> Cynthia, you NAMED your CAR? And I thought that was only done by David Arquette's character in "Never Been Kissed." But seriously, is this some trend that I never heard about? Or is it a non-West-Coast thing? For that matter, why Ruby? I assume your car is red...

I did name my car. She is red, but for some reason, Ruby just seemed to suit her anyway. But yes, car-naming is traditional, especially for a first car.

Other car names:
-My friend Lucretia's old junker "Marvin", named for the cartoon Martian.
-My mum's first car was called "Gilbert Green" because every time she had a substitute in one of her classes, when he/she was calling the roll, this guy would say, "You forgot Gilbert Green." So then the sub would ask about Gilbert Green, who would always be absent, and then write this poor forgotten kid's name on the roll, to the confusion of the regular teacher upon his return.
-My friend Seth bought a car and let his friends all get together and paint it. There is a big fish that is prominent on the car. So the car is now called the Fishmobile.
-My friend Claire's car got dubbed the "G-Corolla" for reasons that I don't remember except that it was late and we were all tired and it was really funny then.
-And Lucretia's boyfriend Matt actually introduced me by name to his pickup truck, though I don't remember now what it was called.

And those are just the examples that I remember off the top of my head.

-Cynth"weird friends? oh, yes, and I fit in perfectly"ia