Do Ya Think? - Another Amusing License Plate

Spotted in a parking lot in Leland, North Carolina. Don't ya love it? Is it a challenge or a statement? Guess it's in the mind of the competitive car nut.

Drive-in art! - Friday night at Spectrum Art and Jewelry - ArtSmartCar!!

The second Friday of each month from 6-8PM, Star Sosa holds a Second Friday of the Month Party, thinly disguised as an exhibit at her excellent Spectrum Art and Jewelry Gallery at the Forum Shoppes in Wilmington. The party (ooops, exhibit) this month was focused based on the Spectrum's General Manager (and AAiR - awesome artist in residence) Nancy Noel May's ArtSmartCar, a car so cool it has it's own website AND so trendy it's own blog . The ArtSmartCar is wrapped (courtesy of Image Monster, though I'm sure they didn't do it for free) with one of Nancy's works. When Marge and I arrived a bit later than usual around 7:30 - we'd been at the NBCC/WWAY-TV3 Business After Hours in Northwest (see previous blog post) the poor car was by itself (in the fire lane) under a tent and in lights outside in front of the gallery, while all the guests were inside - maybe because that's where the wine was?

So we went inside and what did we see, besides all the happy people? Star and Spectrum Marketing Director and all-round good buddy Nicole Wilkinson (who is also an Art Professor at Brunswick Community College) were actually selling stuff! Yippee! No recession here!

As we always do, Marge and I had a good time at Star's party (there I go again, it's an exhibit and art showing!). We weren't the only ones, either. Look at the photo below to see more happy people:

And some more in this shot:

We had a special treat near the end of the event when Nicole brought out one of Spectrum's most recent marketing pieces, a card they created using SendOutCards, which if you'd like to know about that, please do check out the web site for Fat City Cards, our SendOutCards distributorship.

My Last Blog Post . . . of 2008

Wow, what a year it has been! I'm filled with gratitude and appreciation for our family, our friends, our co-workers, and for all the new folks Marge and I have met during the year. A lot of great stuff happened this year and I'm looking forward to 2009, perhaps more than any other year in recent memory.

I've not posted for a few days because we made a marathon (16 hour) drive back from New England on Saturday (amid fog, rain, a few minor accidents, and post-Christmas shopping traffic). The stretch from mid New Jersey through Fredericksburg, Virginia was, as usual, super practice for video game players.

After we got back to North Carolina we spent Sunday doing approximately nothing at all and then both Monday and Tuesday I was worked with real estate clients from out of state - appropriately, I guess, one couple from New Jersey and a family from Virginia. It's great to have buyers actively looking for new homes in Leland, where we live and where I work as an active residential Realtor helping people buy and sell homes.

I do have a few more photos to post of our trip to New England for the Christmas holiday. On Friday Marge and I spent a great afternoon visiting my sister Nancy Duetzmann and her husband Karl. Our niece Katie was working so we didn't see her, but we did get to hang out with our nephew Michael, our other nephew Stephen, who, along with his wife Jenna and son Evan introduced us to the newest edition to their family, 7-week old Jacob, and we also met Katie's boyfriend Eric.

That's Jacob in the photo below. As you can see, he wasn't overly caught up in the moment.

Nancy and Karl have two grandchildren now. Jacob's older brother Evan is in Nancy's lap in the photo below. Pastor Karl, who was doing the cooking, also stood still for just a second for this picture.

When we all sat down together (Jacob was chilling in his seat elsewhere), we had a great meal. As you can see in the background, there certainly was snow around. That white stuff you can see through the windows was NOT PhotoShop'd in.

After visiting the Duetzmann's in Ansonia we scooted back up to West Hartford to meet with our oldest friends, Irene and Ray Smith. Well, it's not really that they're old (actually Ray is pretty old), but we've been friends with them for 39 years. In the photo below Ray was leaning against Irene for balance and support after rapid ingestion of waay too much pizza.

Tonight we're going to a New Year's Eve party in Brunswick Forest and I'm looking forward to some serious dancing. Tomorrow, I believe, I'm meeting with another Brunswick Forest resident to interview him and his wife about their car (a 2006 Corvette) and to take some photos. The story will be in Forest View, the new community magazine for Brunswick Forest.

So, all in all, 2008 was another great year for us. I hope it was a good one for you, too. See you next year. Lots of plans and ideas.

Is This Smart?

Earlier this week I stopped by our friend Star Sosa's Spectrum Art and Jewelry in the parking lot saw Nancy Noel May's new ride. I'd heard Nancy was buying a Smart Car but hadn't yet seen it. So now I've seen it and photographed it. Next time I visit I may work up to asking for a ride, but I thought you might like so see photos of it from all sides.

Nancy drove to Wilmington from Cary on I-40 and said it felt safe and stable. Star added that it reminded her somewhat of riding in early Honda Civic.

I don't know what it costs, how fast it will go or how great it does with gas mileage, but here's the official Smart USA website. And here are some more photos.