From The Daily Driver Project comes RAIN, FLOWERS, SUNSHINE & CAR SHOWS!
So, its been raining a lot in SoCal. A lot!
And cold… I can’t forget cold. Well, cold for Southern California standards. I know, it’s much colder in other places.
But SoCal can always use the rain and the crazy amount of green on the hills around SoCal and wonderful wildflowers are everywhere.
It’s beautiful…
And it reminded me of something… Remember that the things bringing you down like bad days? All of those pass for a whole lot of sunshine.
Oh… and for me it’scar shows. Lots & lots of car shows!
Sometimes you just need to take a breath and step back.
Get out of your head.
Understand that it will pass and a new day or even a new breath can bring a better day.
There are always ups and downs in life.
The down can sometimes bring you flowers just like the rain does for the environment around you.
Even on your bad days. On the down times. Surround yourself with some sort of SUNSHINE.
It can be friends, pets, family. Whatever brings that sunshine and puts a simple smile to your face.
For me it’s all about seeing that next cool car and sharing that with you guys.
And remember everybody “IT’S CAR SHOW DAY!”
Wes is host of THE DAILY DRIVER PROJECT. Check him out…
A PUSH and a SHOVE… from the Daily Driver Project
Recently I was sitting in the pad, my place, the abode and watching the fantastic movie SOLO. This isn’t the first time I had seen it. I watched in on the big screen with Fireball just before it came out officially in theaters. Thanks Fireball…
This got me to thinking about my friendship with him and with others.
In March of last year, I stepped from behind the camera to in front of it and started my “It’s Car Show Day!” Vlogs.
It was a little strange at first being in front of the camera instead of behind it, but as time passed and I made more and more of them (66 as I type this) it becomes more comfortable and a whole lot of fun.
Now I had been hemming hawing about doing it and had talked to Fireball about this on a couple of occasions. He just kept telling me to do it. Don’t over think it, just do it and as you can see if you watch any of my recent videos… I have.
Sometimes in life, you need a push (as do I) to get up and do something.
You need that friend that will encourage you to move. To execute on whatever the task is in front of you.
Then there are the true friends that understand when a push just isn’t enough and you need a shove. They know that you won’t crumble with that shove. They understand that that extra hard push will get you to a better place and they will be there to support you in all of it.
So Fireball, my friend, thanks for the push.
And remember everybody “IT’S CAR SHOW DAY!”
Editor’s Note: “You’re welcome, my friend. Nicely done.” FT
GNRS 2019 
GNRS 2019 
Ongoing GOALS… from The Daily Driver Project
Welcome to 2019!
Did you spend the end of the year thinking about your New Year’s resolutions?
What your goals would be at the beginning of 2019?
Having goals small and large, short term and long term are always a great idea. Accomplishing goals gives us purpose and a great feeling each time one is finished.
Now, many of us just make those goals as the New Year begins. We sit down and think about what we want to complete in the next year.
This is a great idea but there needs to be more. You don’t need to do this just at the beginning of the year. You need to do this consistently through your life.
These goals can be as simple as getting up at a certain time every day or making your bed or having a good breakfast. It can be more of a long-term idea, such as having your own business, owning a certain car or just having all our bills paid off.
Now that doesn’t have to be just about you either. The goals you set for your self could be donating or volunteering for a cause. Giving back in any way you can.
The other thing you need to do is spend some time reviewing and modifying those goals. As life continues, your ideas of where you need to be and what those goals are will change.
Put those things out there into the universe that you want to accomplish. With a good heart and good intentions and a little bit of work, those goals will come to fruition.
Wes is host of THE DAILY DRIVER PROJECT. Check him out…
In-N-Out Burger and Hot Rod 70th Anniversary Celebration
HOLIDAY CHEER… from The Daily Driver Project
Comedians joke about it and movies have been made about the chaos and stress of family and general holiday craziness.
We get to this time of year and concern ourselves with what we will get and what we will give each other. The material concerns that define many of our lives.
