[VanimaEdhel]

My dad used to be part of something called Comp-U-Serve (or something of a similar pronunciation) back in "the day". He kind of sees forums as a similar thing - he thinks that it's great that I can come on and talk to people from all over the world that are so different, but who share at least one common interest. Now that I'm at Wellesley College, it's basically the same thing all over, but in person. My mom probably thought it was a little odd, but she kind of respects me, so she never said anything.

It's an unsaid surety amongst my friends that I'm weird. Then again, we're all kind of weird. I have a feeling if I told most people here at college, they wouldn't bat an eyelash - they'd probably tell me what forums they belong to.

But you know, any Forum dedicated to one thing is kind of odd if you consider it. At least we have a broader topic - there are many books Tolkien wrote, we can discuss his life in general, and there are the movies to talk about. Plus Role-Playing is always an option. Meanwhile, at boards dedicated to a single person - Dominic Monaghan, Andy Roddick, Derek Jeter, Josh Hartnett, etc. - how much can they really talk about? All they can discuss is whether Dominic Monaghan is "really" dating Evangeline Lilly or something equally as inane. We can broaden our conversation, discussing cultures within the books, how it reflects on our culture, language, nuance, metaphor, biography, religion - the whole nine yards. That's why our Forum has lasted so long, I think. Even after all this time, we can still find ways of discussing new things - that's the difference between books and people or even books and movies. There's just more to talk about when you're discussing and author and his works.