Well, Christmas came, and with it the Book Box - the idea is you get a bunch of things that people might like (normally books), and you put them in the book box, and then people take stuff out of the book box, browse them, and keep the ones they want. No wrapping, no wondering whether this is the right present for (whoever), you just put stuff in the box. You might get something for yourself, and if someone else likes it you just buy it for yourself again.
Anyway, in the book box was Brewer's Rogues, Villains & Eccentrics, which has choice snippets like the fact that Prince Philip's mother believed that she was "enjoying carnal relations with Christ", or index entries such as "Hairdressers who have carried out Great Train Robberies" (there are two of them) or "Tortoise in one's pocket, attending a wedding with a".
Mike, meanwhile got what sounds just as good: 100 Pretentious Proverbs. Includes such gems as:
Despite its apocryphal ability to cheat the machinations of the Grim Reaper, the life of many a small feline mammal has been tragically curtailed by its inquisitiveness and quest for knowledge.
To consider that some people get socks for Christmas. Bah.
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