YOU PEOPLE DISGUST ME. WHO CARES ABOUT PAYPHONES?

from one good irishman to another......... eat a dick!

Who cares what some asshole named Brian McGee thinks,who is he?And who does he hope to become?

He sounds like an over opinionated shit-heel. Hey, Brian, FUCK YOU! if you don't like don't come here.

i've always been the kid in the playground who liked the kids no one else liked. give 'em hell, brian. write a whole paragraph, maybe more.

I don,t think he can.

transient...he won't be back......if he does...it'll be to sling some shit, and then he'll be gone, it's the sorabjiticway......if things get too heated we will have to call for a cage match

Time to mail bomb Brian McGee.

i thought it was funny.

isn't "mcgee" a scottish name?

mcgee is MY last name! for real. and i'm not brian.

are you irish or scottish, then?

jesus age christ cyst..splitting hairs....

Maybe she,s Scott-Irish,I am.

as am I...the regions are so damn close its hard not be a cross breed, so for convienence sake, it's all the same....minus the kilts....

irish.

mc's and mac's are scottish names and o's are irish. it's not hard to remember. the cultures, languages, religions, islands are different. they're "close enough" only to non-europeans. I once told a dutch woman in guatemala that my father was also dutch, but she didn't take me seriously. later I was talking to her about where my family lives in den haag, and she said she was sorry for not believing me. "oh, I thought you were dutch the way american people say that they're dutch (or scottish, irish, german, etc.). like you had some great-grandfather you'd never met who was born there." most americans aren't anything. we're just american.

There was a large migration of Scots to Ireland at one point in history (which is why northern Irish Gaelic is very similar to Scot Gaelic and dissimilar to southern Irish Gaelic) so there *are* people of mixed ancestry in Ireland proper.

...if you call being both Scottish and Irish being mixed.

scottish- and irish-activist americans are especially funny, I think. americans who try to incorporate their so-called heritage into their lives, I mean. I talked to this irish guy who once went to boston and went to a so-called irish pub. he said he went around asking all these proud "irish americans" if they'd ever been to ireland or even knew anyone who lived in ireland, and they all said no. they basically knew fuck-all about the place. a couple summers ago a friend's husband wanted to go to the big scottish festival here in portland. what a circus. my grandmother was born a mclennan, so I got to visit the clan booth, check out the family tartan and all. it was fun and all to go around drinking mctarnahan's and eating shortbread and watching burly guys throw out their backs trying to toss logs, but I couldn't believe how seriously people took it. like my friend's husband, who had no living relatives in scotland, had never been there, was not presbyterian, and basically had no ties to the culture whatsoever. he went out there marching in the 100-degree heat in his wool shawl and $150 clan kilt (purchased instead of the infant car seat? -- another gripe). I overheard hundred of people that day, but don't recall hearing any scottish accents. oh well. I don't understand personal pride in local sports franchises, either, so I am clearly out of touch with the american zeitgeist or something.

all the northern irish people I've met don't even call themselves irish. I spent some of this summer on the god-awful costa del sol in spain, and every night I ate at my british godparents' english pub. I hung out with my god-cousin-in-law and her brother and sister and their friends -- all northern irish. I guess this is just a weird pet peeve of mine when americans call themselves "irish" or "german" or whatever. because all these people from belfast, even the ones who still lived there and were just on vacation in spain, they didn't even call themselves irish. some british guy was hitting on the belfast girls and said they sounded irish. "no. we're not irish. we're from northern ireland." I know it's a big political thing, but if they aren't irish, then not too many people over here are, either. that's just american silliness.

but cyst, you seem arrogant, i agree to a certain extent. If someone asks, i am an american, but i do indeed have an Irish heritage, 4 generations ago my peeps sailed over on a ship. Yes the cultures are different. But to me they are very similar, they are as different as South and North Carolina only....distance wise, that is not that far, do you apply this pet peeve to euros or asian/african/south american as well? I think people like to know where they have come from, they like to apply those cultures to themselves, sorta of similar to our fascination with horoscopes

