Countless readers have written us, demanding answers. Well, scores of readers, actually. Probably closer to a dozen… OK, fine. My wife has been asking me, “When are you going to write another Commonplace Fun Facts article? You’ve really been slacking this summer!”

Admittedly, the pace of articles this year has been slower than in previous years, and in the last few months, new postings have been as rare as the Candygrams sent between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

We could tell you many reasons for this interruption in your steady diet of humor, fun facts, and interesting notions. We could tell you about government conspiracies, alien abductions, abrupt interruptions in gravitational attraction, the psychological trauma arising from realizing that “Hint of Lime Tostitos” don’t have nearly as much lime in them as we thought, and other overwhelming events.

The sad reality is that the advertising revenue from Commonplace Fun Facts doesn’t quite cover the expenses of our castle in Scotland and the food bills for Yardstick, our emotional support badger. Who am I kidding? Last week I bought a toothbrush on a 12-month installment plan. That means there is another job in which the employer unreasonably seems to think we should produce work in exchange for a paycheck. Sometimes the demands of that job drain this writer of creative juices and energy. This summer has been particularly trying. Hollywood writers made headlines by going on strike. This writer’s brain beat them to it by a couple of months.

Have no fear, dear readers, because Commonplace Fun Facts has not gone away. Even as these words appear on the screen, the interns in the Research Department are busily pulling together the facts for some articles that we think you will love. Among the tasty morsels about to be served for your intellectual tastebuds are such intriguing hors d’oeuvres as:

• The world’s most successful art thief;
• Animals who outrank you;
• The heatwave that launched a political career and killed another;
• The First Lady who disappeared;
• The only person to steal the British Crown Jewels; and
• The Golden Bat.

Thanks for your patience and understanding as we return from our sabbatical and prepare for the best and greatest days of Commonplace Fun Facts.

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