Monkey Business

I'm going to be in the chilly state of Maine this weekend, so I decided to double up on the posts today to hold myself over in the blogosphere.

I'm just going to jump right into it - my family has kind of an odd monkey fetish. We send each other monkey-themed birthday cards, give each other monkey gag gifts and rejoice when they are featured in television commercials.

Don't think this monkey mayhem ceased during Christmas, when my family gathered for the first time in just about a year. My sister, Lauren's gift to each member of the Seiple clan was a framed version of this ...

... which is based on this family portrait taken in 1990 (I'm the monkey on the bottom in the blue, frilly dress with the white collar):

Apparently, there are a couple of artists in Pittsburgh (where my sister lives), who have a business called Monkey Museum, which "makes monkeys out of people," turning their pictures into "Monkey Portraits." The artists, Dror Yaron and Heather Mallak claim that "monkeys make people smile," which is definitely what the monkeys in our Seiple family Monkey Portrait did this holiday season.

Currently, the portrait is proudly displayed in my bedroom.