@goldenthorn: Ah, thanks for enlightening me. I admire your diligence, by the way (three years researching a tattoo)! Fortunately, the tattoo I think I've settled on is already translated and everything in one of the appendices after The Return of the King.

I have to admit to being a little disappointed at the similarity between the Black Speech of the Orcs and Arabic. But I don't think it's possible to be English and not be at least a *little* racist.

I never got interested in the online role-playing; ultimately, I think I'm just a really social animal. What I liked about the gaming was being in a room with people that I was friends with.

It's funny, my friends got this new 4th edition D&D book, and have been e-mailing each other about the intricacies of the rules, and the functionality and the blah blah blah. One of my friends from college majored in Role-Playing Games, so this is all very important to them.

I generally found the mechanics of it tedious, and thought my character should be allowed to succeed at anything that I could think up that was cool.

When I was a kid I learned to read the Viking futhark runic alphabet, which is almost identical to Cirth. Tengwar...I can barely tell the letters apart; it's the same problem I have with Arabic.

Well, all right. That's pretty good. Almost as good as the half-orc Zen-Buddhist monk I had for two years in college, who kept trying to engage in civil discourse with all of the monsters we encountered, before pounding on them with his huge ham-hands.

Also: I can read the Cirth alphabet fairly well, but someone's got to be a hardcore nerd to be able to read Tengwar. Cut those nerds some slack.

undercurrents is not super clinical, although as a psychiatrist she adresses that stuff, i just found it so interesting from her perspective, knowing her work and what she decided to do. hope you like it.

Book on shock therapy- there are many, but you might look for "Undercurrents" by Martha Manning. She is a pyschiatrist who had ECT herself.

Thorny,
Thanks for your words. I know the situation sucks. It's a double standard and all that, but I don't feel like fighting with someone I don't know right now, trying to not piss people off.

I'll be around, but I'm going to take a break.