For about 13 years, I had vanity license plates on my cars.

Part of it was that I lived in California, where it's a local ordinance that everybody has to at least<em> want </em>to be a star, and part of it was just advertising. During the years I was a newspaper columnist, I had license plates on my Toyota Celica that said CLMNST. My friend Mick, who's a wonderful man but definitely has a mean streak, asked me why I wanted plates that said "Clam Nest," but I ignored him.

<a href="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/20110118_28.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-783" title="20110118_28" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/20110118_28-300x199.jpg" alt="In California, vanity rules" width="300" height="199" /></a>Later, when I was no longer a columnist but had become a certified official Blogger, I asked for plates that said MTYWND, which stood for "Mighty Wind." I had those plates until I took them off the back of my car Friday.

I took them off because I didn't live in California anymore, and when you move to a different state, you have to register your car in that state.

I replaced them with plates that are very ordinary, the cheapest ones made by convicts within the current jurisdiction -- three letters, four numbers and no pictures on them other than a Georgia peach in the background.

I did that because I don't live in California anymore, although you can see from the second photo that I didn't scrape off my HB "Surf City" decal.

I don't mind having a reminder of my life on the Left Coast on my car, and I do plan to try surfing again this summer (in the Atlantic Ocean), but I don't want folks to get the idea that I'm trying to bring a piece of California along with me.

[caption id="attachment_784" align="alignright" width="300" caption="At home in Georgia"]<a href="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/DSC_0038.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-784" title="DSC_0038" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/DSC_0038-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" /></a>[/caption]

Besides, I have seen very few vanity license plates during my 2 1/2 months in Georgia, whereas in California, you couldn't drive a block without seeing two or three. Whether it was the little pink Miata with the IMGAY plate or the LALAW one in the credits of my favorite '80s show, they were everywhere.

My favorites were always the ones you had to think about a little, and I thought the best one I ever saw was TTTT9RZ. It was back in the heyday of Bill Walsh and Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, back when it seemed like the road to the Super Bowl led through Candlestick Park every year.

Think about it: TTTT is "4T," and 9RZ completes 4T9RZ, or 49ers.

Say what you like about California, but folks certainly had good imaginations.