StefBaggins & The Adventures of The One Party
(come back often in the next few weeks for more updates)

Because Ian Smith (irascian) has been so wonderful to take many great digital photographs and incorporate them with his summary of the events surrounding the The One Party on March 24, 2002, at his site (www.iansmith.co.uk/lotr), I have decided it is best I direct people to that summary for the overall story and simply add details of my own that are personal to me using the information here at my own site.

Sooooo... here's *my* story to add to the details!

What I Missed
There were lots of wonderful moments between the earlier arrivals that are outlined in Ian's report, so check out his website for more information!

Pub Moot
I was exhausted when Lynne (LithilienQ) and I arrived at LAX, but being greeted by an excited Jen (LadyOBloom) and her "Stef Lith" sign was enough to lift the spirits and get us across town to the pub with high anticipation. I have to say, though, it was a bit intimidating when we arrived to see the many unfamiliar faces with very familiar names and feel like they had all been wearily waiting for us to arrive for the presentation of Rosie's gift so they could hurry and return to their hotels for the evening. The room was crowded and hot, but with each wonderful greeting we received my spirits once again lifted. When Amy (Primula) presented me with the Sponge Ring, I felt very honored and special! Thanks everyone who was involved in that! The Lady Merry Sponger is honored and proud to bear this! Because I was exhausted, I felt a bit delirious, too. I am sure all who saw me at the pub moot must have misinterpreted my overwhelming hunger, thirst, exhaustion, and just plain blunt-honest silliness to be intoxication by controlled substances. Wouldn't that have been funny to have been stopped by a cop on the street and given those "drunk tests" they give to folks hanging all around acting stupid? I would have failed every test and been taken in for a breathalyzer. Once they discovered I was completely sober, just really sleepy, I would have been dozing off in a deep slumber in the back of an LAPD cop car. LOL!
BEST MOMENT: Primula reading Rosie's poem out loud to her in front of us all at its presentation.

Sunday Morning At The Tattoo Parlor
Actually, it wasn't a tattoo parlor, but room 503 at the Beverly Plaza. If we forgot the number, all we needed to do was find the door that was so nicely decked with yellow sticky notes bearing phrases such as "Honk If You Love Hobbits." (I honked quite loudly, as you might imagine.) That morning was full of great bonding between us all as we received our ink tattoos from Silver's green dragon collection and pippins-scarf's accurate Sharpie freehand. The Tolkien signature symbol on my left inner wrist was gorgeous, and my green dragon on my left outer ankle is still in tact, though fading, even two days later as I write this! Of all moments that I treasure on this wonderful adventure, this Sunday morning activity was the most memorable and treasured of them all. We have bonded in a way that even the Prancing Pony would have never imagined, and I look forward to many wonderful adventures to come. Even now, I feel the nagging dissatisfaction of a Ring Bearer to run like mad to the Grey Havens and seek peace on a distant Western shore.
BEST MOMENT: The blowing of the Horns of Gondor - or the flatulence sound created by its attempt!

The Sunday Lunch Trip
The Nine set out from the Beverly Plaza seeking to destroy their hunger. Valkyrie Crush lead us to a sweet open-air market with many places to grab some grub. In the group were Val, myself, Lith, SamwiseA, Deliz, pippins-scarf, TO Elf, Arabee, and irascian. (Okay, I know their real names now and am tempted to use them in writing, but my online friends would best identify them with their online identities). The walk over and walk back was great, and we sat at a round table and enjoyed the beautiful weather as we ate and talked. It was at that time I realized that my heart ached to be in LA - I feel like I belong there for some reason. I don't know why, but I will certainly pray that God will reveal more to me about this inner longing and lead me in the paths He would have be take.
BEST MOMENT: Parody quoting and laughing so hard my sides hurt on the walk back!

The Long-Expected Party
I was delighted to help Deliz, SamwiseA, Lith, and Prim with their color cosmetics application for the evening. I was, however, a bit disappointed that I was unable to turn profit by selling anything or showing the products to others that were also getting themselves dolled up for the party. I am sure with the connections I now have with these folks that our time will indeed come sooner than later to be together again and I might share my products again, too. What I did instead of sell anything was cut my own preparation time down to 20 minutes. Not enough, especially when interrupted by a live red carpet interview with Elijah Wood and Peter Jackson (much screaming ensued). However, with the calming spirits of Lith and Sammie I was able to get myself together and get downstairs just before the arrival of our limo. Although, I forgot my glasses as a backup to my contact lenses, which I knew would not last more than a couple of hours - but they ended up lasting all night! Yay me! ;-)
What can I say about the party itself? Let me just share words the narrate the emotions that I went through, and you can put my emotions to Ian's online write-up when it is available. Anticipation; excitement; giddiness; pride; anticipation; excitement; nervousness; slight paranoia; excitement; anticipation; joy; frustration; anticipation; hoping; joy; sharing; happiness; disappointment; happiness; excitement; longing; nervousness; anxiousness; relief; joy; pride; cheerfulness; pride; exhaustion; disappointment; relief; happiness; catharsis.
BEST MOMENT: Seeing the personal and deeply-emotional connection Primula made with Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore as a result of her poetic gift to him from the New York event last month.

It was some of the best sleep I had in a long time that last night, and leaving my dear friends the next day was very difficult. I hid the tears until much later, yet I still feel a joy that our shared adventure will live on in our words and pictures until next we meet!

Hugs for everyone and kisses for my Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd who I have yet to meet but I know share our joy for all this movie has brought into our lives!

-Stef aka StefBaggins, The Lady Merry Sponger