{{{Shir}}} And I'm just going to point to what Ginger said and nod, nod, nod. She is very, very wise.

My family is all sturdy peasant stock; I come from long lines of shepherds and goatherds. Nobody of worldly note at all until we came to the US. One branch of my grandfather's family moved to Chicago and became vaudevillians, the most famous of whom married the man who wrote "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" and co-wrote "Shine On, Harvest Moon" with him. She used to drop by my grandfather's childhood home in Oakland for family meals when the Ziegfeld Follies were touring the Bay Area.

Also, my grandfather and a friend, one glorious day when they were ten, cut school, sneaked onto the ferry to San Francisco, and went to see Harry Houdini. And my grandfather was chosen to come up on stage and tug on his chains to prove they were real. He had such a pure love of storytelling and an innocent lust for bragging about his own awesome exploits, it must have absolutely killed him to go home that night and pretend he'd just had an ordinary day at school.

When they do the Home Tours in my parents' city, they have cars from the year the house was built parked out front, when they can. I've gotten to see some real beauties that way. I can't imagine owning or driving one, but they are lovely to look at.

After I bought Belle, I tracked down a custom detailer in San Francisco to buff out the paint that had oxidized fairly dramatically in the owner's garage. He was this wacky Brit who went around bellowing, "Woe betide the Japanese import that challenges two thousand pounds of AMERICAN steel!" in a superhero voice.

You had to see his shoulder length, ginger-brown curls flapping in the wake of his passion to really get the effect.

Mrs. Bishop, the original owner, traded in her Chrysler every year for a new one. Shortly after buying Belle, Mrs. B had a stroke, but vowed to drive again. He kids sold the car upon her death.

I felt terrible, AFTER they cashed my check, to learn that Mrs. B's next door neighbor had lovingly maintained the car for 26 years...running it around the block to keep the fluids moving, airing the tires, etc.

I wish I had been in the position (or had the maturity at 23) to just give him the car, as the family should have.

Speaking of classic Mercedes - Mercedes reintroduces the Gullwing: [link]

Maybe not as pretty as the original (also pictured at the link) but I'd be tempted to steal one as the beginning of a cross-country crime spree.

An autograph poster from the band Fall Out Boy. Never heard of them. Anyone want it?

Ahaahaha. I would say offer it to Cass or Trudy.

::gimmehands::

Some days I am a grown up, but some days I am just a doofy FOB fan. Most times I am both.

Please?

The Miracleborn family at kindergarten orientation this morning: [link]

There will lots of First Day pictures tomorrow.

JZ, I am envying your Grandfather powerfully right now.

JZ, I am envying your Grandfather powerfully right now.

I would love to hear more about that day.

This link should be better: [link]

What an adorable family!!

This odd fetishizing of cars just confuses me.

How we are friends, SH, I will never know. Glad of it, most certainly, but there are times I think introducing us was just Jilli experimenting.

I like small, pointy, FAST cars.

Oh. Nevermind. Small, pointy and fast is my kind of car...

If you could have any car, money and mechanical needs being no object, what would you drive?

Shelby Cobra.