It's a female thing...

Take a look at this plate...

Think about it for a sec. I figured it out pretty quickly - hilarious! But in case others are confused, this driver placed a sort of "cheat sheet" on the back window of the pickup:

I think that says it all, right ladies?

Pronunciation is key...

An advertisement for mojitos?
Or is it one for a surgical reattachment specialist?

YOU be the judge! Me, I'm going for the mojito explanation. Mmmmmmm.

Pop Quiz for Tuesday

What does this plate say, in your opinion?














Here’s the approximate conversation that took place in the Gammage Theater parking lot Saturday night, when we saw this license plate. I ran right up to it and took the photo, because it was so funny (or so I thought!).

“This is awesome!” I said. “Three dog haters!!”

“What??” Pat exclaimed. “No, Sara, it means “Three daughters.”

“What??” I responded. I looked again. “Oh. Well, I can see how you might think that, but Three Dog Haters is just so much more hilarious.”

“That was my first thought too, but who would put THAT on a license plate?” Helen said.

“I wonder...." Joanne grinned. "Sara might. You DO you have a bunch of little doggies at your house this weekend, don’t you?” (see this post regarding Helen and her doggie rescue efforts)

In reality, I don’t hate dogs, but I am definitely a cat person. However, I do happen to have three cats that REALLY hate it when Helen comes to visit from Flagstaff. Therefore, this could technically be my license plate, if my cats were the personalization decision-makers in our household!

A little happiness can go a long way.

Hey NRDYGRL, do I know you? Because I do know an awful lot of geeks and nerds... I managed to get this shot while at a stop light, JUST as the car was about to turn right (I was in the left lane). While it's not exactly relevant to the rest of this entry, I wanted to start off with something fun and happy, and then digress for a short while.

Last week, I was laid off from my job. While the timing was a bit sudden, the occurrence was not entirely unexpected – there have been multiple layoffs there over the past two years. I’m not taking it personally, since everyone with my job description was let go. At first, though, it was a bit upsetting. Within that company, I’d been a full-time employee of one sort or another for over 13 years. I had earned a decent amount of paid vacation time, had excellent vision insurance, and most importantly, had made many friends. It was hard to leave all of that behind! While it is possible I could have remained with the company in a reduced capacity (and by reduced, I mean shorter hours and MUCH less pay), I chose to make a clean break. While I will not see them as often, I will still keep in touch with my former coworkers via various social applications and by visiting them … wait for it… IN REAL LIFE. Shocking, I know!

Since that fateful day last week, I have been pondering many things. What color IS my parachute? What is this thing called “a household budget?” And in the immortal words of the teacher in that one Twisted Sister video: “What do you want to DO with your life?” I wanna rock! (ROCK!!!). Oops, sorry about that, I can’t help it - we played Rock Band this week, so it’s on my mind. I also keep hearing Anthony Michael Hall, from the scene in the Breakfast Club where his character was trying to write his paper and he kept repeating “Who are you? Who ARE you?” (note to self – watch The Breakfast Club soon)


While I haven’t yet completely answered any of these questions for myself, there’s a tangential rumination* that goes along with them – what makes me happy?

I could go on and on about this subject – it’s a pretty easy question for me to answer, since I am essentially a happy person. Even my current employment situation hasn’t really dented my good nature. Cats, games, Firefly/Serenity, fairies, dragonflies, hanging out with friends, Broadway musicals, movies, music, good books (and some that are BAD), and my husband: this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to my blissful existence. Since you are here, you may also have figured out that license plates often make me happy! Here’s some people who have decided to express that particular emotion, in one way or another.

While this could be referring to the state of mind of someone’s “da”, I choose to translate that last part as “day”. One of my happiest days this year was my birthday, which I celebrated at the Renaissance Festival, with my closest friends. I wonder which day in their lives caused the owners of this plate to select this sentiment? Maybe they are like me, and are happy all the time.

I have no photos for WE R HPY and LIVHAPI, but they both made me smile when I saw them.

Speaking of smiling, I’ve also seen SMYL4ME. Good one!

This one pretty much sums it up. No matter what job I decide to take (or NOT take), I intend to continue to find happiness in my life, every day.

*Tangential Rumination is the name of my Depeche Mode cover band.

Friends can take you places, Part 1.

First off, I’d like to apologize for the LACK of blogging. My intent was to post once a week, and obviously that hasn’t happened so far. In my defense, the Renaissance Festival was going on during February and March, so I didn’t have a whole lot of days “off”. And since a lot of my license plates go together in themes, it takes me a while to put them together into a cohesive, fun-to-read format. Contrary to popular belief, these words don’t just roll from my brain and onto the screen as fast as thoughts happen – though come to think of it, that would make this process a whole lot easier! Until that day arrives (or until I focus more), you’ll just have to put up with my semi-infrequent ramblings.

Now down to business! Not surprisingly, quite a few of my friends have strong personal interests as I do, and have also chosen to express themselves on their license plates. Here’s a few of them.

