guestbook highlights

Took this photo on the weekend during a run.


Yowza. Apparently a whole pile of people discovered Waiting For Frodo on the weekend through TheOneRing.net and read the entire three years' worth of strips in one sitting; my system administrator reports that electricpenguin.com did about did 3.3 Gb of transfers just yesterday.

I have very much enjoyed reading through the postings that people have been making in my Waiting For Frodo Farewell guestbook in the past couple of days. I must admit to being surprised (and moved) by the number of postings. Wow. Thanks, everyone.

Here are just a few of my favorite postings:

"Debbie: I have tremendously enjoyed your contributions to fandom over the years (how many years now?), starting with your Final Attempt. Thinking about The Lord of the Rings transformed me earlier in my life growing up and deciding to write a college thesis about it in 1995... and now the new online Tolkien fandom has changed my life in serious ways--I met my girlfriend, whom I adore, on an on-line LOTR mailing list. You and your Electric Penguin site have done much to make online LOTR fandom respectable and fun. I am in your debt. - Kevin"

"Well, this sucks. The comic is over. Hopefully soon there will be somthing else for somone to wait for. -KamikazeWatermelon"

"We've loved your comic over the years and it just can't be over now...Debbie, it's time for Waiting for Bilbo!! Thank you for your dedication and fun. - Tookish@theonering.net"

"I never said it often enough but I always looked forward to the updates of Waiting for Frodo. That little piece of waiting for each new comic is something you can only experience for the first time only once. And I was glad to be along for the ride. :-) - Baralier"

"That was absolutely brilliant! I enjoyed every bit of that comic strip. Thank you for writing it. I feel like someone understands my obsession now. -LJ: radicaltutu"

"Debbie, I enjoyed your comic strip and the song very much... but it was your weblog read of the LOTR that won my heart. I couldn't begin to tell the tale of how much reading that discussion meant to me. I didn't want to say goodbye to the book and I don't want this all to end either. Good luck in the future. Blessings, Magpie"

"I have very much enjoyed reading Waiting for Frodo these past three years. I will truly miss reading them (though I will probably read the ones you have done over and over again). :-( Thank you very much for taking the time to do them. They have brought joy not only to me but to many others (I am sure of it). Thank you and good luck in all that you set out to do. We will miss 'all' of you. :-) Sincerely, S.O'Connell"

"Wow... I can't believe it's over. It was great staring at the very last strip and seeing all the oldies back to stay! Thank goodness all the strips are online forever, or at least until the server crashes, or becomes infected with a virus... but let's not get morbid, people! The RotK DVD is nearly here! And then comes the EE DVD...Thank you so much, Debbie, for putting all that hard work into Waiting For Frodo! I loved every square of it and wish that I could go back to the beginning, to do it all over again. But the road goes ever on and on, so who knows what's next in the works from Tolkien enterprises? Thank you so much for Sam, Rosie, Pippin, Gladys, and the whole gang! -Lilotelasserie"

"Thanks for the comics Debbie. I've been waiting for the LOTR movies since I was 12 years old (25 years ago). It was great re-living the first time I read the books with you and Allison 2-3 years ago. It felt like we were all waiting in line together with Sam, Rosie and Galadriel during your comic strip. - Arthur"

"It's going to take forever to get out of the habit of checking your site everyday for new updates. Thank you for providing us with this great comic all this time! And I don't suppose you might be intrested in creating a Waiting for Bilbo strip later on, please please please? PS i still chear for Shane McEwan every time i watch any of the movies. - Robin"

"Thank you Debbie for all the hilarious strips over the years. It's sad that the waiting is all over now... And thanks so very much for the experience of following you in your first reading of LotR! One of my best internet-memories, I shall always remember and cherish it. Love from Katarina in Sweden"

April 2004 comments: Read | Post | LJ

spring

It's been a wonderfully laid-back weekend so far, I have to say. Lots of reading, playing with Corel Painter, gaming, going for walks or runs through downtown Toronto and along the lakeshore. I love this time of year, when the dregs of winter (and Canadian winters can be loooooooooooooong) are finally loosening their white-knuckled hold and New Year's resolutions haven't yet lost their shine.

