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08-03-2009, 11:27 AM | #41 | |
Flame of the Ainulindalë
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I mean to me (having being a youngster at 70's and partly 80's in Finland) someone adoring a pic of sheltie was 100% female to be sure! They had pics of those dogs in their rooms but no guy could have ever done that... So I mean it's not a question whether the dog in the pic (or the famous Lassie) is male or female, but to love a pic like that was just "girly" when I was of the age people had posters on their walls... I'm happy to see the world is not like that black and white anymore.
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Upon the hearth the fire is red Beneath the roof there is a bed; But not yet weary are our feet... |
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08-03-2009, 03:11 PM | #43 |
Princess of Skwerlz
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: where the Sea is eastwards (WtR: 6060 miles)
Posts: 7,500
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After seven years of appearing almost exclusively as Fiona (with a slight divergence to the Asterix image which impersonates my Merisuwyniel RPG character) I hate to disappoint people, but I am not a princess! I know, I know - the personal title says I am, and of course I had to choose a princess image to go with it. Most movie/fairytale princesses were too saccharine for my taste, so Fiona was a logical choice. I like her unconventional style!
Contrary to what some might think when I step into a cozy conversation threatening to send in the chat skwerlz, I am not an ogre (or is it ogress?) either! However, I will admit to being female, so the avatar is not all wrong...
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'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?' 'The whole history of Middle-earth...' |
08-03-2009, 04:04 PM | #44 | |
Flame Imperishable
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Right here
Posts: 3,928
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Anyway, yes I agree that each name avatar is viewed differently by each person, and that is what makes it more interesting (though can sometimes lead to embarrassing moments, for example when I though TheGreatElvenWarrior was male . But then she did have a picture of Sam). What does my avatar tell others about me, I wonder. And also, after being on the Downs for a while I think that the name Eönwë might be just a little too much.
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Welcome to the Barrow Do-owns Forum / Such a lovely place
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08-03-2009, 10:02 PM | #45 | ||
Mighty Quill
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Walking off to look for America
Posts: 2,230
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I have judged people by their avatars for two years (and one day, hehe). For a long time, I thought that Eonwe was older than he actually is. For about a year and a half I was convinced that he was in his thirties at least, because of his avatar. It is the same with Groin Redbeard. I thought he looked like a dwarf because he had a dwarf as his avatar, so obviously, he has a beard!
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08-03-2009, 11:54 PM | #46 |
Maundering Mage
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 4,648
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For me I've only selected a few avatars. My first was a chimp in a pink shirt pointing a gun. I liked it but when I saw the current avatar I liked it more. I have more or less stuck with it throughout. It was selected because it reminds me of me. I'm about as smart as a chimp, but I can dress the part of a smart person and if anybody disagrees I've got my gun.
I do occasionally change when major sporting events are going that I'm interested in. I've been my favorite college football team's logo before. Anyway, Nog in looking back at your avvies I remember many images and feeling of times past. In particular the second one and the owl. Those seem to resonate the most. I think the second one was around for a while and it was actually the way I imagined you looked for quite some time. But it's also tied to feeling and other memories, certain thoughts I had about this new downer etc...
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“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” |
08-05-2009, 07:53 AM | #47 |
Shady She-Penguin
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: In a far land beyond the Sea
Posts: 8,093
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I think I'm an odd case - I'm kind of stuck with this avatar. I may try something else for a while - penguins (lots of different ones!), other Mucha women, ww theme pictures (ringwraith, Gildor) or I've had very different stuff in the past: a football protest, a raccoon, a chimp, a few Galadriels, Winnie the Pooh etc - but I always come back to this one, it just feels like me. It's a bit weird that I'm so fixated, but I like the bright beautiful colours and Mucha's artwork and the atmosphere in the picture and all that - but I blame my mum who sent/gave me this picture as a postcard several times when I was small always forgetting she had given it to me before. Apparently the picture reminded her of me - well the girl there is kind of thoughtful, lazy and playful at the same time and that kind of fits me.
