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death becomes her

i find myself spending at least one day each weekend in san diego lately. so, a quick revisit to last year’s chicano park show is in order.

get there early. less people. sunrise shots. no interruptions.

viejitos always seem to park at this end of the street, near the basketball court. no doubt i’ve taken pics of these cars in previous years. just liking the sunrays behind the hood ornament on this lovely packard.

drove my mother, sister, and older brother down very early this morning to visit my younger brother in the hospital. was a beautiful sunrise over the waterways down towards del mar. the bluish cloud layer in the sky gave way to a bright orange sun and some unusual orange rays…not the typical god rays…but somehow nicer.

found out the other day, that they will be sending him to hospice in the next couple of days.

i had visited last week, in the afternoon, and he was already sedated, so i mostly did what older sisters do to little brothers—poked him, flicked his leg, called his name, trying to get some flicker of recognition from him. he half opened an eye, but that was about it. left after a couple of quiet hours.

we went first thing this morning, hoping to catch him awake and/or before they knocked him out. success. had an lovely, and emotional visit for a couple of hours. he was unable to do much, but we did get him talking a bit, cracked some jokes, got him to smile a little. dredged up old memories from childhood and his days in the navy. got some sips of juice into him. he started drifting off to sleep, so we said our goodbyes, promising to be back.

at the same time we were entertaining my brother, my better half was up in northern california, with his sister, in a hospital.

unfortunately, she passed away, soon after he arrived to her room this morning, almost as if she had waited for him. she was surrounded by family, and went peacefully.

perhaps he will write about it on his own blog. perhaps he’ll ask me to edit my post.

she was well-loved, and will be missed by many.

addlepated

early morning in barrio logan / chicano park. all the cars polished to a mirror finish, as shown on this bel air. always a good show, and hoping to go again this year.

missing some car shows. the concussion has been making me dizzy and tired, and i think i’ve got a damaged nerve in my arm, making it difficult to carry my camera and tripod very far.

my brother was in town earlier in the month, so better half wanted to take him to some nearby airplane museums in chino. i went along, knowing it would not be a long day because of my brother’s health issues.

i prefer the planes of fame over yanks air museum, but better half started with yanks. i brought my gear, but left it in the car at this museum. i used my phone for the few shots i did take.

my brother was out of steam by the time we got to the other, though the MiGs did perk him up for a sec. i brought my camera and tripod in with me, intending to take some pictures that i mostly would not care about – i take them, then generally do not post most of these things.

i moved slowly, wore a dorky hat to protect the scar on my head from the sun, and took some pics. i did feel an ache in my arm, that one of the doctors believes to be a damaged nerve from the fall and landing partially on my hand, breaking the fall not at all.

so, i’m basically grounded as far as going to car shows for some period of time.

i guess it’s a good thing i have more than fifteen years’ worth of old pics to sift through for a while.

shinfo

midway through this work thing in phoenix.

didn’t quite hit one-hundred today, but the air-conditioning in the meeting rooms has balanced that out well. i go outside to thaw out. air conditioning in my room, not so much. it tries really hard to get to where i set it under seventy, but generally chugs along. i can almost hear it murmuring to itself, “i think i can, i think i can…” all night long.

i’ve been pretty good about attending all of the events, as there’s not much else to do, except go to a nearby casino. maybe tomorrow. i have a few bucks to “donate” to the reservation.

on my own for dinners, and the hotel restaurants have you hostage, if you don’t have a car. too expensive for some gastro experience by chef boyardee. yesterday i went to a pizza place that had an ad at the airport as you head towards the sky tram, as you hike the mile to the rental car desks. super thin crust, tasty sauce, very yum.

today, went to a sandwich place, same chain that we’d picked up from when we attended the show and go in riverside last month. tasty and toasted, and full. very four-twenty themed, and open late.

a coyote ran across the road in front of me on the way back. would have hit it, if i had been going a wee bit faster. had a slightly different countenance than the coyotes at home, which kind of glare at you as if telepathing, “go ahead mofo…you want a piece of me? bring it on.” this one had a narrower face, and just went “yikes!” probably was after the roadrunner i almost squished as well.

skipping the movie event they are showing this evening. i’ve had enough socializing for the day, and this introvert is soaking in a hot bath and writing about nothing here.

—————

looking back at cars i have’t posted here yet. so many. here, i have the time to write some drivel about my day, so can finally get to a few.

love me a fleetline. this one is from a couple of years ago, at the oc viejitos show in anaheim. i was probably there before the club was, if i remember correctly. still pretty early in this shot. i like when there is some space to fiddle around and find a good angle. [that’s what she said.”]

