This Just In!

I had a realization the other day after a "business lunch" with a guy who had a Craigslist post for someone artistically inclined to draw & letter some pages in the ledger for his Fireman's Motorcycle club. It goes without saying that this is the type of situations I end up in after a few moments on Craigslist. At any rate, this guy and his lovely wife are super awesome. We chatted while they ate their lunch. Not just about the project I was hired to do but also about old cars, and various other vintage things we are both into. The husband recognized my wagon right away and was stoked to not only put a face to the car but to find out that the owner of the car was the very person who would be handling the illustrations in his book. Alternately, I was stoked that the person I was to be working with not only knew my car (she seems to be a minor celebrity in town) but also was into old cars and the slew of other cool things I like.

All this being said, I'm not trying to rally praise for CL. In that moment I actually realized that my "age inappropriate" nostalgia for things that I wasn't even there for in the first place can entirely be credited to my dad. I have known for a very long time that my appreciation and uncanny ability to acquire junk has been a credited to my mother. In fact I have already written a blog about that. Little did I know that the type of junk I choose is because of my relationship with my dad. So, I think it is only fair to give my dad some credit for also helping become the person that I am today. This one is for you papa!

When I was talking to the couple, I told them a story about how when I was in the 5th grade or so, back in the late 80's my teacher asked me what was my favorite band. I looked at her and proclaimed "The Glen Miller Orchestra"! She said, "Who?" and I said "You know.....Pennsylvania 6-5-oh oh oh"! I was forever stumping my teachers and friends with outdated references. While other kids were watching Nickelodeon on cable, I was watching Betty Boop Cartoons from the 40's on VHS. My dad also has a state of arrested nostalgia himself. He has always archived the marvelous Movie Serials like Dick Tracey, Batman, Superman and Tarzan to name a few. I remember sitting down with him to watch these short movies on a Saturday morning. The movies were originally be shown in segments -a new one each week, before a full length movie. They always ended on a cliffhanger, ensuring you came back next week to see what happened to your favorite hero. As I kid I thought they were called "cereals" and assumed it was because I ate cereal while I watched them! I had a very difficult time explaining that one to the teacher. She probably thought I meant action movies starring Captian Crunch and the Trix Bunny!

As an adult he and I go to yard sales quite regularly, we can listen to the oldies station together with no complaints (unless my sister is in the car). When he found out that I had located a free jukebox on Craigslist, he was more excited than I was and that's saying something! Back when I had fallen in love with "the one that got away" a cherry red 66 Dodge Dart, "Buelah" as I called her; he was one of the few people to actually encourage me to buy an old car. He had a trusty Valiant when my he and my mom were first married. When I actually did buy my first old car, "Ol' Blue" a clunky and crusty '63 Dart Sedan I asked him to come along on the test drive. When we were done driving around I asked him what he thought. Any other dad would have told his daughter that the car was a death-trap, and well it was; but he just told me that he knew my mind was already made up to get it. He was right. From then on out he called the car the "Dodge Ball". He has since helped me with repairs on both of my old Darts, past & present.

I have gotten very close to my dad since I first moved out to California to live with him. In the 10+ years I have lived here, I have cultivated my tastes for vintage treasures and he has been a big part of it. I now have an apartment of my own filled with cool stuff. I wouldn't trade these years for anything. I guess that makes me a Daddy's Girl but its a title I have earned.
I Love ya dad!