The Passion of the Wenckus from Michael Sigler on Vimeo.

I tricked my friends into thinking they would have to help me move. Little did they know that we had hired movers the week before. Instead of hauling heavy stuff we pretended to be rock gods.

This weekend we went to the ‘08 Portland Auto Show. Poor Acura seemed to be having some technical difficulties with their flash-based touch screen car builder. We had a great time though I walked away with less car fever than I expected. I further confirmed my love for the Infiniti G37. That vehicle is simply spectacular, though I preferred the more refined Journey edition to the Sports version. The Sport just seemed too chromed out and juvenile for a luxury coupe.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the Mini Cooper Clubman. I’ve always considered the Minis as something of a novelty vehicle. Actually sitting down in the Clubman and fiddling with its innards changed my mind. It’s a well thought out vehicle with quite a bit to offer for a couple like us. Small, efficient and sporty. Plenty of quirk without losing functionality. Room for a couple of passengers when needed and some nice fold flat rear seats for some extra cargo capacity when making a Costco run. The price is fairly reasonable as well, starting around $20K. The Clubman Sport starting at $24K. What I don’t like is that everything on the car is optional and they can add up pretty quickly. The Clubman I liked started at $20 and ended at $27 once I had it tweaked just right. Alas, the regular mini is still too small for the likes of me.

For trucks I rather liked the Ford Sporttrac. It had a nice blend of power, comfort and convenience while retaining a great amount of ruggedness to it. I loved all the hooks and rails for securing cargo, along with the power outlets, tool compartments and the like. A very well thought out vehicle.

Of course after all this car browsing I’m ready to sell my ‘03 Acura CL. Any takers?

I spent far too much time in Photoshop, creating comp after comp after comp. I made the designs based off my old site, underwater themes, random color themes and more. I trawled through hundred of other sites, my eyes bleeding and my mouse-hand numb. There were all these sites that other people had made and there I was, not really doing what I had set out to do. Blog.

I decided enough was enough. What good would the site be if I wouldn’t use it? Would I really want to maintain my portfolio? Was I really convinced that I would keep a mini-blog up-to-date? I cut my feature list back to its barest essentials, namely the blog post, comments and some links to my friends. I picked a simple design that employed my favorite colors. Once I had a clear vision the fever took over and bit by bit the site began to take shape.

It only took a few minutes with (mt)’s helpful control panel to get my database setup. A quick hop over to Expression Engine and I had my blogging engine of choice. 50 minutes later I had the essence of my site completed. A few days of tweaking and polishing and finally I was ready to blog.

I really couldn’t be happier. I’ve decided to keep things as simple as possible and let the site grow organically. If I create enough posts to warrant archives and a search I’ll get right on it. If Twitter steals my soul and sucks me into it’s depraved voids then I’m sure a little blue bird might soon be perched here. Until then, I’ll just keep blogging away.