Celtic Christmas Boutique and Badger Win in Overtime

 

This morning Travalon and I went to Literatus in Watertown, since we hadn't been there in a while. The coffee there is so good, and the chocolate twists are amazing. Then we drove on to Wauwatosa to go to the Milwaukee Celtic Center Christmas Boutique. We got soap and chocolate-covered Oreos, and I looked at some cool jewelry, but it felt wrong to buy more jewelry when I already have so much that I don't get around to wearing. So of course I bought something even more practical: a Waterford crystal paperweight. Like a wind is going to blow away my papers?

I thought the back was kind of cool-looking too.

Then we went for a hike at Lapham Peak, since it was such a lovely day for this time of year. I loved this "Snack Bench."

In the evening we went to the East Side Club to watch the Badger game. It started out as badly as last week, with Nebraska marching down the field and scoring on the opening drive, but the Badgers did pull it together and were up by a field goal by the end of the game. Their defense, which had been doing so well after that pathetic opening drive, couldn't stop the Cornhuskers, and they kicked a field goal with no time left to tie up the game. In overtime, the Badgers drove down the field and scored a touchdown, and then Nebraska was on fourth and fifteen yards, and the quarterback threw a long pass that was intercepted, so we won!! This means Wisconsin will probably be in some pathetic bowl, which seems really unfair with their 500 record when Troy University (which we saw on our trip down South in February) has a 9-2 record and won't go to a bowl. College football is the stupidest thing ever.

Famous Hat

Shamrock Club Picnic

 

Tonight Travalon and I went to the Shamrock Club Picnic. It was way down in Fitchburg, so even though I got off of work at five and he got off of work forty-five minutes later, we got there at virtually the same time. We sat with a couple and another guy, who said he was going to Germany in mid-September. He asked when the next club event would be, and the other guy said probably September 17, which makes sense - it's halfway to St. Patrick's Day - but it also means the guy going to Germany will miss it. The food was typical picnic food: little turkey and cheese sandwiches, pasta salad, a fruit and vegetable platter, Rice Krispy treats, and these really cute frosted sugar cookies that looked like shamrocks. The one guy talked sports a lot with Travalon, and it turns out the other couple is going to Alaska, so that's something I can relate to. Then this very friendly woman came over and started talking to us, and it turns out we have three friends in common on MyFace, so I asked who they were, and they are all Irish class peeps. Why none of these people belong to the Shamrock Club is beyond me, since they seem to be very into everything Irish. So the friendly woman and I became friends on MyFace, and then I mentioned that the tartan blossom on my hat is for Clan Hat, so I have a Scottish maiden name. She said she did one of the genetic tests I have done and was surprised to find out that she is more Scottish than Irish. I am a bit skeptical that a test can really tell that, since they are genetically identical, but maybe it meant she was related to more people in Scotland than in Ireland. I had thought the Second Sight was a Celtic thing, but some of the things I read said it is specific to the people of the Scottish Highlands, so is that where I got it? Everything I've read about it fits with my experience: it's always something bad that you foresee, and it's never useful. It's just a sense some people have, the way some of us seem to have keener senses of smell. And at least that's useful, if you want to be a sommelier or something. The Second Sight doesn't exactly open up any job opportunities, or really any opportunities to make money, because not once have I ever been able to predict lottery numbers.

Famous Hat

Irish Enough for the Shamrock Club?

 

Travalon and I have joined the Shamrock Club, which is a local club for people interested in all things Irish. Since we are new members, they asked us some questions, I guess to get our Irish bona fides. The first question was whether either of us has Irish heritage, and of course I can "prove" it with several genetics tests that say the biggest chunk of my genes come from the south and west of Ireland, and Travalon took a genetic test that said he is a tiny bit Irish as well. The second question was whether we had been to Ireland, and Travalon actually had even before he knew me, and then of course we saw a great deal of the country on our honeymoon. The third question was about what Irish writers or aspects of the culture we were into, and for me that's a no-brainer: my faithful readers know how many years I have labored to learn the Irish language. Then they asked a general question about what other things we like to do, and I won't bore my readers with that since you know we are bird paparazzi who like to go antiquing, and that I am into blacklight and rosaries. (I didn't actually tell them that.) Finally, they asked if we had a photo of ourselves in Ireland, so I found this one, which I may or may not have shared on the blog:

I don't think this is the most flattering photo of me, but I certainly do look Irish. For some reason my hair even looks red, and I have one of those cable-knit sweaters on that they sell there. And of course you can clearly see that I have the sort of complexion where I could get a moon burn. Then behind us you can see the famous Cliffs of Moher. Think we'll pass muster with the Shamrock Club?

Famous Hat

Two Kinds of Irish

Once Richard Bonomo and I were discussing our ancestry and, as he always says, he is the product of a mixed marriage: his father was Italian and his mother is Sicilian. I said something about the two kinds of Irish, and he hadn't heard about it, so here for all five (welcome, Melodee!) of my readers, is my handy guide to the two types of Irish: Irish Catholic and Scotch Irish.

Handy Guide to Both Kinds of Irish

Area of origin
IC: Mostly southern part (when I told a native Corkian (?) that my father's family came from Cork, he said, "Why do all American Irish say their families came from Cork?")
SI: Northern Ireland

Patron saint
IC: St. Patrick
SI: What kinda Papist crap y'all tryin' to pull?

Area settled in US
IC: Northeastern US, especially Southy in Boston and Broad Channel in Queens
SI: Appalachia

Music
IC: jigs, reels, Tin Pan Alley schlock like "Tura Lura"
SI: anything with banjos

Stereoptypes
IC: shamrocks, leprechauns, drinking, fighting
SI: bad teeth, marrying cousins, "if you hear banjo music, paddle faster," drinking, fighting

Beverage of choice
IC: Guinness stout (Beamish stout also acceptable), whiskey
SI: anything made in a bathtub and kept in a jug with three X's on it

Reproduction
IC: like rabbits, if rabbits were ignoring the Church's teachings on contraception these days
SI: the fecundity of cockroaches and the consanguinity of ancient Egyptian royalty

Teeth
IC: good, now that they can afford modern orthodontry
SI: the toothbrush must have been invented in Appalachia, or it would have been called the "teethbrush"

Popular names
IC: Patrick, Sean, Michael, Kathleen, Mary
SI: Billy Bob, Bubba Joe, Bobbi Sue

Tanning ability
IC: slim to none
SI: same

How they celebrate their heritage
IC: dress up in green on St. Patrick's Day, have parades, drink green beer
SI: continuous celebration of the glories of White Trash Culture

Accomplishments
IC: organized the Catholic parochial school system, took over the Democratic party in big cities
SI: preserved Elizabethan-era English in isolated pockets, inspired numerous redneck jokes

I hope you find this guide helpful.

Famous Hat