11.25.2005

Happy Birthday, Thomas! (one day late....)

Barbara pointed out that all I ever post about anymore is birthdays. I know. But I can't help the fact that my entire family (including extended) was born between September and January (with a couple people outside those months). Nathan and I, both being born in June, are the black sheep (as usual). So here's another one.

I always have joked that I half-raised Thomas. He's ten years younger than me and is my first cousin once removed, but we kinda grew up like brother and sister. I babysat him a lot, particularly in the summers when I sometimes watched him five days a week. When I got my licence we'd go all over the place together, and it was then that I started influencing Thomas's taste in music. I started him in easy with the Beach Boys, then progressed to the darker music as he got older. I like to think that it was my guidance that allowed him to avoid the Britney Spears phase that most boys go through, and some never get out of. Thomas is now possibly a bigger Cure fan than I am, and one of my favorite memories is going to the Cure concert with him last summer and standing in the pit, two rows from the stage, for SEVEN HOURS. Earlier this week I realized that it's coming back around: Thomas is now bringing new music to my attention. In China last summer he pointed me to a Cure remix I'd never seen, and a few months ago he introduced me to a group called The Album Leaf. Very cool. And then, on Tuesday, he gave me a CD he'd burned of our cousin's friend's group, a little garage band that just got signed by EMI/Credential. They're called Lost Ocean. So awesome!

Happy Birthday, my dear cousin. I hope that this next year brings you all that your heart desires, no matter what you decide to do.

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