So anyway, about me...
Well, I was born in San Diego, CA, but have lived most my life in Golden, Colorado, which is just outside Denver (and incidentally, if there are any other Colorado rangers on these forums, I'd be very interested in saying hello!). I must admit that I've never actually read the Lord of the Rings trilogy all the way through (shameful, I know), but I have read the Hobbit several times, and I am currently making my third or fourth earnest attempt on the Trilogy via audiobook (which has become my primary method of absorbing literature of late).
I first became interested in Tolkien's work with the Peter Jackson films (yes, I'm one of those), but I have since developed an interest in the literature behind them, as well as Medieval history. I started to make an Aragorn costume based on the film version back in something like '02, but never actually finished. This is something I hope to remedy as well. However, lately I've gotten very attached to the idea of creating my own, unique ranger persona, which I am also designing to be somewhat interchangeable with a turn-of-the-13th-Century woodsman kit (King Richard/King John era, specifically. think Robin Hood).
I have a love for archery, and for beautiful, functional, masterfully crafted swords - although to tell the truth I only own some cheap wall-hangers, unless you count my Windlass pirate cutlass, which is only slightly better.
Which brings me to the other big geek-out of mine: pirates. I actually jumped on that bandwagon with the PotC films (yeah, so maybe there's a pattern here...), and ended up becoming one of the very first Jack Sparrow impersonators in the country (and, if I do say so myself, one of the best). That became such an obsession that I basically dropped the whole medieval/fantasy thing for quite a while. I even started (or helped start, at any rate) the first ever pirate convention in Denver. yes, you read that right. A pirate convention in Denver. Yes, I know we're landlocked
Anyway, after several years of pirate overload, I'm finally coming "back to my roots," so to speak, and finding a lot of satisfaction in the ranger thing again. So here I am!
And that's about it! I'm glad to finally be officially on these boards, and I hope I can lend an interesting personality to the mix! Cheers!