Sometimes you need to step out of the chaos.
Pick your head up and notice the beauty around you.
A child’s smile at seeing Santa…
The wonderful Christmas lights filling the night sky with beautiful colors…
The family and friends that you do get to see…
A simple meal with a friend…
Find the time that you need.
Go to a Car Show…
See a movie…
Find time to do something that fills your heart and brings a smile to your face.
Even the small things can help.
Find your holiday cheer in whatever form you need. Find that smile, that silly laugh, that thing that adds a little bit of joy.
Then find another and another and soon your day is filled, your week, your month and your year with joy and happiness.
Have a fantastic holidays my friends.
IT’S CAR SHOW DAY! My Motivation… from The Daily Driver Project
It’s Car Show Day! The motivation that gets me out of bed on the weekends.
The motivation that gets me up most days.
There is always a drive to get up and go do.
You just need to find what that drive is for you.
That motivating force inside you to get out and do. To follow that passion, that interest, that thing that gets you moving.
There are many things that motivate us, both in small moments and everyday events.
We as human beings, have simple motivations such as needing to eat, drink and have shelter.
We have a motivation and a need for community. But there are larger ones as well.
My motivation is like Fireball’s. A need to go find cool cars. With those cool cars, you find cool people and you have your community.
You will see that many people find their happiness in that motivation. Even finding happiness… is motivation.
There are so many things that you can draw upon for your motivation.
To create, to experience and to feed a need. That is what you must find. That motivation that moves your life from place to place.
It puts a smile on your face and puts warmth into your heart and soul.
I found mine on accident. I just wanted to learn to work on cars. I found a passion and a motivator in a simple contraption that gets you from one place to another.
Find that motivation and hold onto it. Mold and shape it into what helps you get up in the morning and drives you to continue each day.
BIG TOYS & Little Toys… from The Daily Driver Project
December has begun and the Toy Drive Car Shows have started too…
Car people give back a lot. A whole lot.
So when we get to the month of December, it’s all about Toy Drives. Toy Drives are all over SoCal for the whole month and Hot Rodders fill their vehicles (their big toys) to the brim with fantastic toys for kids in need.
This is what I love about being part of the automotive community. They are always giving back. All year long, they give back for many different causes and it’s not always money. And in the case of December… it’s toys. It’s just being able to help out and can be as simple as volunteering your time. Just being able to do what you can do.
The Toy Drives that happen in SoCal range from simple and small to huge. But huge may not even qualify for the size I’m talking about as one car show fills semi truckloads of toys. Just massive amounts of joy for kids that may be getting nothing for the holidays.
So, as December goes on… get out, help out, reach out. Find ways to give back.
And as always, keep that heart big my fellow Hot Rodders.
Wes Nielsen is an Automotive Photographer and owner of The Daily Driver Project.
A Whole Lot of THANKS from The Daily Driver Project
Last week was Thanksgiving when many, including me, sat around a big table with family and friends and ate a whole lot of food, giving thanks for the things they and I had in our lives.
But during last week, Fireball gave me a call to let me know that we had a friend in need. Our friend Thom Panunzio in Malibu needed some help. Thom had lost his garage and guest house to the Woolsey Fire and when I say lost… I mean leveled. There was pretty much nothing left when I got there on Saturday.
But I wasn’t alone. I joined over a dozen friends and we were there for the simple reason that Fireball called us and someone needed help. Not to get anything out of it but simply to give back and help a friend. To give back thanks.
Thom’s a car guy. I met him thru Fireball and I met Fireball thru cars. Cars are what connect almost all of my world. They are a huge part of my life and thanks to the guys that thought it was a good idea to put an engine into a wagon… boom, the CAR was born.
Getting back to Thom…, he thanked us over and over again while we were at his house. It was great but it wasn’t about the thanks. It was about being able to help and having the ability to do what I could do to help Thom find some of his memories and life experiences among the rubble.
To all those that read, follow and have friended me and more… thanks for being apart of my life.
