Happy Blah, Blah, Blah

So, let me get this straight? A British-born Roman slave becomes a Christian, spends 30+ years driving paganism out of Ireland—ushering in 16 centuries of Roman Catholicism—and we're supposed to celebrate the guy?

No thanks.

I will raise a pint to the Irish, though, who throughout the centuries have shown unbelievable grit and, despite their trials, managed to create an astonishingly rich artistic culture. And who after 1,600 years are finally throwing off the yoke of their cross dressing oppressors.

Happy Belated Halloween

A little late, perhaps, but how could I not share the creepiest. ad. ever.?

Happy Halloween!

In honor of one of my favorite holidays and since I won't be dressing up tonight…

Hillary Drops Out

Wow! She finally saw the writing on the wall and decided to drop out. Now we can get on to the real fight. (Though, in a bizarre, twisted way, I'll kind of miss the death march now that's it's ended.)

Oh, by the way: April Fool's Day!

How My Peeps?

Remember those sickly sweet marshmallow bunnies called Peeps? Well, people have been getting creative with them in recent years. The Washington Post has a slideshow of 37 dioramas that contestants have submitted here. Two examples:

Happy Eostre!

All praise the bunny of fertility!

The Easter Bunny is a mythological rabbit who brings gifts and candy to children on the Easter holiday, most likely based on pre-Christian customs honoring the fertility goddess Eostre. […]

Eggs, like rabbits and hares, are fertility symbols of extreme antiquity. Since birds lay eggs and rabbits and hares give birth to large litters in the early spring, these became symbols of the rising fertility of the earth at the Vernal Equinox.

As for rabbits laying eggs, several explanations have been proposed.

In English, the etymology of the word "Easter" comes from an ancient pagan goddess of the spring named Eostre, related to German Ostara. According to popular folklore, Eostre once saved a bird whose wings had frozen during the winter by turning it into a rabbit. Because the rabbit had once been a bird, it could still lay eggs, and that rabbit became the modern Easter Bunny.[2]

And while millions of kids across the country were searching their backyards for beautiful eggs like these…

Annie and I were busy in our backyard: 

searching for Bella's poop.

The Legs Of Me Wife

A St. Patty's Day joke:

John O’Reilly hoisted his beer and said, “Here’s to spending the rest of me life, between the legs of me wife!” That won him the top prize at the pub for the best toast of the night!

He went home and told his wife, Mary, “I won the prize for the Best toast of the night”

She said, “Aye, did ye now. And what was your toast?”

John said, “Here’s to spending the rest of me life, sitting in church beside me wife.”

“Oh, that is very nice indeed, John!” Mary said.

The next day, Mary ran into one of John’s drinking buddies on the street corner.

The man chuckled leeringly and said, “John won the prize the other night at the pub with a toast about you, Mary”.

She said, “Aye, he told me, and I was a bit surprised myself.”

“You know, he’s only been there twice in the last four years. Once he fell asleep, and the other time I had to pull him by the ears to make him come.”

h/t: 2parse/blog

Happy Lupercalia, Everyone!

And for those of you who insist that Valentine's Day is a Hallmark holiday, here's a little reminder of it's long (and pre-Christian) history from Wikipedia:

In Ancient Rome, February 15 was Lupercalia, an archaic rite connected to fertility, without overtones of romance. Plutarch wrote:

Lupercalia, of which many write that it was anciently celebrated by shepherds, and has also some connection with the Arcadian Lycaea. At this time many of the noble youths and of the magistrates run up and down through the city naked, for sport and laughter striking those they meet with shaggy thongs. And many women of rank also purposely get in their way, and like children at school present their hands to be struck, believing that the pregnant will thus be helped in delivery, and the barren to pregnancy.

The word Lupercalia comes from lupus, or wolf, so the holiday may be connected with the legendary wolf that suckled Romulus and Remus. Priests of this cult, luperci would travel to the lupercal, the cave where the she-wolf who reared Romulus and Remus allegedly lived, and sacrifice animals (two goats and a dog). The blood would then be scattered in the streets, to bring fertility and keep the wolves away from the fields. [4] Lupercalia was a festival local to the city of Rome. The more general Festival of Juno Februa, meaning "Juno the purifier "or "the chaste Juno," was celebrated on February 13-14. Pope Gelasius I (492-496) abolished Lupercalia.

For even more on Valentine's Day history, follow this link to The History Channel.