License Plates

In one of Lisa Gardner's books, a character notes that in Rhode Island, locals go and request plates with letters that are meaningful to them and low numbers.  As someone who has family up near the Rhode Island border, I would not have been able to tell you that prior to reading it, but it made perfect sense once I did, and helped with the setting (hopefully for Rhode Islanders too). 
I actually didn't believe the first person that told me the black Delaware plates were inherited.  (It turns out that now you can get authorized reproductions.)
But, I absolutely had noticed that Virginians, in addition to having a plethora of plates to choose from (much like Florida), are big, big fans of vanity plates.  One co-worker, when I discovered she lived in Virginia, I said, "Oh, so you must have a vanity plate."  (She did.  Seriously, play this game next time you meet a Virginian.  Then ask them which plate they got.)  So, I am unsurprised to hear that Virginia leads the nation in vanity plates.

What Size Needle was That?

For those of you who think I knit on big needles, I present Phat Knitting. 

h/t to Craft-Zine for the link.

Embarrassment, Tools of the Parental Trade

My mother was (and likely still is) of the belief that the ability to embarrass her children was one of the few joys provided to parents of teens.  Due to the sibling spacing we had, my sister presented my mother with a button that said, "Be Kind, I Have a Teenager" and then told my mom that she had done the math and my mother would get to wear this for sixteen and a half years.  (My mother was thrilled.  She did wear the button though.) 
Now, my mother is a fairly creative person, so we were pretty lucky that a lot of her embarrassing was limited to things like waving at us.  My brother and I figured out pretty quickly if you waved back right away, she stopped, my sister was slower to this realization which led to very exaggerated waving on my mother's part followed by loud, "Hi, Sweetie Pie!". 
So, it is just as well, that my mother never quite had this idea.  Fortunately for the kid involved, he has found the humor in it now (although he apparently still find his dad in the Little Mermaid costume embarrassing.)

Attention Cyclists

DCist linked to Girl And Her Bike's story about the idiot who decided it was super funny to bump her bike (with her on it) with his car, several times. The story is intriguing (and totally worth the click) because idiot does get caught, and idiot turns out to probably have had good reason to keep a low profile.  But, she is also trying to load the courtroom for his sentencing to send the message that no, nudging a person with your car is not cute or funny, it is assault and it should be treated seriously.

How to Buy Things

Let's imagine there's a girl named Lindsay. Lindsay wants to get a new pair of shoes.  She goes to Big Giant Shoe Store and finds lots of shoes in her size.  After much debate she narrows it down to a green pair and a blue pair.  She tries them both on in front of the mirror and finally picks the green pair because they match her eyes, and they are from a shoe designer she really likes. 

Lindsay loves the green shoes. She wears the green shoes places.  She gets great compliments on her green shoes.  One day, at a shoe lover event  Lindsay meets Wanda Shoemaker, the designer of her green shoes.  Lindsay is thrilled.  As Wanda is signing a picture of Lindsay's green shoes, she asks Lindsay where she bought the shoes.  Lindsay tells her. 

Wanda's eyes narrow. She tells Lindsay that Big Giant Shoe Store is not where true fans buy her shoes. True fans order them directly from Wanda's website, the Exclusive Shoemaker.  Or, they buy them at Fancy Department Store.  And that if they must buy a pair at Big Giant Shoe Store, they should buy a second pair later from somewhere else to demonstrate their commitment.

You know what Lindsay thinks?  Lindsay thinks she should have gotten the blue pair. 

This tale inspired by the latest round of folks telling reader how to buy things.