Happy Birthday Carrie

So today it's my oldest sister Carrie's birthday.  It got me thinking about the influence a sibling might have on something like artistic development.

The way it has always seemed to me, Carrie sees the world differently than your average person.  Her sense of style has never been dictated by any magazine, the art she enjoys has little to do with how much it costs or how reputable the artist is, and she has a love of the absurd that is both frustrating and admirable.  As a teenager she would write esoteric and often disturbing short stories to traumatize me with, but the thing about each story was how incredibly original each one was.  I will never forget when she took one of my childhood books about a horse and her hat and turned it into a cautionary tale of a horse who wanted to fly with the birds, got her wish, and suffered the consequences (amputated legs replaced with dixie cups).  I was so influenced by this story, I did a project on it in college.  It's because of these things, that I think Carrie has contributed to my ability and need to think for myself.

To this day, and sometimes to my mother's chagrin, my sister still maintains some of her childhood tastes, sometimes buying ridiculous necklaces meant for kids or silly tshirts not intended for her market.  It's these types actions that have influenced me over the years.  At one point I realized that I really love to take ugly things and give them a chance to be beautiful, or that I really like to take things that should not go together, and find harmony in their unlikely pairing.  I sometimes think this came from a youthful desire to be like my older sister with her well rounded and often bizarre interests and tastes.  That's not to say she is without taste, it is simply unique to her and definitely to be appreciated.

Happy Birthday Carrie