First of all, thanks to Bri for making this thread (and the forum itself) and starting things off with a bang!
I suppose I can try to follow in a similar vein for my own introduction, so, from a person who typically doesn't go so in-depth about himself, here goes, I guess:
I hail from the Midwest, Wisconsin specifically, and not far from Milwaukee. College graduate, UW-Madison '08 (BA Poli Sci, Certificate in Environmental Studies), Penn State (2010-2011, post-bacca. certificate in Geographic Information Systems). A bit of a lost soul in the job world, as in my final semester at UW-Madison, I got an internship through an Environmental Studies capstone course with the Dept. of Natural Resources in the GIS field (specifically Endangered Resource Review... mapping out potential projects and sending them off to biologists/animal experts to determine potential endangered animal/habitat impact). I've always loved computers and technology, and I found the most popular GIS program suite (ArcGIS) fun to mess around with and easy to operate.
However, considering my major, I wasn't able to show I had the experience to gain a related job... And the DNR was in a hiring freeze once I graduated, so I put in apps elsewhere. No luck. GIS certificate to get more experience through Penn State online, and no luck. Now currently working in retail to gain money, buy a car (Also living with the parental unit at this point, like Bri, though more embarrassingly so considering my age... 27), and move somewhere else and find employment there.
Music connections: Band throughout middle school and high school. Percussion for 1 year, baritone for 2 years, tuba for 1 in MS... Then tuba throughout HS. Dabbled in guitar, never really did much with it, can't really play. Tuba for a couple semesters in college as well.
Interesting fact: Ankle surgery when I was 4 to correct a flat foot. While in a cast, my dad (who passed away in 1998 from colon cancer) bought me the Nintendo Entertainment System (aka NES). What a poor decision. ;) Then came Sega Genesis, SNES... and my first foray into RPGs. FF3 and EarthBound were both lent to me by a classmate of my dad's while he was earning his masters' degree. You couldn't believe how sad I was when I had to give the games back! Can't tell you how many times I rented EarthBound from Blockbuster. The awesome lady there even included the famed strategy guide for me! Eventually I was gifted those games, as well as others... And I've spent... well, way too much money on gaming overall. ;)
My favorite part of LOTRO: Well, as of late I haven't been all that active in anything else except for music. I think I got more enjoyment out of the "DO ALL THE QUESTS!" idea once I got the XP disabler, as around that time I was participating in MANY instances related to the course. The music system is quite fun, and if I had a chance to talk to the guy who created it on a whim, I would try to get him to put in more instruments... Something more suitable to a piano, and possibly even vocals. ;)
My vision for Courserrim: I hope we as a kin can become even more active in the forums and in creating events to participate in. We're trying to make our way through the lull after the course where the people who are truly serious about continuing to play stick around, and the others slowly drift off. Once we start recruiting and/or gathering members via the second course offering, I hope my slightly obsessive-worrying self can stop being that way and let things just flow naturally. Lesson from this vision: Talk on the forums... Please? :)