So Much Truth.

This is beautiful.

So incredible. 😍

A hero in more ways than one

More from the Reading Pile

Fortunately The Milk A fun children's story that can be enjoyed by all ages. Skottie Young's art works perfectly with the wild story (a dad tells the story of why it took him so long to go buy a bottle of milk). It's written by Neil Gaiman, so decide for yourself if you want to support it (I had already purchased it before all the news broke). Harper Collins Children - HC $19.99, SC $9.99

Wrestling Unmasked: Ripping the Mask off the Crime, Politics and Intrigue Beyond The Ring A collection of various articles from the British Wrestletalk Magazine from the early 2020s. They are well written and dive into the ugly history of the industry. If you're a long time wrestling fan like me (since the mid '80s), you probably know most of these stories already. But the articles are well written and in some cases personal. Worth picking up, especially if you are recent fan to the squared circle. Wrestletalk.com - ebook £6.99, print SC £14.99, also available from Amazon

Snarf Quest: The Book A graphic novel of the first story line of Larry Elmore's "Snarf Quest" comic from the back of Dragon magazine of the 1980s. It's entertainingly silly and goofy and doesn't take it's self seriously at all (it features a time traveling wizard, a robot that crash lands in front of Snarf and a dragon that thinks it's a duck). Also, it's Larry Elmore, so all of the women are beautiful and scantly clad, but at least they don't fall into the "damsel in distress" trope. A fun read. If you can find it cheap, snap it up. TSR Inc - Cover Price $9.95 (out of print)

Shylok’s Arbitrary Curio Shop

“Everything is available here.  And everything has it’s price.”

Somewhere in a populous city, as you walk down an unassuming street wondering where in the world you can find whatever it is you’re looking for, you suddenly notice an unassuming shop you’ve never seen before.  There’s no sign designating a name.  Just an “open” sign on the door.  The windows are dark and you can’t see inside.  Yet you can’t help yourself; your curiosity gets the better of you.  You open the door and walk in.

Welcome to Shylok’s Arbitrary Curio Shop.

The shop is loaded from wall to wall and ceiling to floor with all kinds of things.  There are rows and rows of shelves and bins filled with all sorts of items from nick-knacks to tools to books to... whatever!  Pretty much anything that you’re looking for is available here , both magical and non-magical.  There are no weapons though (“The mind is the only weapon a true warrior needs”, is a well known Shylok quote).  Patrons aren’t sure, but they feel the shop must be bigger than it appears to be from the outside to hold as much stuff as it does.

Previous patrons all say that Shylok himself waits before revealing himself; giving patrons time to look around.  When someone has found something that interests them, Shylok is suddenly there, ready to talk about whatever it is that has piqued their mind’s interest, and to make a deal.

Shylok himself is a mystery.  He is a man, but other than that you really can’t tell anything about him.  He is bald with pale skin.  The most aware among his customers notice that he actually has no hair anywhere on his body, including eyebrows.  He’s taller than a dwarf, but not as tall as an elf.  He has an even, baritone voice that has no discernible accent.  He wears a plain grey tunic that goes to the floor, with wide sleeves that he keeps his hands in, crossed in front of his body, until it’s time to make the deal.  There are records of encounters with his shop dating back to longer than any being could naturally live.  Yet Shylok seems to never age. When asked direct questions about himself, he gives very indirect answers.  Asked how old he is he says, “Old enough to have acquired all these items.”  If asked where he is from he simply replies, “Not from here.”  He does not have a significant other and tells people who inquire, “The shop, and the needs of it’s patrons, are my one true love.”

The shop is not actually named Shylok’s Arbitrary Curio Shop.  Truth be told, no one really knows the name of the shop.  Someone at some time just started calling it that and the name stuck.  If asked, Shylok simply replies, “I am Shylok, and this is my shop.”

Most of the time, Shylok is happy to buy or sell his items for money or things.  But there have been reports from some who say that sometimes... when it’s a particularly special, unique or personal item... Shylok will trade in the abstract; Some claim to have traded dreams; some claim to have traded memories; some have traded passions.  People also claim to have received these same things as payment for items sold to the shop.  One man, burdened with night terrors, sold a locket to the shop in exchange for a week’s worth of peaceful sleep.  “I’ve never slept that well again”, he said forlornly.

Most patrons have never been able to set foot into the shop again.  They leave and then return the next day only to find a brick wall; or the shop that actually resides in that spot.  Owners of those shops always claimed to have been open they day Shylok’s shop was in their location, and always have customers who will back that claim. Those lucky enough to find the shop again always find it somewhere else.  On another street, or maybe even in a different city altogether.  But it always looks the same, or so they say.

Does Shylok’s really exist?  Maybe it’s just a tale that has taken on a life of it’s own; A fable told to kids that has grown to something more.

Or maybe... One day... You’ll be out tying to find that one particular item... And you’ll turn a corner...

• An Oxford comma walks into a bar, where it spends the evening watching the television, getting drunk, and smoking cigars.

• A dangling participle walks into a bar. Enjoying a cocktail and chatting with the bartender, the evening passes pleasantly.

