I started Sideshow 1.) to write about my family, because I was always with them, talking about them and working with them anyway, 2.) after over a decade being creative for my job I thought it'd be fun to do it for myself and 3.) my sister's blog is amazing and helped me see how it's truly just another way to bring storytelling to life – and I'm always up for a good story. Oh, plus 4.) our brother is a Sideshow dude. So, yeah, it kind of made sense.
Kathleen's blog. That fur hat's mine, but everything else she wears, eats, treks or wills into being... is distinctly Kathleen.
So I'm breaking down the tent for now. Taking this act on the road in a way. Because now I really do work with my sister everyday. That whole "being creative for myself" kind of stuck and we've struck out on a tightwire to start our own business together, Braid Creative. I'll be blogging over there about what it means to be a creative professional, branding and storytelling, and about our new adventures. In between Kathleen making me a snack and some tea of course. By the way she has zero carbs in her house (yes, the famous house of Jeremy & Kathleen is where we office) so I'm going to have to bring my own bag of pretzels or something!
What's next for Donny Vomit? After a beer label, touring the world, and creating new dangerous stunts? Hmm. To be continued...
As for Donny, we still get to see him a few times a year. You'd think we'd all go out and paint the town during these reunions, but typically we play board games or do puzzles for days on end. Mom baking, dad popping in to grumble a bit, the kids running in circles around us, but we are in our own world.
Donny and I are talking a lot lately about his new show that he wants to produce, with a throwback Coney Island romanticized theme. I think we may write it together. I get goosebumps thinking about it. Kathleen and I talk to him a lot about his personal brand, what the next step is for him. We feel so strongly he is just a second away from the big lights – from greatness.
Sometimes we don't talk at all. We just are.
So if you've just stumbled on this Sideshow, feel free to read through. It's a bit like a memoir that's only been half lived through yet. Acquaint yourself with the characters, Tara, Donny, Kathleen. Three siblings from the suburbs who became creative forces (and freaks) of nature. At least, that's what the headline says. I sometimes think it feels like a book, or on a really aspirational day maybe like a scene from Tenenbaums.
The stories of our own personal sideshow will keep. Maybe a year. Maybe a few more. But you can bet I'll have some amazing stories to tell, when the tent is resurrected.
Don't worry, we're still playing the game around the table – just a second away from something we don't quite know yet. Maybe greatness, yes. But it doesn't matter, because being at the table together is great enough.
