October is the best. The weather is beautiful. The leaves change colors. And, most importantly, the baseball playoffs happen. The hard part for the casual fan, or the fan whose team didn’t make it, is deciding which team to root for. As someone who watches a lot of baseball, I think I can help. This…
Peter, Paul & Mary’s “Puff the Magic Dragon” is the saddest song. It’s a wonderful song, but it is just so sad. If sad songs really say so much, it says more than any other song. I’m not sure when I realized just how sad the song is. It’s a song I’ve known my whole…
Today was my daughter’s first day of first grade. I wrote about her first day of school last year. I reread the post because I was curious how this year compared to last year. Last year, I wrote about my feelings of guilt associated with sending my daughter to school. I’m happy to say that…
Today, August 18th, is Bad Poetry Day. Apparently, it’s a day for people who don’t do poetry to give it a go. I don’t do poetry as a rule. But, I did write and publish a poem a few years ago. Bad Poetry Day got me reminiscing. When I say I don’t do poetry, I…
Here we are at the final chapter. It’s a short chapter, but it is broken into three parts. First, Bilbo and Gandalf go to Rivendell and spend about a week with the elves. Bilbo (and Tolkien) love elves, so they spend more time here than might be expected. It’s all very pleasant and relaxing, but…
One of the nice things about Tolkien is that he lets his stories end naturally. Of course Bilbo can’t stay with the dwarves. The story isn’t finished until he goes home. It might seem a little anticlimactic, but I like the fact that we get to see the true end of the journey. Although, I…
Here we have the Battle of Five Armies. If you’re keeping track, it’s the dwarves, the men, the elves, the goblins and the eagles. That is unless it is the dwarves, the men, the elves, the goblins and the wargs. Both the eagles and the wargs are involved, I’m just not sure which one constitutes…
A Thief In The Night is a short, but crucial, chapter. The action is really straightforward. Bilbo, you may remember from Chapter XIII – Not At Home, is in possession of the Arkenstone. Thorin has basically lost his mind. He is completely obsessed with the treasure, and the Arkenstone in particular. He will not listen…
We’re back to the story with this chapter, so that’s a relief. We’re back with Bilbo and the dwarves. This is really a transitional chapter, so there isn’t a lot to talk about. Up until now, the dragon has been the big threat. But, with the dragon gone, there are still plenty of problems. First,…
I need to start this chapter with a little rant. This is my least favorite chapter in the book. That’s because it is the only chapter that doesn’t have anything to do with Bilbo, aka The Hobbit. Any way you look at it, this is Bilbo’s book. The narrator may be third person omniscient, but…
