Night in the Ruts!

We all know about getting in a rut, you know when you can't seem to get anything finished, or started.  To me that's not really a rut, it's more of a not doing anything.  I went through that this past summer, I built nothing.  Nada. Zero. Zilch.  The weather got a little chilly and I decided I needed to get back at it and I decided I needed to build something out of my usual theme.  You can usually spot my builds on the table, they have wild paint, they lean toward the cartoonish, and most of the time they are a showrod.  Even when they are "serious" builds they always have something that leans toward silly, weather it's lace paint, neon colors, a wild chop, or big wheels.  So when I started back up this fall, I was going to be serious, dammit!  Well, not so much.
Of the five (yes, I said five) projects I'm currently fooling with, three are altered wheelbase cars (you know, the cars that coined the term "funny car"), one is a salt flat car with the roof chopped off, channeled, and tail fins extended, the last is a Mustang that has been widened to fit a modern chassis and super wide tires under it.  Yeah, I am the picture of seriousness.  Not a single cartoon proportion on these cars at all.  We were discussing paint last night and one of the altered wheelbase cars may end up looking like a giant candy cane.  Very serious.  I used to build replicas, but I can't seem to get interested in them like I used to, I have a compulsion to lean to goofiness, I think it's an illness.  More accurately, it's a rut.  Everyone has a rut they are comfortable in, mine just happens to be way too much fun!
Some guys are in a super detailed rut, a super accurate rut, a "I have to build a million of 'em before I die" rut, or a super clean build rut.  I know guys that are in all of these ruts and none of them seem "stuck' in their ruts. To me, being "stuck" in your rut implies you don't enjoy the rut you are in, I'm having a ball in mine!  My one buddy refuses to add any kind of weathering to his models, he wants them "factory fresh"  without a mark on them.  Other guys like 'em rode hard and put away wet, I tend to fall in the middle somewhere.  My point here is, weather you like it or not, you have a "preference" in your builds and anyone paying attention can spot your stuff on a contest table without seeing your name on it.  Every model you build has a "signature" on it weather you like it or not.  So if you are "signing" your work, are you proud of it?  Is it your best?  Even if it's silly, is it the absolute best "silly" it can be?
"Rat Fink" Ron