Among the 1.5 gazillion pieces of spam I receive each day was this missive:

I don’t know anyone named Tommie T. Hunter (but I’d like to – the name is redolent of cheeky good times and devil-may-care insouciance). But even if I did, I’d have to ask, be modern?

How, in these uncertain times? In the age we live in, with so many cultural cross-currents howling this way and that, what does it mean to be “modern”? And at this late date, aren’t we all a little better off being just a tad old-fashioned?

As I was pondering these imponderables, I received this equally enigmatic note from one Hilda V. Vasquez:

(Note that Hilda and Tommie look to be the product of a single spambot, probably operated by a millionaire spammer who works from a trailer home in Florida. If I actually opened either spam, my machine would likely implode in about 27 seconds.)

Yes, Hilda, “and strange.” I think you’ve got something there. “And strange…” I’m going to have to give that some thought…