Ah, I have arrived.

Rather pointless saying that, wasn't it, considering that everyone can pretty much SEE that.

Well, how do I start? I'm sorry if I'm being cliched and all, but I REALLY can't help that. I've never ever blogged before. I mean, I used to keep a journal (regularly till about a year ago, and I do have some random entries from this year) but writing on paper seems so much easier than typing things out on a keyboard. It's so much easier to dash things off on clean sheets of white, the gel (I am absolutely addicted to Add Gel pens) flowing freely from the nib of the pen, maybe even the desk wobbling slightly as you attack the paper in your creative burst.

Typing on a computer is so much more...well, sterile by comparison. There's no FEELING really when you type. The keyboard clicks and the USB hums, the light from the moniter flickers now and then, you switch eyes from screen to keyboard, from screen to keyboard, from screen to keyboard....

And so the routine goes.

And now, you might be wondering, if I really don't like typing all that much, and find the thought of posting things on the internet not very erm, well, nice for lack of a better word, why then am I doing it?

Simple. Because I, like many other teenagers before me, succumbed to peer pressure.

That's right. One of my friends is a regular blogger. And she has been at me to create a blog for the longest time. 'It's so much FUN! You meet so many new and interesting people!' she gushed, and despite all my misgivings, I was convinced. 'Why not give it a shot?' I thought. And so, here I am, rambling away on a webpage, my mind still churning about what exactly to put down here that will interest people enough to read it...

Ah, the name of the blog. That's from Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings'. You see, the Hall of Fire is a room in Elrond's home in Rivendell, where all the Elves, and any guests that happen to be residing in this house gather to hear stories and songs, kind of like a cultural hub. This is the place where old stories are given life, passed down to waiting ears, where new songs and tales are forged in the light of the flickering fire, where the past and present and future meet and intermingle and the listener is transported away from his reality into a place where Time has no meaning and life flows on golden before him...or her as the case may be. At least, that's the idea I got from reading the chapter that describes Frodo's reaction to the place, and his reaction to the music he heard there. By naming my blog after one of my favourite places in my favourite book, I was hoping to be blessed with some form of creativity by whichever Muse touched Tolkien. We'll see if that happens as Time wears on...