Wow, what a gorgeous morning here today! That alone has made me get out of bed, smiling. (Well, I was out of bed before the sun was up, then I went back to bed with my coffee for a couple of hours, and THEN I got out of bed, smiling…)

Naturally, I have a ton of stuff that will keep me at my desk today, but I definitely intend to go out and take an incredibly beautiful walk this afternoon. It really just feels like Spring today, gang.

Okay.

I don’t have much to share, news-wise. This was interesting, though–

“TruthStream #243 Stanford Graham: A incredible conversation on synchronicity and our 12 senses with Stanford Graham. He is a wonderful human who sheds light on David Martin’s 12 senses workshop. He is also a humanitarian, entrepreneur and connector.”

Truth Stream with Joe & Scott (2 hrs):

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Ross K. Nichols – Mysteries of the Tabernacle: Ark of the Covenant – Part: II (1 hr 32 mins):

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James Tabor – How Paul’s Ideas Shape the Gospels! Pt 1 (24 mins):

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And the rest, here, is just some St. Paddy’s Day stuff I wanted to share!

I was in my mid-twenties before I found my birth family and found out that my biological roots were mostly Irish and German (on both sides of my birth family). And by then. my best friend Valerie in Brooklyn, was already my most favorite person on planet Earth. And she was more Irish than anyone else I ever knew. (This was the mid-1980s, in NYC.)

Even though I had already gone to St. Paddy’s Day parades with her, and I listened to a ton of Irish folk music by then (and she and I both loved The Pogues), suddenly finding out that I had Irish roots was a big thrill for both of us.

I remember standing in my bedroom in the hellhole tenement apartment on E.12th Street, push-button phone in hand, calling Valerie and telling her, “Val! I’m Irish!!”

She said, “Oh, Emmy!! Of course you are!!”

I don’t know how many St. Paddy’s Days we spent together in Manhattan, going to the old Irish Pub on the corner of 6th Avenue and W. 53rd Street (it’s long gone now) and drinking Guinness on tap and singing that crazy song about the unicorn —

— but those are some of my favorite memories, and my first thoughts on St. Paddy’s Day are always of Valerie and how much fucking FUN we always had. Drinking, smoking, cussing, laughing, and other stuff.

(And, I don’t know, gang, there are pernicious rumors that she and I were illicit lovers for about 20 years, but I can’t attest to that one way or the other!!!! ) (If it were true, though, I’d be willing to bet that it would have inspired some of my most popular short stories, novellas, and memoirs…..)

Anyway!!

So here are some great photos Val shared with me recently and I wanted to share them with you!

And that’s my little trip down Memory Lane for St. Patrick’s Day, gang!

I hope you have a splendid Sunday, wherever you are in the world!!

Have a Guinness on me — if you imbibe!

Thanks for visiting. I love you guys. See ya!

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This song reminds me of how Valerie feels about Ireland — her ancestral home, which she has visited many times. “Home” by Edith Whiskers, 2020.

“Home”
(originally by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros)

Alabama, Arkansas, I do love my Ma and Pa
Not the way that I do love you
Well, holy moly, me oh my, you’re the apple of my eye
Girl, I’ve never loved one like you
Man, oh, man, you’re my best friend, I scream it to the nothingness
There ain’t nothing that I need
Well, hot and heavy pumpkin pie, chocolate candy, Jesus Christ
Ain’t nothing please me more than you

Oh, home, let me come home
Home is wherever I’m with you
Oh, home, let me come home
Home is wherever I’m with you

La, la, la, la, take me home
Mother, I’m coming home

I’ll follow you into the park, through the jungle, through the dark
Girl, I never loved one like you
Moats and boats and waterfalls, alleyways and pay phone calls
I been everywhere with you
We laugh until we think we’ll die, barefoot on a summer night
Nothing new is sweeter than with you
And in the streets, you run afree like it’s only you and me
Geez, you’re something to see

Oh, home, let me come home
Home is whenever I’m with you
Oh, home, let me come home
Home is wherever I’m with you

Home, let me come home
Home is whenever I’m with you
Oh, home, let me come home
Home is wherever I’m with you

c- Alex Ebert, Jade Castrinos