first TRACK meeting

Deb and I met at 11 at the Apple store in the new mall. Actually I was a couple of minutes late, having made the mistake of stopping at my bank to get cash. The bank was repaving its parking lot, so there was no way for a car to get in. Instead of just driving away like a sensible person, I parked across the street and walked -- across all that stinky fresh blacktop -- to the ATM machine. Which was out of service. So not only was I late, but for no reason!

In any case, I was a few minutes late and Deb had been early. So by the time I got there, she had had plenty of time to scope out the Apple store and, as she put it, drool over the titanium Powerbooks. They really are amazing computers. The screens are so big! I have to admit, while I admire Apple's new line of sophisticated laptops, I miss the curvy cuteness of the old iBooks.

After Deb bought a crossover cable, we headed out to admire each other's cars. Deb's art car has a lovely paint job with lots of little vignettes to explore and enjoy. One thing I really liked was her use of flat magnets, painted like bubbles and teardrops, to add a subtle bit of three dimensionality to the car.

Our plan was for Deb to follow me to Fosters, since she's unfamiliar with Durham. On our way out of the mall parking lot however, I spotted a yellow New Beetle convertible! Luckily I had my camera with me so of course I turned back into the lot to get a photo. Deb was extremely patient, waiting with me while I snapped a few shots.

When we got to Foster's, the front parking lot was full so we had to park down in the second lot. We found Carolyn's car and while we were giving it the once-over, a couple of spots right nearby opened up. We ran back to our cars and moved them up front. I got there a moment or two ahead, and stood in the empty spot, preventing a woman in a station wagon from taking it, until Deb could get in.

Toby came out to greet us, and we spent some time admiring each other's cars. Toby's current car is very subdued, but it's still quintessentially Toby. There's a mannequin family in the back seat, a little sheep on the front bumper, lots of toys on the dash and the rear shelf, and one baby doll head right in the center of the roof. She showed us a bag of beads she had just bought at a thrift store, and Deb encouraged her to make a necklace of large orange beads around the baby's neck.

It was a great lunch! We talked for almost two hours about why we had started our cars, our artistic interests, etc. Toby had some great stories to tell about the mail art community. And I was really interested in hearing what Deb had to say about doing art on commission.

My only regret was that Carolyn wasn't able to join us. She works at Foster's, so we had had lunch there in hopes of getting the chance to meet her. But unfortunately, she had already taken her break when we got there. I did have a moment to chat while she was ringing up my lunch (luckily the next customer was very patient). I gave her the application information for Charlotte Shout on Labor Day. I hope she enters! It would be so fun if we could drive down there as a group.