Travel Journal - Oxford, pt. 3
Day Ten - Last day of Oxonmoot. It ended with a graveside service, which I was concerned might be a little cheesy, but it turned out to be moving, with a reading from the end of "The Return of the King," and one of the men singing in Elvish (I know how nerdy that sounds, but it really was lovely). After that I went to the Bird & Baby for lunch with a couple other Mooters, then we hit a tea shop for a bit, then I headed back to my b&b to relax. Oxonmoot had flown by. I was so sad to have it be over. Scotsman said that he understood that especially coming from far away I would want it to last longer, but he also made the point that for locals who can't take time off work, having it short allows for them to come to the whole thing. And he told me that next year it will be a day longer. Naturally. But I did have a 65-year-old tell me he'd buy me a drink if I go next year. I told him I don't think it's quite going to happen. He then upped it to two. And I think the 55-year-old German guy who asked me to lunch would buy me a drink or two, too. I think he wanted it to be just us going to lunch, but I quickly invited others while his back was turned. I thought he was into me anyway, but then he was showing me some of his pictures from the Moot and I saw a picture of just me (which I'm guessing I wasn't supposed to see). A bit creepery, but harmless. Seriously, you want to feel hot, go to a conference full of Tolkien nerds. They're nice people, but honestly, there are reasons why there are stereotypes. One of the women told me that her friends at home tell her she's a nerd, and she says, 'Oh, you should see the other Tolkien Society members. On a scale of one to ten, I'm a two!' Yeah, sweetie, you're telling me this as you're standing there in your homemade elf costume. Scotsman seemed normal enough, but note he didn't flock to me. We did, however, walk from the bus to the grave together. One thing I noticed with that, though, was just how much I appreciated walking with a man. I felt it when walking with Adrian (Westminster dude), too. Just to walk alongside a man is a wonderful feeling. I don't know that I've done that since college. One more thing to be thankful for on this trip, I guess.
posted by melilotnfosco | 7:49 PM
7 Comments:
oh they are middle-aged! i guess bc of leaky con, i thought Mooters would on average be young adults. (I count ourselves as young adults thankyouverymuch). I'd say on that same scale, WE are 2's in the HP fandom!!!
:) re: the guy stuff. :) And I appreciate nerdy people -- as long as they're not too creepy, of course. And I do admit the guys sometimes can be, with all their awkward staring. Even if it is meant as a compliment (or not meant as anything but because they're thinking good things about you).
I went to a Lord of the Rings marathon yesterday, and I don't remember what it was, but someone mentioned something with "moot" at the end (in the movie), and I thought of Oxonmoot. I wanted to share that with my friends -- "Hey, my friend went to Oxonmoot, wonder if that's where they got that!" but thought better. ;) They already think I'm pretty geeky. :) What part of "The Return of the King" did they share? There was one part -- I think it was spoken by Sam -- that I thought was really good. Almost worth the 12 hours of movies... :P
hahaha, no kidding, auto! i felt like our t-shirts were nothing compared to what many were wearing, and i didn't know a lot of trivia compared to everyone else there! and i thought i was a fan...
Oh, almost forgot: how was lunch with the group? Did you get to be a little more outgoing since you guys were probably talking about one of your favorite subjects? :)
auto - i'd say the age-range was pretty much 30-60. and primarily single.
chelley - it wouldn't be you looking geeky, it would be me. :) and yes, that's where Oxonmoot comes from - when the ents gather it's called the entmoot. so good job! :) and as for the part that was read - it's a part not really in the movies, kind of touched on, but there's more to it.
and lunch was good. i felt pretty comfortable with this people right away. it's like lewis said, you become friends when you find someone with the same interest and say, 'you too? i thought i was the only one!' :)
i wish i could "like" comments on here :-)
:)
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