Hi friends (and enemies, and mere acquaintances), tickets for Holy Moot II are now available! Saturday, March 21 $50 in-person attendee, $20 online only Who will be the first to buy one??? www.eventbrite.com/e/holy-moot-...

I think I just found something cool. In Old English, to "boil" was usually spelled "wel" or "wyl" - like "welling." But in Bald's Leechbook, I just found this word, "bewyl." Old English used a lot of "be-" words. We only have a few left, like "beset." But "be-wyl" could have become "boil."

“Here is your button!” cried Frog.

'So how can you see what your life is worth? Or where your value lies? You can never see through the eyes of man; You must look at your life, Look at your life through Heaven's eyes.'

So friends: HOLY MOOT II is coming! If you have contributions worth hearing on the interplay of Tolkien and Theology, please be in touch!

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home... #Tolkien #Hobbit

Much of history is just people waiting for someone else to do something.

showing the boys a sick rock i found

Yesterday was my 5th anniversary of being a US citizen. I remember feeling so pleased and wanting to celebrate and be happy; but my first full day of being an American was the day of the insurrection. I spent the day feeling disgusted, ashamed, and more than a little heartbroken.

So friends: HOLY MOOT II is coming! If you have contributions worth hearing on the interplay of Tolkien and Theology, please be in touch!

More people should follow @digitaltolkien.com. It's the most useful site for studying the books, and it's pretty cool, too. The work James and his team have done really makes my work on Tolkien easier. If I wonder how JRRT uses a certain word or words, this site is my first stop.

Glad I saved this by @longwall26.bsky.social

23 December 1931 | Dutch Jewish boy, Max Adolf Frits Cohen, was born at The Hague. He was deported to #Auschwitz from #Westerbork in December 1942. He was murdered in a gas chamber after the arrival selection.

the right attitude

Yesterday, I 'performed' at my first piano recital. It was kinda humbling to be an adult beginner surrounded by 7-11 year olds (many of whom were better than me). I have a theory that the discomfort of being a beginner is one of our major obstacles to flourishing.

Assigned “Out of the Silent Planet” by C. S. Lewis to my 11-year-old to read this week for school and he begrudgingly accepted the 2 chapters/day assignment. He’s on chapter on 13 and is reading while he makes lunch because he can’t put it down. #winning #booksky

I was just futzing w/ Apple Maps, and I discovered that part of the Illinois/Indiana border still respects what was once a severe meander in the Wabash River. Apparently since the border was set, the river has cut a new straight channel, leaving just an oxbow lake & a weird border kink as evidence.

Holiday sale ads making you frantic? Retreat with me to the leisurely Southfarthing with new prints today of this rarely-glimpsed and very special region of the Shire. More links in comments! #Tolkien #TolkienArt #OldWinyards #OldToby #Hobbits www.miriamellis.com/product-page...

There is approximately 300% too much food here. Happy Thanksgiving!

Couldn’t put this in our salad. Too alive!

The Christian ought to “know your enemy” so that they might better love them.

10 years ago, an old friend told me she wanted to find her faith again but didn’t know how. We met online weekly for 3 months, by which time she’d started praying again; 6 months later she’d joined a church and was writing worship songs. Don’t give up on your "ex-Christian" friends.

Locations of Lord of the Rings places. 🏔️

Was talking to a friend this week and she said her timeline is all church controversies and I said mine is all birds and I think mine wins.

Before ordination, you go through a long 'discernment process' wherein your brothers and sisters prayerfully work through your calling with you. I wish we (the Church) did something like this for all believers, not just clergy vocations. Knowing your calling is for everyone!

Been thinking about the times in my life when I had most adventures and from which I have the most stories to tell. The common factors? I was out of my comfort zone following God, and almost penniless. It's almost as if safety, ease, and affluence breeds bland, tepid dullness.

Today, November 1st, is All Saints’ Day. All Saints is the second most common church dedication in England, after St Mary. In rural Derbyshire, we care for a church with this very common dedication: All Saints', Ballidon. 📷© CB Newham

One of my favourite things about the US is that I have never heard of most of these.

'Gafcon has re-ordered the Anglican Communion by restoring its original structure as a fellowship of autonomous provinces bound together by the Formularies of the Reformation... we are now the Global Anglican Communion.' Quite a big deal. Time to pray. gafcon.org/communique-u...

A Brief History of Let’s Bring Back The Good Old Days 🧵

Curry < Leftover curry the next day

I think we should call it 2 Civil 2 War

The "Department of Homeland Security" which is living up to its Orwellian name has posted a video on Facebook of agents arresting (alleged) illegal aliens and titled the video "Bag it. Tag it. Take it down." This is grotesque. Even assuming every person in the video committed some criminal act,

I've been thinking about Patricia Routledge; wondering why she stands out to me from other theatrical greats. I think it is at least in part because she came to prominence (in the TV world at least) in middle age: A Woman of No Importance, Kitty, Mrs Bucket, Hetty Wainthrop, etc.

*Any new LOTR thing is announced* Me: *braces himself, expects the worst*

A school anecdote from this morning. "Wow, what's that?" "I made it on our 3D printer. It's for the play." "What is it?" "Testicles!" "I beg your pardon? What did you say?" "Testicles!" "For the play?" "Yes, for the octopus!" These conversations actually do happen :)

In Swedish, a word for what you eat to bridge the gap between meals (or while waiting for the main course to cook) is stödmacka. It means "support sandwich." A similar word in Norwegian is ventepølse, or "waiting sausage."

Arise, Arise, Riders of Théoden! 🥰

Social media amplifies our worst tendencies: bloodlust, baseless speculation, the hunger for vengeance. We were not made to see people repeatedly murdered on camera. We were not meant to read every person's unfiltered opinions. It is corrosive to the soul.

The iconic voice behind this scene!

What do you think the #Beatles might have sung if they'd made their #LotR movie? I'll start… Carry That Weight Shelob’s You Elanor Gamgee I Am The Man Who Wrote The Oxford English Dictionary Etymology For The Word “Walrus” [No AI was used in this image. Gary B and Gary D 😢 contributed.]

With nearly 30 years experience of sleeplessness, I think I can say with some authority that insomnia is absolutely miserable.

"Pat, why do you carry that ridiculous 600mm lens on long hikes?" Buddy, I can see mountains reflected in the eyes of a trailside pika.

Today is New Shoes Day. I buy a new pair of LEMS every year, wear them 340+ times, then buy another pair. So yeah, I’ll be wearing the pair on the right till next August.

"How bad slavery was" is worse. Much worse. Much worse than you think, much worse than you're taught, much worse than museums depict. Worse.

Via Variety: 'Guillermo del Toro refused to make #Frankenstein with too much visual effects and green screens: "I want real sets."' variety.com/2025/film/fe...

Blessed are the free gardeners, for the desire of realms will not tempt you. Blessed are those who chore with their own hands, for the seduction of command will not unman you. Blessed are those who love not too well the devices of their hearts, for false salvation will not mislead you.

Tolkien Beatitudes: Blessed are the small, for you will go unnoticed while the eyes of the great are elsewhere. Blessed are the powerless, for the corruptions of power will tempt you less. Blessed are the unlearned, for you will not trust your own wisdom… >>