—————

better half is at home, sick, but putting in the hours at work. idle hands…not.

slipped

i remember this back end from the viejitos show in anaheim. i was there super early, before the club members even showed up. this was one of the first few that morning.

i do like the years with the big fins at low angles. i should have pulled in closer and distorted that thing more. maybe another show.

been at home taking care of myself. slipped and fell in a puddle of water and landed right on my butt. just in time for xmas.

was going to go to ramble on the ranch in temecula this past weekend, but unfortunately, i wouldn’t have been able to lift my bag and tripod. my back is sore sore sore. skipped it, and didn’t even get out to see the grandkid out there either. :(

they tell me nothing is broken, just bruised bones, and will take time to heal.

mostly hanging around home or at my mom’s. took her out to dinner yesterday for her bday. happy bday mom!

not much happening

missing a few shows coming up. think i will be needing a new camera soon. don’t really like the sony e-mount cameras, but my big a-mounts are supposed to be discontinued. really hate the 6300 i have in my bag. mostly the user, but the glass i generally have on it is average.

taking a short vacation from the job. better half’s first get away in five years. thirteenth anniversary for us. bosses hope we come back.

not a lot of signal here in the middle of nowhere, so currently probably just chatting with myself. better half has earphones plugged in and actually posting on his blog again. been so long since we’ve traveled together, combined with he can’t understand what i say half the time, makes for some awkward misunderstandings. whatever. still having fun.

hoping to post some new pics from the road, but for now, here’s an old one from my archives. fleetline from the oc viejitos show last year. fewer cars showed up, which didn’t matter this early anyway. miss the morning light. i should really get my ass outta bed before the sun on weekends and go shooting again.

sonata time

apparently, the xmas sonata is going on uptown. no idea what they’ve scheduled this year. usually at least a horse-drawn carriage and carolers. the carriage i could get into, but never have; the carolers, i could do without.

better half has hauled a buttload of xmas decorations into the house, and they are deciding what colors to use on the fruity tree. already know it’s toy story again for the theme, but now it’s what color balls to use <she said balls>. at least it gets his mom out of her bed and into her wheelchair.

i haven’t been home since last weekend, for random reasons, including rain and my mom’s garage door not wanting to open. this is the picture i was working on last week, when the fuse blew. yay the new photoshop actually does a decent job at recovering a picture after a crash vs frying the file.

knocked the color out, because the light flares were just oddly bugging me, but i still liked the car.

i probably mentioned it before, but it was odd the lot was so empty as compared to previous years at this time of morning. makes me want to sleep in too, but i like the early morning light too much.

i should talk. i haven’t been getting out to any shows at all for the last month. and the past weekend and this morning have been perfectly gray and cold. just not feeling up to it. i have all sorts of excuses, but i’ll just leave it at i haven’t had the energy to get out. miss you guys tho.

hangin’ out

i don’t have much to say. wanted to go out to an evening show, when it was cooler, but instead stayed home with an upset stomach.

last time i was home, just chatted all evening with my better half. never turned on my computer for one minute. only here a couple of days a week, and it’s like i never get to just hang out with him. and he needs a fresh face to give him a mental break. taking care of older parents is not the easiest thing in the world.

too hot outside all day, and i just want to sleep. got a lot going on in my head.

better half is going to try and get out of the house for a few hours tonight. we’ll see if his mother will be ok long enough for him to enjoy it.

did see an old gray chevy drive by. a little bit of happiness in the sputtering of the engine. doubt he stopped uptown; they mostly just drive on through to cruise down whittier boulevard or something.

you must be bored of sunrise shots, but here’s another. i’m usually at shows early to miss the heat and the stark shadows. and i look for where the sun is hitting cars just right.

i think this car was a bit lighter in color, but the sun is warming it up a bit.

early morning

flipped a coin, and ended up in anaheim saturday morning. arrived before the club again, and vendors, even. was almost convinced there was no show, as there was zero activity, no roping off the lot, nothing on the marquee, and no one except a random guy pedaling around on a bike. was already warm, and the sun had barely come up. at least there was a small breeze.

then i saw this one drive by, and soon another. and another. good good.

got my gear out and got to work. the day was going to be hot, and i knew i wouldn’t stay long. and i hadn’t had breakfast yet. saw raynbow, who always welcomes me.

the viejitos cars park along this fence, at the entrance. they were hanging up framed t-shirts from past years’ shows and events. as a designer, i found that interesting.

i don’t recall seeing this dodge anywhere. almost as if it had rolled off the line brand new, save for some chipped paint here and there..

