Oh what a glorious holiday St. Patty’s Day is!! You have to love a holiday in which drinking is the No. 1 way to celebrate it!! (Of course, in my family, we do that with pretty much every holiday, but this one is actually expected and encouraged by all).
In South Boston, where I live, the Sunday after St. Patty’s Day is the event of the season. For more than 100 years, this predominantly Irish neighborhood has put on a massive parade to celebrate the holiday. Thousands of people from as far as Ireland have been known to descend upon our typically quiet (except for the occasional siren) streets to join in the festivities. For the past two years, I’ve lived directly on the parade route and have had a massive party, accordingly.
Yesterday was no exception and a good time was had by all. Rather than drone on about the entire day, I’m going to go ahead and give you some of the highlights:
Red Hot Chili Peppers -
So I decide to make homemade chili for the party so peeps would have something to eat. Long story short, I used dried chilies for the first time in an attempt to make it a little spicier than it’s been in the past. Not exactly a chili pepper connoisseur, I thought nothing of crushing the chilies with my bare hands.
Bad idea.
After a few minutes, I started getting a burning sensation all over my hands. After profuse hand-washing and a shower, the burning was a little duller, but persisted. Then I go to put my contacts in and OH MY GOD!! My eyeball literally felt like it was burning. Haven’t been able to wear them since. Went online and discovered the way to rid the acid is to soak my hands in rubbing alcohol. Between boozing all day long yesterday, I didn’t quite get that opportunity. Tonight perhaps. All I know is that I’ll never crush chili peppers with my bare hands ever again.
Chili was to die for, though. The suffering was worth it, I guess.
Dropkicks concert on wheels -
Those who aren’t from Boston might not know who the Dropkick Murphy’s are. Once a local favorite, the Dropkicks have only recently become famous with a string of radio-friendly hits. Anyway, for those who don’t know who they are, I’ll explain. They’re Blackwatch Pipes and Drums meets Green Day. In other words, Irish punk rock and flippin sweet!!
Every year they come home to Boston for five shows on/around St. Patty’s Day. This year, they actually played on a float in the parade and were again, flippin sweet. I’ve never heard louder cheers for a parade float in my four years of watching the event. (Girls flipping out over firefighters came close, but no cigar).
Ain’t no window high enough -
I have this great roof area on top of my building that is fabulous for events like the parade. But, my landlord has been doing repairs up there for the last several months and has locked it up ever since. I had advertised that peeps would be able to watch the action from atop the roof, but it was still locked on Sunday, so no dice.
Or so I thought.
Some of my friends from the bar decided to pry open the small window about 5-feet from the door, but a good five feet off the steps. That didn’t stop them, however, as they helped each other hop through the frame and onto the roof. I was just about to join them when the boys from the apartment downstairs received a call from our landlord telling him to get people off the roof. He was furious at them because last year, they had about 100 people up there. So there come all my friends, shimmying back through the window. It was a site I tell you.
Drunk Jackie Strikes Again -
Anyone who has been to a party with Jacks would know what I’m talking about. This is her own self-made phrase to describe her party antics…which I will not elaborate on. She’s my BFF and I just don’t do that. So buy the book, people.
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That’s about all from the party. Everyone had a great time and I was so thankful to those who came, especially my long lost high school friend Jamie Miller-Spaulding. Great to see you, Kathie Lee (inside Cardinal Spellman High School joke).
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Got this cool, and disturbing, e-mail from Jacks today about this site that tells you your theme song based on the date of your 18th birthday. Site is located at: http://www.thisdayinmusic.com/member/birthdayno1.php Check it out and tell me what your theme is. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with some hits and misses from me and my friends.
Hits:
Me - One Sweet Day by Mariah Carey w/Boyz II Men (Those who know me can see why this is so accurate).
Elsa Allen - Gangsta’s Paradise by Coolio (Elsa has lived in P-Town and Dorchester. Nuff said).
Nancy Milano (my mom) - Rock the Boat by Hues Corporation. (Oh, she's a boat rocker all right. In all the right ways, of course. Love you Ma!).
Misses:
Mark Goodman - Amazed by Lonestar (Never heard of the song or who sings it. We’re thinking it’s a miss, though).
Jacks - Unbreak My Heart by Toni Braxton (Jacks—to my knowledge—has never had her heartbroken, except every time the Red Sox flubbed up in the playoffs. It’s safe to say her heart has been unbroken since 2004, when Boston won the World Series).
Krissy (my sister) - My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion. (Totally uncool song that does not even remotely describe my hip and funny sister. Big-time miss).
Katie-Belle - Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman by Bryan Adams. (Just no way this is accurate. No way this girl plays for the other team).
Boy (my brother) - Maneater by Hall & Oates. (Great song, but this is another miss in the sense that they are talking about a girl who theoretically eats men alive. But my brother would say it might be accurate in terms of him being a "six-foot monster" who will put you in the sharpshooter--one of his favorite WWE wrestling moves--faster than you can blink).
Anyway, check out the site and let me know your songs. Funny stuff.
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