Happy St. Patrick's Day

One of my favorites. I'm pale and red-bearded. Put me out on an sunny beach, and you'll soon know sex appeal as I burn and freckle like the dickens. (what is the etymology of "like the dickens?" Actually, I looked it up. Has nothing to do with Charles Dickens. Supposedly a euphemism for "the Devil". What the devil?!). Anyway, I guess the devil is red, so I do look like him after sitting out in the sun for a while. Dickens, indeed.

But I digress. The point is, my roots are Irish. And I love Irish food (that's not a joke). Lamb and potatoes and bacon (ham, basically) and carrots and barley and Irish butter and cold-water seafood- deep fried or otherwise. And Guinness. Oh, the glorious Guinness. Then, of course, there's uisce beatha, aka "water of life", aka whiskey.

I hope you raise a glass of stout or whiskey (or both) to the man who brought Christianity to the Emerald Isle. And if you don't swing that way religiously, then raise a glass to the man who's namesake brought you an excuse to drink green beer at 8 AM.

I often toast with Sláinte (I say "SLAHN-chuh"), not only as a nod to my Irish roots, but also with the literal meaning- "health"- to all those around me. And while raising a pint might seem good enough to you, I've decided to also lazily repost a video I made a few months back. Why? Because it features lamb and potatoes and carrots and Guinness. Giddyup (which is not an Irish term).