I don't mean to sound arrogant about having dutch family. the only difference between my saying that I'm dutch to a dutch person and your average american saying that he's scottish to an actual scottish person is that when I say it, it is somewhat meaningful. once I went to a friend's big picnic with my family, and my dad talked to a dutch guy and they figured out that we were all related. I speak some dutch, I go to holland a lot -- it's not really important, but when I meet real dutch people, we can talk about the country. and, yeah, I think kwanzaa is a load of crap too. it's fictitious. it's imaginary. like average americans' european "heritage." there really are immigrant cultures in america. lots. like the polish festival here is run by -- get this -- poles! they speak polish. they're orthodox. they play accordions. they take their shoes off when they go in the house. there are also lots of ukrainians and russians and czechs and mexicans and guatemalans here in portland. they speak their native languages in their homes and` the ukrainian women wear scarves on their heads and the mexicans put light sets in the shape of the virgin of guadalupe in their yards. that's genuine. but most so-called scots here aren't scottish. are the irish aren't irish. they're just silly. do you know what the sca is? it was popular among a certain geek set in my dorm in college. they would dress up like they were in medieval england and pretend to joust and eat meat with their hands or whatever (I never attended any of their functions; I don't know.) but that's what the people who say they're irish and scottish act like here. except they aren't pretending.

I don't know. I guess if that's what it takes (an interest in geneaology and a newsletter and web sites) to get white americans together to dress up funny and talk about the old country and eat haggis instead of sitting at home watching tv, then that's fine. weren't you the one, patrick, who at some point mentioned vonnegut, cat's cradle and the "granfalloon"?

yes and I see you point

i have only read slaughterhouse 5 in high school and a Welcome to the Monkey House......."granfalloon" means nothing at the moment........

a "granfalloon" is a group, created under some pretense or other, that is actually meaningless in terms of what god (of bokononism) wants done. you know - the republican party, microsoft, ku klux klan, cbs, etc. all i can say is: i hope nobody who nobody who is not german went to an oktoberfest festival this year. it would be just sick and silly. even if there is a lotta beer and the bratwursts are cooked to perfection.

i don't participate in st. pats, but like anyone else i always find an excuse to drink a welcomed entity.........i do not own a "kiss me I am irish" shirt, i go to all kinda of festivals, i find the cuban festvals to be the most fun. I guess a county fair is as close to an "american festival" as we have........county fairs scare me..... i find most of all it makes for conversation at times...........my last name is extremely irish as well but only one name revealing per 6 mos..... perhaps when people say they have an "irish heritage" or whathaveyou you take it to literally. if they aren't directly from that country they aren't privaledged enough to say that....? i really don't care as much as my posts might indicate......i have been sorta depressed over the last couple of days........not sure why.....i really hope the god damn braves win tonight i don't want to give up that lap dance so easily, besides i kinda feel like talkin shit to my buddy, the big sports head.....my ignroance about the details and the players always annoys him especially when I pick the winning team.... my mind is kinda on the fritz (but hey they are playing eggs again on the radio...that makes me happy..oh and seam too....they are kinda of a sad indie rock band...) i have alot of projects due for school.....I am learning a tremendous amount of photographic shit, very academic, i am at constant odds with one of my teachers becasue she is viewing alot of it from an "art" aspect......she likes pictures of cats dogs, and the same five generic parks and bldgs all the kids shoot. she has a problem with my nudes, she is s ninny like that. my other professor on the other hand is very academic. he is extrememly supportive of my work, but the more i learn, the more manipulative techniques made availble, the less direction i seem to have.....ignroance was almost better.....with intelligence comes huge responsibilities...Photograms and solarization are next on the list, as is using a stylus but i am hesitant to scratch my negatives, in fact, i don't think i will be doing that...... I want to learn about toners and bleaching negatives. but it's so much. So many films, so many papers, so many chemicals, so many techniques, so many cameras........i need to find my direction.....Eric Kroll has a direction, Wegee had a direction, R.Kern has a direction Maholy-Nagy had a direction, Michals had direction. and so on... it's better to be a big fish in the pond than the ocean.....i suppose...but then fish in the ocean get bigger or die. So I eat.... i really want to go to medium format, Mamiya, Rolleli or god forbid even a Hasseblad....money is not permitting though, at least not now anyway....i am getting my first start with a Holga. Fine made plastic german camera....although that can't be taken too seriously.......it's plastic folks. the lense on yours is not like mine....it's plastic, no fine japanese or german engineering here. It has a couple of settings idicated by symbols....a sun, clouds (shutter speed) one stick person, two stick people, lots of stick people, or a mountain (aperture) stick people and mountains rain or shine for me i suppose. It's an interesting camera. It's fun to limit yourself and the cheap lense allows one to view the imperfect world through an imperfect eye.....$13 it is......but it is 2 1/4 format nonetheless, taking rolls of 120mm film. Trix 400, push processing with rodinal developer, a developer with high actuence for more contrast and grain.......halloween..i got my costume, i am not too jazzed. I will be headless ghoul, i want to return it but i can't. Kinda of ironic, being alittle depressed, i get the costume in which i can hide my face......i am not too excited, i should be, my birthday is in a week. usually this time of year i am happy as can be. She is traveling again tommorow, just for the day, she is goiong to SF to meet with Bebe...i hate their name.....then she goes to Japan in November......the cats and I are getting really close and i seem to take lot of good self portraits when she is away........i should go smoke....... more rambles, tell me how cool i am or just call me bitch fondly patrick

