Flame on

There are those people in the world that may believe I'm difficult to please when it comes to small tokens of appreciation (read "gifts"). Either due to my taste in music, or reading materials, or my viewing habits for television or usual focus in films, possibly my fashion decisions or specific purchases I've made in the past ... I have a reputation that says I am hard to buy for.

It's just not true. I'm EASY to buy for, but I will admit that I'll usually beat ya' to it.

Case in point: The most desirable man on television today

has announced the release date of his Christmas DVD ... but don't bother getting it for me - I ordered it already.

Speaking of waiting patiently...

I've been waiting patiently for a local professional artist to do a VERY silly thing for me. Waiting and waiting and waiting, actually. My life got in the way for a while, and then his kinda took over all his time but today, after a long wait, I've handed things over to him.

What kind of artist am I talking about here? Well, he is a master craftsman who works with the nice folks at Mavericks, does a LOT of work in Southern CA up and down the coastline, and his artistry can literally stop traffic.

I don't know if any of the folks that read my mind dribble here spend much time at classic car shows, but the people that own these rolling classics don't just hand over their keys to anyone when it comes to getting their paint. One builds a reputation by taking their time, and caring about their work. You do a good job on one person's 1956 convertible, and soon their neighbor, who has a sweet little '34 hot rod wants to book your talents.


Pretty soon, after you've done a little custom work on one tasty little chopped coupe to have it look like a car that was driven by three long-bearded rockers, the local movie artist who worked on that film where the creepy space monster takes over the world pulls into your driveway with a special request for THEIR sweet little '34 hot rod.


Now before anyone worries that I've gone and done something silly to Jake (like getting Tigger painted onto the doors, the way my father added Goofy to his pickup truck), ya' can relax. I'd never do anything THAT nutsy ...

... but I will say that this is my KitchenAid prior to handing it over for paint-work.