past years, the lot would have been packed by eight. i do not understand the machinations of where the cars go, but i do know when several big shows are on the same day, you take your chances.

no matter, plenty for me to shoot before the sun got me.

when it looked like the incoming cars had slowed, and my skin was starting to turn pink in spite of the suntan lotion, i packed it in, and headed to breakfast.

jet lag

so, i’m back at home. three weeks is a long time to be away. twelve hour flight back, followed by an hour in customs, and an hour and a half drive home. hint: after a twelve hour flight, don’t pick up people and make them sit some more in a space even smaller than what they had on the plane. almost wept cuz my legs hurt so much. almost told them to just pull over, and drop me anywhere…i’d call an uber, just so i could stretch my legs.

got dropped off at my mom’s, where i’d left my car parked. said my goodbyes to everyone i’d travelled with. mom had just returned from hanging out with my dad at the hospital, and she really hasn’t done a lot of cooking lately, so offered to go get me food.

on the flight, they’d fed us just after take off, and just before landing. food was crap. they ran out of the chicken option just as they got to me, so i was stuck with rice and zucchini, some weird cube of something that was neither vegetable or dessert, and something that wanted to be a cream puff, but wasn’t good. they doled out exactly one plastic cup of pepsi.

the latter meal was a cold sandwich, with italian ham, which is mostly fat, with some really crap apple juice, and another forgettable dessert.

so basically, i was starving, even though i’d also purchased oreos and a can of coke in between meals.

i was literally reeling from exhaustion, as i just can’t sleep on planes, so i’d been up for about twenty hours by then. told my mom, if she could just drive me to a fast food place, i’d be good. so the closest, quickest food was weinerschnitzel. quite a step down from all the pasta we’d been eating for the last couple of weeks.

anyway, felt somewhat better after that. chatted a bit, then went to bed.

next morning and today, have mostly been tired, but not crazy crazy jet lagged. i should keep the walking going, but just didn’t feel like climbing the nearest mountain/hill here in whittier. and it was almost completely fogged in around the house this morning anyway.

currently copying over about two-hundred and twenty-five plus gigs of pics from the trip, which will probably never be looked at more than once, but i’ll keep them anyway. better half, mom, and my sister all want to see them anyway.

still haven’t had time to go visit my dad in the hospital. better half needs to go the market, except he has overtime he is currently working on at home, and will still need to go to the office later, so i’ll be here watching his mom tonight.

i satisfied my in-n-out craving yesterday, and today od’d on guacamole. just not looking forward to work tomorrow, am a little sleepy, but resisting the urge to take a nap.

it’s good to be home.

back to a back end of a deluxe from the viejitos’ show last summer. in the shade, the details get a little hard to see, but there are some subtle pinstripes going on.

been a long time since i’ve seen a classic car that isn’t a fiat, bmw, or a vespa. not going to count the red fifty-six bel air that i saw uptown today, since that dude is always cruising uptown, and i’m over that car.

dark water

started my day off by walking into a spider web. nothing like doing the heebee jeebee dance at five in the morning, imagining a giant [1/2”] spider with a big bulbous ass is somewhere on you, pissed that you ruined his masterpiece and his breakfast.

days are flying by, and my poor pictures and blog are being neglected. stuff happens, and i gotta pick my priorities. these fall pretty low lately.

only have time now because my kid’s doberman is currently occupying the bed at my mom’s house, and i haven’t taken the time to move him off. my hair needs to dry anyway.

i’ve been spending the last few days here, cleaning my mom’s carpets with our carpet cleaning machine. third day, and my back is feeling all the carrying of the water and the clean up. moving furniture is fun too. not. they have too much stuff. gonna need help moving the couch and other big stuff, but she seemed more concerned with the main paths through the rooms.

i thought her carpet in the front room was brown, but it’s really a ninteen-seventies orange on the deeper side. yep, original stuff. and never cleaned, only vacuumed. let me tell you, the water tanks on the machine are pretty black when i dump the water out of the machine.

did a patch in the back room today. lime green carpet. lovely.

other than that, i’ve got too much going on at work, and an unplanned vacation to prep for. totally, just now realizing that i’m gonna be out of the country for several of my favorite car shows, my eleven-year anniversary, and my kid’s birthday. go me. not my fault. i’m just along for the ride on someone else’s trip.

anyway, gotta get some sleep. looking back, found this picture of a car from the viejitos’ carshow a couple of years’ ago now.

thought it was a pretty car, and parked off out of the way for a bit, so got a few shots while there was the opportunity.