Five Words Selected By TBT.

.....I asked TBT for five words as the 'Five Words Meme' sounded like an interesting diversion. Here is what she picked for me:

.....1.) Laugh: I've always had a distinctive and rather loudish laugh. It's one of the things people remember most about me. It's also how people find me in a large area as well. I work in an office environment where our floor is quite large and filled with cubicles. I've had more than one person tell me that they were able to locate my position on the floor by listening for the sound of my laugh. I don't laugh as often there as in the past, but it is still heard occasionally. If you listen to my mother, or even my brother, you will quickly pick up on the fact that it is a genetic thing. Laughter is fun, and contagious. I wish more people would laugh as a regular part of their day. :-)

.....2.) LotR: Oh, My, God! One of the foundation stones to life! All hail Professor Tolkien in all of his glory on high!!! :-) When I was in the fourth grade I lived on a farm on the edge of the Mojave desert in California. The 'Big City' (tm) of Bakersfield was a two hour drive away and done once a month as a treat. Outside of chores, there was not a lot of exciting things to do in our corner of the world. My mother was an avid collector and reader of books and at about fourth grade my interest in reading exploded (we didn't have video games in those days, yark, yark, yeark). I tore through her collection of young adult stuff from her youth (I devoured her entire Tom Corbett - Space Cadet series in less than a week :-)). In desperation she threw 'The Hobbit' at me. I immediately fell in love with the wild lands of Middle Earth. Then she threw The Lord of the Rings at me and it immediately felt like Rapture had come to Earth. I was ENTRANCED. I read through all three books. My mother couldn't get me to do ANYTHING else. As soon as I finished The Return of the King, I immediately turned around and picked up The Fellowship of the Ring and started again. I did this five times in a row before I finally set the books down and picked up something else (which happened to be Watership Down, but that is a different story). But it was the start of a lifelong obsession. I built my own alternate Middle Earth history, my own timeline, even my own set of maps for areas of Middle Earth not yet officially mapped by Professor Tolkien. I still have my timeline and alternate history. You should ask to see them sometime when you are at the house. :-)

.....3.) Love: This is a tough one to answer. I used to think of myself as the classic romantic type; poetry, flowers, serenades, all the mushy stuff. Then I found the true love of my life and discovered that I was much more the 'classical' male type than I realized. I found myself feeling clumsy and awkward when trying to express my true feelings of love. I found myself forgetting all the important dates (like St. Valentine's Day). I found flowers and cards to be rather cheesy. And I think my love poetry sucketh. Being in love is tough because I'm in love with someone who is smarter than I am, and stronger, and more creative, and more brilliant. I feel rather inadequate on many occasions. But I wouldn't trade a thing as I think that I truly lucked out. It is quite a challenge to try and keep up and prove myself worthy.

.....4.) Quiet: TBT finds this to be the most frustrating thing about me. When I have a tough decision to make, I get quiet because I internalize a debate over the challenge until I make a decision and move forward. That internal debate can be quite intense until it is resolved. But as it is happening I totally shut down externally. TBT likes to talk through things, or at least think her decisions out loud. She looks at the situation, comes to a decision and moves forward with it. There is no looking back or second guessing in her case. I second guess everything, which is why I agonize over every tough decision I make. I also get quiet when I am mad, when I am sad. But I also get quiet when I get contemplative or when I get creative. It truly drives TBT mad sometimes because there are times when I get quiet and she can not figure out why and whether I am happy, or sad, or ??? :-)

.....5.) Poetry: I love words. I love the magic that words shape. Words are truly magical in that by there utterance you can profoundly affect someone's life. You can change the history of the world with the writing of these magical things upon a page. They are more powerful than most humans suspect. I am entranced by words. I love studying the entymology of words, philology is a minor passion of mine. Poetry itself intrigues me greatly as poetry is the use of words in a pattern that turns it truly magical, a true spell. I'm not so fond of free verse. I love structure and pattern, which is why I love sonnetry so much. It has a rather strict form. Making words fit that structure and say what you want to say is magical in its own rite. The rhyme and meter of poetry can calm jumpy nerves and calm a restless mind. The sing-song of a poem can bring a smile on a bad day. I love poetry.

.....There you go. Are you bored yet? :-)

.....If anyone wants five words from me, I'm game. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.