We must be related...

I seem to have quite a few "like mother like daughter" moments and an equal share of "I am my father's daughter" moments. My dad and my Mom's family are especially good at making me aware of these moments (who is always the last one eating at the table? It used to be my mom and now it's me). Anyway, these shared family traits are not limited to my immediate family.

My cousin Alison has always been a kind of "big sister" role model for me and this last year has prompted me to reflect on her influence on me. A few similarities come to mind right away--she went to Luther, I went to St. Olaf; she was singer, so am I; she moved to NY to go to grad. school after college, I'm doing the same thing now. So call me a copycat! When I was little, whatever Alison did, I wanted to do (I've never told her this, but I'm sure it won't come as a huge surprise to her or the rest of the family). Here's a great picture of us (and her brother Mike) with the farm cats in Grandma Kelly's barn. Aren't we cute?



So, my most recent "Alison" moment occurred a few weeks ago when I started reorganizing the contents of my bookcase. Instead of organizing my books alphabetically or by subject, I decided to take a queue from Alison and arrange them according to the color of their spine. I'm an aesthete I suppose...most museum people are though. Note that Oscar has recently discovered how to jump on top of the bookcase.



Isn't it pretty? While it isn't the most practical thing I could have done, I like it anyway! We'll just have to see how easy it is to find things as the semester moves forward.

Alison also encouraged me to post a picture of it on my blog so here it is! My favorite response so far is my aunt Nancy exclaiming "Oh, dear God!" Thanks, Nancy--glad to have your support... :)