Hey, I'm all excited about New Show! tonight, but it's got me remembering something that may have been a bad decision.
H and I were at the yard art place--old junk, repurposed junk, new junk with a fake old patina, all jumbled up and marked up an atrocious amount, you know, for junk. I stumbled on this circular piece of rusty metal about 30 inches diameter. It was a pentagram, the five-pointed star in the center cut, folded, and welded three-dimensional, circled by a three-inch or so solid band edged in a hollow rope design. At the top of the band were letters in wanted poster gothic, spelling in all-caps, "WINCHESTER"(!). H thought it was probably an outdoor sign for a store selling Winchester Arms: firearms and ammo. I glommed onto it and was determined it would be mine, but old dirty water trickled out of the hollow rope part, followed by (shudder) earwigs (I'm sorry. I can't close the shudder tag). Plus, when I asked, the proprietors wanted a usurous amount for the thing. Also plus, I have absolutely no place either inside or outside where I could reasonably hang it. It just seemed like insurmountable odds for what, ultimately, would be a fannish overindulgence.
But--Winchester! Devil's trap! Wanted it so bad. I may go back and see if it's still there and take a picture, at least.