Jack and I went to see Fellowship of the Ring yesterday afternoon. It really was breathtaking. Another parallel I found was the death of Gandalf and the death of Obi Wan... accompanied by Frodo's/Luke's scream of "Noooooooooooooo!". They also had a trailer for The Two Towers that really has me excited for the next installment.

We went to the Opryland Hotel this afternoon. Pretty amazing. The thing I loved the best was the waterway that passes through it. They brought in water from different bodies all over the world and blended it together for their stream. There was even water from the Big Sioux River back home. :)

After a revelation brought to me by Martin over at The Copydesk, I have been checking into the works of Bill Bryson... a fellow Iowa native. What I have read thus far has been a real delight, so today I picked up In a Sunburned Country. I figured between my family down there and all the aussies I know here, I've as good as been there myself.