Hell bent for leather

Lean and rangy, lanky, maybe somewhat gangly but certainly not in the least bit willowy, Tab Capslock let his gun hand drift toward the handgun on his gun belt and looked the stranger up and down. He had had just about enough of this crap. Tab Capslock was not one to suffer fools lightly. Suddenly, three things occurred simultaneously, or at least in such rapid succession that it was impossible for a human observer to determine the exact sequence of events. Careful review of high-speed camera footage would have helped, but that was not an option in Tulsa in 1908.

By way of introduction

Lean sun-bronzed Tab Capslock stepped from the cabin of his aluminum rocketship and surveyed the alien horizon with a grin that had little to no humor in it. It was in truth more a grimace or smirk that showed his white even teeth gleaming in the pitiless glare from the cloudless sky. It was definitely not a sneer, but neither was it a smile; he was not beaming. It was a crooked grin, possibly a sardonic crooked grin, although it lacked mockery or derision. It seemed to betoken a wild adventurous spirit tempered by an innate sense of fair play.

(Les Soliloques Decortiques)

There is a trombonist and composer named Vinko Globokar. One might think that a person of my maturity and discernment would have attained the stage wherein I had transcended the tendency to giggle at funny names. One would be utterly wrong. I find the name Vinko Globokar to be absolutely intoxicating. Plus, without his earworm of a name, I’d have never listened to his music, which it turns out I really like it. I’m drawn in by a names like Osvaldas Balakauskas while no doubt missing out on scads of great music from composers with unhilarious names like Ron Nelson.

This changes everything

It’s like that joke about the doctor calling with bad news, the one that ends with, “I’ve been trying to reach you all day.” What it is is, I saw a headline that said: “The universe may end trillions of years sooner than we thought.” Seems the universe might only last another 33 billion years. I looked up the research that led to this conclusion; it was published in May of 2025. A year ago. Why was I not informed? I could have spent the last 12 months preparing, laying in canned goods and converting all my assets to gold.