no, i'm not irish, or japanese

With a blog name like marrowfat and a name like Murphy, people would think I'm Irish. I'm not. I just married Irish. And named my boys Irish.

My maiden name sounded very Japanese. People who I'd not met before use to show surprise when a white girl would walk into a scheduled meeting instead of an Asian one. Now people aren't so thrown by thinking I'm Irish. But in fact I'm American, with a mostly Polish heritage (with a dash of Lithuanian and Czech).

I use to emphasize I was of Eastern European decent in my younger and far more insecure days. I couldn't dismiss the rather dull Polish stereotype. Now, I embrace it, as it's not dull at all. It’s more like your really happy-drunk uncle.

Being Polish is a lot like being Irish. There's the Catholicism. Being able to drink a ridiculous, sometimes scary amount. Eating a lot of meat and potatoes.

However, babushkas, making lots of pierogi every year for Christmas Eve dinner, ceramic chickens, and eating sausage are things that are inherentlly Polish to me. Though I had my brush with vegetarianism and fully support those who can, I like to sausage. And I like to drink. I'm Polish!