AOGB Classic: Erin Go Blah's
I have a new post I almost published today, but then I thought to myself, why not make it an AOGB Classic day instead? This was so that I can honor my heritage and the holiday that is coming tomorrow. St. Patrick's Day!
A top of the morning and happy pre-Saint Patrick's Day to ya! Since my last name is Branagan, I would feel remiss if I did not acknowledge the holiday, although somehow I didn't do anything on it last year. I look the part too, only I feel like a fraud considering I'm 50% Italian and only something like 25 or 30% Irish. Shh, don't tell anybody.
Every Saint Patrick's Day there are three things I do to get me "in the mood".
First, sometime in the month of March, I get a mint flavored, shamrock shake from McDonalds. This year I was even tempted to add a little vodka to make it extra magically delicious, but I never did. The other things I do is wear green and eat cornbeef and cabbage, though not necessarily at the same time. That would too much like Irish overload.
I always found St. Patrick's Day to be a bit of an odd holiday. If you ask me, it's just an excuse for all Americans, no matter their nationality, to shack up with the shamrocks. Why? Well, because the Irish are known primarily for two things: adding an O' or a Mc to everything and getting hammered.
Which brings me to why I'm writing about St. Patrick's Day to begin with. What do the Irish really bring to the table anyway? Now I can say this because again, I'm part Irish. You know the rule. But let's review, quickly some of the things the Irish are most famous for:
1. Drinking
2. Cornbeef and Cabbage
3. Irish Soda Bread
4. Shamrocks
5. Aidan Quinn
6. Leprechauns
7. Irish Spring Soap
8. Riverdance
9. Bono
10. Lucky Charms cereal
Don't get me wrong. I love all of those things. You can't see me, but right now but one quarter or so of my Irish eyes are smiling.
But to celebrate, more or less, the same things year after year seems a little bit redundant, doesn't it? Meanwhile, the rest of the year I feel like my ode to the Irish should be taken from the lyrical pages of Ms. Janet Jackson, What have you done for me lately?
I feel so uniformed the other 364 days. What do these people when they aren't adding food color to their beer? Are they really searching for the pot of gold at the end of every rainbow? What is up with their fascination with potatoes, anyway?
No, if I'm going to celebrate a holiday like St. Patrick's Day, I want to do it right. I want to KNOW Patrick, if you know what I'm saying. I don't want him to be the relative I invite over my house one time a year, only to say we have to get together more often, but we never do. I want my relationship with Ireland to be meaningful. It should be more than a drunken one night stand in mid March.
Someday I'll find it. The rainbow connection. The Irish, the leprechauns and me.
A top of the morning and happy pre-Saint Patrick's Day to ya! Since my last name is Branagan, I would feel remiss if I did not acknowledge the holiday, although somehow I didn't do anything on it last year. I look the part too, only I feel like a fraud considering I'm 50% Italian and only something like 25 or 30% Irish. Shh, don't tell anybody.
Every Saint Patrick's Day there are three things I do to get me "in the mood".
First, sometime in the month of March, I get a mint flavored, shamrock shake from McDonalds. This year I was even tempted to add a little vodka to make it extra magically delicious, but I never did. The other things I do is wear green and eat cornbeef and cabbage, though not necessarily at the same time. That would too much like Irish overload.
I always found St. Patrick's Day to be a bit of an odd holiday. If you ask me, it's just an excuse for all Americans, no matter their nationality, to shack up with the shamrocks. Why? Well, because the Irish are known primarily for two things: adding an O' or a Mc to everything and getting hammered.
Which brings me to why I'm writing about St. Patrick's Day to begin with. What do the Irish really bring to the table anyway? Now I can say this because again, I'm part Irish. You know the rule. But let's review, quickly some of the things the Irish are most famous for:
1. Drinking
2. Cornbeef and Cabbage
3. Irish Soda Bread
4. Shamrocks
5. Aidan Quinn
6. Leprechauns
7. Irish Spring Soap
8. Riverdance
9. Bono
10. Lucky Charms cereal
Don't get me wrong. I love all of those things. You can't see me, but right now but one quarter or so of my Irish eyes are smiling.
But to celebrate, more or less, the same things year after year seems a little bit redundant, doesn't it? Meanwhile, the rest of the year I feel like my ode to the Irish should be taken from the lyrical pages of Ms. Janet Jackson, What have you done for me lately?
I feel so uniformed the other 364 days. What do these people when they aren't adding food color to their beer? Are they really searching for the pot of gold at the end of every rainbow? What is up with their fascination with potatoes, anyway?
No, if I'm going to celebrate a holiday like St. Patrick's Day, I want to do it right. I want to KNOW Patrick, if you know what I'm saying. I don't want him to be the relative I invite over my house one time a year, only to say we have to get together more often, but we never do. I want my relationship with Ireland to be meaningful. It should be more than a drunken one night stand in mid March.
Someday I'll find it. The rainbow connection. The Irish, the leprechauns and me.
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