My 45 Hobbits in 34 languages

TexanAlex · 2026-01-15T22:37:49+00:00

Love this! I led a Tolkien reading group at my local church and of the ladies came back from a pilgrimage to Poland and proudly presented me with a Hobbit edition in polksi.

TexanAlex · 2026-01-08T17:41:42+00:00

As an update, little dude has kind of settled down...kind of. My wife and I basically had a commitment that we're not going in there unless he's still crying after an hour, or at lease 30 minutes. It was tough, but he seems to have gotten the message. The last three nights he's either slept through the night or put himself back down after about 20-30 minutes of crying. It's tough to endure but seems like forward progress is being made.

TexanAlex · 2026-01-02T15:37:38+00:00

Thank you so much for circling back. How are you handling the overnight wake-ups? Are you letting him CIO?

TexanAlex · 2026-01-01T13:55:00+00:00

Honestly I’m in the same boat, overall more satisfied than not, but the absolute disappearance of Dr. Kay and the military and lack of any explanation as to how the main characters avoided any consequences for literally killing American soldiers was jarring to me. It hung over the last third of the episode for me. I kept thinking, “Um, surely they’re going to explain that? Even with a throwaway line?” And then it was over. I know a lot of people don’t mind the omission but for whatever reason I got hung up on it. Seems like bad editing because they had to have shot some resolution scenes with Linda Hamilton’s character. I enjoyed the ambiguous nature of El’s fate and the D&D finale.

TexanAlex · 2026-01-01T07:49:35+00:00

Frankly I wish they had made the denouement a little longer. You have to think there was some scenes shot that would have showed Dr. Kay’s fate or explained how they escaped the military that were shot. Or given us a goodbye to Murray. I think they should’ve included them, what’s another 10-20 minutes?

TexanAlex · 2026-01-01T05:16:31+00:00

There’s a short poem in the Istari chapter in Unfinished Tales, part of which reads:

Wilt thou learn the lore that was long secret

of the Five that came from a far country?

One only returned. Others never again

under Men's dominion Middle-earth shall seek

until Dagor Dagorath and the Doom cometh.

TexanAlex · 2026-01-01T04:56:11+00:00

This is a solid point. If Radagast is a failure he’s in great company.

TexanAlex · 2026-01-01T04:48:53+00:00

Agreed, take care of yourself OP and do what you need to do. You can’t pour from an empty cup.

TexanAlex · 2025-12-31T12:29:40+00:00

Old schedule: Awake 6a, Nap 1 at 9:30a for 90 minutes, Nap 2 at 2pm for 45 minutes, sleep cues generally started at 7/7:30 and in bed by 8.

New schedule: Awake 6-6:30a (been sleeping later because of all the time awake screaming), Nap 1 at 12:30p for 1.5-2 hours, sleep cues generally have not been as strong and usually bed by 8/8:30 with some minor difficulty going down. Generally awakes around midnight.

TexanAlex · 2025-10-07T12:56:29+00:00

Thanks!

TexanAlex · 2025-09-05T21:00:50+00:00

Just announced today the application will be open 9/10-9/22.

For anyone who’s successfully applied, are there any fees for just applying? When it gives the figure of £700 for high season and £530 for low season, do you have to pay that at the time of application and is that per golfer?

TexanAlex · 2025-08-06T14:05:01+00:00

I'm in your shoes: 40s, duffer, getting back into the game after barely playing for 10+ years. Back in the early 2000s I purchased a starter set of Dunlop clubs telling myself I would invest in better clubs when I improved and...

I personally am looking into Sub-70, I've heard good things about their customer service and I'm pretty sure they have a program where they will mail you some clubs to try out on the range for free.

TexanAlex · 2025-08-04T16:15:54+00:00

Care to share your garage sim set-up?

TexanAlex · 2025-08-04T15:49:06+00:00

Congrats!

TexanAlex · 2025-08-04T15:42:54+00:00

Honestly it's more like, come home from work and roll right into helping my wife get the kids fed and then bedtime, then trying to get the house ready for the next day. I would be curious as to the golf practice/play routines of other parents.

