one family

when i was in high school, i had an armenian english teacher. he was funny. he talked funny, like he had a mouth full of marbles, he mumbled through the day. i took several classes with him during my years there.

he liked the way i wrote. so much so, that for one of my finals, while everyone else furiously wrote their minor tomes on whatever the topic was, he had me write a satire about the students in the class. i was already gonna get an a, so why the heck not?

i took classes on shakespeare and the classics from him. the papers i wrote for that class, i used for term papers in college. i knew how to write, i guess.

i think about him once in a while, joke with my brother about him too, since he took classes with him after me.

he was older then, so i can only guess that he's gone now. but i do wonder what he would think of this late night drivel i scribble without thought of order, more of a stream of consciousness than anything else. i suppose without wringing it out and editing it over days and hours, this is what you get. but i wasn't an english major, and i mostly just write whatever pops into my head at the time i'm sitting here.

and that had nothing at all to do with this car. this is anthony's car. i know his name is anthony because his shirt says "anthony" on the patch. oh, and that he spent a lot of time talking with my better half.

i suppose i should be jealous at how easily my better half can work a crowd, get into a conversation on a wide variety of topics, and come out the other side with lots of stories to tell.

but i'm not jealous. he's just that kind of guy, not shy. big, gregarious...greg-garious. lol. he gets more stories. i get more pictures. i'm the innie to his outie.

and to my dad, who seems to be reading this blog more often than i think, no, there's no competition with who gets better shots. just simply the joy of taking the pictures and for me, of getting out, trying to get more out of my comfort zone. but i'll never get as comfortable as my better half just chatting people up. my mouth freezes up, just like in high school, when we had to give a speech.

but it all depends on the person who wants to converse. personality trumps shy anytime. or, if you're a richard, i'll just stare at you in amazement and write about it later.

back to the car. clean, basic, classic. the guys were sitting on the curb behind it eating their mickey d. i was perfectly happy to just squeeze down nearby and shoot the car, but they politely moved their feast away from the car, happy to have someone taking a picture of it.

yes, my better half took a similar shot. his is better. my opinion.

they all head south for the winter

so, i'll get back to riverside in a couple of days, but i wanted to put one of this beauty up before i forget. my better half talked the owner into closing it up later that afternoon.

i basically stare at cars with their hoods open if i really want to shoot it, and hope the owner notices and offers to close it. i've only asked owners to close it a couple of times because it was too good not to get it, and most typically will just walk past a few times and hope to see it again some day.

of course, i took advantage of the hood closed, and took several more shots. but i thought i'd share this one, just to show that i sometimes break my own rule. i think my better half mentioned that it's rare to see one in such immaculate condition, but if memory serves, d, there was about five of them in a row down at chicano park, each just as delicious as this one. but i did skip most of those, since they had one side up and one side down.

ok, this one had a nice engine, so i guess that was part of the reason i went ahead and took this shot. my better half liked this one better than the others i did, so maybe that's why i'll share it with you.

out of town tomorrow, so riversiders, hold your breath until wednesday. unless i go to big boy...

buy a print here

so fine

california is great. great weather, even if it is being blown by a cold breath from the arctic this week. still beats where i grew up on the east coast, though i do miss snow just a smidge. but then, i can always drive up to the mountains for that.

the one thing i don't like, the last few years, i've been working in tall buildings. they're built for earthquakes. the buildings "roll." maybe it's just me. maybe my ears are extra sensitive to the movement of the buildings. but i feel it more often than not. usually just the wind blowing against the building, but it makes me queasy just the same. on some days, i have to check the usgs website to see if there really was an earthquake or how far away it may have been.

when i leave the building, i always take my purse, my keys and my phone. just in case. if the building falls down, i tell myself, i could at least maybe get my car and drive home. but then i think, if the office fell down, it would probably fall on the parking garage. if i have my stuff,  i could at least walk and get in the house.

the last couple of weeks, if i wasn't driving out for lunch because of rain, i was out for a walk. took some cash, in case i got hungry or thirsty, but otherwise, i only took my phone. i still feel strange without the keys in my hand, but i tell myself, that's mostly because i have nothing to fidget with while i walk. my inner introvert needs something to help ignore all the people driving by. so instead, i'm out getting some fresh air without my things, and hoping the idiots stop for me at red lights.

anyway, i have a cubicle not quite on the top floor of the building now. it was windy today. i got a headache. and i went for a walk. and the building was still there when i got back.

