what's up?

hay chihuahua

sometimes i think my better half’s height is a detriment. his eyeballs looking out from six and a half feet from the ground, often give him huge blind spots of things i can see, but he can’t. something gets in the way, and he can’t see it without bending over.

i imagine it as sort of like sitting up in the mezzanine at the play “wicked,” able to see the decorative mechanical dragon set motif above the stage, but unable to see the backdrops and other action going on too far in on the stage. can hear the dialogue and songs, but just don’t see what’s going on in front of you.

he used to wonder how i would get pictures of things when we used to go out shooting together, that he never saw. i’d always say, “didn’t you see it?” oh, he can say the same for me, from his lofty height.

then again, i can be so focused on getting a shot, that i will literally not see the people walking around it. not being rude; just have them tuned out on my radar. i am a weird creature.

be very, very quiet…i’m hunting wabbit. ha ha ha ha ha.
— elmer fudd

today, the blind spot was at the back of a refrigerator shelf. he’d chopped up some fresh green onions to add to his mom’s meal, and what i later used for guacamole.

he hadn’t noticed the two containers of previously chopped green or yellow onions, from last week. pretty sure onions don’t grow hair that pretty normally, fine as silk, and growing from several dark spots, nor is it useful as penicillin.

whatever it was, didn’t want to let go of the container even after i dumped the food out. had to soak it with some lysol, followed up with antibacterial soap. i won in the end.

this lincoln looked familiar as it drove into the small lot at the fairgrounds. looking back through my posted images, at the show i thought i’d seen it at so long ago, i instead found another one, same year, but not a convertible, and green not black.

well, otherwise, i’m not finding it in this year’s photos.

i had gotten one clear shot, with no one in it. for this one, i’d changed the height of my tripod and framed it up, when the owner and his friends came back from whichever vendor they’d gotten drinks from, and proceeded to clink glasses, in a cheers maneuver, behind it. oh well. you can see them just above the car’s front window, if you look closely. it’s their car, so i’m not going to make a big deal about it. i had other places to be, so didn’t have time to wait them out.

i liked the big inflatable dog in the background. wished they had set out some brown and black bean bags near it, and then all i’d have seen would be a much relieved pup, had that been the case. people could have “shat” down on the soft lumps with their drinks. lol.

dad's home

picked up dad’s ashes yesterday. he’s on a bookshelf now. his dad’s ashes are nearby on another piece of furniture, but giving him the space alone for a bit.

this whole process has had the feeling of a wedding. all the excitement and preparation just before the event, then the thing happens, emotions all raw and out there. then the honeymoon….

now the ashes are here, that’s over. now just get on with things. oh well. had no ceremony, and didn’t want a military fuss. so we have an unfolded flag, and no instructions or thoughts on where we should put him. same reason we have his dad on a shelf. suppose we should get some boy scout to fold the flag or look it up on the internet.

told my mom, we should just fly the thing. wasn’t his personally, and it’s just going to sit in the shipping box otherwise. she’s thinking about it.

anyway, been staying with her five to six days of the week. probably for the foreseeable future. just back in whittier, so my better half can have a sanity break and get out of the house.

rained yesterday, more rain this next week, but not tomorrow. hoping to go to pomona tomorrow. i expect it will be cold. i expect i’ll hate the new tripod head some more. i expect i’ll take a lot of pictures, and not have time to do much with them for a while.

back end of an old lincoln from last year. a veteran’s show out at rose hills cemetery. i’ve only ever hung out near the entrance, near better half’s uncle’s grave. never noticed the weird looking building that looks like a sculpture at the udvar-hazy in dc—all space inspired—further up the hill.

old is a bitch

my dad. my dad. he’s eighty-four or -five...can’t remember exactly just now.

he seems to have given up on living, and just wants to sleep all day, hardly eats. apparently vision is not so good and sense of taste is off. no energy. mom finally says he doesn’t drive anymore, so there’s that.

he doesn’t want a hobby or exercise, and doesn’t watch tv or turn on his computer anymore. they gave him antidepressants, but he doesn’t want to take them. talks about himself in past tense.

could be his diabetes, or, i’m arguing he had a stroke or two, but no one completely agrees. he could also be a touch demented now, or it could also be meds or again, a stroke.

i think he’s going to another doc on monday.

it’s hell to watch him deteriorate so fast. and i’ll worry about whether i’ll see him again when i go on my trip. wouldn’t be anything i could do anyway.

bro says there is still one gun hidden somewhere in the house. really hoping he doesn’t choose to use it. maybe he forgot about it.

dread when the phone rings late at night.

anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

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meanwhile, this lincoln helps to distract from aforementioned thoughts.

from bomb club car show at santa anita two years ago.

slightly different than the typical black or white usually seen, with that "dash" of color. sort of like when my mom used to tell me to put on lipstick for a pop of color as i headed out the door. me and makeup don't get along, though i can manage lipstick when the mood strikes me.

