Two different points of view, but both are completely compelling.
First, an insightful article: “Kiss Me, I’m Mexican!”
(link via @Avelino on Twitter. Thanks!)
And from the PS of that first article: “How to make an Irish man cry (and it’s not football)!” is a beautifully written story from an Irishman visiting America.
Good stuff!
Got a little St. Patrick’s Day tear in my eye…..
Yes, tis time to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day again. The wearin’ of the green. The drinking, and the pinching (not necessarily in that order).
But St. Paddy’s Day means something different here on ol’ Oh Fair New Mexico.
Twas St. Paddy’s Day 2007 that my little blog was begun.
Three years and 860 posts later, it’s still going strong.
Look, three years ago, I didn’t know if I had a year’s worth of content in me, but I was willing to try. It was The Good Man’s idea to start a blog and damnit, I guess I have to admit he was right.
He really is, you know, a good man. Smart too. Dashing, handsome…but I digress.
My meager three years don’t come anywhere near the longevity and volume of blog friend, NewMexiKen. He just celebrated six years at his own url and is closer to seven years blogging and still getting ten to fifteen posts a day. I am humbled in his sheer blogging presence.
But my three years still beats the heck out of a lot of blogs I’ve seen rise and fall since I got my start.
Cheers! To Oh Fair New Mexico and another year of random acts of bloggery.
And Happy St. Patrick’s Day! To celebrate I took my new (to me) camera and snapped the prolific clover in the backyard.
I think it’s beautiful. My landlord curses at it.
And so goes the ways of my world.
(I don’t see any four leafers in there, do you?)
So there you are, at home alone in your second story apartment doing whatever it is single ladies do at home at night. (I’m thinking eating raw chocolate chip cookie dough, but that’s just me.)
You hear a rattle, rattle outside on your fire escape and realize someone is climbing onto your balcony.
What do you do?
Well you call the damn police, that’s what.
And that’s what a German woman did in this situation.
Problem was, the assumed burglar was her boyfriend, bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine in hand, trying to do something romantic.
Ah, ok, no harm no foul, right?
The police all have a good laugh and let the young lovers have their peace.
Whoops, seems the boyfriend had an outstanding warrant.
So when the police arrived, he jumped down from the balcony and tried to flee, only to be tackled by the officers on the scene.
Star crossed lovers, or something….
Bonus points to the guy for giving the arresting officers the bottle of wine.
Hopefully his Juliet has a good sense of humor.
I’m thinking chocolate chip cookie dough and a Netflix movie is one heck of a lot nicer way to spend the night than bailing your boyfriend out of jail…but that’s just me.
I spent a lot of time tonight tweaking and fixing my new template to make it lay out like I wanted. My xml and html skills have shot up quite a bit (yes, I figured it all out myself).
I now have dates on posts. Yay!
I now have older/newer links at the bottom of the page. (oops, I have older/newer in Firefox, not in Safari. Ok, more to work on….)
And I moved tags to the bottom of each post.
Please do tell me if you have any troubles with this template. I’ve looked at it in Safari and Firefox. Let me know if it looks weird on your browser or something doesn’t work.
I was ready to scrap this template until I was able to work out a lot of bugs…so there you have it.
Meanwhile, I’m kind of digging the new look.
By the by, I received reviews on a blog traffic service I use for my blog. Universally, reviewers hated my old template. Hopefully they like the new one. I’ve gotten great feedback so far!
Thanks!
Recently, while flipping around my no-cable-havin’ television choices, I landed on the “Tavis Smiley Show.”
I’ve watched his show a couple times before, but what stopped me this time was his guest, Rosanne Cash, a talented singer songwriter. I’m a big fan.
It was a fun interview. Rosanne was feeling a bit more expansive than usual, which was nice. The central theme for the interview was Rosanne’s new album called “The List.”
The story goes something like this: When Rosanne was just out of high school, she went on the road with her dad, Johnny Cash. While on the road, all the various musicians she toured with taught her how to play guitar.
At one point, her father noted her deep lack of musical knowledge, and sat down with a pad of yellow paper and wrote up a list of songs that she should learn and know.
It was a gift of a father’s deep love and respect for musical history that he wrote out line by line on that page.
Over the years, Rosanne kept that sheet of paper, and learned most of the songs.
Well, finally, after having surgery on a benign tumor in her brain and coming through the recovery, she and her husband decided to make an album of songs that were included on the original list.
Over the years, Rosanne has been reluctant to show people the actual list, and keeps it tucked away somewhere safe. Her album gives you a taste of the songs that Johnny felt were key to his own daughter’s musical education.
This whole concept intrigued me, so I ran out and got the CD. I’m not on board with every arrangement on the album (call me a purist…or something), but deeply I respect the new interpretation of these classic songs.
So I got another copy and sent it to my best friend, mother of my two goddaughters. She and her husband are doing an excellent job in passing along a musical education to their children.
But for my best friend and me, music is everything. It’s the stitches that hold tight the tapestry of our lives, our memories and our friendship.
So included in the package with the CD, I sent a letter with my idea: Our own list.
I feel that we need to make a list of our own musical legacy for her kids just as Johnny did for Rosanne.
Well, my friend took to this idea with gusto, and our list making began.
I began jotting songs as they came to me in my notebook and it quickly grew to four pages front and back. I realized…this is going to be a really long list, so I began to think of how we could sort it out to make it easier to take in.
Over this past weekend, she arrived for a fun visit, and came toting a CD she’d burned of her own first volume of The List (and two bags of roasted green chile in her suitcase).
Her idea for sorting the songs is by category. Her first volume is “Songs You Wanna Dance To.”
There will be a “Songs You Wanna Drink Beer and Cry To.”
There will probably be a “Songs You Wanna Get Frisky To.”
And then, perhaps just a, “If You’re Gonna Be My Kid, You’d Better Know These Songs” CD as well.
We’re still working on the categories, but work is underway.
Over the weekend, The Good Man and I were both pleased and honored to have yet another friend from back in my college days visiting, too.
Friday night the four of us got together at my place. My best friend made rellenos and Spanish rice. I whipped up a batch of green chile chicken enchiladas and a pot of savory pinto beans.
There were margaritas, guacamole and a LOT of conversation about the list. Our friend, an Edgewood boy now living in Oklahoma, is like a long lost brother to me. He brought many excellent suggestions for the list to the table.
We cussed. We discussed. And together we’re creating something meaningful for my two godkids. In this music they will know their mom, and their godmom, our families, our history and our love.
Ooops, hold on a sec…just thought of another song I need to jot down…
