Miscellaneous Enthusiasms

"Funny Little Cars"

Micro and Mini cars: tiny vehicles mostly produced in Europe 1948-65 to provide basic motorized transportation. Rarely over 12 feet long or weighing more than 1500 pounds (and usually much smaller), they almost always bring a smile to the face of anyone who sees them. There were dozens of marques; I'm a big fan of Goggomobils. So much so that I finally bought one for myself!

My Goggo Coupe! Newly acquired (2005)
Gould's Mini and MicroCar Classic Photos of the local Micro and Mini Car event
Vintage Microcar Club A US national organization of collectors and enthusiasts
Bruce Weiner's Microcar Museum Probably the largest collection of microcars in the world
Uwe Stauffenberg's Goggo Site The source of Goggomobil parts and info
Boogerballs Despite the inelegant name, a very nice source of wearable small-car art
Crosley Car Club One of the few US-made minicars
King Midget Car Club A US-made microcar, produced 1946-69

Cartoons

I've always liked cartoons, animated or still, and the more I learn about how they're made the more impressed I am with the skills of their creators. Below are some online webcomics I've enjoyed or am following. I recommend reading back through at least some of their archives, to get a sense of the stories and characters.

PvP Computer-gaming office comedy
Schlock Mercenary Extraordinarily rich and amusing space adventure: "Military Humor ... Evolved"
Girl Genius "Steam Punk"-ish Sci-Fi set in an imagined Victorian-esque feudal Europe
Wapsi Square Strange but engrossing tale of "a girl, her dog, and the Aztec god of alcohol" in a Minneapolis neighborhood
The Dragon Doctors Imaginative tales of a group of techno-magical healers
Dreamland Chronicles Gorgeous 3-D-like images of adventures in a fairytale world only a slumber away from ours
The Wotch Magical goings-on at a high school
You'll Have That Gentle comic of a young guy and his wife. Now completed, alas.

LiveJournal

These online blogs are so easy to do that I decided to get one for myself. Not that I'm likely to say anything of note in it...
"Moments of Inertia"

Updated March 16, 2009