A Sober St. Patrick's Day?

1907 St. Patrick's Day Parade in Ireland

Today is St. Patrick’s Day.  For some Americans, it is an excuse to get rip-roaring drunk.  Given that a high percentage of those vomiting in some toilet or alley way are in their early twenties (or younger), I think back to times in Ireland when St. Patrick’s Day was considered a Holy Day. 

The Catholic Church and the tourism officials have vacillated on this issue (“Yes: hoist the pint! or No: you can wait till after Lent.) The Irish-Americans held the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Manhattan in 1848, while the Irish celebrated with a parade in 1903.

It comes down to politics, really. Until the 70s, there was a ban on selling in pubs on March 17.  In 1995, the tourist industry saw new opportunities to throw open the pub doors for visitors and residents alike.

Many in Ireland observe March 17 as a Holy Day; it falls during Lent and should be give respect.

If I see one more shirt exalting the Irish and its drinking, I will also find a toilet or alley way.

Get your Irish on

I'm Irish and I love it!

Everyone is Irish!

Reflections on the A to Z 2014 Challenge--Huzzah!

The Parade

Well, it’s not really over.  For a blogger, the parade never really ends.  It just changes directions.

I have developed some reflections about this year’s A to Z 2014 Challenge.

This year I vowed that I would:

 Keep track of the sites I visited, write the numbers down, note sites which were ones I would follow.

Curse a bit when finding ones that were inactive.

Say “Really??” upon finding sites that were trying to sell a product.

Hit the keys with disgust, after reading ones that were downright vulgar and thoughtless.

Doze off with ones that were like reading small tomes.

Shake my head at ones that were hoping for beta readers and editing help right then and there.

Sigh with pleasure and delight when finding ones who truly expressed a cohesive thought with simplicity and well-chosen words.

With all that said, I would like to appreciate: 

the bloggers who kept their posts brief and interesting.

  

The writers who focused on the message to be conveyed.

  

The writers who knew that run-on paragraphs would put the reader to sleep.

  

The writers who understood and understand the craft of writing.

Just a few of "My newly-acquired: boy-I-want-to-follow-these" are:  

The Shellshank Redemption

D.G. Hudson

Jilda Watson

Writer's Storm: Brandon Ax

Melanie Schulz

Loverofwords

Not enough words can appreciate gratitude for the organizers and on-call super bloggers who either designed, oversaw, and/or monitored the 2,000+ participants.  These people are (with hopes that none were excluded, but pretty sure there are...so sorry):

Arlee Bird

Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh

Stephen Tremp, Author

Tina  

Amyanti 

Jeremy @ Being Retro

Heather M. Gardner

M.J. Joachim's Writing's Tips

Heather M. Gardner

See you 'round the corner!  

Huzzah!

Some may wonder why I use color for words.  Teacher trick.  Helps students track sentences.  Also I love color.

Why "huzzah"?  I like the word.  My apologies for the length of this post.

Good ol' high school band on parade