Kiss Me, I'm Irish - And Extra-Proud of It Today! :D

This Irish-American lass's sapphic heart is very, very proud today. :')

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/ireland-becomes-first-country-to-approve-same-sex-marriage-by-popular-vote-1.2223646

Way to go, Ireland!!!

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A few Irish songs, in celebration of today's happy news. First up, Van the Man & the Chieftains, with the title song of their 1988 collaboration, "Irish Heartbeat":

Here's a beautiful version of the same song that Van recorded with the great Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits fame for his stellar new album, Duets: Reworking the Catalogue:

And here's my favorite song on the album, the haunting "Streets of Arklow," with Simply Red's Mick Hucknall:

You can find the equally mesmerizing original version on 1974's intensely personal - and very Celtic - Veedon Fleece, my favorite Van Morrison album:

And last but not least, Mundy's wonderful cover of Steve Earle's "Galway Girl," with assistance from Sharon Shannon:

A Must-Read (Two, Actually)

Fascinating, moving article from Salon.com, written by a male author:

I'm Attracted to Trans Women

Kudos to the author, Thomas Katt, for his courage - and in particular for acknowledging the far greater difficulties endured by trans women.

The article contains a link to another site, TransOriented, designed for men who are attracted to trans women.  I plan to take a look - when it isn't 12:55 AM on a work night, that is. lol

I do hope you take a moment to check these out; both are well worth your time, I assure you! :c)

The Way I Feel

So... There's been something I've wanted to write about for a while now. A few months, really. But this is the first chance I've had to really devote some time to it. Things have been quite frantic since I started at this new job back in mid-March... which is when this tale really took a turn. An interesting one.

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