What is happening here

Hiya! Name’s Mister Skeleton — though my pals call me Mr. S ... & EVERYONE’S my pal!

So I guess call me Mr. S is what I’m tryna say.

Anyways, if ya want some fun trivias, lemme tell ya: ya came to the exact right spot!

What spot’s that, ya ask? Why, it’s Mister Skeleton’s TRIVIA ZONE!!!

Are you a skeleton?

Only ’smuch as the next guy! Ha ha!!

Is the trivia all about skeletons?

Uff da, people are always askin’ me this!

Think of it this way: if my name was “Smith”, would ya assume my trivias were all ’bout smithery? Of COURSE ya wouldn’t!

So nah, the trivias are about kinda everythin under the sun. It’s usually pretty freewheelin, just whatever’s on my mind ... associative’s a pretty good word to describe it, I’ll fess up to that.

But it definitely ain’t just all skeletons all the time, don’tcha even worry about that!

So uh, how does this ... work

If ya sign up, I’ll send ya two trivias on Monday through Thursday. (& if ya pay for a subscription, you’ll also get Friday trivias! More on that later.)

My aim’s to send out sixteen emails a month, & I try to keep up that pace for ten months of the year. (I like to take a li’l break in the summers ’n’ winters, which is why it’s only ten not twelve months.)

I never did bother to do this math till just now, but by my count that comes out to two (2) trivias per email times sixteen (16) emails per month ... times ten (10) months equals ...

THREE HUNDRED TWENTY (320) TRIVIAS per year!?!

Wowza!!

Pretty good deal for the price, eh? (The joke here’s that the price is free, get it??)

I heard there was a leaderboard

Yupperoo! I keep up a monthly leaderboard so’s ya can see how ya stack up against other folks in the TRIVIA ZONE.

Here’s the deal: each email’s got a link to a form where ya can submit your answers to the day’s two trivias. I score ’em like so:

• Got both trivias right? Nice job: FOUR (4) points!
• Only got one a’ the trivias right? Hey, still not too bad, why don’tcha take TWO (2) points for that?
• Ah jeez, did ya not get either trivia right? Uff da! But heck, no worries, I’m still glad ya submitted somethin’ at all. Matter a’ fact, I’m so glad ... I’ll still give ya ONE (1) point, just for havin’ a go! (Don’t say Mr. S didn’t ever do nothin’ for ya!!)

The leaderboard’s just for funsies. There’s not really a reason to do it—like, there ain’t no prizes for if ya win—but anyway some folks seem to like it so there ya go.

Can I give you money?

I mean, I won’t say no!!

OK, but will I get something if I give you money?

Sure! Ya get two main things:

• One, ya get access to all the archives, which is kinda fun. I think free subscribers only get to see the most recent few weeks of trivias? Somethin’ like six weeks, it ain’t too bad. But if ya pay COLD HARD CASH MONIES? Well! THEN ya can dig all the way back to the very first TRIVIA ZONE email—which was back in like February 2023 or thereabouts.
• Two, there are special Friday trivias.
  I try to make ’em specially themed, kinda like a theme round ya might get in a pub trivia game. Also, the Friday trivias tend to be a li’l beefier than the regular free ones, they’ve usually got more like six or seven questions in ’em, not just two. But these Friday trivias don’t count for the monthly leaderboard, they’re just extra fun stuff as a kinda “thank youse guys for subscribin’!!” sorta thing.

Is it OK if I cheat?

What kind a’ question is that?? Of COURSE ya shouldn’t cheat! Come on, youse guys!!

OK OK. But what even IS cheating, really?

This ain’t some kinda philosophy class, buddy! Who do I look like, Socrates?

... Maybe?

Ah jeez, ya got me there. The guy really did have a robust head of hair!

Why do you keep talking like you knew all these famous historical figures?

Ha ha, well! Ya been around for as long as I have, ya get to meet a few folks.

But Socrates has been dead for, like, over two millennia

I dunno what yer gettin at, I’m just a normal guy who’s definitely never been cursed to wander the earth for a deathless eternity! Just like the next fella! Uff da!!

Now heck, we’re here to talk ’bout this li’l TRIVIA ZONE a’ mine, eh? Let’s try to stay on topic, please & thank ya.

Fine, back to cheating. What’s not allowed? What happens if I cheat?

I dunno youse guys, just ... don’t look up answers on the Interwebs? I feel like that’s the main thing. I mean, it ain’t like I got cameras or anythin’ watchin’ ya ......

THAT YA KNOW OF!!!

Nah, just pullin’ yer leg, there really ain’t no cameras. But, same token, there ain’t no prizes, either. So I’m not too sure what exactly ya get outta it if ya cheat.

Anything else you want to mention?

I dunno, I guess I should mention my day job’s that I run a li’l indie movie theater situation in this college town right near Micimec University. I’ve got these three friends, Milo & Jen & Roy, who are all grad students there; ya might see ’em make an appearance here from time to time.

Oh, also, my fancy-pants brother W. Skeleton-Boney sometimes shows up to ask a trivia or two. Not often! But sometimes.

Oh, there’s also this rival I’ve got in town, a restaurateur fella by the name a’ Captain Nemo Toad. He’s kinda I guess ya could say my mortal enemy.

Oh, & on Thursdays I like to do “Themie Thursdays”, which just means that the two answers are somehow connected. Usually it’s some kinda wordplay, that’s always fun.

But when ya boil down the whole situation it’s basically just “Mr. S sends ya two trivias a day!” and that’s really the whole thing.

Can we just touch upon the “Are you a skeleton?” thing one more time

I’m 100% a real normal human being with flesh and blood and lungs and stuff, and definitely not a living skeleton that was animated by dark magic back before the dawn of history.

How would that even work? It’d be totally ridiculous!!

Uh, OK then

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee