Blood Pirates

Today we donated blood. To… pirates? The Very Model of a Modern Pirate Bloodmobile Here at Château Weekend today, we donated blood. The details of why & how are a longish story, involving a friend who lost a child to leukemia and thus sponsors a donation drive every year in his memory. We think this is A Fine Thing, and wish to support it. Somewhat embarrassingly, just after donation, I took my hand off the pressure bandage for a moment to reach for my phone, and bled all over the donation couch. Like, a lot. I immediately re-applied pressure, and apologized to the nurse taking the donation for making a mess. Nurses look at you funny if you apologize for bleeding, but I guess it was at least clear I wasn’t going to claim they’d done anything wrong. Afterwards, walking around outside the bloodmobile, I noticed the curious decoration on the front grille. Yes, it is a skull made of what appears to be burnished stainless steel. It reminds me of one of those bowsprit sculptures put on old…