Viva la Narcissist!

I didn't think I was a vanity plate kind of girl, but then again, I didn't think I was a dragon red scooter kind of a girl or a blogging kind of a girl and yet, here we are. After finally receiving my Vespa registration in the mail and being notified of what my randomly assigned license plate number would be, I decided that "18Yblahblahblah" didn't really do the Vespa justice. So I started looking into vanity plates….


This is the plate I wanted. If I lived in Idaho, I probably would have gotten it, too, only it would have said "Idaho" on top. Unfortunately, I live in California, where it's the equivalent of 20 Idahos sharing one license plate pool, and one of the 4 bazillion other drivers here has already snagged this one. The same goes for "DOLCE," "DLCEVTA," "GOVESPA," "75 MPG," "80 MPG," "RMNHLDY," "FELLINI," and so on. The only one I came up with that was available was "QT VESPA," but then I banged my head against the wall several times just for thinking of it. (And if you don't get the Fellini reference and, therefore, the title of this very blog, then you should get yourself a-googlin').

The people who I would usually turn to for help on this matter are my own parents, Dave and Mary, because they are couple of zany wordsmiths. I can't begin to explain how many Ess family dinner conversations were devoted to who could come up with the most clever name for a business we had no intention of opening. I honestly don't know how they ever found each other. Except that I do, cause they've told me the story a million times, and it always ends with Mary Dear-Johning a guy named Elder Buckmiller who was then residing in South America. Come to think of it, maybe their mutual love for crazy words was inspired by E.B.'s name and the fact that Dave and Mary had to say it with straight faces so many times during their courtship.

Point is, I can't ask Dave and Mary for help because they still don't know about the Vespa and/or this blog. The "coming out" logistics are the subject of a future post--right now I just need help with the plates.

So, any suggestions? We're working with a limit of seven characters plus one half-space. Alas, those Wingdings symbols that are so popular with the vanity plate crowd are not available on motorcycle plates. If you are interested in checking the availability of your suggestion, you can do it here—but I don't mind checking it for you. I'm just desperate for ideas.

And since I've learned a thing or two from Paternity Pants' and JBeany's recent quizzes, I am willing to offer a prize to the winner: your choice of either (a) some Vespa swag, or (b) a spin on the Vespa (as in, you get to drive it for a short time at a location that depends on your experience). For obvious reasons, minors, non-Angelenos and persons unknown to me are only eligible for Prize A, but it will still be good.

FYI, I'm already ruling out "BUCKMLR."