March 17, 2008
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I did the dragon's will until you came
Because I had fancied love a casual
Improvisation, or a settled game
That followed if I let the kerchief fall:
Those deeds were best that gave the minute wings
And heavenly music if they gave it wit;
And then you stood among the dragon-rings.
I mocked, being crazy, but you mastered it
And broke the chain and set my ankles free,
Saint George or else a pagan Perseus;
And now we stare astonished at the sea,
And a miraculous strange bird shrieks at us.
William Butler YeatsThe Daily News
Yeats.1 So I messed up yesterday because I thought it was March 16, got to school and realized it was St. Patrick's Day!
2 I'm half Irish and always loved St. Patty's Day, always celebrating with some corned beef and cabbage, but good Corned Beef, not that fatty stuff they sellya in most stores.
3 I love the magic of Ireland and the Irish people, not to mention the poetry of Yeats, the drama of Shaw and the music of U2.
4 So I got to school totally embarrassed that I had the wrong day, all week last week thinking it was today.
5 I guess it didn't matter that much because word on the street is that the Pope canceled St. Patrick's Day this year.
6 Interferes with Holy Week.
7 Huh?
8 That's what the students told me all day so technically I didn't miss the day.
9 I had a huge problem with that, despite my own idiocy of not being on top of my own heritage.
10 I just thought that if they had canceled anyone else's holiday, they might have a huge fight on their hands.
11 I don't really KNOW what happened, just that for some reason my father's entire side of the family was snubbed for Easter by a Pope whose name sounds like something you'd order at Denny's.
12 Nothing against Easter, mind you, but who is some Pope to come along and do that?
13 I guess it's not really that big a deal to get all worked up about, but every year I've kept that day as just a fun day and always did an annual Irish meal, complete with rye bread, potatoes, and sometimes even a wee touch of Irish whiskey.
14 Two years ago I had one of the most magical St. Patrick's Days ever, just fun, and a celebration day.
15 This was a bit of robbery. And the fact that I had the day wrong made it even more of a drag.
16 I felt like someone took the green apple outta my lunch.
17 Two years ago I had the best day of 2006, just a day when we had done service to Fiddler on the Roof's song Sunrise, Sunset, and I just had a magical, mystical day. Here's the link to my DN of that day, which also makes mention of The Ducks, my first band and favorite band, and who I certainly hope I can re-unite with sometime this year:
http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=bharrington&nextdate=3%2f17%2f2006+23%3a59%3a59.999
18 It was as though I had the luck of the Irish that day, and it was just an enchantingly memorable day, and it totally made my St. Patrick's Day a grand one indeed.
19 Well, good ol' Maggie (ah, a nice Irish name now!) sent me some thoughts and a bit o' the Irish with a you tube connection to this fellow named John Whelan. Ah, it worked, and it worked wonderfully. Thanks lass, it took a wee bit o' the sting outta the day.
20 I've enjoyed my Irish side since I was a little lad.
21 In fact, I attribute my love of theatre to the Irish.
22 I was around five or six years old when we went to this church party that was at a bar. My dad had taught me George M. Cohan's Harrigan, changing the name of the celebrated Harrigan to my own last name. Dad used to play piano and I'd join him in a song or two.
23 I learned it and sang it with a perfect brogue, and on the night of the church party, I was asked to step up to the mic and sing the Cohan classic with the twist that I sang about my own family name.
24 I remember seeing rosy cheeks, twinkling eyes, and a great roar when I finished. Every Irish Catholic in San Francisco drew me in as the toast of the town that night, or so it seemed in my Irish eyes, which were smiling.
25 Their eyes were also smiling when I had my first experience with a live audience.
26 The rest as they say is certainly history.
27 Happy belated St. Patrick's Day, finally.
28 Turned out to be plenty o' fun!
29 And thank ye Maggie. You're a fine lass.
30 And to the rest of you, have a beautiful day.
31 Peace.
~H~
http://www.xanga.com/bharrington
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