Something to Do in My Spare Time

This past weekend was the GoodGuys car show in downtown Columbus. As I do every year, I went on Saturday with my parents (Dad shows a '53 Chevy pickup). And as usual, I dressed for the occasion. (Photos coming soon; they're on Mom's camera.)

My motto is that if you can wear a costume, you should. I love costumes. They're fun! Fun to make, and fun to wear. I love going out "in character".

It never fails to surprise me, however, that even after all these years and the hundreds of car shows I've been to, that I still am usually the only non-vendor to dress up (sometimes at Hot Summer Nights a few girls will dress up, but I think they are with a theater or dance group, so it doesn't really count).

I just feel like car shows could be so much more than what they are. You show up. You look at cars. You buy car-related stuff, and listen to music from a bygone era. Usually this consists of the hits from the 1950s-1970s, but sometimes there's a little broader variety (sometimes not. Hot Summer Nights plays almost exclusively the Beach Boys).

There are vendors. usually they sell jewelry, tee shirts and hats with cars on them, car parts, and reproduction advertisements from the 1960s.

I want to go to a car show that takes the theme of these historical vehicles and expands on them. These cars can be from anywhere from the early 1920s (sometimes before!) up through souped-up contemporary models. What if there was some kind of costume competition, or a masquarade/costume dance? There's always great music at these shows, but I'm always the only one dancing. And why is it that there's almost never live music?

Opening up the vendors to include antique dealers--of all kinds--would also be great. Vintage books, clothing, and household accessories. Some drivers create mini displays or themes for their vehicles. My dad has a fake dinner tray for the driver's side window and a set of drive-in movie speakers. A lot of classic car fans have rooms or even decorate their entire houses around the era their car is from, but mostly those things have to be purchased elsewhere. They are never available at shows, even at GoodGuys--the largest in the midwest.

And for the kids and grandkids that come: Why not educate them on what times were like back then? Have toys and games, but maybe also some mini classes or lectures, something fun and interactive.  An yes, I do think that there should be typewriters.

Part of me would love to put this together, but the greater part of me just sees flashing dollar signs and faints at the thought (not that I have time for something even half this involved. I'm lucky if I make it to two shows a year now, where I used to be at car shows every weekend from May to September.

I guess I'm throwing this out there in the hopes that someone else might take the reigns on it. I love car shows, but sometimes they just feel...lazy. Especially when I see the same cars at all the local shows, over and over. Why not spice things up a bit?

Coming and Going

Hello, beautiful.

What you see before you is a 1958 Chevrolet Impala and my new love.

This little beauty was one of four Impalas at the Belfountaine Hot Summer Nights Car show yesterday. Okay, well, two days ago now since it is officially after midnight.

Dad's '53 won a Top 50 award and he won $57 in the drivers pool, which he promptly donated to the Holland Theater. The Holland is a local historical site that my grandparents have been helping to restore. Hot Summer Nights is sponsored by the Holland and a local car club, and all of the proceeds go to the Holland and other local charities.

It's been a busy weekend, even without bouncing around in a poodle skirt (because at heart, I am still a geeky con-goer).

Speaking of being geeky, I'm going to have to blame Crazy Aunt Purl for this next bit of geekery. My knitting mojo has been somewhat depleted for the last several weeks. Maybe it's just the weather combined with stress but when I read her post about the Entrelac Scarf, I had to try it. This segment here seemed almost like a challenge, and considering how non-competitive I am and how terrible I am with patterns, I just had to try.

I'm very thick-headed when it comes to reading patterns and I think that Allison Lo Cicero, the woman who wrote this, is brilliant at writing patterns! It's very clear for such a complicated concept. You do have to take a leap of faith when you start the first time because it may not make sense for a while (What? I'm knitting one stitch and then turning the work around and knitting that one stitch from the other direction? Are you nuts?) but it works

No pictures just yet; I'm using recycled sari silk and it makes the texture a little hard to pick up in the best of times, let alone with a camera interfering. I've had some skanes of this that were semi-striping, or at least had color variations. This particular one, however, is very evenly distributed but I still like the way that it looks and it makes me happy. I love the construction and after I finish this initial scarf, I'm going to play around with it a little bit and see what else I can do to it in a self striping yarn. That will have to wait until I get to Italy, though.

Today I went to the State Fair. It was hot. Very hot. It was 90 degrees with little shade, but even with the windows open on my car, the AC on it's max setting, and going 75 (sh, don't tell) down 670, it was still cooler outside in the sun than it was inside my truck. I think my brain melted. I may have lost IQ points, I didn't have many to spare.

And lastly, if you've been paying attention to the news the last few days (as in, a lot of attention; it didn't get much press) the wonderful, beloved, and magnificent John Hughs passed away this week. Alice and I are marking his passing in appropriate style. We started with her favorite, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, moved on to Sixteen Candles (which, shockingly, neither of us had ever seen all the way through), to Pretty In Pink. For the grande finale there's my favorite, The Breakfast Club.