The importance of escapism (or: why obsess over Tolkien’s work)

Amanda Hocking once wrote, “I like to obsess over things that don’t matter because it’s more fun than obsessing over things that do.” I think there’s a germ of incredible truth to this statement[1].

Why did Treebeard say that nobody cares for the woods?

Treebeard seems to think he got a bit of a raw deal. He says:

I am not altogether on anybody’s side, because nobody is altogether on my side, if you understand me: nobody cares for the woods as I care for them, not even Elves nowadays

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers, “Treebeard”

This statement seems a bit odd, considering that the Sylvan Elves of Mirkwood and the Galadhrim of Lothlórien lived not too far north of his domain. But I think this oddness is intentional on Tolkien’s part, as diving into it helps us understand life from the perspective of a tree.

Is Tom Bombadil one of the nameless things?

I know I have a whole different website that I use to talk about Tolkien, but sometimes in writing I get a bit stuck. Oddly, perhaps one of the best ways to become unstuck is to write. I beg your indulgence as I write my way out of my hole.

Spell “Silhouette”

When I was in high school, I competed with the academic challenge team known as Scholars’ Bowl. We traveled to other teams in the area to play in tournaments, and even participated in a PBS-televised tournament each year. Imagine Jeopardy!, but with teams.

Less Brown

As I’ve occasionally mentioned before, while in high school I played on the academic challenge team, called Scholars’ Bowl. It was pretty fun and generally one of the more positive memories from that time.

The Unexpected Party

For a few years (quite a few, actually, since post-graduate education can take the better part of a decade!) my brother was remotely working on a doctorate program offered by a college not too far from where I live in North Carolina. This was nice, since it meant that occasionally he would have to stop by in person and he would often spend the night at my place while doing so.

The Road to a Marriage, Part 3

I am slowly but surely working my way through the story of how I proposed to my wife. Last time I told about talking to her parents. But I had two more tasks to complete: I needed to buy a ring, and I needed to find a place to propose. This is the story of buying the ring.

The Replacement Computer

When I went off to college, I brought with me my computer that my parents bought me in high school. Since I was majoring in computer science, having a working and good computer was pretty important. It would have been a shame if something happened to it….

The Nerf War

When I was a kid, one of the most anticipated events put on by the church youth group I attended was the somewhat-annual Nerf War. The group would rent out a gymnasium, we would set up cardboard forts, and many dozens of kids would wage war all evening. We’d spend the night in the gym, sleeping in our forts, have breakfast the next morning, and be picked up by our parents some time afterward. I assume there was some sort of Bible lesson or attempt at meaningful discourse, but if so I certainly don’t recall that part.

The Added Drama Behind the Layoff

I previously told the story of how I was laid off after eight and a half years of working for NetApp, my first job out of college. There’s…a bit more to that story though.