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Like the stars chase the sun, over the glowing hill I will conquer Blood is running deep, some things never sleep Double Fenris
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08-05-2009, 02:17 PM | #48 |
The Sweetest Spoiler
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: from beneath you it giggles incessantly
Posts: 5,789
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I tend to change my avvie to fit the theme of the game, at least to an extent. (For instance, for I started with a Hermione/books avatar for Lari's game, a Pirates of the Carribean one for Brinn's, the gloves for when I helped co-mod Mnemo's, etc.) Also, if I'm killed I'll switch to one of my Firefly icons, and sometimes I'll put up an icon that tells people in the game what I am (but that's only if I'm being a complete whackjob and has only happened once or twice that I remember.) My icon normally carries over from the previous game until I change it for a new, or forget to change it at all, and I don't have a default because....well, I've not found one I like enough yet, to be honest. (Though I am a bit fond of my Hamlet with a happy ending icon that I made a while back.)
And Lommie, that icon is you to me. I recognize you with different ones, but when I see that picture I automatically know it's you.
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"My heart always cowers behind the defense of my wit." Friendship is two pals munching on a well-cooked face together. Fenris bookworm.
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08-05-2009, 02:46 PM | #49 | |||
Shade of Carn Dűm
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 347
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As for my avatar; I had a Phodopus roborovskii photo for a while, being my favourite animal, but it was getting a bit dull so I thought that in light of my recent trip to the North Slope of Alaska I would change it to a phalarope. Not deep or meaningful in anyway I fear, but biology geeks never do grow up. But back to this thread's main question; I am an exceedingly visual person who is just about incapable of seeing users as being independent from their avatars. I get hopelessly muddled and a little distressed when things change, and as is the way of things on the Downs, as soon as I become accustomed to someone's avvie - they change it. Not that's it's a bad thing, but I do find it a bit difficult to find the person again. |
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08-05-2009, 03:25 PM | #50 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Facing the world's troubles with Christ's hope!
Posts: 1,635
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I don't know. I actually liked Nogrod's Bombadil avvie, the one where Bombadil is standing in the middle of a wheat-field. It seems to fit Nogrod's personality: he may seem distant, yet has a very Bombadilish attitude when you talk to him.
Also, I agree Laurinquë about Lommy's avvie. Lommy doesn't seem like Lommy without it.
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I heard the bells on Christmas Day. Their old, familiar carols play. And wild and sweet the words repeatof peace on earth, good-will to men! ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |
08-05-2009, 05:04 PM | #51 | |
Flame Imperishable
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Right here
Posts: 3,928
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And yes, in my mind, that picture to me is Lommy, unless of course there's a penguin, which is also very Lommy.
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Welcome to the Barrow Do-owns Forum / Such a lovely place
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08-05-2009, 07:36 PM | #52 |
Beloved Shadow
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Sometimes I get annoyed when someone changes their avie, because I can't spot their posts any more. I mean- it's much faster to glance at avies than it is to read names, especially when you're scrolling quickly down a page.
Since I'm such a considerate chap, I never change mine. Okay, okay- it's possible my primary motivation is so that I can find my own posts. Plus I love my avie and changing it would feel like... dying or something. Seriously. I don't think I'd change my avatar for less than a hundred thousand $ or so.
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the phantom has posted.
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08-05-2009, 07:43 PM | #53 |
Gruesome Spectre
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Heaven's doorstep
Posts: 8,037
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I've tried a few different avvies, but I don't know that I've yet hit upon the 'right' one. Who knows? I may go back to doing without one.
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Music alone proves the existence of God. |
08-05-2009, 08:02 PM | #54 |
La Belle Dame sans Merci
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I bet I could think of a worthy incentive...
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peace
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08-05-2009, 08:26 PM | #55 | |
Dead Serious
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Catching sight of this thread a couple days ago--but not having the time to post--I was honestly baffled that no one had ever started such a thread before. Avatars are, after all, so terribly central to our mental pictures of Downers. Perhaps this is less obvious in the days post-Facebook and since we've had a regularly updated Downs-photo page, but if you take a gander through the "How Do You Imagine Other BDers?" thread, you'll see that our mental images are (or were) chalk full of avatar-based imagery. I know that, back in the early days, my image of Lhunardawen was decidedly influenced that that Rohirric, blonde image of Éowyn against the blue sky, counter to all truth, and it's only the studious efforts of Hookbill's "Phantom and Alien" comic that have allowed to segue my mental image of the phantom into his Photo page portrait. It's a shock, if ever one of the old-timers changes. Hookbill changes just slowly enough that it always takes me a good month to adjust, and if Davem, Lalwendë, or Heren ever change, I'll probably have a heart-attack. That being said... I'm a hypocrite. If something better comes along, Caesar is gone. It's just that, picking up on the "just right" theme... he's going to be a really high watermark to flood over.