Richard Kern is extremely overrated, from what work of his I've seen (which isn't that much). But he did direct a good video for one of my favorite bands, so he gets point for that.

to a certain extent i do agree, but he has done some amazing work in the past. I highly recommend his book New York Girls, his newer work is a little more stale,conservative and casual, and considering the times, hardly shocking, it doesn't seem to have the same value...I am also a little biased towards color photography as well....but his earlier work is fucking amazing, especially his black and whites......Which film did you see? Fingered? with Lydia Lunch. He has a few others that are worth your time i think as well. these are a couple of my favs http://members.tripod.com/accustat/otherphotos/page2.html http://members.tripod.com/accustat/otherphotos/page6.html

he also has a website, it's mostly his new stuff whcih again, i am not as keen about, http://www.richardkern.com

patrick - don't let us bastards get you down. american oktoberfest celebrations are silly too of course, but for some reason they don't seem as stupidly exclusive as the wear-your-clan-name-tag parties. and the people I happen to know who talk about how proud they are to be german really are german, speak german, go to germany, have family there, etc. but in general I think the american white man's search for ethnic pride is really pathetic.

I can see Kern's influence in some of your work. Those weren't like the awful color ones I've seen. No, I'm thinking of Cop Shoot Cop's "Room 429" video. There's a clip of it on his website. (Which isn't responding now, or I'd give you the link.) He also did one (which I haven't seen, nor will I ever, probably) called "Submit to Me," which has Jack Nantz (from CSC) wrapping a piece of wire around himself and pulling it tight until he bleeds. Or so I've been told.

He also did the Breeders video for a song of which is escaping me. Like i said, his work in the last 5 years escapes me, but prior, it's good. I hate that you see a little influence, i would rather you didn't see any...as my tatstes are changing rapidly... Honestly my work on my site nowdays seems horrible, I want to throw it out, at least most of it anyway, i want to revamp that bitch real soon. someone else that i really really really love is Diane Arbus-her work to me is extremely haunting, she photographed with extreme empathy to fring e of society, she was the fringe in amlot of ways and also Sally Mann, she photographed tremendously of her family, especially her children. Technically they are brilliant in the fact that she used 8x10 format, literally, glass 8x10 plates coated in a silver emulsion and jammed into the camera, the huge cameras with the bellows and hood. It literally could take hours to set up for one shot. There was NO ROOM for error..... I wish i could get some of my newer work up, it's not as naked, it's more dark though. I am using alot faster films which give me more grain and more flexibility. I did a whole spread on Angry Sam, called the A Day in the Life of a Depressed Writer........so far it's a 6 image series....but i want to expand it. I hope to be doing a series of that performance/sex/dancer/artist chick soon. I have a series in mind for her, she being such an extravert, i hope to get into herself, make her see a side of herself she may have never seen. I am dying to see what she looks like brushing her teeth or vacuuming....... cyst, it's a combination of things, but I am sensitive at times.....just being a puss, don't mind me, then minute you bastards really get to me, the bookmark is gone......i good night people