This is my friend Becky's plate. While this happens to be very descriptive of her boxy Scion XB, it holds an even deeper meaning for her – it’s a reference to her favorite band, The Cruxshadows. They have an EP and a DVD by the name of Shadowbox. The Cruxshadows are to Becky what Styx is to me. She is the biggest Cruxshadows fan I know, and I don’t mean in body size. Becky is so into this group, she auditioned to be their violin player a couple of years ago! She didn’t get the job, but that doesn’t stop her from enjoying their music, nor from starting her own band, Inis, instead. While I harbor absolutely NO illusions that anyone in Styx recognizes me when I go to their concerts, Becky IS known by The Cruxshadows, if not by name, then at least by sight.

Becky is definitely no stranger to the personalized plate. SHADWBX is her third one. LABRNTH made public her fondness for the Froud family’s fairie, troll, and goblin puppet work (not to mention David Bowie’s fantastic hair!) in Labyrinth. And before that, she was WICAGRL. Well, technically she still IS a Wiccan, it's just not advertised on her license plate any longer.

http://www.cruxshadows.com/

http://www.myspace.com/inisphoenix

My friend Helen is an animal fanatic. Dogs, cats, ferrets, an iguana, a parrot, a tortoise: all these and more have been graced for a time by her love and ownership. Lately, while she does still have two cats, her focus has been on dogs. Small dogs. MEEEEEEELYUNS of them. Well ok, not millions. It just seems like that when they all come to visit at my house! Specifically, Helen volunteers with the Arizona Chihuahua Rescue. She fosters these little boys and girls until they are well enough to be adopted by other families. The Humane Societies and various organizations from around the state contact the ACR when a Chihuahua is turned in or found, and if Helen has room she takes them in and helps them to become more socialized. She is VERY dedicated to this task, and the dogs in her care soon adore her. Sadly, a lot of these little ones come from puppy mills, or abusive situations. Because of this she has to take on the role of “alpha” dog quite often, training them not to bite, or pee inappropriately. Some of them are so afraid of people, or so malnourished, it takes months for them to become “adoptable.” Helen never falters in her care and attention, though, and many cuties have been saved from euthanasia and successfully adopted because of her efforts. Don’t you want a cute little Chihuahua of your very own? Visit the Arizona Chihuahua Rescue website to find out how. Maybe one of Helen’s doggies will be the one, because she really does RSQ4U.

http://azchihuahuarescue.org/

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=355200238749&ref=mf

Stay tuned for Part 2!

"Stating" the obvious

Imagination is a wonderful thing. I love when I am driving along, I see a personalized plate, and I actually have to think about it for a minute or two (or even longer). A well-crafted license plate tells you something about the car’s owner, be it a personal preference, a hobby, a career, or a philosophy. I’ll be bringing you all of those topics and more as I add to this website. Today, sadly, we are going to start with some rather NON-imaginative subject matter.

Sorry for the blurriness, I was at a stop behind this one. RD RAM. Thankfully not ALL truck drivers are this boring! At least, I don’t think they are. A few of my friends drive pickups, and their powers of imagination seem to be fully intact. Can’t explain what happened with this vehicle’s owner, though.


I sure am glad that it’s YOUR Infinity, and not someone else’s.

There are a few more examples of this phenomenon for which I was not able to take a picture:

COOP360 on a mini Cooper. Blah, blah, blah. Mini-Coopers are so cute, why did you burden your car with such an inane plate? Next up: I spotted ZEE 4ME on a red Z-4 BMW. Lame. Then there’s PALZ CHG, seen on a Dodge Charger. Hella-lame. Don’t even get me started on putting your own NAME on a license plate, for some reason that really bugs me. At least in this case it’s not a girl’s name, which in MY imagination invites potential stalkers and evildoers to lie in wait. Oh.. wait.. I did see one of those recently, too!


These are all representations of obviousness that make me say “jeez Louise” (or something to that effect, but with actual expletives) when I see them on the road. I am firmly of the opinion that if you can’t say something “good” on a plate, you shouldn’t say anything at all.

Now let’s talk about some much BETTER examples!

This plate is on a Mustang. I see it regularly in the parking garage at one of my work locations. This is an excellent use of obvious-ity with a nice side order of wittiness, making it a happy statement of ownership. Alas, I have no photos of the following plates, but you’ll get the idea.

1SKCHVY – I saw this on a black Chevy pickup of some kind, with fancy low-riding wheels. I don’t care much for lowriders, but they get points for originality.

AZTOSTR – This one was on an Element, or a Scion, I don’t remember which. It was some kind of boxy car, but it wasn’t a Cube. I know that much because it was before the Cube was in production. I have seen a lot of Cubes lately, though - apparently it’s the current box-shaped vehicle that is capturing many toaster-car fans’ hearts. I expect I will be crafting a Cube-related blog somewhere down the line.

EVIL442 - I don't remember the color or exact style of this car, but the Internet informs me that the Oldsmobile 442 was first produced in 1964, and that the 442 designation was most recently used on Cutlass models from the early '90s. Some plate enthusiasts might put this one in the "boringly obvious" category, but two things saved it for me: a bumper sticker that said "Pagan", and a Darwin Fish sticker.