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another car from an old viejitos show. swirly pinstripes all the way down the sides and across the trunk.

oooooooohhhhhhhh yeah

looking back through some favs. forgot about this one. from the viejitos show in fullerton. not sure i remember correctly, but it might belong to raynbow; if not, definitely one of the other viejitos. what wonderful cars they have, and what wonderful cars show up at their show. looking forward to their show next week. assuming they're collecting toys for xmas. was so crowded last year.

never happy this time of year, heading into the holidays. doing the usual ping pong between family and family. better half staying here with his mom; his sister's family coming down from northern california. i'm going to my bro's for thanksgiving. driving my parents there. don't trust my dad driving. drives his nissan like its a porsche. going to have to pry his keys out of his hands sometime. truth is, he admitted he doesn't like driving at night so much, so he isn't fighting me driving too much. just can't wait to sit in traffic. not.

brown pride

proud ye may be, but damn, i just love impalas. this is a sixty. nice, but i like the fins on a fifty-nine better, but this car is still pretty fine.

just another awesome car that packed the viejito's halloween show. the dj was playing better music this time, there was also a fairly decent live rapper guy who performed several songs. kids dressed in costumes. lots of cars.

raynbow was right...i used to show up at the beginning of the show, and was starting to lose interest, as there wasn't much there. he said i should come back later, when people are out after church, there'll be more to see. i've done that the last couple of times, and he is absolutely right. way more cars, way happier me.

everything's eventual

ah yes. eventually, i'll think of an appropriate (or inappropriate) title for this post. inevitably, i need to get some sleep. someday, i'll finally sort through my to do list at home. soon, i'll order the blinds for my windows...the list goes on and on. things that always get put off. i suppose in the end, it will all catch up with me.

for now, i'm still choosing to distract myself with my pictures. but today, i think i've had enough of sitting: driving to work for 50 minutes; in front of a computer for 8 hours at work, driving home for another 50 minutes; eating dinner and chatting with my better half for another hour before he has to go back to the office for the evening...then sitting a bit longer to play with my pictures. enough already. i'm off to bounce on my trampoline, and then finally a chance to lay down for a few hours before starting all over again.

the clock is ticking. i doubt any of us will look as good as this car when we reach the same age.

the other danny

i know i shoot cars as i find them, but sometimes i have my doubts, especially when someone asks me to shoot their car. i know what they are expecting to see vs what makes me happy. i like this shot, again with the lens flares. but i think this danny (the owner) would have preferred a shot from the other side, pretty plain vanilla.

this is the second time i've taken pics of his car, and both times, i knew they wouldn't be what he is probably looking for. parking in the shade to keep the car and himself cool—good for him, but not for a clean shot of the car, with more accurate color.

this car is a dark blue, but shooting into the sun is effing with the color. from the other side on this, and a couple of shots of other cars in this club, the colors are more vibrant, mostly due to the time of the day and angle of the sun.

but they're also clustered around their club tent, or jammed next to each other, so aside from the shadows off the tent, the people in the tent end up in the shot too. from the other side, you'd see a little gangsta doll off the front bumper and the tent legs, as well as the empty chair that one of the guys jumped out of when he realized i was taking the picture. but the color would have been nice and deep blue if the tent hadn't been there.

my better half says i should ask them to move the car to get a better shot. but then they'd lose their spot, wouldn't they? you wouldn't ask a tiger to hold still in the jungle while you take a shot, so why should i bother to have them move it? if i wanted to control it that much, i'd open a studio and be a master of the universe.

i might be making a lot of assumptions, based on a few past experiences with car owners. forgot that i was just taking them for fun, and tried to let them tell me how to do the shot. basic tenet: don't let someone else art direct my hobby.

since i shoot mostly to make myself happy, i post the shots that i like, and if, by chance, danny likes a different point of view of his car, well then, he's found one.

there i go again, i've rambled on, with my thoughts not quite in order and too tired to rewrite it correctly. what would my professor think of that?

thrifty

i've had a couple of very long days at work this week. no time to play with my pictures. going to catch some zeebers early tonight, so i'll just put up this one since it's ready.

found this truck at the show in fullerton. don't shoot a lot of these, because they seem pretty plain, but i just liked this pose for some reason.

i have a few cars to work on this weekend, so maybe i'll post more than one for a change.

envy

today, my former brother-in-law died...that's all i want to say about that.

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yet another car from the viejitos show; i've got a few more to share before i let it go. this car's not perfect, but i like it anyway—a bit of character. found it hiding at the back of the lot.

sunny side up

this belongs to the president of the viejitos club. he seemed like a nice guy, welcomed me right away, but that's what you'd expect from the host of the party. he asked if i'd taken a shot of his car, "the brown convertible up at the front." at the time, no, i'd just arrived, but i did go back up to the entrance and take a couple of shots.

i can't recall that i've seen another convertible like this one. i haven't decided if i would have rather shot it with the top down, or just as i found it.