Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Slow Tuesday Night

Slow Tuesday Night is a science fiction short story by R. A. Lafferty. You can read it online here or here. It begins,
A panhandler intercepted the young couple as they strolled down the night street.

“Preserve us this night,” he said as he touched his hat to them, “and could you good people advance me a thousand dollars to be about the recouping of my fortunes?”

“I gave you a thousand last Friday,” said the young man.

“Indeed you did,” the panhandler replied, “and I paid you back tenfold by messenger before midnight.”

“That’s right, George, he did,” said the young woman. “Give it to him, dear. I believe he’s a good sort.”

So the young man gave the panhandler a thousand dollars, and the panhandler touched his hat to them in thanks and went on to the recouping of his fortunes.

As he went into Money Market, the panhandler passed Ildefonsa Impala, the most beautiful woman in the city.

“Will you marry me this night, Ildy?” he asked cheerfully.

“Oh, I don’t believe so, Basil,” she said. “I marry you pretty often, but tonight I don’t seem to have any plans at all. You may make me a gift on your first or second, however. I always like that.”

But when they had parted she asked herself: “But whom will I marry tonight?”

The panhandler was Basil Bagelbaker, who would be the richest man in the world within an hour and a half. He would make and lose four fortunes within eight hours; and these not the little fortunes that ordinary men acquire, but titanic things.

When the Abebaios block had been removed from human minds, people began to make decisions faster, and often better. It had been the mental stutter. When it was understood what it was, and that it had no useful function, it was removed by simple childhood metasurgery.

Transportation and manufacturing had then become practically instantaneous. Things that had once taken months and years now took only minutes and hours. A person could have one or several pretty intricate careers within an eight-hour period.
*******

Businesses are beginning to open back up around here, but except for once every two to three week grocery trips I'm still staying at home. I saw this the other day, and I thought of my T Tuesday companions:



Perhaps some art is what I want!




Most of these were in various stages of the process when I just shut down doing the ATCs late last year.

*******

I did all that and then forgot to put in a drink reference... Here's one from years ago I'm guessing nobody remembers:



My poor mind has gone on vacation even if the rest of me can't join in.



40 comments:

  1. ...lately every night seems to be slow!

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    1. Only during the times I'm not sleeping. The clock seems stuck in time on those nights.

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  2. These are difficult times-we are dealing with a "war" against the virus.
    I have had a hard time doing anything-art, crafts, cleaning house-it's been bad-I got myself really sick with stress-the virus fear of bringing it home, hubs accident, my blood tests for the first time are bad-I have to remedy the situation and get a grip and be more positive again.
    Love the cup and saucer with the tea Happy T

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    1. I'm sorry it's all been so hard for you lately, and this is a difficult time to get bad medical news :( I hope things ease up for you soon.

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  3. I enjoyed seeing the ACT's. Why did you shut down? Did I miss that? They are so good. I understand that underlying issues can divert us from our art though. Hope this finds you well.

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    1. I don't really know. I had one in the scanner ready to go and several at various stages of the process, and I just never went back to it.

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  4. I married once.
    Strange story you have there.

    Shops are open here, also.

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    1. This was a strange story, wasn't it!

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  5. Aaah, I was just going to ask you if you were still doing ATCs as I hadn't seen any posted in quite awhile;) These are super mini collages, and I loved the YT video. I may even follow him on IG now. Happy T day!

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  6. Fabulous ATCs! I love the designs and thanks for sharing the collage video, I always enjoy creating collage pages 😀. The story looks a bit strange and your blue teacup and saucer is gorgeous! Happy T Tuesday wishes! Take care! Hugs, Jo x

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    1. Thank you :) The video inspired me :)

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  7. Weird story. The ATCs are fabulous and that blue teacup is a beauty. Take care and Happy T Day

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    1. I gave that teacup to my daughter, so this is a fond memory :)

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  8. Collage is always fun. I made a huge one ladt week with everything that was on my table. Happy T Day, stay safe, Valerie

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  9. I really enjoyed that video. That man speaks my language. Listening to books and moving paper around. It seems to be something I've done a bit of lately. ANd your ATC's are fun. I am happy to see you back creating and joining us art junkies again. Hope it was a wonderful T day. Hugs-Erika

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  10. Nice atc's and I love your pretty tea cup!
    Happy Tea Day,
    Kate

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  11. Good that you are making your ATC's again they looked great and collage pages always evolve with a mind of their own and are fun to create.
    Belated T day wishes.
    Stay safe.
    Yvonne xx

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    1. I enjoy how collages come together :)

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  12. That short story sounds interesting. I like your assortment of ATCs. I'm having problems with my creative side, I think due to the underlying subconscious worry over the covid-19 situation.

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    1. It's an interesting look at a possible future. My dreams and emotional state haven't seen much change due to Covid-19 as far as I can tell. But my daily schedule hasn't changed much either...

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  13. An interesting chat about collage and passing the time.
    I love your ATCs. I think you could start doing them again.
    Thank you for the short story excerpt. I never read short stories, only when you post them. I must put some on my Kindle and then I can read one at bedtime.
    Belated happy T-Day,
    Hugs,
    Lisca

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    1. I read many short stories in high school but started preferring novels. Novels were so much easier to find back then. Now that short stories are available online I've started reading them again.

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  14. That short story has to be great, and the collage video is lovely, thank you very much for sharing them. I like to make collages too.
    What a joy to see your beautiful ATCs again! I like them a lot, because you have a fantastic creativity, and I hope to see more soon.
    Happy belated T-day dear friend. Your teapot and cup are so beautiful.
    I wish you a very nice afternoon, stay safe, and big hugs
    Caty

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    1. It's still rainy here, and I'm staying in :) It should be warmer later. I hope it clears, too :)

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    2. OOhhhh, sunny and windy by there today.
      Happy afternoon, XX
      Caty

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    3. It warmed up to 80 F and sunny! Glorious! :)

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  15. I enjoyed the video, D. I like your pages too. They all have something that is relevant to today's COVID world even through you probably started one or two before we even heard of this virus.

    Happy T-Day! Eileen xx

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    1. All of these were started long before I heard of this virus :)

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  16. Aaah! You know I love your ATCs, finished or unfinished they look great! Intriguing extract and fascinating video clip - found his colleges on instagram! I am struggling with crafting...in fact everything ...strange times! Have a good week, belated Happy T Day! Chrisx

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    1. These are all finished, but they were started _months_ ago. I even had one in the scanner I'd forgotten about lol

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  17. Does this mean you are getting back into the ATCs?
    What a story. Such a pointless, vapid yet exhausting way to live.
    I'm having a harder time kick starting anything creative, too, right now.
    Strange times. :)

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    1. That kind of life does seem exhausting. I am making a few along of the ATCs. We'll see if I keep it up.

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  18. Oh dear friend, I am SO sorry I'm late visiting. I got really sick and just couldn't continue on Tuesday. I'm sorry for not being a very good host.

    I love your ATCs. They are all wonderful. And you are correct. I didn't remember that beautiful blue tea cup and saucer, or the darling pot of coffee. I DID remember your patio furniture, though. Thanks for sharing your short story, your ATCs, and your beautiful T Tuesday reference with us for T this week. Sorry again, for being so late visiting this week. I'll try to catch up soon.

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    1. I"m glad you're feeling a bit better. One wonderful thing about blog posts is that the posts stay here. There is no "late" to a blog post :) Take it easy.

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