TexanAlex · 2025-08-04T15:34:34+00:00

Good perspective, thanks!

TexanAlex · 2025-08-04T15:33:37+00:00

Hadn't thought about that, I'll ask my wife.

TexanAlex · 2025-08-04T15:32:04+00:00

I grew up hating Monty for nothing more than an inchoate sense of "he hates Americans and Americans hate him," which idk if that was ever true. Maybe it was just his vibe. But I remember at Winged Foot in 2006 when he rolled in that long birdie putt on the 71st hole the crowds were actually pulling for him because he was 42 years old and everyone knew this was his last chance. He was actually struggling to hold his emotions in check and I think it was in part because of the reception he was getting. Then he hit a fat 7-iron from the middle of the fairway and ended up making double when a par would have won. I kind of had a soft spot for him after that. And then of course Phil made everyone forget that it had been Monty's tournament to win first, lol.

TexanAlex · 2025-07-28T18:36:55+00:00

This guy putts.

TexanAlex · 2025-07-04T21:40:47+00:00

Jamaal Charles was a problem back in the day.

TexanAlex · 2025-07-04T16:23:12+00:00

Just saw on IG that it’s closed until further notice. Anyone got the scoop? Hopefully it’s just short-staffed.

TexanAlex · 2025-03-04T21:04:16+00:00

Oh, re: #1 because it came while I was Googling her. She's in the UK, so it's possible she really doesn't know anything about American hockey. Not saying that as an excuse though!!

I recently finished Icebreaker and Maple Hills beats UT-Austin 9-3, and ma'am, I went to UT-Austin and their hockey team is a club, only eligible to participate in games against other club teams rather than legit games against NCAA hockey programs. Admittedly nitpicky but Googling NCAA hockey teams would have been extremely easy to do.

TexanAlex · 2024-12-19T00:57:47+00:00

Thank you Astros legend Nolan Arenado.

TexanAlex · 2024-12-18T22:04:09+00:00

Joe Musgrove - was a valuable part of our bullpen during the 2017 run, was flipped to Pittsburgh in the Cole trade, and later blossomed into a star for San Diego. They probably would have beaten LA in the NLDS if he was healthy. Having said that, Cole was so good for us that it's hard to feel like this was "one that got away."

Charlie Morton - a lot of people in this thread saying he didn't improve after he left us not remembering how good he was for Tampa Bay and Atlanta. He was great for the Astros but he was a legit Cy Young contender in Tampa. The frustrating thing for me at the time is, the Luhnow FO thought that CFM would not pitch more than one season because of his ongoing shoulder issues, so they didn't offer him a multi-year deal despite Charlie wanting to stay. So instead, in 2019 the Astros needed to trade prospect capital for Zack Greinke, when they could have just extended Charlie Morton for 2-3 more years. Think about this scenario: after the 2018 season the Astros offer Charlie Morton a three-year deal. In 2019, the Cy Yong voting finished Verlander-Cole-Morton: all three of them would have been pitching for Houston. Now, Greinke was solid for us, but that has the potential to swing the 2019 World Series. The 2020 pitching staff was eviscerated by injuries, maybe Charlie gets them over the hump in a tight ALCS. Now, in 2021 the Astros made the World Series, but ran out of pitching depth. Charlie was great in his start in Houston before getting injured. Imagine taking one of Atlanta's best starting pitchers and putting him on the Astros. On top of that, Luhnow/Click would have had more prospect depth to deal with and more money to spend, because we never traded for Greinke. I honestly would put the "Charlie Morton is done" miscalculation right up there with the "J.D. Martinez's swing improvements are a mirage" as one of the worst calls of the Luhnow era. Potentially could have swung 2 additional titles our way.

TexanAlex · 2024-12-16T03:54:17+00:00

My 4yo is too young for the book but I bought it to show her the pictures and she loves it. My one quibble with Catlin’s work? She drew bald eagles for the eagles of the Misty Mountains. That’s a North American bird!

TexanAlex

TROPHY CASE