Patrick: What do you think of Cindy Sherman? And whazzername... with the freeways and the mini-malls (my aunt went to art school with the second woman... I went to the exhibit with my aunt and got to listen to my aunt being catty abt. her... it was great) My aunt is a total "art star" anyway, wears all black and takes her little dog to art openings. But I really like Cindy Sherman, esp. her later stuff... there was an exhibit of it this time last year at MOCA. (and that is my knowledge of contemporary photography in its entirety... if you want more, ask my sister, she's the artist) And Cyst... so, what you're saying is that you won't take anybody's claim of their heritage seriously unless they can afford to go to the country in question? That strikes me as a bit elitist.

I'm saying that their ethnic pride is not based in reality. most have precious little knowledge about the places of which they speak (scottish names, irish names, what's the difference) and no ties whatsoever. and it's not expensive to go to pretty much any country in the world. I never pay more than $750 for round-trip america-europe flights, even going between obscure cities like portland and kiev. I mean, in 1998 I bought two round-trip tickets to europe, even though I was only earning receptionist pay. you just have to want to go more than you want to make payments on a brand-new car or something. I am so not elitist. you have to be willing to fly charter, stay in hostels. not many people are up for all that just to visit the old homeland in which they have so much pride, ha ha.

Nan Goldin? no wait, i think i know who you are talkingabout. She had a retropective here not to long ago. I LOVE CINDY SHERMAN!!!!!! i missed that exhibit...which is a dman shame my wife works 2 blocks from moca.....nan goldin had some work there whic was great...it was called the Sexual Dependency or something like that..... she is a fucking delight, i love narcissitic photographers........i am one too.......she has an extrememly keen eye, she puts to photographs what a lot of us think but have hard time saying... but cyst, $750 is a lot of money, Hell we paid $450 roundtrip with Delta to Paris, but that was from atlanta, which is their hub.....and not a lot of us have sugar daddy's. So you live with your parents. Seattle or Portland, you have implied both and I am confused, Bellvue and Portland????? but cyst your world travels do afford you knowledge that may not be otherwised gained by us home body schmucks..... my wife has two free international frequent flyer tickets. I want to go back to Europe again. Perhaps Amsterdam or Berlin...i think we will go in Feb or march.......

it's just a bit of fun, cyst. you know, fun? both of my paternal grandparents came to the u.s. from ireland when they were small children - my grandfather from co. tyrone (n. ireland) and my grandmother from co. longford in the south. by the time time i knew them they were very americanized by still pretty irish. nobody talked about ireland though. years later, after they died and i started looking into my family history, i found out that they had all come from utter poverty. everybody simply forgot ireland. so they just made their own kind of ireland in america. my grandfather was a member of the royal order of the hibernians, which my grandmother called "just any old reason to drink." what's wrong with just pretending your irish for a day or two? is it so different from buying bras and veils and pretending to be a slutty sex kitten for a night? it's just a little fucking fun. my urologist is of scottish descent and really gets into the robert burns festival. eats the haggis and recites the poetry in dialect and everything. i think it's about the only exciting thing he's got in his life, and i'm glad he's got it.

Also, I grew up in an Irish Catholic neighborhood, and a good deal of the culture is preserved. And Patrick's right... I certainly can't afford to blow $750... or blow off my job... I'm a temp. No rest for the non-exempt.

Then I must have done myself proud,7 days 6 nights,in Costa Rica,includes hotel rooms,airfare,meals,and transportation,$i,079,00.

$!,079,00

This summer, 3 of us went to Las Vegas for 8 days and 9 nights for $530 each. Airfare, car rental, and accommodations included. Who needs Venice when you can have the Venetian? (I'm kidding about the last part. Las Vegas is the deepest pit in Hell. Never forget that.)

Deepest pit in Hell, yes, but it's still pretty neat. Never been to Vegas, but I had a blast when my boyfriend took me to Reno.

