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One year older...
Nov. 26th, 2004 09:05 amIf I were a Hobbit, today would be my official coming-of-age day. That might sound a bit obscure, but to be honest I've taken some comfort in the thought that I was still a "tween" in Halfling years, since many whose opinions I trust have assured me that I am, in fact, a Hobbit in every way that really matters. But no longer. Today I join the ranks of the adult Hobbits, and I must try to be dignified, responsible, and upstanding. (Well, dignified, responsible, and upstanding by Hobbit standards, at any rate. Still a bit daunting, if you ask me.)
At least I know that geekiness is a life-long condition, so I won't try to change now at "twenty-thirteen." :) Not that I would want to do so. In fact, I never really had a chance; as some of you know, I described my front-tooth-missing, Jedi-loving self at five-and-a-half years old in my third of the recent Pop Thought "Review Club" on the Star Wars Trilogy DVD set. In a fit of birthday-induced nostalgia, I offer this picture as illustration. Alas, in this aged photograph I am wielding only a pumpkin and not my trusty lightsaber (which was yellow, by the way), but that doesn't change the fact I am a kindergarten power with which to be reckoned, a truly mighty Princess Leia, only one month shy of my sixth birthday. This explains a lot about why I turned out as I did, doesn't it? :)
My quote from the day, an excerpt from the prayer of a fictional character to his fictional god, comes from the novel Paladin of Souls. In it, Learned dy Cabon asks to be granted
"--in our direst need, the smallest gifts: the nail of the horseshoe, the pin of the axle, the feather at the pivot point, the pebble at the mountain's peak, the kiss in despair, the one right word. In darkness, understanding."
from Lois McMaster Bujold, Paladin of Souls
I particularly cling to "the one right word." As a reader, a writer, an editor, a professor, what more could I ask for the next thirty-three years? "The one right word." One of the smallest gifts, perhaps, but surely one of the most important. May each of us find it, and understanding, in the years to come. A worthy plea, one that meets even Hobbit standards, I think. :)
At least I know that geekiness is a life-long condition, so I won't try to change now at "twenty-thirteen." :) Not that I would want to do so. In fact, I never really had a chance; as some of you know, I described my front-tooth-missing, Jedi-loving self at five-and-a-half years old in my third of the recent Pop Thought "Review Club" on the Star Wars Trilogy DVD set. In a fit of birthday-induced nostalgia, I offer this picture as illustration. Alas, in this aged photograph I am wielding only a pumpkin and not my trusty lightsaber (which was yellow, by the way), but that doesn't change the fact I am a kindergarten power with which to be reckoned, a truly mighty Princess Leia, only one month shy of my sixth birthday. This explains a lot about why I turned out as I did, doesn't it? :)
My quote from the day, an excerpt from the prayer of a fictional character to his fictional god, comes from the novel Paladin of Souls. In it, Learned dy Cabon asks to be granted
"--in our direst need, the smallest gifts: the nail of the horseshoe, the pin of the axle, the feather at the pivot point, the pebble at the mountain's peak, the kiss in despair, the one right word. In darkness, understanding."
from Lois McMaster Bujold, Paladin of Souls
I particularly cling to "the one right word." As a reader, a writer, an editor, a professor, what more could I ask for the next thirty-three years? "The one right word." One of the smallest gifts, perhaps, but surely one of the most important. May each of us find it, and understanding, in the years to come. A worthy plea, one that meets even Hobbit standards, I think. :)