America = Entrepreneurial

America was founded by people who wanted to do what ever they wanted to do. Settled by Puritans (who wanted to pray however they wanted), criminals (who were caught doing some extreme things that, in some cases, only they wanted to do), and fur traders (entrepreneurs who sold you things you didn't know you desperately needed), this country has long had the notion that with enough hard work, anything was possible. Having flown over a large expanse of the West, I can see where this idea comes from. It would take a hard will and determination to continue to push West past the Mississippi where you were faced with hundred of miles of flat nothingness, and then a wall of insurmountable mountains.

Because of this, America is flooded with inventors, particularly on TV late at night. There are swarms of infomericals (it's a commercial that also has a lot of information in it) selling rotisserie chicken ovens, miracle stain removers, and blankets with sleeves. This branch of capitalism has made some celebrities, most famously former boxing great, now shapeless smiling sack of man George Foreman who taught the world to "knock out the fat" with his line of countertop grills. Or Billy Mays who sold everything from KaBoom! to Herculues Hooks until God called Billy home early when a suitcase was dropped on his head and he died of some brain condition later that night. Or Vince Shlomi who slap-chopped a hooker that bit him in the face after he refused to pay her. The success of this cottage industry has lead to "As Seen On TV" stores and sections, particularly in Bed, Bath and Beyond.

There is something romantic about the idea of doing what you love in the way that you love and having people pay you money to do it.

Enter: Kat Taylor. Kat and I went to Benet together, though she went on to graduate from a different high school. After spending some time in Austin and New York, she put together a plan while, and I'm quoting her here, "smoking and drinking tea on a balcony in China," to trick out a hearse and drive it around as a limo. Thus: Barbie's Dream Hearse.

Buying a 1992 Cadillac Brougham hearse in Glendale, California, Kat drove up the coast and began modifying the hearse for limo services. To make ends meet, she wrote technical manuals for Microsoft and other technology firms around Seattle. With most of the modifications completed and after deciding to leave Microsoft (see Douglas Coupland's Microserfs for examples of why), she drove the car as her sole means of income.

It might sound like an odd thing to do, but there is a growing niche market of hearse drivers in cities around America. This, like the infomercial, can only flourish in a country that fosters an entrepreneurial spirit. By the looks of her blog, Kat does fairly well, using the car in photoshoots, driving for proms and weddings, and parking her sweet ride to attract patrons to local bars in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle. She was even named Seattle Bride's Best of the Best 2011 for limos.

When I was headed out to Seattle, I knew I had to book the Dream Hearse. As I stood on the curb with a mass of others waiting to be picked up, the hearse came around the corner. I can only imagine what went through people's minds as I piled my luggage into the back of a hearse dressed in pink and white. The ride, though, was as comfortable as it was a novelty. Honestly, if you are in the Seattle area, you would be doing yourself a disservice to NOT hire Kat and her awesome car.

One thing was clear though, as we merged onto the highway, leaving the airport in our mirror, Seattle's downtown rising up on the horizon: this is only possible in America. Only here could I go to a town famous for creating the modern computer industry in hearse decked out to look like something Barbie would have driven. U!S!A! I chanted to myself, U! S! A!