Kiss Me I'm Irish

Every time I peel potatoes, I think of the Irish. I don't know why. Maybe it's the old stories about the Irish potato famine that I heard from my mother and my grandmother and have never forgotten. I like potatoes as much as the next person, and it's one of the most versatile root vegetables, but I can't imagine having a diet solely based on potatoes. I can't imagine if that were the case and the crop failed.

Everyone is Irish today, so I wanted to post a little tribute to a resilient people by sharing a list of common English words that come from the Irish. Credit goes to the Scottish for words like whiskey, loch, and clan, but according to Emma Taylor's article at Accredited Online Colleges, Scottish Gaelic grew out of Middle Irish. Thanks Emma. I didn't know that! 

Check it out and amaze your friends with your knowledge of word origins whilst tipping back a pint (I can't do green either). And doesn't hooligan sound nicer than criminal?  A hooligan can be almost charming. Haven't you ever wished that you'd said "yes" just once to that hooligan in your past?

Here's to the "water of life" and a day of fun with the hooligans in your present.

Fifty Quintessential British Novels And Other Friday Things

Accredited Online Colleges has published their list of Fifty Quintessential British Novels.

It's an interesting collection, ranging from John Cleland's Fanny Hill (or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure), and I much prefer the subtitle, to Neil Gaiman's American Gods. I know many of you are fans of his. I found some surprising titles in their list and a few to add to my Must-Reads. This is also a great site to research if you are considering taking online college courses.

While we are on the subject of books, I'd like to plug what I'm currently reading, SOUND OF THE CROW, by Layne Maheu.

If men had wings and bore black feathers, few of them would be clever enough to be crows.

Told from a crow's point of view, this is a wildly imaginative journey across the land of the beastman, Noah, as he madly chops down the giants that the crows live in. I've just gotten to the Deluge and I wouldn't have believed that a novel about a bunch of raucaus crows could keep me in thrall. I think we all share an interest in the ancient world, and I'm finding it immensely fascinating, viewing the unsettled state of things through the unblinking eye of the crow. What must they think of us now, I wonder.

Thank Goodness It's Friday! Ya'll have a great weekend. I'm off to Columbus, Ohio to see my daughter graduate from The Ohio State University with a degree in English. Yay!! While there, I will raid her bookcase, which is always chock full of delicious college reading in paperback form. I'm jacked up on coffee and my fingers are tingling at the thought.

Until we meet again my online friends, I wish you all well in your creative endeavors.