I'm not as grouchy as I sound...

[darkcryst]

It's March 17th, and you know what that means...

.. yes, it's one month until my birthday, or as I call it - The Christmas in April. There shall be a party, oh yes indeed.

Oh, not that I don't like the whole thing or anything, but to paraphrase Warren Ellis:

I’ve lived in Ireland and gotten drunk in Dublin, which makes me more Irish than 99% of you — and, whoops, here’s the clue train pulling up to the station, and it says I’m not Irish and neither are 99% of you so you can stick St Paddy's Day up your arse.

If you want to celebrate St Pat’s today, eat a raw potato, build a house out of peat, and get yourself shot by an Englishman.

And guess what? If you were born in America, you’re not Irish, you’re fucking American. Deal with it.

Also, as castironskillet notes:

There were never any snakes in Ireland.

Padraig was a slave, who escaped and went to England, where he was taken into a monastery and educated. He then went back to Ireland and converted the sun worshipers there to "son" worship, using a device consisting of the sun superimposed behind a cross that incorporated the awesome knot work his former masters used to represent infinity, and the monastic example of humility and selflessness.

They should rename the holiday "International Drinking While Wearing Green" day and be done with it. That's it's true meaning to most people.

That said Miriam & I are going out to have fun with Brian and Erica who are putting on a nice Irish meal and stuff. Should be fun.

Comments

[a-muse-d.livejournal.com]

with ancestors from Ireland who were Irish, that does indeed make one Irish. home is where the heart is, and all that crap, even if it's split 53435644 ways.

[sterilespells.livejournal.com]

If we look it that way... aren't we all african?

[miriammiriam.livejournal.com]

haha!

i agree.

[a-muse-d.livejournal.com]

yes. i don't see anything wrong with that.

[darkcryst.livejournal.com]

that does indeed make one Irish

Not in any real sense of the word.


By that logic I am a Viking African. Where exactly do you draw the line and why? You can't pick and choose. You can have a nationality, an ethnicity, and a cultural group.

Which, in most "Irish" American's cases is American, Anglo-Celtic, and... American.

[a-muse-d.livejournal.com]

yes, you can pick and choose! isn't the world a wonderful place?

in my case, by what you say, i'm American, Anglo-Celtic-Russian-Austrian-Swiss-and my dad's side i don't at the moment recall all of, and American-Pacific Islander. i'm quite happy to include it all in the mix and it's not in your power to pick it for me. if i should like to celebrate "amateur day" by actually thinking about my misguided Catholic Irish relatives, that's for me to do and you to not worry about. just because other people are shoving it under your nose is not my problem, and it's for that reason that i dread the Christmas holiday season.

[darkcryst.livejournal.com]

You can't pick and choose your country of birth or nationality (though you can add to it) - which is my point.

And yes - you can think of your heritage, I'm not saying you can't. However it still doesn't make you Irish, which you said it did.

[galateadia.livejournal.com]

I too am throwing an Irish dinner party. I've never been one for wearing green, drinking beer, or being out where frat boys who always over do it can hit me. But food? Food from elsewhere? That's right up my alley, I'll do that any time I can. Throw a silly excuse on top of it and I'm happy enough. :)

[darkcryst.livejournal.com]

Oh totally - I mean I celebrate The Day Of The Dead too, but I don't pretend I'm Mexican while doing it ;) Plus I actually celebrate it, not drink green beer and crawl home.

[galateadia.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'd love it if I were Irish, but alas I am not one bit (as far as I know). So you will never hear me saying "Kiss me, I'm Irish!" (first off for the obvious reason, secondly because I hate that saying)
You and I celebrate, we don't appropriate. ;)

[catwoman1980.livejournal.com]

I'm an American mongrel, but I find it interesting that most of my ancestry came from all countries in Great Britain. I don't celebrate St. Patty's Day to the core, even though I still acknowledge it.

I like raw potatoes btw, but not as much as baked potatoes, chips, and crisps.

[catwoman1980.livejournal.com]

jacket potatoes I mean :-P

Dave in London

[(Anonymous)]

Nice to see your yearly st patricks day rant in full swing dude. As an englishman with an irish father (both his parents were and he was born there fact fans) i find the american take on this hilarious, although hardly surprising. Given the amount of money pouring out of america helping to fund terrorism on mainland Britain in the 70's, 80's, and 90's the place must be crawling with true green paddies. Its hardly surprising that the place goes nuts on St Particks day. They all live there.

Ironically most of my friends call me paddy.