Neither of those are inherently "evil," of course. I just really appreciate this driver's sense of humor!

Next up: license plates of my friends!

:tap tap tap: Hello? Is this thing on?

Welcome to my inaugural license plate blog! I have always had an interest in personalized plates. It keeps me alert while driving, always on the lookout. When their text is not immediately obvious, it’s nice to get that little mental “zing” when you figure out what they mean. And when they are seemingly indecipherable, then you either get an even bigger ‘zing’ if you make sense of them, OR they annoy you to the point that you want to pull the owners over and say “what the heck does your plate mean?” Any way you look at them, personalized license plates make driving more fun.

I got the idea for this when my job changed, my daily commute alternated due to multiple work locations, and I started to notice more and more personalized plates. Here in Arizona, the yearly fee for a vanity plate is only $25, and their affordability makes them extremely prevalent. I see them almost every day. And rarely do I see the same plate twice!

I myself have had a couple of vanity plates. They both involve my favorite musical group, Styx. I was so excited to discover how affordable these plates are here, so took the earliest opportunity to publicly declare my affection for the band that has meant so much to me for so long. STYXFAN was available, and became my plate sometime around 2004. To my delight, when the package with the new plates arrived, I discovered that there were TWO of them. This was a surprise, because Arizona only requires a plate on the rear of the vehicle. Apparently they give you two when they are personalized, so that you can choose to put them on the back AND front. I chose to do something else: make it my mission to get the second plate autographed by Styx members! I attend every concert that I can, and thankfully they visit Arizona at least once a year, so I have had quite a few opportunities. My first of these autographs happened in September of 2004, at a concert in Sahuarita, which is just south of Tucson. Tommy Shaw signed my plate on stage at the end of the show. Earlier in the evening, Lawrence Gowan, their keyboardist, posed for this photo after he grabbed my plate from me and held it up to show the crowd.


*swoon*

Signature number two happened in Myrtle Beach, SC in May of 2005, when Lawrence was kind enough to stop outside of the tour bus for the fans that had lingered, as I had.

While it didn't affect my autographed plate, on Martin Luther King Day in January of 2006, my car's STYXFAN plate was stolen while I was at work. When I went to the MVD, they said that I could keep that same plate, but I would risk getting pulled over because I had reported it as stolen to the police. AND until the replacement arrived, I would have to put my autographed plate on the car! I decided to forgo those options and get a second Styx plate instead, which is why my car now features personalized plate number two: GOTSTYX.

The saga continued in July of 2006. I got home from work one evening, and checked my caller ID to see if I missed any calls. There was one from Dan Zelisko. That name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it right away. I checked to see if there was a voicemail, and there was. It was from Danny Zelisko, a local concert promoter, who saw the little blurb in that day's paper about my STYXFAN license plate, and wanted to help me out with getting the rest of the band's autographs....

Back up a sec! I didn't even know that my plates had made it into the paper that day, because I hadn't read it yet. I madly scrambled through all the Sunday sections, to the Valley and State section. And there they were, on the front page. Both of my plates were pictured: STYXFAN and GOTSTYX. Woot! Some background info... our paper occasionally runs pictures of people's personalized plates, and what they mean to them, as a human interest kind-of-thing. The week before that I had finally gotten around to photographing mine, and e-mailed them in. Here's the text of the blurb:

"Sara Rebennack of Chandler obtained her STYXFAN plate two years ago, but it was stolen in January. She didn't put the duplicate plate on her car because it was autographed by Styx band members. She doesn't have all the band members' autographs, so she takes it to every Styx concert she attends. Meanwhile, she ordered another vanity plate for her car, GOTSTYX."

I recognized Danny’s name from concerts I've attended. He said in the message that he's promoted the guys for a couple of decades, and he'd like to see about helping me get the rest of their autographs on my STYXFAN plate. Can you just imagine my jumping up and down and screaming? There was no one at home to scream with (my husband was out of town), so I had to call my friend Regina, whom I woke up. And she screamed too. I spent the entire next day grinning at work, much to the amusement of my coworkers.

I spoke with Danny a few days later, and he offered to take my plate to get it signed by the rest of the band. I told him that it would mean more to me if I could be there in person. So he said to contact him the next time they are going to be in town, and he'd hook me up. Squeee! I never got to take him up on his offer, though. The next time Styx came to town, I was on vacation. Then in May of 2007, I attended a Styx fan convention near Toronto, Canada, which coincided with three consecutive Styx concerts at Casino Rama. After a fantastically fun three days with fans, and plenty of Styx live music, I was lucky enough to get both of my plates signed by all of the current band members. You can read more about THAT excellent adventure here: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=24097780&blogId=269824137



I have been meaning to start this blog for about six months, but one thing or another kept getting in the way. Because of the delay, though, I have a LOT of source material to work with! I don’t have photos for every plate, but I keep a notepad in my car so I can write them down before I forget them. I haven’t decided on a posting frequency yet, but I hope to put up new plates at least once a week. I can’t promise they will be as wordy as this submission, either! But maybe that’s not such a bad thing.