"Stately, Plump Buck Mulligan..........."

                                      Yes, darlings, it is again Bloomsday.  And no, for all my literary erudition, I  have not read "Ulysses," though it has been on my shelf for years.  I still promise myself I  will, but, at almost 67, who knows?  Well, hope springs eternal, doesn't it, darlings????????????????

                                        For those uninitiated, this day has two meanings.  It is the exact date, back in  1904, that Joyce's classic novel takes place.  Which has always made me wonder why he chose that date,  and when he actually began to write "Ulysses."

                                          The second meaning is this was the date on which Joyce met Nora, the woman who would become his wife.  Her maiden name was--now, get this!--Barnacle!!!!!!!!!!!  How apt for a man destined to become a world, not just Irish, literary icon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                              I questioned myself today, standing in the living room at mid-afternoon.   Should I get the book and read "Molly Bloom's Soliloquy" out loud?  I thought about it.  But, then, so many better than I have.  I would love to hear MERYL or Blythe do  it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                               So, Happy Bloomsday, however you celebrate it!  Even with Irish tea,  and cakes and dainties!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                     Here is  Angeline Ball, reciting the last fifty lines of  "Molly Bloom's Soliloquy!"

                                     "Yes, I said,  Yes, I will,  YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"--                                                                                       the final lines of  "Molly Bloom's Soliloquy."