• A bar was walked into by the passive voice.

• An oxymoron walked into a bar, and the silence was deafening.

• Two quotation marks walk into a “bar.”

• A malapropism walks into a bar, looking for all intensive purposes like a wolf in cheap clothing, muttering epitaphs and casting dispersions on his magnificent other, who takes him for granite.

• Hyperbole totally rips into this insane bar and absolutely destroys everything.

• A question mark walks into a bar?

• A non sequitur walks into a bar. In a strong wind, even turkeys can fly.

• Papyrus and Comic Sans walk into a bar. The bartender says, "Get out -- we don't serve your type."

• A mixed metaphor walks into a bar, seeing the handwriting on the wall but hoping to nip it in the bud.

• A comma splice walks into a bar, it has a drink and then leaves.

• Three intransitive verbs walk into a bar. They sit. They converse. They depart.

• A synonym strolls into a tavern.

• At the end of the day, a cliché walks into a bar -- fresh as a daisy, cute as a button, and sharp as a tack.

• A run-on sentence walks into a bar it starts flirting. With a cute little sentence fragment.

• Falling slowly, softly falling, the chiasmus collapses to the bar floor.

• A figure of speech literally walks into a bar and ends up getting figuratively hammered.

• An allusion walks into a bar, despite the fact that alcohol is its Achilles heel.

• The subjunctive would have walked into a bar, had it only known.

• A misplaced modifier walks into a bar owned by a man with a glass eye named Ralph.

• The past, present, and future walked into a bar. It was tense.

• A dyslexic walks into a bra.

• A verb walks into a bar, sees a beautiful noun, and suggests they conjugate. The noun declines.

• A simile walks into a bar, as parched as a desert.

• A gerund and an infinitive walk into a bar, drinking to forget.

• A hyphenated word and a non-hyphenated word walk into a bar and the bartender nearly chokes on the irony

- Jill Thomas Doyle

Wrestlemania 41 Night Two predictions

√ Woman's World Championship Triple Threat Match: (c) Iyo Sky defeats Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair. Iyo has been pretty much ignored by the other two competitors leading up to this match, which will continue during this match too. Iyo pins Rhea so the "Rhea can't beat Iyo" story can continue. Plus it also keeps the "Bianca has never been pinned or submitted at Wrestelmania" story going too.

√ Sin City Street Fight: Drew McIntyre defeats Damian Priest. The sad part is both of these guys desperately need a win. But I think Paul HHH has decided that Priest is not main event worthy and with this loss will be dropping back down to the mid card. If this match opens the night, then maybe Priest wins. But I don't think so.

√ Intercontinental Fatal Four-Way Match: Dominik Mysterio defeats (c) Bron Breaker, Penta & Finn Balor. It's time to move Dom up. He's still great on the mike and his in ring work has improved greatly. Either Dom pins Pinn Balor or Balor hits his move on Penta only for Dom to attack him and steal the pin. This leads to the break up of the Judgement Day and gets the title off of Bron without him losing so he can move up the card.

√ Randy Orton Open Challenge Match: Despite who his opponent is, Randy is taking the win here. The next PLE is taking place in St. Louis, Randy's hometown, so he'll be challenging the winner of Rhodes/Cena there. Rumor is his opponent will be the returning Rusev (thanks for the spoiler Big E) or maybe Solo Sikoa. I hope it's not Rusev. He should return on the RAM or SAM and certainly shouldn't take a loss in his return match.

√ Logan Paul defeats AJ Styles. Short and to the point, Logan hasn't won in quite a while and AJ, nearing the end of his career, can take the loss. My prediction for who's in the Prime bottle this year is Karrion Kross.

X Woman's World Tag Team Title Match: (c) Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez defeat Lyra Valkyria and a mystery partner (most likely Becky Lynch). I don't think Becky is coming back full time, which is why I'm picking the champs to retain. I suppose they could do a thing where Becky is just "filling in" for Bayley and then Bayley becomes the co-champion. But I think the champs win with Shenanigans which makes Aldis put the match on the SAM with a suddenly healed Bayley and they win them there.

√ Undisputed WWE Championship Match: John Cena beats (c) Cody Rhodes. This match will be loaded with shenanigans. But Cena winning is the much more interesting option. Then he takes on Randy at Backlash (in Randy's home town), then CM Punk at Money In The Bank (c'mon, this HAS to happen). I'll be honest, I have no idea what they'll do with Cody afterwords, but I'm intrigued to find out. Also, Cody got pretty boo'd on Smackdown by the Las Vegas crowd. Curious to see if that will continue tonight.

Yes.

“Bop It” is a game all about what not to do to my penis.

I want this sooooo much.

This. Is my pride and joy. A gift for my dad, who played Zork with me when I was a kid, and with his dad when he was a kid. I designed this pattern myself and had a great time puzzling out how to hide the glow in the dark letters!

Pattern: “West of House” by me Fabric: 2x1 on 18ct Blue-Grey Aida Started: 11/27/2021 Finished: 12/25/2021

Inspired one of my favorite "So bad it's good" films, "TAG: The Assassination Game"