Happy St. Patrick’s Day

i’ve read this story (which is quite well executed) ever year, and still love st. patrick’s. i say this as someone with no interest in green beer, working class homophobia or the slavish worship of the catholic church. but despite my jewish surname i am mostly irish (full disclosure: half of that derives not from heel-clicking celts but from protestant oppressors) and this holiday is one of the few opportunities to connect with a heritage that now seems very remote from the life of southern california. when i was in the trader joe’s in glendale a few days ago and asked after the corned beef, a young woman working the floor looked at me as if i had asked for kelp from saturn. of course, in the days of mulholland and doheny, LA was a very irish city.

these days, ireland itself has snapped out of its “celtic tiger” phase and has an unemployment rate of around 10% — bad for them, tho a touch lower than LA county right now. (here is a great simpsons bit on irish identity.)

but that’s another discussion. for now, i am wearing a pine-green american apparel shirt, have a big pot of corned beef simmering away in murphy’s stout upstairs, i am going to blast van morrison until my wife makes me take it off, and will try to steal a few minutes to read yeats after introducing my little son to what i hope will stick as an important family ritual. for the timberg/sinnott family, this one goes back to turn-of-the-century, brooklyn — long ago and very far away. as ian (sorry for the scottish name) would say, CHEERS!