what's up?

missed it

here’s a chevy from the bomb club show at santa anita. from five years ago. it’s marbleized like a bowling ball, only better. the pinstriped details help tie in the gold of the rims. and red and gold…my high school colors.

i missed yesterday’s show, since it’s hard to shoot pics at santa anita when you’re in phoenix with no camera, but even with a camera, just couldn’t do it.

from the pics i have seen online, i missed a really good show. :(… looked packed. read about some people complaining that it took too long to get out at the end of the show.

flight from phoenix was happily uneventful. i timed everything out perfectly, from check out at the hotel, to bfast, to car return. only a little wait at security. i actually had an empty seat next to me, so yay.

i will miss the hotel. after a week there, i had deciphered the various ways back to my room from any direction, or outside door, for a quick dash in from the heat. i remember my disappointment when i saw the sign over the door across from my room, “ice stairs,” imagining slippery, cold, blue stairs, with icicle rails. nope. an ice machine, then another door. then plain, cement stairs, warm air, some pipes, leading to the oven that is outside. also, locked on the outside, so always had to walk a little further if i went around that outer perimeter of the building. best to do in the morning or the evening, after five pm.

i haven’t checked on the work i have missed while i was gone, but suspect no one else picked it up for me either.

backing up old files today, doing some shopping, hanging with my better half, who did come pick me up at the airport after all.

i’ve missed this cold, overcast. there’s no place like home.

wildfire

last shot i promised to post. also the last shot of the night, from the field.

almost gave up, as a group of people kept milling around behind it. finally just said screw it, and shot a couple of sets of exposures. people walking through the shots come out as blurred figures, but at least they were behind the car.

the owner had originally been in the driver’s seat, getting the car started, to get in line to exit the park. seeing me set up my tripod, and basically stand there waiting on the exposures for several minutes, got him to turn on the lights, and out of the car.

he spent the time chatting with my better half, who always seems to explain what i’m doing. most people are happy to give me some minutes to shoot. my better half is more chatty than i, and better at it, anyway.

i like the glow, hence the game of thrones reference. better than “pyromancer’s piss.”

anticipation

made it out to the roadhouse show last weekend. brief stop, only two or three hours.

for one thing, it got too warm, and i was just over a cold or whatever, so i was starting to feel dizzy and just sweating profusely. i felt like pedro, wanting to shave my head because it was too hot with all my hair. need to carry a towel to soak in cold water and hang on my neck.

i also had somewhere else i had to be an hour and change away, and needed to eat and shower before skeedaddling on down.

there was just about the right number of cars to shoot in my limited amount of time, but the heat did slow me down. you see, i should have headed out when the alarm went off, instead of having breakfast first, before the sun got too high in the sky. eh, i would have felt worse without it, so here is the trade-off—sun up, lens flares, god beams—whatever term you want to use for fuck the rules and shoot into the sun…i wanted that angle.

i have a few other shots i liked, but this was the only one i had time to post. i’m away from whittier and my computer so much, i should either stop shooting or see it as saving for a rainy winter; so far, i’m going with the latter.

oh, and that other thing i had to get to—found out i’ll be having a granddaughter in a few months—first grandkid. oh i’m getting older, but that’s the trade-off, right? it’s a good thing.

power out again

same game as last week, posting one an hour until i’m out of the pics in my draft mode. power only seems to be out on this block and not uptown. just back from lunch. it’s hot.

left clothes to dry while i was gone; wonder if they finished. trying to cool off first, but no fan…guess a cold shower will work just as well.

——-

shot this several months ago in diamond bar. nice and overcast. decent turnout. kinda liked the matte blue color for no reason at all.

——

setting my timer for one hour….

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.

chilly tips

hauled my ass out of bed at four am today, and got over to pomona about a quarter after five. strangely, no traffic, no waiting at the gate to get into the parking lot. almost thought i had the wrong date or that it had been cancelled.

got a fairly close to the fence parking spot, and noticed others with their little wagons, so i knew i was in the right place at the right time.

strangely, once inside, the cars were few and far between all the way over to the bleachers. really weird, since the place is usually packed that early. no cash left after xmas? too cold?

well, i was still fine—fewer cars and people cruising through my early shots. first time out in almost a month, and didn’t really feel up to talking to anyone. wore a thin hoodie jacket, which was fine when i was moving, but got a little bit chilly waiting for long exposures until the sun came up.

saw a group worshipping at the foot of the old man, waved, and went back later to shoot his car.

someone did come over and ask if i was the one that posts on instagram…sorry if i seemed a little slow on the uptake. he pulled me out of zone or whatever. should have handed him a card.

this car was sitting off by itself, a little too close to the cheap barriers, so they cast shadows on the side of the car. all the different light sources, make the shadows bounce around in weird directions.

aaa again

another strange week starting. i’ll blame it on the santa ana winds...

quick post, since i’m pretty tired from this day’s issues.

second night of few hours of sleep, got up and off to start work after five am, as i had a doctor’s appointment later in the morning. better half also warning he may still need to take his mom in to doctor later as well.

worked a couple of hours, then off to my appointment. nothing special, just annual physical. but that also requires fasting for the blood tests, so i’m also pretty hungry, but not quite hangry. no surprises, just getting older and fatter, of which only the latter i can do anything about.

needed to pee in the given cup, and i really needed to pee by that point. of course, as they send me around the corner to the designated collection point, some random patient is locking the door to the designated bathroom, and seems to be settling in for some thoughtful time for reflection. they should have used the public restroom down the hall.

