It’s going to be a slow week.

My summer cold has put me behind in all senses, which means I haven’t been able to plan, much less execute anything for this coming week. Sundays are usually my “catch-up” days, however instead of doing something responsible I blew the whole day driving to St. Louis to watch the Cubs play the Cardinals. Now you might wonder why a fellow with a summer cold would spend four hours in a car just so he can sit baking in record heat, hoping against the odds that the bottom-of-the-division Cubs could somehow pull out a victory against the first place Cardinals. All I can say is that psychologically speaking, Cubs fandom is a disorder that very closely resembles masochism. But as it turned out, they won.

Since Cubs’ moments in the sun are always ephemeral, I commend them to film whenever I can. Later, during the post season, when the Cubs’ record lies in ashes, I pull them out, put on Take Me Out to the Ball Game, and try to pretend it’s 1908.

I will say this about the Cubbies, however: no matter how bad they play, they still seem to be able to embarrass the always-strong Cardinals on their home field, which is a consolation. But there will be mighty few consolations for Cubs fans this year, and whenever they fold this early I’m put in mind of a tune by the late great Steve Goodman, a Chicago songwriter best known for having written City of New Orleans, made famous by Arlo Guthrie. Enjoy!