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planning on hitting up a show early tomorrow. better half bought two new memory cards for the cameras that he wants me to "test out." if he insists...

ding ding

winkin' blinkin' lincoln.

this car drove up and parked just as i was walking by.

first glance, my thought was, well, that's a horse of a different color. usually see these only in black or white.

next thought, was that the owner looked familiar, but i'd never seen this car before, to associate with that guy. from what i've read elsewhere, he's only had it out and about recently.

hadn't noticed when i shot the picture, on the car or on the teeny tiny camera screen, but on my computer screen, there's a great big dent on the side. maybe he should have kept it in the garage—would have been safer, but what fun is that.

maybe someone will let me know where the dent came from, assuming it's new, and that he didn't have it painted and polished that way.

fire and smoke

just back from five days in 'frisco. must get some sleep, but i figured i'd post a picture while i downloaded the pictures i took while i was away. no car shows, so you'd probably have to check out my flickr site to see any of those.

here's a pair from the so cal tribe club. ya, i've posted them before, but i can if i want. hey ron and reine, always nice to see you guys and your cars.

stormy weather

wishing for some really crappy weather, even more than this dismal overcast. storm clouds make pictures so much more cool, even if fewer cars come out from fear of raindrops on their shiny, shiny babies.

this was a big car. i've only seen a couple rumbling around. nothing else special about it, except that i'm yearning for some rain. and some sleep...just now.

is it a sign?

i didn't sleep well last night, and had a hard time staying awake today. yet here i am posting, early for me anyway.

picked up my pictures from the fair today. only had one offer to buy one, and that turned out to be more of can you take a picture of my car inquiry. about what i expected. oh well, they look ok hanging on the wall here. left the honorable mention ribbon hanging on one of them for now. i'll pull it off before it gets too dusty, i suppose.

here's another lifestyle car. hiding in the shade on a hot day. unintentionally caught a religious symbol by the car. maybe it's a sign?

lincoln's second term

rubys was pretty busy tonight. was interesting to see what must have been a whole car club drive up one of the rows, expecting to park all together, when there were not so many spaces open. a little shuffling, a few people encouraged to move their chairs out of spaces, others leaving, somehow they all seemed to eventually settle into place. then to shuffle again to get closer together.

saw several people i hadn't seen in a while. always nice that they remember me and take the time to chat. and many cars that i've seen, many times, in many shows. lots i've already taken pictures of before, but always looking to see them in a different spot, position, light. they all pose so patiently, if only all the pesky people would stop walking through my shots. ah, well. such is the nature of the beast. count to ten, sometimes twenty.

so another post of this car. again, with lens flares. always buffed to perfection, in it's relative simplicity, compared to those bombs. i kinda miss his other car, which he says is somewhere else, in storage or being worked on, or both.

enter continental

so i had to make an emergency trip to washington state this past weekend. i had wanted to hit a show on saturday, but shockingly, it rained. that was fine, as i had a lot of things that needed to get done anyway.

sunday was father's day. overcast, but not raining. found only a couple of car shows on the net, in opposite directions. so i picked this one in burien. turned out to be a strawberry festival, street fair and carnival, with an added bonus...three blocks of cars. classics and muscle, about 50/50. new stuff to shoot, so yay. only had time to check out the car show before i had to get back to family stuff.

i'll start with this one, since it was the first car i shot, and the only one i bothered throwing a card onto the seat. one comment on that; around here, cars get filled up with flyers for all sorts of crap–upcoming car shows, parts, wheels, etc.–but at this show, there were no flyers, cards, anything thrown into/onto the cars. i almost felt like i violated the space, but i had to throw at least one card at a car...just as a i was here, and hope you come check out your car on my blog, thanks for letting me shoot it.

anyway, i don't think i've seen one of these before. it was pretty clean, no rust, really amazing condition. they must keep cars hidden in the garage all winter in this state. not the only pristine car here.

strangely, no one asked me who i was with, what i was doing, mostly didn't say nuthin at all, though i was the only one hauling a tripod. oh, and thanks to the baggage gorillas at the airport, the tripod head had a broken piece hanging off of it, and i feared it wouldn't work right. i managed to get the piece back in position, though it popped off a few times. finally twisted it a bit, and it seems to be usable. kinda sucks, as they don't make this model anymore.

i got a bunch of other shots that i'll post soon, but it's late now, and i have stuff to do before bedski.

winkin' blinkin' lincoln

so my friend reine has several cars, or so i've heard. i've seen this one a couple of times before, but have never shot it for whatever reason.

after meeting up with him inside the broiler, he'd asked if i could take pictures of this one. i took several, but there was a car next to it at the time, and the owner or someone was sitting on the bumper of his car, and didn't get the clue and move.

this is a later shot, after i'd already put my stuff away and was preparing to leave. my better half pointed out that the sun was beginning to go down, and to look how the light was hitting it. i noticed that the other car was gone...so out comes the camera stuff again.

i do think these sunset shots were much better, and this was my favorite one.