The Next Two Medals Revealed and A Discussion About Writing & Computers

Two more medals were revealed over the weekend in the Lord of the Rings Conqueror Challenge. Two more will be revealed today and tomorrow, and if I'm correct, registration will open on Wednesday. The first medal took us from Bilbo's cozy hole in Hobbiton to the Prancing Pony in Bree. The second stage takes Frodo and Sam through Rivendell and onward through the disastrous pass of Caradhras, to the very doorstep of Moria. It's a fabulous medal - translucent aquamarine set in metal reflecting the water and the Watcher. 

The medal for the Doors of Durin have the water as 
a background on the strap, and the metal is a 
tracery with a thick, translucent blue backing. It's 
stunning. It's not the doors of Narvi - they probably 
couldn't get permission to use that image - but 
it's darned nice anyway. 

After Stage 2 begins stage 3 - the Mines of Moria. The front of this medal has doors that open to show the image of a dwarf, and on the back is the Balrog. I can hardly wait to see what the next medal looks like. We still have Lothlorien and Mordor to come. The quest is to walk Frodo's path, so I doubt Gondor will be any part of it. The goal is to take the Ring to Mordor, walking the path taken by Frodo and Sam. It's going to be great fun. 

After passing through the doorway, we'll be entering 
Moria - one of my favorite places in Middle Earth. The 
medal for this stage has metal doors that open to 
show a dwarven warrior, and the back depicts 
the Balrog. The strap is dark, as befits this mine 
of dread and death. The next medal will be revealed 
this morning at 9:00 am. I can hardly wait to 
see what Stage 4 will comprise. 

I had a relaxed Sunday and did some serious editing on my current story for Kuchisabishii - A Tale of Dragons. I posted it in the late afternoon, and relaxed. My task is now complete until it's time to read the other entries and vote for my favorites. I admit, for the last challenge, I simply voted for everyone - probably not really fair all considered, but I was in a good mood. This week I won't be as generous - I'll be voting for the ones that I feel deserve to be passed on to the next week. At some point, I'm sure I'll be put to the side also. There are some very talented writers in the group. I'll try my best to push that out for as long as possible, though. I'm very new to the group, but I'm placing in the top 1/3rd pretty consistently so far. So far - LOL. 

We still have almost 60 writers participating 
in the writing challenge, so right now being 
in the top third is fine. But I'm going to 
have to hone my skills and hope I can bring 
a strong voice when the numbers shrink. 
The rule of three works great for photography, 
but I don't want to be in the bottom two 
thirds for any competition. 

I'm going to have to re-do some computer work I did on Saturday. For some odd reason, when I tried to print it out at home, it wasn't printing the final page properly. That didn't make me super happy, so I'll have to delve in to the formatting today and see why it works on the laptop screen but not on my main computer or on the printer. I know I need an updated computer at home, but chips are the main problem - my computer guru just can't get any. I should call him this week and get an update. He's been building DH a new computer for almost a year now and the chips have been the stumbling block. 

Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back to show you the next medal tomorrow. This LOTR walking quest is going to be AWESOME. I'm looking forward to sharing the next stage with you on Tuesday.