How Many? Good Grief!

By Patrick F. Cannon

This will be the 284^th week in a row that I have tried your patience by posting an article on Cannonade. I can’t imagine that anyone has read all of them, but if they did, they plowed through something like 155,000 words. During roughly the same period, I have written two books on Chicago architecture – The Space Within: Inside Great Chicago Buildings, published in 2016; and At Home in Chicago: A Living History of Domestic Architecture, which should be out in the Fall. The text for each runs to about 40,000 words. But most people think the best part of the books (and there are four others) has been the beautiful images provided by my partner, Jim Caulfield.

            By the way, I do know how to spell, sort of. The blog is titled Cannonnade because “Cannonade” was already taken. There has been no dominant subject for those 284 pieces, although quite a few have suggested that we have not been well served by our elected public servants, and a high percentage of the people they hire to do the actual work. Those of you who cook have been favored by my many unique recipes. It is my special hope that you would have tried my recipe for kidney stew. Once you get past the smell…

            You have also been plagued by the finished chapters of my ongoing History of the World. I am currently working on the American and French Revolutions. Next will come The Age of Napoleon, but it could be tricky as he was known to lie about his age. But I will persevere. I’m not sure when I’m going to stop, as I’m not sure I will be able to find much in the 20^th Century to make fun of. Charlie Chaplin made fun of Hitler in The Dictator, but that was before World War II, and the Holocaust.

            I have also retold some classic jokes. My favorite is the one about the Académie Francais wrestling with the definition of “savoir faire.” Called “The Immortals,”  the search feature on the Word Press site might help you to find it, or I’d be happy to e-mail a copy to you.

            The animal kingdom has not been forgotten. I have written about the joys of owning dogs, and the pain of their passing. On a couple of occasions, I have shared my passion for Thoroughbred horse racing, which seems to be thriving everywhere but Chicago.

            Many of my readers have occasionally taken issue with my opinions. Thank goodness, because arrogance and pomposity often creep into my opinions. To tell you the truth, the longer I live, the less sure I am that I have found ultimate wisdom. Although I often wished it didn’t, the world stubbornly continues to change. And it’s just possible that most folks don’t really care what I think.

            Finally, sometimes I just can’t think of anything important or amusing to write about. This is obviously one of those weeks!

Copyright 2021, Patrick F. Cannon