Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Tuesday Tidbits: Brotherly Love Edition

A few years ago, while they were still in college, my brother Dave and his roommate decided to make a Christmas sweatshirt. I don't really know what area of human knowledge we can draw on to help us understand that. Just two dudes, creating festive holiday garb. Their particular brand of college hipster culture was so complex that it can't really be known how sincere their efforts were. They certainly weren't snarky about it, but were they making the sweatshirt or quoting the sweatshirt? I think that, perhaps, postmodern irony really has given way to The New Sincerity. Maybe. It's possible that there are young twenty-somethings all over the country who are lovingly crafting that Tampon Turkey centerpiece. But here is the sweatshirt.

Lest you think that this was the half-assed work of a moment, I refer you to the 3D tiny wrapped packages under the felt Christmas tree, which they have decorated with little lightbulbs. My favorite part has to be the cheery and vague "Holidays!" leading up to the pom-pom poinsettias on the shoulder. This thing wants a wider audience. Surrender to its cheeriness. Holidays!

My sister Amy has been recently celebrated on this blog, while Dave has received only brief mention. I thought I would remedy that today because Dave has now started his own blog, Better than Machines. He is the real writer in the family, so check it out if you're into progressive politics. Or just enjoy the sweatshirt. Holidays!

And in keeping with Keely's Random Tuesdays, here's some more Dave and me.

This was Christmas of 2000, when Dave was practically a baby, and I was pregnant with Laura. I also had an acute case of fake Kate Spade. Sigh. I'm sorry y'all, I was new to ebay. But don't I look proud of Dave? And here we are this past August.

We always have a good time together. And I can't figure out how in the heck he turned into a fascinating and productive adult in the last eight years, a period of time when I was mostly experimenting with different hairstyles and buying purses. That's a Patrick Robinson for Target tote, by the way. Always get tons of inquiries about it.

Here we decided to take a series of awkward close-ups. Like so.


This has been a shout out to my brother, one of my top favorite people on Earth. Go check him out. You might like other members of the family better than me. They are all nice people.

And see what else is brewing over at Random Tuesdays.
randomtuesday

12 comments:

Michele said...

It's so nice that you and your brother get along. I live in fear that my brother will start feeling brotherly. I don't think I could handle that.

Love you choice of handbags. I'll go check out Dave's blog because I'm into progressive politics.

Keely said...

lol! Wooo! Holidays!!

Love it.

I feel the same way about my brother. Sometimes I look at him in surprise, like, "When did you get to be a grownup? With OPINIONS, no less?".

Then I have to remind myself, um, dude, he's 31. He's been doing the grownup thing for a while.

Camp Papa said...

There is very little in the world that is better than seeing your grown-up children love and relate to each other. Their mother and I take whatever credit is available to us for producing three world-class human beings.

Dave said...

Thanks for the shout out! For the record, the "Holidays!" Sweathshirt lives. It is somewhere at Mom and Dad's, and it will make an appearance at the family's Christmas-Eve-Eve Party.

Casey said...

He won my respect for the sweatshirt alone. I hope he still wears it every year, it would be a shame to let perfection like that go to waste! I'm glad you're so close to your brother. I have two older brothers who I've always been close to but with families and lives, we don't talk as much as of late. It's sad, really.

Amy said...

When I first saw the "Holidays!" sweatshirt back then, I laughed so hard I nearly wet myself. You're right--it's hard to know if they were wearing it or quoting it--I think a little of both. I just loved that it's actually really nicely done--you could totally see that on an older lady at Walmart or something. With little reindeer dangly earrings.

Dave is hilarious and as Becky said, a damn fine writer. I am definitely the dumbest of the three sibs. (But I'm cool with that.) Matron Readers, check him out!

Camp Papa said...

Who is "dumbest" Thomas Jefferson, Georgia O'Keefe, or Marie Curie?

Becky said...

Those three are siblings?!! LOL

And Amy,remember how I was admiring the capes at TJ Maxx, and they were Xmas tree skirts?

Bren said...

Dave, Houston and were remembering that sweatshirt just yesterday. Damn right it lives.
And thanks for enabling me to be a fan of a blog that actually exists, rather than just thinking 'I'd love to read Dave's blog, if only he had one'.

Camp Papa, you and Mama have done something magical. Three geniuses indeed. Please advise.

Becky, you make me laugh with the handbags. (I'm still using your cast-off, and probably will until you take pity on me years down the road and force me to replace it with another cast-off.)

Sara said...

I love this post!! From the sweatshirt to the close-ups.

Holidays!

Chris said...

*side note: The Holidays Sweatshirt was a Christmas gift to me circa 2004 but was retracted in order to make some additions and alterations. After seeing this picture, I see nothing has changed. I feel thoroughly deprived.

M and E said...

Holy crap, did Mason make one of those sweatshirts as well? I was just laughing so hard I was crying...