Recently, friend of The Toast and unofficial sponsor of CAVEradio, Alex White, author of The Gearheart, was interviewed about his writings, jobs, design, and all around life. And Alex, in the fashion by which I’ve gotten to know him, rambled on for nearly an hour but one part of the interview really struck a chord with me and may help me actually finish a project for once.

You can listen to the interview over here and unless you’re interested in writing fiction or design you might not listen to the whole thing, which is fine, but at around the 27-minute mark Alex talks a bit about being an author and loving to write. At one point he says, “you’re not a writer until you write things.” You can talk about writing but that doesn’t make you a writer.

That seems like one of those “no duh” type sayings but it’s one I think a lot of us forget, myself included. We all have hobbies and interests that keep us active, but there is a pretty big gap in studying something and actually doing something. I can read about gardening but until I break ground and plant some seeds, I’m not a gardener.

I thought about myself in this context and looked at the hobbies I actually do and the hobbies I just study so I sound like I actually do them. It got me motivated to work harder on some of my own favorite hobbies…and yes, it’s motivated to the point to where I’ll (hopefully) follow through on a project.

And that project, without much surprise, is Hot Wheels.

I’ve had a little side feature about Hot Wheels and race tracks here on Morning Toast for quite some time. It serves its purpose of sharing the plans for building your own race track and other fun Hot Wheels tricks, but it’s static…and there’s a lot more to talk about when it comes to playing with your Hot Wheels…at least the type of play I enjoy.

There seems to be this common thought that adults simply collect Hot Wheels and kids just play with Hot Wheels. I see myself as a middle ground.

I take my Hot Wheels apart for two reasons, 1) using tools is fun, and 2) it lets me play with toys (and it’s cheap and it’s challenging and it’s creative). And I think if you like cars or models and have an affinity for using tools, then doing what I do will probably more fun that I’m making it sound…and there lies my challenge for the next project.

I’m going to take my Redline Derby Racing side project to the next level with yet another blog. My goal is to share my experiences in working with Hot Wheels so others may know there’s more to Hot Wheels that just keeping them mint in the box or letting your children scoot them across the kitchen floor.

I’ve met a few people that I know are Hot Wheels fans but only buy Hot Wheels for their kids. I sense they have little interest in just collecting Hot Wheels for the shelf but they aren’t sure how else to enjoy Hot Wheels and still be an adult. The Redline Derby site will aim to prove you can be an adult and still have fun with toy cars.

I’ve also decided to get specific with this project’s writing style. I typically avoid writing in too much detail and specifics because I myself get lost in such writing. But with Redline I’m going to try and get down to brass tacks when it comes to the cars, the tools, and the processes. A cookbook for Hot Wheels. I think telling people they can do something is different than telling them how to do something.

People need bread crumbs to follow to get them started. You can tell me I can cook but until I get a recipe in front of me I don’t really know how. Treating Hot Wheels as little model cars may sound fun and awesome to you, but you might not have any clue about where to start or how to really get involved. I hope to help and then they can take it from there and add their own style and fun.

I have a plan…as I always do…and I’m banking on my passion for having fun with toys will get me to see this through the end. I hope you’ll come along for the ride (and beat me up if I start to go astray).