Well, another Christmas has come and passed, and I hope your holiday season was peaceful. Mine was lovely—we spent time with family and friends, ate a lot of fantastic food, and exchanged gifts. I got some very cool things this year: a couple of miniature kits (see below for a picture of the one that I already built), some jigsaw puzzles, lots of chocolate and wine—yeah, my family knows me pretty well. But there was one gift that made me laugh my head off. It was a game called “Once Upon A Pair: A Literary Matching Game.” The rules are simple—there are 26 pairs of cards, each with the title of a book on them, and the idea is to lay them face down, then flip over two at a time, trying to get a match. And yes, I know that’s not funny in the least but I was really excited to see what the books were so I opened the packages up:
Me: Ooh, look Ken. Peter Pan, Wuthering Heights, The Picture of Dorian Gray…hang on. What the hell is this?
Ken: What does it say?
Me: The Hunchback of NORTE-Dame. And this one says, The Legend of Sleepy HALLOW. The Young VISITERS? I think something was lost in translation here—yep.
Ken: Does Moby Dick normally have a hyphen in it?
Me: In China, I guess? At least it doesn’t say Moby’s Dick. Oh, here we have The Art of War and The Diary of a Young Girl. Nothing says fun like Sun Tzu and the Holocaust.
I’m still looking forward to playing it, despite the warning on the back that it’s a Choking Hazard, as if someone is going to ram a thick piece of cardboard down their throat—
Atlas: Ahem…
Well, those warnings are there because SOMEONE has done it in the past, I guess.
And then I started to build one of my miniature kits and discovered the same issue. Stickers were misspelled, like ‘Potcard Holder’ and there were also a lot of tiny books, again with very interesting titles: The Mienes of Amish, Abourogh The Wor LD In 80 Days, and of course, everyone’s favourite, Alice’s Wonderland.
The instructions were equally nebulous, and you’d think considering how much money the company must make on these things, they’d hire an actual translator and editor instead of winging it. Still, it’s done and I think it’s very cewt, don’t you?
At any rate, Happy New Year to all of you, and I hope your year is amazing. Farewell for now.
mydangblog 
I love it!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you!
LikeLike
What’s in the flower pot stand? I see some leaves but it looks like an old key in the front of it. I’ll grant that my eyes aren’t what they used to be, but I can’t enlarge the picture any more to identify it. Is everything positioned according to ‘their’ instructions, or are you free to put stuff wherever you want to?
LikeLiked by 2 people
A lot of the pieces have brackets that fit into slots so they have to go in a specific place. The flower pot just has paper leaves in it. I didn’t do a great job with that part!
LikeLike
I thought Abourogh The Wor LD In 80 Days was a lesser known Scottish work about a pitched battle lasting nearly three months in a small town in the Orkneys. And The Legend of Sleepy Hallow” is what anyone who calls at three in the morning is going to get.
It’s a really nice small room and I hope the chocolate and wine last at least through New Year’s.
LikeLiked by 2 people
You’re right—it was a sequel to Mcbeef! And yes—wine and chocolate for days!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is cewt indeed!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank yew!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mantle piece clock!
Matching? OK. More fun to make up an impromptu story combining the two.
Alice rides a Moby-Dick? The headless hunchback can’t find the bell rope to ring…
LikeLiked by 2 people
Always a clock, you know me!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The headless hunchback is not “this tall” and is not allowed on the rope, but in walks a dame with a figure like a gunny sack full of wildcats. Meanwhile, the metaphors devolve into non sequiturs.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Non sequiturs jolt the brain like salt in caramel, Goth in grade school, the smell of smoke in a fireworks factory.
LikeLike
Ooh–my birthday is coming up. I think I’ll ask for that matching game!
LikeLiked by 2 people
It looks like a lot of fun, despite everything!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lol Suzanne! I had to laugh, a choking hazzard? Made in China, no doubt, but still probably will be a lot of fun when you do play the game!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, made in China of course! We played it yesterday—it was actually quite fun!
LikeLike
My fingers started to ache when I saw those chess pieces, oh my, I could not do it. My fingers have started to rebel. But I’m had a memory of a card game we played as kids, Authors. A matching four of course but a good way to learn famous authors. That was when reading was the main entertainment inside.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I had to use a pair of tweezers for a lot of it myself!
LikeLike
Lol. Verri cewt, Soozann. I hoep yoo head a wundarfill hollydai.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🤣🤣
LikeLiked by 1 person
I could set my calendar to this blog’s regularity…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, sorry. I’ve kind of run out of steam lately—taking a bit of a hiatus 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes. Happy Joy Year to yew, in addition.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for making me laugh out loud again. I mean it, really! Gasp. I have tears in my eyes. Glad you had a great Christmas too. Best wishes for the new year. For you and yours and Canada.
You wouldn’t know anyone who might adopt me in Canada. Yeah, I know. For one thing, I’m not a kid anymore. And for another thing I’m past my use by and freeze by dates.
Ah well, just a thought.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Happy New Year to you too❤️
LikeLike
This past year has been absolutely horrible. My mom died. My handful of family members that still spoke to me split from me completely, as did all but maybe three of my friends. If you don’t hear from me for awhile, just know that Amelia and I are going to be okay, and eventually I’ll come around and be in touch again.
—Emily
LikeLike
Im sorry! Sending you love and strength, my friend ❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Seems like fun.
Glad you had a wonderful time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it was really lovely.
LikeLiked by 1 person