I feel it is my duty to educate you.

G'day mate!

Wait, no.  That's wrong.

Howdy y'all!

Dangit!

Top o' the mornin' to ya!

There we go!

Okay.  So yesterday, for my Happiness Project, I showed a picture of Celtic Thunder.  And many people had not heard of them.  Many.

That made me sad.

So, seeing that today is St. Patrick's Day, and seeing that I am such a nice person, I thought I would enlighten you. 

They can sing.  They can walk swanky.  They can pull off the kilts... Wait, that sounds wrong.  They make kilts look good.  And they can sing.  The music is... well, it's really music.  Lots of instruments, giving familiar songs a whole new sound, and combined with their vocals... Wow.

I remember the day I discovered Celtic Thunder.  It's easy, because I wrote about it here.  Thanks to a bad back and PBS, my musical horizon was broadened.  (Thank you, PBS.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  You're more than Sesame Street to me now.)

I also remember the day I went to their concert.  I had introduced a friend of mine to Celtic Thunder, and she was going to a concert with friends.  Someone backed out, so she had an extra ticket.  SHE GAVE IT TO ME.  The concert was... Amazing doesn't begin to cover it, but it's a good start.  My funds were low, but I wanted to repay my friend somehow.  What better way than to stalk the guys wait patiently near the tour buses to see if they'd come by?

They came by.

We won't talk about the fact that I stupidly took pictures during the concert and my batteries died.  Or the fact that I had extra batteries but left them in the car.  No.  We won't dwell on that.  Let's remember the good times.

We hugged Ryan Kelly.  My friend also got his autograph in her program.  I didn't buy a program.  I really wanted his autograph, too, though.  So I did what any good fangirl would do.  I snagged someone's Sharpie and held out my arm.  (I look double-jointed, don't I?  I wonder if I held my arm out like that to him.  I wonder if it freaked him out.  He could have nightmares about the weird double-jointed girl in Florida!)

We also hugged Paul Byrom and Keith Harkin.  My friend got their autographs in her program.  I thought The Husband might understand one Sharpie autograph, but not three.  So I settled for the hugs.  (And, for the record, Big Sister has her eyes set on the blonde surfer boy, Keith.  She sighs when he sings -- she sighs!!  She also says, "I want to hug him!"  That makes me sigh.  And cry a little.  But at least I like their music.  And dang, my girl has good taste.)

We didn't get to hug Damian McGinty or George Donaldson.  They didn't stop on their way to the bus.  We were okay with that, mostly because we were still on contact highs from hugging freshly showered Irish men, but also because Damian was not a legal adult at the time (I'm not even sure his voice had broken), and George is married.  I would've shaken their hands though.  That's the polite thing to do.  Even with freaky double-jointed-looking arms.

I couldn't convince The Husband to take me to their concert over our anniversary weekend this past November.  I tried really hard, too.  Alas, he wanted the weekend to be us all spending time together and paying attention to each other.  Psh.  (Okay, no psh.  We had an awesome weekend and I barely thought about the fact that Celtic Thunder was in the same city we were on the same weekend we were.  Barely.)

Anyway.  Celtic Thunder is going to be on QVC various times throughout the day today.  They've been airing their latest show on PBS recently too.  Take a look, take a listen.  Tell me if you think that they're fantabulous and you'll see me at the next concert. 

Or, laugh at me and remind me that they wear skirts and knee socks.  (Ahem.  You know who you are.)

Either way, Happy St. Patrick's Day!

If you want more, go here.  Don't worry.  I won't tell!