Your posts are always the absolute coolest. Got some nice Art Nouveau influence showing there too. I love that style.

I bought a novel a while back just because the art it contained was of this kind of circusy theme and the story was of an anachronistic flavor. Sometimes I'll buy a book as much for the story as I do the art. Sometimes even more so for the art.

And yes, that's totes normal to throw knives at your kids, just as normal as a monkey on a bike. Gotta put the fear in them somehow. Train them up right - and early. Gotta show 'em how to be a freak just like you.

Barnum & Bailey is no more, and while I hate the abuses towards animals, and I can only assume people too in that profession, I really do feel some wistful nostalgia for its passing. Let's just say, I'm glad that time in the past happened. It's left a really interesting mark on our cultural history.