that I'm thinking of you, and I'm always willing to listen, anytime.

So here it is. Gerald's New Year blog entry. I look back at last year's New Year blog entry, and I couldn't have imagined how much I could have changed in a year, and I'm sure I'll be surprised next year when I look back on this entry. From blog entry on January 1, 2001:

It's so WEIRD to think that this is a new year already...the last time I checked, it was June 2000 and I was dreading another semester of classes...time sure flies, doesn't it?

Yes, it sure does...

Right now, I'm content. I'm the happiest I can ever remembering being in my entire life, and that's saying something. I'm so glad to have the people that I have in my life, the wonderful memories and the things that I've discovered this year. This might sound sappy, and forgive me just this once. I hate being sappy. But I really and truly am thankful.

Domo arigatou gozaimashita, minna-sama!

ger saw dragons at 0424 hours

 
[ War in Middle Earth ]
[ suiyoubi 01.02.02 | warcraft II, who wants to sing? ]

This is a Lord of the Rings obsessive rant, so if you don't know anything about LOTR, don't read it. ^_^

Just went and saw FOTR again today and it's as incredible as ever. I'm reaching back into the recesses of my mind and pulling out everything I ever loved about Lord of the Rings, more than 10 years ago. I was obsessed with this series. My first fiction works were based closely on this series, and I even tried to do a LOTR crossover with one of my original stories. Needless to say, that didn't work out so well, but my fond memories of LOTR go back to when I was a child in Illinois.

My father introduced the series to me. I still have a copy of the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, bought by my dad when he was a kid. I'm sure they're collector's items now, but I'd be crazy to sell them. They're...my precious. ^_^ I also have a copy of the Silmarillion with its cover falling off, and Unfinished Tales in not quite so bad shape. I was the proud owner of one of the first Middle Earth PC strategy games ever, War in Middle Earth, and then there was Riders of Rohan.

My brother and I would play elves and orcs in the back yard. We were both Elves, of course. I'd play Legolas and he'd usually play Haldir or Gildur. Sometimes I would be Aragorn instead. I'd also run around the house on all fours pretending to be Gollum. I still have most of the poems of the books memorized, including the 5 page long one about Earendil. Though I never did get around to memorizing Aragorn's story about Luthien Tinuviel.

The Lord of the Rings isn't just a child's fantasy...it's an epic beyond all epics...the father of the fantasy genre as we know it today. Yes, it's tedious in some place, and yes, Tolkien's writing style isn't the greatest. I have heard all these complaints recently and I can understand why people believe that. But strangely, when I dig back through my childhood memory, I didn't find a single tedious word in any of Tolkien's books (except for the Council of Elrond...but who would expect a 9 year old to sit through staff meetings without feeling a little restless? ^_~) I drank in every word, every sound, every description of rustling tree branch or singing bird. To me, Middle Earth WAS real.

That was long before the age of digital movies. When I first read the trilogy, one could only dream of making a movie like I just saw in theatres today. And that is why it's so incredible. It's my dream of so many years coming true on the big screen, in every way as good as I wanted it to be. There are some childhood memories that you remember with fondness, but when you go back to them, you find that they're not nearly as good as you remember them to be. The Lord of the Rings isn't one of them. I can honestly say that this story is even BETTER than I remember when I first read the books all those years ago.

People may think I'm crazy, and honestly, I don't care. Boromir's death has always been a painful part of the book for me, and one of my favorite scenes of all time. I fell in love with Shadowfax and Rohan the first time I read about them, and I'm still in love with the land of Eorl. The tale of Turin Turambar in Unfinished Tales made me cry. Every time I read about the fall of Gondolin, I was screaming for Tuor to do something! even though I knew it would end the exact same way. Aldarion and Erendis...Earendil and his Elwing...Turin and the Dragon Glaurung...Luthien Tinuviel and her love for Beren...Feanor and his oath and the breaking of the Elves...Turgon and his proud Gondolin...the wrath of Manwe...Maedhros' indecision...the sword of Narsil and Elendil and Isildur's bane...the fall of Numenor and its proud line of Kings...the glory and the romance and the tragedy of it all just overwhelms me, even now.

I'm aware I'm rambling, and I just can't stop. Middle Earth isn't just a place...it's a WORLD. No other author in my knowledge has created such a world, with such a history, languages, such characters, and such power. If I do one thing in this life, I want to be a writer like Tolkien was.

I'm not going to talk about the recent explosion of fandom online. I'm not going to talk about the fanfiction, since God knows I've ranted about that long enough and you don't want to hear about it. I'm not going to talk about "real" Tolkien fandom, because there really isn't anything to talk about. Being a Lord of the Rings fan means knowing what the story of Middle Earth means to you, and I know...I've known ever since I was a child. It's not a paradise, a magical land in which people never grow up. It's the story of an ever losing battle against evil, age, and time itself, the struggle against the darkness within each person's soul. All things fade, Tolkien taught us that. Glory, riches, fame, Men, Dwarves, Dragons, even Elves. But yet in that fading there is beauty, if one knows where to look. And that is the true power of Middle Earth.

JRR Tolkien...thank you.

Links:
TheOneRing.net [http://www.theonering.net]
Cabed-en-Aras [http://www.cabed-en-aras.com/]
The Hideout of Imladris [http://imladris.noldor.org/]
War in Middle Earth [http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Drive/2483/wimehome.html]

ger saw dragons at 0427 hours

 
[ productiveness during the magical hour ]
[ kayoubi 01.01.02! | fushigi yuugi, ashita no watashi o shinjitai ]

I'd like to PROUDLY announce that it is 5 AM and I am STILL up!

Doing what, you may ask? Well, I hooked up my new joystick to my computer and played X-Wing vs TIE Fighter from about 9 PM to midnight (breaking to watch the ball drop in Times Square of course). Then I switched over to Warcraft II and finished destroying Stromgarde. I'm now in Quel'Thalas trying to capture the Runestone at Caer Darrow. Go me.

At 2 AM I took a shower and then headed over to see if I could archive some fics. I looked at all the fics...and decided not to. XD Ended up checking the rest of the links to the Anipike FY page and then looking through aoiryuu.com. Uploaded some translations to Seiryuu songs and here I am. Still awake. And hungry.

I've spent almost all of the past day or so translating Fushigi Yuugi songs. The fruits of my labor are very much appreciated *pats Laurel* I hope to have all of them finished by the time school starts...even the CD books and weird ones in which Laurel scans the lyrics for me. ^___^ FY songs aren't too hard and most of them are very interesting. Not your average old image song. Which is nice.

NOW I am going to bed. Happy New Year minna!

ger saw dragons at 0512 hours

 
[ TURIN!
[ getsuyoubi 12.31.01 | enya, may it be (the fellowship of the ring soundtrack) ]

New layout! I've loved the Silmarillion since I read it almost more than 10 years ago, for its unforgettable characters and epic story. Who could forget the Valar and the Maiar, the treachery of Melkor, the Elves and the sons of Feanor, the Silmarils, Turin Turambar, Luthien Tinuviel, Gil-Galad, and the fall of Numenor? ^_^

Picture above is Turin slaying Glaurung. I have to go eat dinner now, so umm...yeah. Read the blurb above if you want to know more about Turin. There's too much to tell for me to tell it to you, so if you want more...go buy The Silmarillion. ^____^

ger saw dragons at 1958 hours