Friday, March 15, 2013

Got Green Blogfest 2.0 / Google Reader Woes



Mark (O') Koopmans is hosting this colorful, little, bloghop to help celebrate that moss hued holiday...St. Patrick's Day. I believe there's still time to sign up if you want to join in on the festivities and you can find all the particulars HERE

Basically, the idea is to share our thoughts on how we get our 'Irish' on in 333 words or less.

Yes...333 words....though, I'm sure if you go over Mark won't show up at your house and hit you over the head with a shillelagh.....or will he?  >.>

Anyway, since I'm not Irish and really have no experiences of that sort to relate, I'll drop some trivia on you...


  • The man who was to become St. Patrick was kidnapped, at the age of sixteen, by Irish raiders and brought to Ireland to serve as a slave. He was told by God, in a dream, to flee to the coast where he found a ship that took him back to Britain.
  • According to legend, St. Patrick drove all the snakes from Ireland and to the sea. It's generally agreed upon, though, that its' a metaphor for his good works. Snakes being the common symbol for paganism (and not found in Ireland), it represents St. Patrick driving paganism from the country.
  • While it's generally believed that the shamrock was what St. Patrick used to explain the Holy Trinity, others believe that the three pronged leaf was worn as a symbol of the cross.
  • The Druids believed that four leafed clovers aided in spotting witches and demons, hence they were 'good luck charms'. 
  • Usually the clover leaf is only split into three parts, but some botanists believe that if a young clover leaf is damaged or exposed to certain chemicals, it takes on a fourth segment and becomes a 'four leafed clover'.
  • It's said that snakes avoid shamrocks and that the plant is also a remedy for snake and scorpion bites.
  • Some say that for good luck you should kiss the Blarney Stone, which is set into one of the walls of Blarney Castle. Legend has it that a witch cast a spell on the stone to reward the king for saving her from drowning. The spell gave the king the ability to speak 'persuasively eloquent' after kissing the stone.
  • Legend has it that if you catch a leprechaun, you can make him tell you where his gold is hidden IF you don't look away from him. If you do...and they'll always try to trick you into doing so...he'll disappear, taking his gold with him.
I'll leave you with this Irish blessing:

May you live as long as you want
And never want as long as you live.


So, how about you? Any plans for St. Patrick's Day?


A big 'thank you' to Mark Koopmans for hosting this hop and I'm glad I had a chance to participate in it this go 'round.


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You've probably already heard that on July 1st, Google Reader will be no more.

Google is citing that declining usage as well as their need to focus on other products as the reasoning behind this.

While you can download your Reader data via Google Takeout during the three month 'sunset period' they're giving us, you'll still have to find an alternative.

While the site Lifehacker had some alternatives, I'm still not sure which might be the best route to go.

Needless to say, I don't think the blogging community is going to be too happy with this turn of events.

Any ideas on what might be a viable alternative?

Have a great Friday and an even better weekend!




31 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

So if you don't like snakes, plant clovers.
I think I'm going to sample Feedly this weekend. Several people are already using it and you can import your Google Reader in one step.

M said...

Thanks for all the Irish trivia! That was fun!

~M Pepper Langlinais
http://pepperwords.com

Carol Kilgore said...

Loved your post about St. Patrick. You can find the Top Ten Things About Leprechauns at the Tiki Hut :)

Happy Weekend!

Anonymous said...

Another Irish blessing...May the road rise to meet you and the wind be always at your back:)

As for Google Reader...I'll be reading lots of blogs like yours to see what I should do...hrmph!

jaybird said...

Great post- I'm down with any place that has no snakes!! LOL

Not sure what to do about the whole Google thing :(

Have a good weekend!!

Sherry Ellis said...

I wonder if that's true about clovers being a cure for snake and scorpion bites. Probably not. Interesting info about St. Patrick's Day!

klahanie said...

Hey Mark,

Oh no, another blogfest! :) Still, top of the morning to you and Mark (O) Koopmans. Of course, living in England, we reckon St. George's Day should get more recognition. After all, the dude sleighed a dragon!

My next door neighbour (neighbor) is Irish and I shall watch him get drunk and have an even tougher time trying to understand what the heck he's talking about...

I don't need Google Reader, I have plenty of feeds, including yours, up on my Blog List.

Enjoy the weekend. I'm going now.

Gary

Mark Means said...

@Alex: I guess clovers make a little sense and I'd be willing to give it a try if I had a snake problem :) I'll look into Feedly, too. A few people on Google Plus were recommending that one, as well.k

@M: Thanks and glad you enjoyed :)

@Carol: Thanks and heading over to the Tiki Hut soon :)

@M.J.: That's a good one, too! Hey, don't look at me...I'm hoping you'll know what to do :D

@jaybird: Oh yeah, same here....I can't stand snakes =)

@Sherry: Well, they don't have snakes in Ireland, so.... :)

@Gary: Yeah, I think St. George definitely had a rougher time of it than St. Patrick, though Paddy is the one who always gets the most press! What you should do is, when your neighbor gets good and drunk, dress Penny up as a leprechaun and send her over. Muahaha! :) Have a good one!

