St. Patrick's Day 2009

As the majority of New York prepares to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, a phone call from the man with whom I recently broke-up and a text message from my friend Adam in Boston have certainly put me into the Irish mood (of sorts) on this bright and sunny March 17.

I will almost certainly remain at my desk for most of today, but a myriad of Irish eyes will certainly shine upon New York today. New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn will attend a reception in honor of Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen tonight in Washington. The Irish Queers will hold their annual protest at the city's St. Patrick's Day parade on Fifth Avenue to draw attention to the Ancient Order of Hibernians' long-standing policy to exclude LGBT marchers from the defile. And countless others will patronize Irish pubs and other establishments as they revel in their Irish heritage (or at least pretend they hail from the Emerald Isle.)

A faltering economy and the murder of a policeman and two soldiers at the hands of a splinter group of Irish Republican Army dissidents earlier this month are among the concerns Irish and Northern Irish continue to confront, but St. Patrick's Day remains the one (albeit kitschy) time people across the world can pay tribute and honor this great island, it's people and its culture.