Vanity plates

When I first moved to Maine from NYC, I was struck by how many vanity plates I saw while driving. There seemed to be more cars here with vanity plates than I ever saw while driving the Long Island Expressway. As it turns out, Maine ranks sixth in the nation when it comes to the percentage of motor vehicles with vanity plates, and New York is not even in the top 10.

This spring and early summer, I was driving about 70 miles per day to and from work, and so I began to really notice what people had chosen for their license plates. I'm now keeping a list and have decided to share with you a few of the vanity plates I've seen on the roads here in Maine. I don't have a vanity plate myself. Do you have one? If not, what would yours say? I used to want WORDZ (because I'm a writer), but now I think I'd choose something else. Maybe something about Maine, like the one I saw recently, LUV207. (207 is the state's area code.) Or perhaps something about the ocean, since I'm nuts about the coast. Maybe COASTIN or GO2SEA. Anyway, here is a list of some of the vanity plates I've seen.

AYUP
TRUBLUE
EN ROUTE
DEAD [as in Grateful?]
NRTH STR
SHW BYZ
C SPRAY
DIGGIT
GOIN UP
MYETOY
LTSGO
I NO Y
WAKUP
ENUNCI8
JUNGLIST
LOBSTA
PIGSFLY
BEACHBM
XRAYVZN
WEBAD9
URLUVD
P-COCK
WLF MN
SQWASH
NJOYLFE
WCKDGD
LFEISGD
DEJA VU
SKIR
IBELIVE
GR8GOAL
OWLMOON
BUH BY

Photo pairs: the experiment continues

(Please click on photos for a bigger view.)
I asked my good friend Silke at Metamorphosis to help me with this posting. I was inspired by Neville at Sainte Verde Digest to try pairing photos -- one of Silke's with one of mine. (Hers are on the left, and mine are on the right.) Pairing photos is harder than it looks! Neville makes it look so easy. He has an amazing eye. I don't know that I have his talent for design, but I had a ball doing this. In fact, it is kind of addictive, so you will probably be seeing lots more photo pairs.

TGIF ~ July 24

I'm not doing a Funky Friday post today. Instead, I'm just saying this weekend, do whatever floats your boat! and have fun!

New York: an experiment with photos

I'm doing an experiment here... I'm playing around with pairing up photos after being inspired by Neville at Saint Verde Digest. He has such an amazing eye! I can tell already that I've been too literal, pairing a book about NYC with a photo of Manhattan, but that's OK. I learn by doing! I am going to go ahead and publish this post. Expect to see more of this sort of thing in future. (And hopefully, I'll be able to figure out how to get rid of the big space above the photos.)

New York: The Wonder City, 1939	Empire State Building, 2007

For those who are wondering, the booklet above was published by Interborough News Co. for The Merchants' Association of New York. There is a great letter on the inside front cover. Here is an excerpt:

"We like visitors because the presence here of people from other places helps bring about a better mutual understanding. New York is essentially a friendly, home-loving City. Our deep aspirations are your aspirations -- for peace, opportunity and good will."

I can't remember if I picked up this booklet at the 26th St. flea market when I lived in NY, or if it was given to me by my dad (antique dealer extraordinaire). In any case, I really like it and currently have it displayed on a side table in my living room.

Eagle update

I posted recently about the eagles I've seen this summer. I'm happy to report that a recent newsletter from the Natural Resources Council of Maine says that there are now nearly 500 nesting pairs of bald eagles in Maine, the highest number of any state in the continental US. Bald eagles have now been take off Maine's endangered species list. Looks like I will have plenty more chances to see magnificent eagles in the pine tree state!

Funky Friday ~ July 17

Last Friday after my cousin Jon and his family visited, I blogged about our excursion to Midcoast Maine, where we visited the Maine Maritime Museum and Reid State Park. While walking the museum grounds, I spotted this little building. I'm not sure what it was used for, but I love the shabby curtains! I don't know if you can tell, but they are very tattered. I said to my cousin's sister-in-law that I needed to stop and snap some pictures of it, because it is perfect for Funky Friday.

Later, at Reid State Park, Jon remarked on the lichen that grows on the rocks there. I looked back through my photos today and found this image that shows one such rock. I've always loved the rich mustard color against the granite-gray rocks.

In your travels this weekend, don't forget to keep an eye out for the unusual! A little weirness keeps life interesting.

Creative word collages on Wordle.net

My friend Rita just turned me on to a cool site, wordle.net, and I linked my blog to it to create a word collage. Pretty groovy! Check it out: title="Wordle: Mainely Words"> src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/999739/Mainely_Words"
alt="Wordle: Mainely Words"
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