Melissa said...

Great entry. :)

I'm bummed about Reader. Luckily, our fearless leader, Alex is investigating.

Unknown said...

I have no clue about google reader. I have no idea what I am going to do. sigh...:(

Great post, though. I love trivia and finding out cool things.

Al Diaz said...

Yes, let's all wait for you to do the research and then tell us which way to go to replace the Google Reader I never used. It anything goes wrong, we'll know who to blame, hahahaha!

That kissing stone thing gave me an idea. Probably I'll make one up and have all dwarves kissing it for good luck. :D

Mark Koopmans said...

Hey,

Great post and I even learned something!!

PS... I always advice people NOT to kiss the Blarney stone... it's a *wall* and when the men's toilet in the local pub is full... well I'll leave it at that :)

Rebecca Green Gasper said...

Great trivia! Fun, fun :)

As for google reader- I spent some time setting up folders, organizing and etc. and still found myself using only my blog roll in blogger...so I don't know that I will go with an alternative. I will investigate, though... see if anything stands out.

Mark Means said...

@Melissa: Thank you! I know, it stinks, but I'm sure someone will come up with something...I have faith in the Ninja Captain! :)

@Melissa B: Thanks, me too...I used to be a whiz at Trivial Pursuit!

@Al: Haha, yes, that's the burden of leadership...which is why I'm fine with others taking the role :P You can just tell the Dwarves it tastes like Ale and they'll pucker up quick :)

@Mark: Thank you and, yeah, that's true...walls equate to toilets for most men. I've been known to do the same, from time to time. (Not for a while, though...)

@Rebecca: I didn't get as indepth as you did, but if you find anything out, let us know :)

Meradeth Houston said...

Great trivia! I always love those little tidbits! And if you figure out an alternative to google reader, let me know. I'm flummoxed on what to do!

Mark Means said...

@meradeth: I might give Feedly a whirl and see how it goes and thanks :)

David P. King said...

That is some mighty tasty trivia! Glad to see you participate'n! :)

dolorah said...

Awesome facts, Thanks for sharing.

Sometime I think I won't miss Google REader; all those unread posts are intimidating.

......dhole

Chancelet said...

Some great info you brought us about this green day fun. And it's always useful to get some snake facts.

Empty Nest Insider said...

Great St. Patrick's Day trivia! Now I'm going to quiz my kids to see if they know what they're so enthusiastically celebrating!

Julie

Sheena-kay Graham said...

Thanks for the trivia Mark M. I'm learning all sort of things about St. Paddy's day on this blogfest. Sorry about Google Reader.

Heather M. Gardner said...

Got to love legends. Things never happen how we think they might.
Great post.
Heather

Elise Fallson said...

The trivia was great and I learned something! :D I'm not sure what to do about the google reader thing either, haven't seen a good alternative yet, maybe feedly, need to look into it.

Suz said...

Thanks for the trivia. Luckily, St. Patrick used the clover and not the poison ivy leaf to explain the Trinity!!!!

Unknown said...

Poor druids. No one has a day for them. Seems kinda unfair, huh?

Mel Kinnel (@TizMellyMel) said...

I'm so bummed about Google Reader that I don't know what to do. Now I'll have to waste valuable time researching and testing new readers to find one that I like. Hopefully I'll get it done before our three months sentence is up. LOL! Please let us know if you come upon one you like. :)

Ella said...

I love this post! All the legends and myths so fun to read and imagine. Fun to read

Cheers to you and your Irish eyes-Okay, you aren't Irish, but I know you are smiling ;D

Anonymous said...

I am disappointed with the loss of google reader... if you find a good alternative let me know :)

Mark Means said...

@David: Thank you! :)

@Donna: You know, I completely understand that, lol. It's still going to be a massive inconvenience if I don't find something else, though :)

@Nancy: I feel the same way...anything to keep those snakes at bay :)

@Julie: If they're like me, they probably won't...I didn't until I looked them up :)

@Sheena: I know, me too....but, we'll survive, I'm sure :D

@Heather: Thank you and I always enjoy those little bits of trivia, as well.

@Elise: I've been fiddling around with Feedly, a bit, and found that it's not so bad. There are a few features about it that I like over Reader...so, we'll see.

@Suz: Haha, I know...I don't want to even imagine :)

@Lexa: That's true! Well, maybe someone will come up with something for them. I play a Druid in World of Warcraft....does that count? :)

@Mel: LOL....I know what you mean. As I mentioned, I've been fiddling around with Feedly and might look at a few other things. I'm sure we'll all find something that works, though. This community is great like that!

@Ella: Haha, I am smiling and thanks Ella...same to you! :D

@Planningwithpreintedportal: I sure will!

Shannon Lawrence said...

I like that the Irish blessing grants that you live as long as you want. That's a good way to put it. Thanks for the random facts. I didn't know he was kidnapped. Well, I didn't know a lot of these things, but that one stuck out.

Shannon at The Warrior Muse

Anonymous said...

I didn't know that about Google Reader. Bummer. And thanks for that Irish blessing. I receive that!

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