I've gone to a robert burns party, eaten haggis, shopped for kilts. it's fun like the sca is fun, yeah. but it's weird when people discuss it as if it were all for real. I don't know. I always get the feeling that the groups themselves are elitist. all that geneaology, family coat-of-arms shit. as if they were really part of a clan. and since they aren't part of the culture, not at all, it's basically all based on genetics. like, they're proud that their dna is from some group of white people whose men once won a battle in some highlands. and the purer you are, the better, the more seriously you're taken, the more you fit in. when it's all a bunch of crap -- these people have zero connection to the so-called homeland. none. like what if a mexican migrant worker wanted to join the scottish society. he would have no so-called roots there to trace; he couldn't be a part of it. when in fact the average american euro-group member has nothing but some really old documents somewhere tying him to the scots clans. it's ok. I'm into food booths and all, but for the most part people who often mention their geneaology as if it were something that was actually significant are just weird. but, as I said before, I think it's weird that people get excited about these sports teams that force the populace into shelling out tax dollars to finance new stadiums, and they act like they have some sort of kinship with these players from all over the world who happen to have signed contracts to play in a certain city for a certain amount of time. I totally and completely don't understand pride in local pro sports teams, and obviously I am the weird one in that case. ... I don't really have a sugar daddy. I don't live with my parents. I pay $312.50 for rent each month. I'm a temp. I have to make my own health insurance payments. I drive a 1990 toyota celica. it sucks, but it's paid for. I go to europe not because I live extravagantly but because I have family there and have had jobs there and because I like to travel. if I can go, anyone can go. a friend of mine just spent a year there. she lived in an unheated apartment in ireland in the wintertime because she wasn't making much at the store where she got hired as a clerk, but she wanted to live in ireland. it is exactly that easy. she traveled around the continent by bus and stayed at hostels and campgrounds. she ate a lot of bread and cheese. she's now making $10/hour as a temp, saving money to travel to south america. you just have to choose what you want to spend your money on, that's all. it's not that you can't go. at all. it may require some hardship if you are poor. but it's not impossible. that's just an excuse not to go, which is fine. patrick, I live in portland and am driving to seattle tomorrow. bellevue is just across the lake. j, you're going to have a great time in costa rica. I wish I had made it there on my trip. next time.

No, Cyst, anyone can not afford to go to Europe.

not to scrutinize, but looking at the palces you spend money your are doing really really really well....of course that list of shit could have been over a 3 year period or something. I agree with what you are saying, but for me, at this point, with a wife, it's just so hard to pick up and do that. Temping completely sucks...fuck, i wanted to kill my self when i temped for a week. $312.00????? GOd shit damn!!!!! A lot of times cyst, people don't have an option for those ridiculous new stadiums. In fact i heard seattle voted no on it twice and they still got the dman thing. they wanted to bring a football back to la, but they never asked the voters, and the city was about to dump millions from the provat sector as well as public fund to get the NFL franchise. The NFL acts like the mafia in a way, they threaten towns to leave if they don't get the new stadiums or what not. The people in LA< were like, FUCK it we don't care, we didn't ask you to come here and we aren't threatened. Wher as smaller cities like Portland, Indianpolis, Charlotte, Jacksonville, Tampa etc etc are willing to bend over backwards for the franchise. I have found a way to use sports to get under certain friends skin, talk shit, drink and so on.....i careless about the details and it provides entertainment. Hockey is the fucking best....those guys are god damn animals, but I am too chicken to ever ice skate. it's not pride as it is something to do, at least with me anyway..... so fuck it.....( DAYS IN LAS VEGAS??????? HOLY SHIT!!!!! I think i would have shot myself on day 4...........3 days max in that pit......i have always wanted to by a case of jack, an eightball, and spend a weekend with coke, liquor, hookers and gamblin.....just for fun.....but that will never happen....so it remains a myth

