March 2020 Updates and Beast Suggestions

Well, it’s been a crazy year so far, and it’s still early. I sincerely hope you are all well and holding up fine under social distancing/quarantine wherever you are. The coronavirus situation is affecting all of us, in ways we may not have expected. In terms of blogging, my biggest hurdle right now is not being able to access physical books from libraries. That’s pretty minor. It might delay a few of my posts, but I’ll continue to share as well as visiting your blogs to enjoy your wit, wisdom, and artwork in the coming months. I know many of you are facing much more frightening situations. Hopefully, the situation will soon begin to improve, although I’m sure it will leave changes in its wake.

So, switching down to site news: It’s getting close to April, which means I’m getting ready for another Quarterly Bestiary! As always, I’m officially inviting you to suggest beasts you’d like covered in the future, though I’ll be happy to consider suggestions made at any time. I’ve also got one more Sunshine post, which will probably come first because I need a something to brighten my blog right now.

Also, you may have noticed a small change in my last post. I include a list of sources at the end of my posts because I want to be transparent about where I’m getting my information. However, I’ve come to realize that long list is a bit of a pain to scroll through on the way to the “like” and “share” buttons, not to mention the comments. With that in mind, I’ve decided to make the sources section collapsible. I’ve seen hints that this feature doesn’t work on all browsers, however, so I want to ask you how your experience of this new feature has been so far. Is it working? Do you like it? Please tell me if you’ve had any technical difficulties or have any opinions about it so that I can continue to improve!

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Siuil a Run: A Song and a Manga Bridging Two Traditions

It’s the week of St. Patrick’s Day, which means it’s time for an Irish-themed post! I’m part Irish and feel a strong connection to that heritage. So every March, I’ll be covering a topic related to Irish mythology, history, or media—or even all three. Erin go bragh!

Follow a thread of story and you never know where you’ll end up. About a year ago, I stumbled on an unusual manga about two characters who blur the black-and-white rules of their world. Siúil a Rún: The Girl from the Other Side is now one of my favorite graphic series, and volume 8 is scheduled for release today, St. Patrick’s Day! What’s Irish Gaelic doing in a manga title? Well, when I went searching for the answer to that question, it led me back to an Irish folk song. On the surface, they’re very different works, but both reflect on the divisions of human conflict versus the bonds that bring us together. This time, I’ll take the proper path, from “Siúil a Rún”, a song of love and war, to a manga that blends European and Japanese mythological influences.

Sunshine Blogger Award from Caz

I am delighted to have received another Sunshine Blogger Award nomination, this time from Caz of mentalhealthfromtheotherside! If you’re looking for a hard-hitting evaluation of the mental health profession with a sharp wit, please stop by Caz’ blog. She writes pieces revealing the challenges and problems in mental hospitals from first-hand experience as well as examining different mental health diagnoses and taking on the myths around them. Not the kind of myths I cover, the kind that hurt. Funny but true, she nominated me around the same time I nominated her on my first Sunshine post! Thank you, Caz. You are an amazing, courageous person and I appreciate you giving me this award!