I've got a four-leaf clover, it's bound to bring a little luck.

I never really celebrated St. Patrick's Day. I'm a little Irish, and I like green (I have green pants on today so I don't get pinched) but I've never drunk Guinness (!) and I've never been to Ireland (!!) Still, I will try to get in the spirit with a few Ireland-themed items:

• The first St. Patrick's Day item I saw this morning was 101 Reasons' demotivational poster about drunken writers. If you aren't offended enough by that, there's always the blog every blog is contractually obligated to link to this month, Stuff White People Like, whose St. Patrick's Day entry begins, "Normally if someone were to wake up at 7:00 in the morning, take the day off work, and get drunk at a bar before 10:00 a.m., they would be called an alcoholic, and not in the artistic, edgy way that white people are so fond of."
• Publishers Weekly found another McCourt brother who is writing a memoir (that's three so far). The only one I've read is ANGELA'S ASHES, but my memory of it is hazy -- I had to rely on Wikipedia to inform me that there is only one more McCourt brother who has not published a memoir (Michael, what are you waiting for?)
• Powell's has a good page of books set in or about Ireland, in case you've already read ULYSSES. For me these really highlighted how much I haven't read about Ireland... I also liked this Amazon-user-created list, which contains some travel guides along with fictional works from the island.
• My favorite Irish author, though, has to be Oscar Wilde, so I urge you, if your friends are twitting you about not taking the day off to celebrate, to sigh heavily and proclaim "Work is the curse of the drinking classes." If on the other hand, you are having a disagreement about which bar to go to (or whether to go at all), you might advance your case with, "I have but the simplest taste. I am always satisfied with the best." You get my point; I could quote Oscar Wilde all day, and I urge you to do the same.

photo of a pressed 4-leaf clover: humminggirl