YES! That's happening. A few days ago I got an email (from the FUTURE*) saying that my visa application had just been approved! I have what's called a "working holiday visa" that gives me a year to live in New Zealand from the day I arrive. Now I just have the very small task of 1.) landing a job, 2.) choosing a city, 3.) finding housing, 4.) hanging out with my sis in CO before I leave, and 5.) somehow trekking it out to CA, from where I will leave the USA and finally embark on my journey to go to the Land Down Under-er. Let's see what happens.
Now that's out of the way, it's background time.
Birthday: February 3rd, 1993
Hometown: Stillwater, MN, USA, Earth, Milky Way, Virgo Supercluster
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 0.077 tonnes
Eyes: Blue as the sea after a storm
Hair: Dirty blonde, and growing strong since September, 2014
Languages spoken: English, Spanish, Sarcasm
Motto: "Adventure is just bad planning"
Lifetime goal: Steal the Declaration of Independence
Ok. You know some junk about me. And since I'm not leaving quite yet, I'll leave out the why til closer to my departure. The remainder of this, my inaugural post, will be dedicated to something loosely associated with the land of the Kiwi but tightly associated with the nerd who's making this blog: the Lord of the Rings.
Without a doubt, LOTR and the various other books written by the late, great J.R.R. Tolkien are my favorite things in the entire universe. So far, these are the tallies for the amount of times I've read (or listened to) them:
The Children of Húrin - 1
The Silmarillion - 3
The Hobbit - 6
The Fellowship of the Ring - 12
The Two Towers - 14
The Return of the King - 13
I can't even count how many times I've seen the movies (theatrical or extended editions). It would just take too much time to do the math.
Yes, the Two Towers is my favorite of the main trilogy. No, I didn't understand or follow the Silmarillion the first two times I read it. Yes, I find daily connections between Lord of the Rings and real life as well as make copious amounts of references. No, you probably can't convince me that there's anything better on this earth than what the good professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien put forth through his mastery of the English language, though I am open to challenge. No year of mine is complete without at least one more read through of the main series or a binging of each of the extended movies (neither of which are limited to one more round). I have plans for at least two LOTR themed tattoos. And last year for Halloween (and lets be honest, many days lounging at home), I was dressed as Frodo Baggins**.Lord of the Rings is simply the most thoroughly thought out, meticulously conceptualized, and fully realized worlds I have ever been in contact with in literature. There is a reason almost every piece of fantasy takes inspiration from this series and is, at one time or another, compared to it. Tolkien is, and will forever remain, at the pinnacle of his craft. There is nothing in this life that can make me lose myself more in thought and fantasy more than the grandiose and wonder filled world of the pieces of perfection that make up the Lord of the Rings. And to be honest, LOTR definitely played a bigger part in my decision to move to New Zealand than I should probably admit...
Now that LOTR is on my mind and I don't want to use up all of my material, I'm going to go read some of the Silmarillion, drink some tea, and take a nap. Peace!
If you want to help me move half way across the world (which is probably exactly as expensive as you might think), hop over to my fundmytravel page, here. Anything is appreciated! Every little bit helps!
Peace, Love & Happiness,
Joseph
P.S. Yes, I am absolutely bringing the One Ring to
*New Zealand is 17 hours ahead of MN, across the international dateline. Meaning I'm time traveling to the future! So, I'll let you guys know if the world ends before you get word. It's the least I can do.
**A costume I made, by the way...
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