You can see for miles

The glow-eyes that Link, Maury and Todd gave me are on the rearview mirrors. I found a really dark place, put a flash light right up next to the glow-eyes (first photo), then took a photo before the glow faded (second photo).


It was really hard to get a good photo, but I like the eeriness of this one.

The eyes are the mirror of the soul

Thanks to Sara and a very belated thank you to Trixie for giving me more eyes. I think this count is a little off now, but it's close. Total eyes for project: 18,755

The car just reached 100,000 miles. No wonder it needed a new battery.

You need a new battery, hon!

The car wouldn’t start again last night. This time it died at a post-work trip to Sonic at 10:30 p.m. Another tow truck and another trip to Groovy Automotive. It’s only a dead battery, so the car will be back on the road in no time. Here a picture taken at 7 a.m. of the car’s favorite waiting spot.

Back to work

I got both the driver’s and passenger’s side mirrors covered with eyes before the sky got cloudy and the wind picked up. I used the eyes that Kendra, Link, Maury and Todd gave me to complete this part of the car.

You can see the huge difference in the color of the eyes that have been on the car for a few months and the new ones. I like the “antique” look better in general, but the shinny white eyes give me a sense of satisfaction.


It never actually rained and the sky clear up, so I went out for a drive.

Eye-Catching Car

I haven’t worked on the car for awhile. It’s been raining a lot here in Austin, but I guess the car breaking down before Vegas has impacted my work ethic.

The car and I just got back from a trip to Oklahoma for my great-grandmother’s 95th birthday. That’s the first time my family has seen the car in person. My grandfather thinks I have a lot of time on my hands. It’s funny because his mother made a lot of art work that was essentially the same thing I’m doing. Only her’s were usually different color seeds glued onto wood and mine is eyes on metal. One of my second cousins (my mom’s cousin, so that should be my second cousin, right?), said the car was eye-catching.

After the birthday party in Sterling, we went to “the big city” for a few days. While in Lawton, the car got a lot of attention with several people clicking photos on their cell phones.

On the road

The car is fixed (and has been for awhile.) Thanks to Sara, who took these photos from our office window.

Googly meltdown

The googly-eyed car had a meltdown on Friday night. It’s currently sitting at Groovy Automotive and I’m waiting for them to call with an estimate. We were supposed to have left on a road trip at about 5 a.m. today. That trip may have to be canceled.

If I had had my camera with me last night I could have captured some of the fun.

I would have taken a photo of the Autozone dude who gave us the phone number of an after hours (wink, wink) mechanic who works at some auto dealer. The dude then proceeded to talk about how he is eating squirrels because he has no money.

I would have taken a photo of the very nice man and his family who tried to help us start the car even though his tools were in his other vehicle. This man apologized more than once for leaving us alone while we waited for the tow truck even though it was way after 10 p.m.

I would have taken a photo of the googly-eyed car being lifted onto the back of the wrecker and of the tow truck driver and his dog Sheba, a scuffy, shaved dog with a lion’s mane haircut who goes with him on all his trips to “keep the bad guys away.”

More photos

I finally got more photos up on flickr.

CARgos

Thanks to Maury, Todd and Link for the cool glow in the dark eyes!

Total eyes for project: 18,625

Here’s another potential car name, this one from Hoyt. "From the Greek myth of Argus (sometimes spelled Argos) Panoptes — the hundred eyed giant. He was killed by Hermes while guarding Io from Zeus. So, it looks like you have a 'CArgos' or a 'CARgos.' You probably shouldn't park it next to a Mercury!"

Your car is looking at me

I didn't get a lot done this weekend. It kept raining when I was trying to work.

Someone said "Your car is looking at me" but I can't remember the circumstances now.

Douglas Rushkoff was in Austin last week for a KLRU event at the Paramount. My car was parked in front of the theater so I could load up some of KLRU’s stuff to take back to the station. Rushkoff saw it and came over for a closer look. He told me not to be driving the car when I’m 70 because then I’d just be the crazy old lady with the eye car.

The Eyes of Texas

Thanks to theK for the birthday gift of 283 eyes. While theK, Beth and I were surveying the car before our Happy Hour, an older man came up and said "What is this? The eyes of Texas?"

Total eyes for project: 18,125

Also thanks to Vince for his donation. I bought glue with the birthday cash.

I am programmed at 33 to perform childishly

Kurt Vonnegut died on my 33rd birthday. For all I know, he really died on April 11. But for me, Kurt Vonnegut left my world on April 12, 2007. My 33rd birthday.

For weeks, I had been trying to decide what to put on the hood of my car. I could just do random eyes like the rest of the car, but I thought the hood deserved more ... a design that meant something real to me. And about a week ago, I decided it would be the asshole drawing from Breakfast of Champions. For anyone unfamiliar with it, it looks like a giant asterisk so it’s family safe, but it’s something that symbolizes a lot more to me.

Last weekend, the weather was so bad I did not get out the glue. Instead I continued my rereading of Vonnegut’s work that began when I picked up Breakfast of Champions to make sure I got the number of lines right on the design.

I do not go to work on my birthday (if I can help it). I took today off with the hope that the weather would be clear so I could work on my car. This morning I woke up to beautiful weather. I was excited to get to work. Excited to celebrate my birthday doing something I love. Then I heard that Vonnegut had died. He died on the day I planned to put a large googly-eyed replica of his asshole drawing on the hood of my car.

So it goes.

rainy days

The bad weather prevented me from working on the car at all this weekend. Now the car is on a trip without me. I'm hoping for good weather once it gets back. It's so close to being done that I'm anxious to work on it again.

The eyes have it

Another four hour day. Lots of chats with neighbors. Really bad sunburn even though I used a lot of sun screen. Special thanks to the self-proclaimed most amazing person in the world for going out and buying me glue when I ran out of it.

One of my neighbors rode up on her scooter and said "What are you going to call her? The eyes have it?"

One side down, one to go

I worked for about four hours Saturday and finished the passenger side of the car. I learned that I can talk on the phone and work on the car at the same time. Thanks to Steakfinger for helping me test my abilities. Yeah multi-tasking!