Slainte and Guid Forder!

I probably have some Irish blood in me, being the mutt that I am, but Saint Partick's Day has never really meant a great deal to me.

An excuse to drink Guinness, yes, of course. But I don't need many excuses for that. Guinness is usually my drink of choice an any Irish pub or everytime my father comes to town and we visit Christina's (a pub in my neighborhood which serves $2 draft Guinness pints with shamrocks poured into the head).

So, first, there is drinking. I stated 2 years ago, when this blog began, "...as much as I love holidays that focus on getting really drunk, this holiday has always been the 2-weeks-to-go-until-your-birthday Day." Drinking, for me, has never really needed the excuse of holiday, vacation or special occation. It does make me wonder how those of us who don't drink deal with these sorts of occations and weddings and other times when drinking is the normal and socially acceptable default behavior. I'm in awe of these people, like a rare speicies of bird lizard, not sure if I believe everything the Discovery Channel tells me.

I don't really feel like my birthday is on its way. I can hardly believe that it almost April. Time is getting really screwed up in my head and my mom just keeps telling me that it will get worse with age.

Last year, my birthday was pretty uneventful. I was thinking this year would be a great birthday. To tell you a little childhood secret, when I would play house with my friend across the street, I was always 26, so there are a lot of expectations riding on this birthday. I guess I just thought I would be someone by now.

Then I started thinking about how "cheers" in most languages means "to your health" or "good luck" and how that's a weird thing to say as you suck down another beer to make you forget your bad luck and worsening health.

But let me end this post by saying I hope you enjoyed a happy and safe Saint Patrick's Day and all the luck of the Irish is with us both as I drink to the end of my 25th year and surrender my childhood fantasy of being 26 forever.

So kiss me, even though I may not be Irish.

Cheers!