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I prefer history, true or feigned.
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08-07-2009, 08:19 AM | #56 | |
Cryptic Aura
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 5,997
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I’ll sing his roots off. I’ll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away. |
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08-07-2009, 08:57 AM | #57 |
Guard of the Citadel
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Oxon
Posts: 2,205
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Well, from all the avvies I have had the current one is the one describing me as a Tolkien fan the best - it looks like the Tree of Gondor on the one hand, since I am a fan of Gondor and also like Telperion, since I have always somehow liked Teleperion. Since my sign is Leo and Teleperion is connected to the sun, I guess that kind of makes sense.
And the TM initials just stand for my name - The Might... pretty simple really.
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“The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike.”
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08-07-2009, 10:25 AM | #58 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 3,448
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Morsul the Resurrected |
08-15-2009, 08:15 AM | #59 |
Auspicious Wraith
Join Date: May 2002
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 4,859
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It grates when someone changes their avatar. Old avatars are like old photographs, images that you know and are comfortable with. But then, I do fear change.
I love my avatar because the colours are so unique on here that it stands out. I changed it once for a few days (to black and white) and it felt so wrong I changed it right back.
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Los Ingobernables de Harlond |
08-18-2009, 03:21 PM | #60 |
Newly Deceased
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 8
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I personally recognize people by their avatars faster than I do by their names. Especially because there's already a bunch of words on the page, and the picture stands out more. I like seeing familiar avatars, but variety is the spice of life or something. And I definitely grow to associate people with the images, it's always weird to me when there's an obvious mismatch between someone's writing style, thoughts and opinions, and their avatars. And if someone uses an avatar with some person in it, I (quite naively, but involuntarily) almost expect the forum user to look kind of like that person
I always use the same picture for pretty much everything that needs an icon. It represents me quite well since it's my face I don't change self-representing user pictures often, once every few years or so (booooring). I like grabbing on to familiar things on teh Internets. And I've had the name "Miriena" follow me around for *years*, more than 10 for sure. Yes, I suppose it may seem boring, but I can no longer imagine using another name for a forum where I plan to actually participate, it wouldn't be "me". |
08-18-2009, 05:19 PM | #61 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
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Random Title #985
I used to change my avvie a ton, but I think that was before there were pixel limits. At first I used a bunch of Elijah Wood pictures, before my crush on him waned and I grew tired of being mistaken for a male.
There was a time when I had a picture of a lady wearing a mask. It seemed to work well with the black background, and it seemed to fit with people's assumptions about me. I suppose I've kept this one so long because it literally is me! It's a picture of me taking a picture of the Mediterranean sea. At the same time, it's subtle enough to allow me more privacy. All said and done, I mostly haven't changed it because I'm too lazy to search for 60 x 60 pixel pictures on the internet. It always takes me a bit to adjust to another BDer's avvie change. At the same time, I like to see the variety. My desktop background changes once a week at least.
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"So why the safe distance, this curious look? Why tear out single pages when you can throw away the book? Why pluck one string when you can strum the guitar? MeWithoutYou http://fortyfifthparadox.com Last edited by Morai; 08-20-2009 at 04:38 PM. |
08-19-2009, 04:02 AM | #62 | |
shadow of a doubt
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Back on the streets
Posts: 1,125
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In your case I see an unadorned picture of an attractive woman, and I think I would feel cheated if that weren't in fact you. With stylized images you can sort of accept that the person in question doesn't actually look like the pic, but with a plain photo that's harder. You're not a man, are you? And welcome to the downs!
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"You can always come back, but you can't come back all the way" ~ Bob Dylan Last edited by skip spence; 08-19-2009 at 07:02 AM. |
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08-19-2009, 09:57 AM | #63 |
Fair and Cold
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I like to think of an avatar as a kind of talisman. It's more than just a projection - it's a little bit of internet magic.
I have a cheerful mangatar right now, because cheer is what I need.
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~The beginning is the word and the end is silence. And in between are all the stories. This is one of mine~ |
08-19-2009, 12:12 PM | #64 |
Pilgrim Soul
Join Date: May 2004
Location: watching the wonga-wonga birds circle...
