Ow! Stop it. This shirt IS green!!!

I'm neither Irish nor Catholic -- nor do I have any desire to go out and get liquored up and do things I'll regret -- so St. Patrick's Day is kind of wasted on me. I do wear green, of course, but that's mostly out of a desire to avoid pinch-happy (and often, conveniently colorblind) smart alecks.

But I was curious about the holiday today, so I Googled it. Now, I don't typically endorse the History Channel as an authoritative source of knowledge when it comes to Christianity or the church in any sense (I've read a few things by the alleged "scholars" they tend to interview exclusively on these topics), but they seem have a decent piece on their website today about St. Patrick himself and the history of St. Patrick's Day.

I'm making a concerted effort to listen to Irish musicians today, too. Yes, of course, everyone knows U2 (Arrow93 FM is playing their songs all day as well as giving away tickets to their upcoming sold-out concerts, in case you're interested), but I'm also a fan of the singer/songwriter acts, traditional Irish music groups and the lively "jig-punk" or "Celtic rock & roll" bands. Take a listen to The Chieftains, The Young Dubliners or The Prodigals today, if you can. And if you're in the mood to cry into your pint of watered-down green beer, immerse yourself in Dillon O'Brian's Irish-pathos-ridden "My Father's Son," a snippet of which follows:

I want you to love me
I want to be your golden one
But I can only be
My father's son

I want you to know me
I don't want to hide or run
But I will always be
My father's son

Have a happy and SAFE (designate a driver, please) St. Patrick's Day, everybody!