Down the Rabbit Hole

Irish Lore and Social Media

"Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise"
DAY 2509 March 4, 2022
This is the month we hear about 4 leaved cloverleafs, Irish jigs, leprechauns, shamrock shakes, green beer, Irish soda bread just to name a few. However, you can’t mention Irish traditions without mentioning literature. Ireland is celebrated for its wealth of artists, ranging from the fields of traditional music and film to Irish literature.Some of the most iconic Irish writers on the world stage boast roots from the Emerald Isle, including 19th century and 20th century writers W.B. Yeats, Oscar Wilde, Bernard Shaw, and Samuel Beckett and Irish women writers, such as Edna O’Brien, Anne Enright, and Sally Rooney have also made their mark. These artists have helped spread the national culture of Ireland around the world. Which of these well known writers are you the most familiar? What did you like most about their writing?
If you're not familiar with the authors, what Irish traditions are you familiar?

I have to confess while I have heard of most of these writers and poets, I don't recall specific details about their work. I mentally can connect Shaw with "Pygmalian", which I think I read in high school on a required reading list but that was admittedly decades ago. I know "Waiting for Godot" is a poignant play penned by Beckett. I recall several references to it, one recent one being in the HBO series, "Treme". Actors were performing a version of the play with the katrina-ravaged 9th ward as a backdrop to the drama. There wasn't enough of the play featured however that I could expand on the work itself. I feel like I am suffering now from literary ignorance in that theses names register for me, but I have no real exposure to them. It may be because most of them were poets first and foremost and I have always put more effort in prose.

The female writers are even less recognizable but a quick google search leads me to believe I would find the works of Rooney the most interesting. I've actually made a note to check out some of her books. I have made a mental note to check out "Beautiful World" and "Normal People" specifically.

I have long admired Emerald Isle. I think it looks like it would be amazing to visit. As far as Irish traditions go, I associate the legends and myths most strongly with Ireland..fairy folk chiefly among my favorites. Irish culture and traditions seem to be so interwoven with myths and legends, it becomes hard to separate historic facts at times. The castles and ruins that cover the countryside bring to mind as many historical stories as they do wonderful, lush fairy tales and legends for me involving dragons and banshees, pookas and princesses, fairy rings and rainbows.



"Blogging Circle of Friends "
DAY 3403 March 04, 2022
Let's talk about social media. What format do you prefer? Which format do you hate?

I think I have a love/hate relationship with social media in general. It is a necessary evil - a way to connect with family and friends that live distantly but also a portal to expose us to over-stimulation, anxiety, jealously and peer pressure...far less appealing human character traits. It has become so much a part of our existence, interwoven in personal and work life. It is very difficult to avoid for the average person. It is a tremendous distraction and can even be dangerous. I prefer Instagram and Facebook. I like the temporal nature of Instagram, it appeals to a short attention span and I can pick it up and leave it fairly easily. Facebook is more personal. I interact with people more on Facebook. I tell more of a story on Facebook. It also exposes me to more negative attention unfortunately. I have unfriended and unfollowed when someone had gotten too personal, too political or even too redundant.

The platform I actually loathe and believe is the most insidious and dangerous is Tik Tok. I have banned my daughter from the platform when I discovered she had created and account and uploaded several silly dance videos. Though they were relatively harmless in nature, she looked far older than her years as she mimicked the dance moves of the older millennials she saw on tik tok. I realized the way I viewed her videos might not be the same way someone nefarious would. There was no way to protect her from having her videos downloaded and shared to whomever wanted them and for whatever purpose. I deleted the app and we banned her from re-joining or from participating in anyone's tik tok videos or challenges. The challenges alone have threatened kids safety. I really think Tik Tok is very harmless in the wrong hands. It should be age-protected, it should be age-restricted in some way.