instead, i wait impatiently just outside the door, so i could glare at them when they eventually made their exit. took a while, and was dreading what i might be walking into. ended up being an ancient asian lady with a cane. she just smiled as she slowly moved towards the lab waiting area. so i had to stifle my hangry outburst, cuz she was just old and needed to go.

anyway, done did that, and also felt like a keg getting tapped for vials of blood. not a fainter, love horror movies, but don’t want to see the needle stuck into my own arm. “that hurts, you bitch.” thanks for the flourescent pink bandage; i would have preferred the blue.

quick breakfast/lunch, and back to the office. wasn’t really busy, and no one noticed anyway.

mom calls around four. she’d just arrived home. something wasn’t right with her car. felt wrong at freeway offramp. neighbor checked it out...discovered a bolt in her tire. she wasn’t sure what to do, as dad always takes care of these things.

told her to call triple a, that’s what you pay them to help you with, when you’re a damsel in distress.

cancel the drive to meet up with my kid for a chat, and head over to the house. she’d tried calling for help, but the number didn’t ring through or something.

i call from the house phone, forgetting to dial a one first, and get someone named rachel, not sure if it was a business or personal number. she must get these calls all day and night. hang up dial again. truck will be there in ten minutes.

driver gets there, says it can probably be patched, and pulls the spare from the back of the car. like new, never used, completely flat. he fills it with air, and is ready to change tires, only to realize there’s a wheel lock to remove. tear the car apart looking for the key thingy. stupid lugnut. look in the garage., nope.

dad couldn’t find it a few months ago, and had just had them cut and replaced. driver’s boss is telling him to hurry up, this is taking too long. tried calling dad at hospital on his cell phone, no answer. tried the front desk to nursing station to room phone, no answer. nurses station said he was just sitting on side of his bed, but didn’t bother to go hand him the phone. no doubt he didn’t have his hearing aid in, and heard nothing at all.

even tried calling my ex, as he probably helped him at the time and might have an educated guess on the location. no, and sorry to bother you.

i’m sure we’ll find out tomorrow, the key is just sitting in a drawer somewhere, useless in case of emergency.

mom is stressing out, her heart is doing flip flops or some other syncopated rhythm. so i just tell her to stay home and i hop in the truck and go with the driver to a tire store that stays open later than the two i have already called.

long story short, they were just able to patch it, as it was sort of close to the edge, but treads are low on both front tires, so we’ll have to go back soon and fix that. thanks dad, yet another reason to get the car serviced and rotate the tires once in a while. but he’s old, and can’t do it himself anymore, and it costs money, he’d say. ya, but mom drives it, and it needs to be safe.

and better half said his throat is kinda scratchy and he’s starting to cough...

———-

getting late, and not hungry, just angry now. going to contemplate this fleetmaster from the veterano’s show. pretty, isn’t it? wishing the green machine behind it, while equally lovely, wasn’t there messing up the shot, with the sparsely leaved trees nicely framing it up. always something i can pick apart in my pictures if i really want to.

really felt good to get out again. been too long, and they definitely did not have these kind of cars in italy.

week off

i got back from my road trip two days early. caught up on some sleep today.

i should go for a walk, but i've only been out of the house to drive somewhere to pick up lunch. so tired of the food places uptown, but i don't know what else i'd have. kinda craving a salad right now. one out by house, not here in whittier. maybe when i go visit my parents...

i noticed some bananas getting over-ripe in the kitchen, so i guess i'll make some bread. way to spend some free days, right?

truck from the veteranos' kick back at in-n-out...was just a week ago now? two? haven't seen one of these models in a while.

missed you

got up late, but mostly because the time changed. stupid daylight savings time. well, it didn't matter. the weather forecast said no rain, just cloudy all day. oh hell yaaas. love that. giant softbox.

took a bit to get moving, but out i went. drove past where a cruise was supposed to be, on the way to the workman high school show, but i guess they had already left. no big. arrived at the high school just after ten, when it was supposed to officially start.

the cars are hidden down on the basketball court, which you can't see from the parking lot. but in the parking lot, there some semi-trucks parked, followed by some muddy dirt buggies in the next lot.

sort of disappointed [not] that i came to find not so many cars on the court. last year had been jammed, and hot. here, there were maybe about thirty cars, half the kind i don't like, and the other half my favs, just parked around the perimeter.

fewer cars, more focus, more pics, less people in the way. look at the glass half full. make the most of it. any time i walk away with at least one car and one picture that makes me happy, it's cool.

this guy parked over in the corner. was hoping some of his friends from his club would show up, but didn't. that was ok too. i think this was one of my favorite pictures i shot today. and the clouds are ok too. owner even pulled the show tag out of the window too. thanks for that.

waited a bit for a jump-off between two cars, but it kept not happening, and i had to get back home. wished more cars had been there, it never did rain, still isn't, missed you all, but was still good with it. one guy theorized everyone was at the dub show. whatever.

dead president's day

had things i absolutely had to do today. different circumstances would have had me at la puente park, shooting cars, of course, but things were 'beyond my control,' so i wasn't.

this weekend was sort of messed up, and it's almost over. holiday weekend blew by. thinking i might have to reschedule a vacation, which kinda sucks, or see if my bro wants to go somewhere, which could be fun.

made it to one show, but this shot is from last month's pomona swap meet. just liked the mood of it for some reason. it spoke to me, and said post me, so i did.

i got nuthin really to talk about, and it's back to work tomorrow, so i should probably end it here.