If you recall (and if you don't, check out the "Misery Loves Company" thread), the 3 of us were at each other's throats from about day 2. If we had stayed even a day longer, my musings on homicide would no longer have been hypothetical. I have many cousins who have lived there in Las Vegas their entire lives. My aunt used to teach grade school there and would tell me horror stories about the way some of her students had grown up....mothers were prostitutes, fathers were pornographers.... Now they're trying to build the city up till it reaches the mountains on every side. They're running out of water, they have one of the highest rape rates in the country, there's nuclear testing a few miles out in the desert (on a fault line), needless to say it's devoid of any trace of culture or class, they've destroyed most of the public buildings that are older than 25 years...it's just a horrible place. Related to this thread: I have a cousin in Las Vegas, who's adopted, and he's part Paiute Indian but he's blonde and blue-eyed. Lately, he's been interested in exploring his heritage, and he said that when he goes to the local history museum to do research he has to lie about why he's interested, because he's gotten a lot of flack from people who refuse to believe he's part Native American.

hey, let's all go get some guiness and glenlivet and see if there's a game on.

yes, please. I'm already drunk. verging on maudlin now. and my roommate is pissed at me. she's taken off and left me a nasty message on the answering machine. so I'm here all alone. working on my secret resentments instead of packing for tomorrow's trip like I really need to.

Cyst - I saw "Portland" and I wondered if it was Portland Maine or Oregon. But unless you're driving across the country to go to Seattle, I'm betting on Oregon. You're not anywhere near Greshem are you? And I think you're quite on the mark when you said most of us are "just American." I mean, everytime you go to apply for something - *anything* you get to check your ethnicity (sp?) you end up as white-trash unless you are german-american, african-american, spanish-american, etc. Wasn't there a movie about someone who faked being of another ethnic group to get a college degree? Can't remember, but more and more these days, I feel like a minority - even though I'm cacausion. (sigh)

that must be horrible for you. but don't sigh so hopelessly, child. there's always northern idaho.

I wrote a really long rant about this particular issue, but I wouldn't want to opress the white males on the board. Think I'll post it anyway once I can find it (it will take a while to find anything, as I have just received a whole fuckload of books which are not yet catalogued and filed, and that's why I haven't been able to find my background materials too promptly lately)

http://www.uexpress.com/ups/comics/bz/pages/bz991006.html

I live in portland, which borders gresham. I'm guessing you don't live there, just know someone who does, as you spelled the city name wrong. also, I'm not sure how a white person could feel like a minority there. if you don't like the ethnicity boxes, you generally don't have to check them. I've found you can get away with leaving an awful lot of boxes blank.

I saw a Cindy Sherman exhibit once.. I was intrigued. I liked the humor. The plastic breasts. That's all I can remember. And photos in red values.

Oh, I just read the bit on Football. You can add Baltimore to that list. They have 3 stadiums. The infrastructure is climbing. Something like 7th in murder and violent crime. A car theft rate that makes it unfeasible for anybody but the rich to own cars. Worst public transportation on the Eastern Seaboard (and the dumbshits in City Hall haven't figured out that it's related to the fact that they're...) 2nd only to LA in air pollution 1st in v.d. The unemployment rate has got to be up there with Flint, Michigan. But Goddamnit, they've got 2 brand new stadiums, one old one, and a whole shitload of stupid tourist traps downtown. So Baltimore is now a great place to visit. But I'm glad I don't live there anymore.

baltimore is the city that reads.

and let's not forget that edgar allen poe died of rabies there.

I read last week that Houston now has the worst pollution, LA is second.

It,s no bed of roses here anymore,some days it,s o.k. other days you can,t even see the mountains,just a bunch of brown stinking smog.Houston must be really bad then,cause L.A. was about like here 20 years ago.

