Bloomsday

"My mouth is full of decayed teeth and my soul of decayed ambitions." - James Joyce

Today is Bloomsdays which is celebration of the Irish author James Joyce. The day gets its name from the main character, Leopold Bloom, in Joyce's epic novel Ulysses. Since the beer companies have hijacked St. Patrick's Day, this day is a good substitute in which to celebrate the Irish and what is good about our culture. Tonight some friends and I went over to the Irish Culture Center (yes, there is one in Phoenix) to participate in the party that they put on. Overall a fun and unique event. As part of the celebration, there was a beer tasting where different breweries had their products there for all to try. There certainly were some exotic brews like the Speckled Hen. It might have been a mistake to have the literary readings in the same room as the beer tasting. The audience was certainly there to drink beer and most of the time there was loud talking through the readings. I will say that the book is much easier to follow when it is spoken a loud rather than read. It is a tough book read so any help is appreciated.