Brand Name
Episode 20 of Left Field
Published Mar. 1, 2010 in the Northfield Entertainment Guide
By Sherri Faye ©2009
What’s the big deal with brand names anyway? When it comes to couture or material goods, I couldn’t possibly care less. What matters most to me is whether or not I like it. Does it suit me? Does it say “This is totally Sherri Faye”? Maybe it’s being over 50, but I really don’t give a rip about what the latest fashion is, or what anybody else thinks about what I wear, what I drive, or how I style my hair. I never have really cared too much, as long is I was being true to myself and my own style. I have always been my own person. There is a certain kind of comfortable, priceless freedom in that.
When I moved back from California, I fetched my Dodge Intrepid (which I loved) from Winterhaven Ranch where it had been safely stowed during my ‘sabbatical’. On my way home the engine fried out. So, from another location I retrieved a long abandoned ’93 Olds I had gotten for one of my daughters when she was an undergrad at the U (the condition and circumstances that I found that car in is a whole other story… involving mice). I wasn’t bothered that I was now driving a slightly dented, run-down version of what I originally purchased… however, I soon realized I needed to ‘brand’ that car as mine. Since I also paint murals, I chose to make this little clunker work for me. I cleaned it up, tuned it up and made it into an art car, painting a “Strawberry Fields Forever” motif on the whole doggone vehicle! It gets the best reactions - people wave, give me the peace sign, and say “Cool car!” What makes me happy is that I like my car, and I truly enjoy communicating positively with interesting people. My silly art car is now part of my ‘brand’ – it’s an extension of who I am. It’s the perfect catalyst for entertaining, joyful exchanges with folks who appreciate it. My car has gotten me a few painting gigs (not to mention a couple of dates) to boot!
My branded car matches my personality and my tattoo theme of birds and, you guessed it, strawberries! Just like art cars, tattoos aren’t for everyone. But, unlike scars, they can be chosen. Mine serve as footnotes, demarking specific, sometimes profound, times in my life - which includes a 20 year stint in the Navy.
I yam what I yam, and that’s my own brand. And I like it.
Be the brand you wish to see in the world, and you will make it a better place by being you!
Aided and Abetted by Sandy Budziak.
(c) 2010 Sherri Faye All Rights Reserved.
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