Posts: 9,458
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I wonder whether I am capricious with my avatar and sig because I am so happy with my Personal Title as a more constant expression of myself? I think I have always changes sigs frequently as they are a thing of the moment and easily changed to suit mood but I had my PT long before I mastered the Avatars.
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08-19-2009, 08:17 PM | #65 | |
Newly Deceased
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 8
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But yes, my avatar is my own picture, and I suppose I should be cautious when putting an image of my face next to the words I write for easy and undeniable identification, but meh. Although for all anyone knows the other side of my face could look like a giant carved pumpkin And Lush, I really like what you said about an avatar being like a talisman, that's how I feel as well (but without the ability to express it as clearly as you did, heh). |
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08-19-2009, 08:20 PM | #66 | |
Gruesome Spectre
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Heaven's doorstep
Posts: 8,037
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Music alone proves the existence of God. |
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08-19-2009, 08:56 PM | #67 | |
Doubting Dwimmerlaik
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Heaven's basement
Posts: 2,466
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One thing I learned about choosing avatars comes from observing the Barrow Wight himself. By leaving your border black, you aren't limited to the small square, but become part of the whole page. Guess you could make (up) some psych evaluation from that.
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There is naught that you can do, other than to resist, with hope or without it.
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09-01-2009, 09:09 AM | #68 |
Summoner of Lost Souls
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: At home, with my Strongbow
Posts: 521
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It was made clear to me many years ago, by several members in here, that I'm simply not allowed to change my avatar. I dare not even think which dreadful revenge Bb would think up, should I choose to do so anyway.
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-"Death borders upon our birth, and our cradle stands in the grave. Our birth is nothing but our death begun." |
01-09-2010, 08:39 AM | #69 |
Flame Imperishable
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Right here
Posts: 3,928
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Am I the only one who found the sudden recent change of a few people's avatar's quite confusing?
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01-09-2010, 09:13 AM | #70 |
Gruesome Spectre
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Heaven's doorstep
Posts: 8,037
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I can't speak for others, but my change was strictly temporary. I'm going back to the old soon.
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Music alone proves the existence of God. |
01-09-2010, 04:55 PM | #71 |
The Werewolf's Companion
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: The Moon
Posts: 3,021
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I don't like not changing every so often, but I am so confused by other people's avie changes that I don't dare change mine. I have found a (at least for now) good compromise: I keep the basic avie, but change something in it through paint/Gimp/photoshop every so often. So I'm snowing now.
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I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night. Double Fenris
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01-09-2010, 05:33 PM | #72 |
Animated Skeleton
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Bluefield, West Virginia, United States
Posts: 43
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I'm brand new here so I'm still trying to find my place. Current av is Raistlin Majere simply because I identify with the grey-area nature of life.
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I am never leaving, and I am never looking back. |
12-03-2011, 04:33 PM | #73 |
Blossom of Dwimordene
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: The realm of forgotten words
Posts: 10,416
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Doing a HI?
I'm a visual person, so I see who posted faster by their avvie than their name. And when the search function disappoints me and I remember that a certain person wrote something on a certain thread, I'd skim through looking for their avatar.
Sometimes I confused Pitch and Zil because of that, since they both have blabk and white avvies. I don't know why them two; I never confuse Lottie, Bethberry, alatar, or anyone else with a white and black avvie... Lately I've been going "what on earth?!" when seeing TGEW's new avvie. Even after a few times I still continue thinking if it's Rumil who posted. Something similar happened when Galadriel changed hers from Galadriel to Bombadil. I couldn't believe it was her. I think that out of all the avvie changes I saw the least dramatic one was Agan's. Lions remain lions, after all. Lol! I sometimes think the same way, but then I think again and decide that I don't want to change my avvie in the first place. Instead I change my siggy.
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You passed from under darkened dome, you enter now the secret land. - Take me to Finrod's fabled home!... ~ Finrod: The Rock Opera |
12-10-2011, 06:44 AM | #74 |
Princess of Skwerlz
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: where the Sea is eastwards (WtR: 6060 miles)
Posts: 7,500
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The holiday avatar season has taken off rather slowly this year - I'm glad to see that Bęthberry has joined me by showing a festive image! I'm doubly delighted that hers is from the Father Christmas Letters, which we are discussing this year.
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'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?' 'The whole history of Middle-earth...' |
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