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IF U CN RD THS SNTNC, THN U SHLD VNTZ UR VHKL!
[If you can read this sentence, then you should vanitize your vehicle!]
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LCNS2ROM TM is a forthcoming book about vanity license plates, which are minimalist poetry in motion.
But LCNS2ROM is not just about the 9.7 million motor vehicles in the United States and Canada that are embellished with vanity plates. It is about hope and inspiration – and fun.
LCNS2ROM examines the vanity plate phenomenon by telling 25 hopeful or humorous stories, through prose and photographs, explaining the messages on the vanity plates that will be included in the book.
License plates are the most public form of identification. Although each license plate is unique, most standard plates are so mundane and forgettable that they are virtually anonymous.
Vanity plates, however, are usually memorable and intriguing - and fun. Observers may know what a vanity plate says, but they cannot understand what it means unless they know the vehicle owner's story. For example, Ally Masry, whom we profile, has a vanity plate that proclaims, "DONOR." However, unless observers know that Ally donated a kidney to her husband, Rudy, (whose vanity plate is "DONEE"), they can only speculate about what the donation was, and to whom it went. ["DONOR/DONEE" Profile]
Because vanity plates can accommodate only 6, 7 or 8 characters (depending on the state or province), vehicle owners must be creative with their plates. Using a form of abbreviated writing that we call SHRTSPL TM [Shortspell] vehicle owners omit letters (usually vowels), spell words phonetically, and substitute numbers for letters or words on their vanity plates. "LCNS2ROM" is a paradigm of SHRTSPL which is related to the new form of writing used in emails and instant messages on the Internet, and text messages on cell phones.
Vanity plates are everywhere in North America. Every state and province (except for Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador) issues vanity plates.
We encourage our prospective readers to play the LCNS2ROM VNTY PL8Z TM game: Identify vanity plates and try to decipher them. Better yet, talk to the vehicle owners to understand what the vanity plates mean. Vanity plates are just plain fun, and we are having a great time creating this book. We encourage motorists to "vanitize," which means, "to embellish a motor vehicle with vanity license plates." If we stimulate even greater interest in vanity plates, then we will consider our efforts well spent
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