Cyst, Sorry about the mis-spell. You're right. I don't live in Gresham, but I DID live in Portland. Recently on the east side, and about 20 yrs ago on the west side. Used to go to school at MHCC in Gresham tho... Re my comments about feeling like a minority - I do not feel that way because of where I have lived, but rather with what I see/read in the the news. I get a bit upset with the whole minority/majority white/black/brown/purple divisions that cause so many problems. When I went to school and applied for scholarships, I NEVER saw a scholarship that was ONLY for caucasions, but it's not hard to find scholarships for ONLY people of certain minority groups. Before I get into a long spout (that no ones really paying attention to anyway) I will just stop here.

i spent the summer in boston at berklee college of music, and my roommate was from sweden. she had a field day with all the race issues in the u.s.; especially the way people would "claim" their ancestor's countries as their own. "bloody hell! you are not from germany! your great-grandmother was, and she is not you! you are no german--you are american!" interestingly, she was born in somalia and her parents were somali, but she considered herself a swede, because that's were her home was. i guess all of her friends did, too. she was very beautiful and she would get these white guys sidling up to her right and left, asking if she would think about dating guys "like" them. she said she might if they were weren't so concerned with race. anyway, she was a lush and a bimbo, but i gained a new persepctive from her... in other news, i just havd the unique experiemce of making sour cream, by mixing milk and the powder that came with my beef stroganoff hamburger helper. that's good eatin'.

i just scrolled back and read your rant on geneaolgy, cyst. right on, sister. testify. see, i get to call you 'sister' because my father's dutch, too. but not really. he just has a dutch name.

No one will read this most likely since this little blurb I'm writing right now is over a year after the last message was posted. I just wanted to say that I agree with Cyst wholeheartedly. I am such a mixed mutted American. I know what I'm composed of, but it's silly of me to celebrate backgrounds I never knew. I'm 1/4 German, but that gives me no right to parade around a german flag and take pride in it, because IM NOT GERMAN. I'm 1/16 Irish. Does that mean I should get so gung-ho about st. patrick's day and talk like I'm a true Irish woman? NO! I'm 1/4 French...you get the picture. The reason why I'm even bothering to respond to this is because I JUST had an argument over this same topic with my boyfriend last night. He's got some Irish blood in him and when his beard grows out, its red. He feels, therefore, that he is Irish. He ignores the rest of what composes him, and focuses on just the Irish part, as if he's straight from Ireland himself....He doesn't see the ridiculousness of his thinking and his mind won't be swayed. Oh well.

Feed the fucker potatos until he pukes. Give him a Guinness enema. That'll change his tune!

remember when elvis costello went through that beard wearing phase? that was a red beard.

I have a red beard. ARR!!!

Beyond at least a smattering of English I have no idea what my nationalistic background is. It would be nice to know. But, I wouldn't parade it through the streets. Except, On St. Patricks day everybody is Irish.

I have a red beard,too!

I am from munich,germany and looking at your posts i have come to the conclusion that americans intrude on european culture due to the fact they have no culture, history, identity of their own so they butt into someones elses either that or americans are fucking crazy.

Piss off,natzi

I happened upon this archive out of boredom, but would like to comment on the whole "race/culture" discussion. I am an American, of European heritage, and so I have a right to comment on the behavior of such Americans. The thing is, because as a country America is farely young, we do not have the ancient, deep-rooted, inherrent cultures that most other countries do. Many Americans (at least subconsciously) feel like desolate tumbleweeds or something, without much to identify with. The truth is, American culture DOES exist, and is quite different from any other, but because it is yet so young, it is difficult to see. Therefore, in an attempt to identify with something, we look at our ancestry. There is nothing wrong with being proud of where your family comes from, and being a country originally composed entirely of immigrants (unless one is Native American), it has actually become part of our culture as Americans to celebrate the cultures of the "old country." In effect, until we can say that we are thousands of years old, with an unique ethnic make-up (of primarilly one ethnic make-up), it will be difficult for us to really celebrate anything of our own. This has also become a source of depression for many Americans, at least on a subconscious level, that we feel we have nothing of our own. In actuality, we have developed quite a many of our own cultural devices, but like I stated above, it is yet young. I do agree, however, that if one is to celebrate a culture as his/her own (that is, claim to be of it, and not just amused by it), then one ought to have a working knowledge of it. Don't just say, oh, I am Irish, blah blah blah, but learn about Ireland, and the language, and history, and how your family came to the States from Ireland. If that is impossible, then learn to embrace the growing culture of America as your own. If that depresses you, then adopt something else, but do not allow yourself to be ignorant of what you embrace. :-)