This Saturday, I will be speaking at the Outlander Odysseys Gathering in Williamsburg, Virginia about Puirt a beul. In advance of that I put together a public playlist on Spotify that is made up of Gaelic and English songs. 

These songs show the most common types of Gaelic music and the Gaelic influence on Appalachian music. The latter of course is the topic of Sarah MacAlpin's dissertation in The River Maiden.

If you don't currently have Spotify, there is a free version with ads,  but I am also listing these songs below. I'll group them according to type and provide links to the lyrics where possible. 

I have been woefully neglecting the blog since mid December and I was trying think of the best way to  jump start things.  Over the last couple of day I have thought about writing.

1. A mawkishly sentimental post in memory of Coach Dean Smith. I'm not really a sports fan, but I am a Tarheel bred and I do support social justice. I have a lot of feelings on the death of this great man. 
2. A scolding post about how outrageously SICK I am of the whole 50 Shades phenomenon.
3. A thoughtful and referenced post about how Outlander can teach us more about true BDSM than 50 Shades ever could.

This week, I'm getting into the holiday spirit (Hey, I waited until after Halloween) reviewing Billie Thomas's Murder on the First Day of Christmas.

Chloe Carstairs and her mother, Amanda work together in an interior decorating business and the holiday season is a hot time for them. But when their clients start dying more than just their business is threatened. Despite some generational differences and the challenge of investigating secretly in a small town, they work together to solve the mystery. 

The Order of the Four Sons is a sprawling, fast-paced, epic adventure that encompasses multiple worlds and an ensemble cast of characters. Two ancient organizations, the Order of the Four Sons of Horus and Starry Wisdom, have been battling for centuries for possession of a powerful artifact known as the Staff of Solomon.