You sank my fellowship!

When I was 15 I started reading The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien. In fact I believe that I started reading it twice at 15, once at 16, again at 17, and so forth. Never did I make it past page 54 (or thereabouts). I would read a bit, lose interest, put it down, forget where I’d left off, start over, read a bit, lose interest, etc. Most likely, I was too distracted by more mainstream high school interests (i.e., girls) to spend my time in Middle Earth. That was probably for the best, or I would’ve missed the boat entirely on those distractions.

Hey Kelly, you wanna see my Gollum impression?

That wouldn’t have gone well. As a gangly and awkward kid I had plenty of other issues to overcome without activating a completely new level of geek.

Anyhow, on a recent trip to Borders, I walked by a copy of the Lord of the Rings trilogy in a single volume. I stopped dead in my tracks. It was perched haughtily on the shelf. If it had a mouth, larynx, and other talky parts it most definitely would have spoken these words:

You never finished me. Not even the first book. Book one! Ha! Why don’t you go by a magazine, loser.

Sensing this ridicule, I bought the book. I decided that I would not allow myself to read another book until completing Fellowship. I’m happy to report that minutes before midnight of the day that forever shall live in infamy, I finished it. Praise to fair Galadriel! (Sorry, that was bad.)

I did really enjoy the book and I’m looking forward to the next one.

payday loanshome loan lenders fast cash no credit check no fax cash advances credit card application low interest payday loans home mortgage loans personal finance loans faxless cash advance bad credit personal loans refinance home equity loans mortgage refinance