Almost time for cottage ice-out! Looks like my prediction of April 12th is going to be way too early.

April 2004 comments: Read | Post | LJ

Waiting For Frodo no more

As some of you already know, I had to leave Waiting For Frodo unfinished while my arms healed to the point where I could draw again. Poor Rosie and Sam and the gang were still waiting in line long after the premiere of "Return of the King." :-)

Well, I finally finished off the three year comic strip, backdating the enties. You can see my farewell message here.

April 2004 comments: Read | Post | LJ

20 Things I Love About Rand Bellavia

Rand, in a park near his apartment last year.

Happy birthday to my friend Rand!



In continuing the tradition of listing some of the things I love about some of my friends and family, here are:

20 things I love about Rand Bellavia

- He's a librarian.

- His uncanny memory.



- The way he appreciates food. Also, how he appreciates how I appreciate food. If he's telling me about a new restaurant where he and a friend had dinner the previous night, he knows that I don't just want to hear if it was good or not, but *exactly* what dish he had (including condiments and beverages).

- He's an unbelievably talented songwriter. He and Adam sold some of their music to Disney a while back; it became the main theme for the Saturday morning children's cartoon, Fillmore, now in its second season.

- He has a turtle named Chunky Rice who loves him.

Rand and Adam in Watchmen Studios, a long time ago.

- The friendship between him and Adam (who is also his longtime music partner in Ookla The Mok). You can find a somewhat outdated interview here. You can also find the Rand & Adam bio I wrote for the GAfilk program book here (they were Interfilk Guests).

- His sense of humour.

- His avid interest in comics and the fact that he is not ashamed of proclaiming his avid interest in comics.

- He's a good listener.

- I love his singing voice. You can check out sample soundclips from various Ookla The Mok albums here (sample songs where Rand sings lead include "Famous People", "Hockey Monkey Song"). My favorite of their albums is the newest one, Oh OK LA (which you can buy here, where you can also find even more soundclips).

- His love of words and wordplay.

Adam and Rand at Astronomicon in 1994, the first time
that Allison, Jodi and I ever met them.

- His culinary sense of adventure.

- He gets along with my non-filk friends as well as family. He and my sister have developed a friendship; she's even put him into the illustrations for one of her books.

- He's there for me even if it's not always fun.

- His appreciation of office supplies.

- He's a steadfast and loyal friend.

- He usually has more types of herbal tea in his kitchen than I do.

Rand and Allison at Mark Osier's place.

- His love of poetry.

- He's a good cook, likes cooking. He has valiantly tried giving me cooking pointers.

- He enjoys being with friends, but also values solitude.

- He puts as much effort into the friendship as I do.

- We can fight and stay friends. If I'm upset at him, I can tell him (ditto for him being upset by something I've said or done). No mindgames, no hidden agendas: he shares my attitude that it's best to hash things out in the open. And when the dust settles, our friendship is always stronger for it.

Though we're in pretty much daily contact, we never seem to have enough time to talk as much as we'd like. I figure that in itself is a good sign of a longterm friendship. :-)

If you want to find out more about Rand, check out the official and unofficial Ookla The Mok Web sites. Rand and Adam will be performing at Eeriecon, Toronto Trek, and OVFF (where they are Guests of Honor this year), among other venues.

Jodi and Rand, at Torcon last year.

April 2004 comments: Read | Post | LJ

twitchy

Parki and me this morning. Photo by Jeff. Hey, I can actually manually type a bit these days. Ok, maybe it's still only a VERY little bit, but at least I'm not completely at the mercy of ViaVoice all the time. The biggest challenge for me right now is going to be resisting the urge to plunge back into my regular schedule immediately. I'm relying on the kitchen timer again to force me to give my arms a break every 20 minutes or so. The old kitchen timer had a wimpy alarm that was too easy to ignore, so now I'm using one with a very obnoxious earsplitting ring that makes me jump when it goes off. There must be an easier way! My arms are getting their break, but I'm getting way too twitchy. :-) Suggestions welcomed. I haven't been able to find a computer alarm that I can set to go off "every xxx minutes" without having to reset every time.

April 2004 comments: Read | Post | LJ