Watch Wes’ Vlog below…
GROWTH, CHANGE & ADAPT… from The Daily Driver Project
I’ve been in the automotive industry for 20 years. It’s my profession and my passion.
Last week I went to the largest industry-only show on the planet that is SEMA. What started in 1967 as a little show of aftermarket parts companies in the basement of Dodger Stadium is now a behemoth that takes over every inch of the Las Vegas Convention Center and more.
I went to this year’s show with someone that was their first time… and one person being their fourth. I have been going off and on for 20 years, so it was interesting to get their perspective. I have seen this show grow so much in that time. Heck, they added another 2 story wing on to the convention center in that time that is now completely filled.
It got me to thinking about growth, change and adaptation. In my 20 years in the industry, there has been massive growth. There are new companies… companies that have joined others and some have moved to new ways of doing business.
Whether it’s a business or your personal life, you have to learn to deal with all of these things.
There is growth in our life and change that at times can be easy and difficult.
But the biggest one you should work on is ADAPTING. You have to learn to adapt to the changes and growth in your life.
Learn to embrace the choices of that adaptation to further your growth as a human being on this wonderful spinning ball we call earth.
(Editor’s Note: How we perceive change is what it becomes for us. So, SEE it as good… and it becomes good. It’s the ultimate insurance policy.)
Wes Nielsen is an Automotive Photographer and owner of The Daily Driver Project.
GOING thru the GRIND… from The Daily Driver Project
Photos from WHEELS AND WAVES Malibu…
There are many days in my life, as I’m sure there are in yours, that you’re just going thru the paces. Just getting up… going to work… coming home and doing it again and again. Much of life is monotony and just doing the same over and over again.
But life is filled with wonderful, fantastic, bright and beautiful moments as well as the low moments.
All of these waves and even the calm seas make up our lives.
What I have found in my years on this earth is you have to learn to enjoy the grind and the monotony. These routines help us get thru the day even if many times they aren’t all that exciting. These habits are many times what define us as people.
And trying to find your routine can really help.
So keep trying new things by adding and subtracting things from your routine.
You’ll find that your productivity… and day will roll along smoother than you may expect.
The routines can be for small things, everyday tasks or large jobs and an example for me is after coming home from covering a show. I unload the video and photos from my cameras, charge the camera batteries, and sort thru all that information. Then comes editing and out-puting that to my website and YouTube channel.
Find peace with your routine, your grind and your day. You will see that your every day routine becomes your peace of mind… day in and day out.
Wes Nielsen is an Automotive Photographer and owner of The Daily Driver Project.
REMEMBER those before YOU… from The Daily Driver Project
Saturday was one of my favorite events in Whittier, my hometown. The Dia De Los Muertos Art & Music Festival. A fantastic event filled with over 20,000 spectators, tons of wonderful vendors, music, people in Calavera (skull/sugar skull) makeup and lots and lots of cool cars.
Being 2 blocks from the pad just adds to the enjoyment, ’cause let me tell you… 20,000+ people showing up in your neighborhood makes parking not a lot of fun.
Dia De Los Muertos or Day of the Dead is fascinating to me. The western culture just doesn’t want to look at funerals, death or people that have passed. But in many places where the Day of the Dead (which is officially celebrated on Nov. 2) they celebrate the memory of the person or persons that have passed. They celebrate their life, normally a family member.
One of the things this event does every year for me is to remember those that came before me. Not just family, but friends and mentors as well.
It is a day I remember my Dad who passed years ago. He had a huge influence on my love for things mechanical and a lot to do with my musical tastes. But he is in my thoughts most days.
For many in the fantastic automotive industry, which I have spent most of my career in, there are wonderful automotive people that are celebrated that influenced them. That made them join this fantastic world of cars.
Remember those family members, friends and mentors that boosted you up. Made you who you are and celebrate them not just one day, but every day.
Wes Nielsen is an Automotive Photographer and owner of The Daily Driver Project.
