what's up?

delray / sittin’

at my condo, picking up mail before heading to my mom’s for the night.

sad to be here; it smells because my daughter’s dog is a not so well trained doberman who has taken one too many dookies in here. that and a stagnant piss smell permanently in this ratty carpet. and just a hint of vomit. really need to leave, but i have to close all the windows, and this chair is just uncomfortable enough that i don’t want to sit anymore.

tired of it just being an expensive storage unit for her stuff. she doesn’t realize how good she had it yet—a rent-free, utilities-free place to stay. but she just couldn’t be on her own, and met a guy that lived too far away, then got a job in that too far away place and complained of not getting enough sleep, and the price of gas, etc.

well just tarantulas live here now, and i hope she stops to feed them sometimes.

gave her until the end of summer to pack, but i’m betting she’ll just leave it to see how serious i really am. that or she knows i’ll box it up for her just to get it out. she can put it in her dad’s storage.

soon, her stuff will be out and i can get on with the demolition that is needed in here.

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i did stop at the crossing church’s thirteenth annual car show last weekend. had to park a block or two away, after circling the neighborhood once. got there close to noon, never a good time for me with all the heat and all the people walking through the shot.

i still managed one loop around the parking lot. seemed to be fewer cars than past years, but it was later than i usually go, and there were many other shows going on at the same time.

i was pretty overheated after the sun came out, when i got to the last few cars. eh, i overheat in the middle of winter, it is just extra gruelling in the summer. had to stop inside the church kitchen for some cold water, shade, and slow moving overhead fan action.

i think this car was the second or third one i shot, up at the front corner. looks like an impala, but it’s not. can’t remember seeing it before, at least it wasn’t in this year’s files, so it was nice to shoot something different.

throwdown

saturday morning i was out at the oc fairgrounds, dropping off a couple of pictures that were selected for the fair. slept in at my mom’s instead of spending the night in whittier, hitting a show early, then dropping off the pictures, because it just was easier for me. i’d just stop at the show on the way home.

as i was driving up the street towards the gate, i see a line of classic cars parked in the middle of the street. i was starting to pass them, i saw one with the windows rolled down, so i slowed down and inquired where the show was—at the fairgrounds. huh. oh yes, i’d seen a flyer, but hadn’t added it to my list—the michelada throwdown. ya, i don’t drink, so i’d throw it down.

got there before nine, so apparently it was free to enter. as a bonus, i got into the swap meet free too.

well, pretty much what i saw out in the street was all that was showing up for this show…the brown descents and the fleetlines car clubs, with a few other solo riders…at least during the time i was there.

i’m acquainted with danny, who owns this car. met him years ago at an elks club show in santa ana. have shot his car several times over the years. he of course came over to say hello.

made quick work of the cars that were there, and before the official start time for the drink-a-thon or whatever it was. still hoped to hit up that other show before the sun came out, as i’m still getting over the sunburn from last week.

i was so very tempted to hit up that slide before i left, but ultimately skipped it. didn’t want to leave my cameras down at the bottom for even a couple of minutes. sometimes i miss my better half not coming to the fair to drop off pictures, making a big deal about nothing.

trickery

at my mom’s tonight. she accused me of playing a trick on her. said there were several phone calls today that she didn’t answer. she screens her calls…so many robocalls come in.

these calls popped up with my dad’s name. calling from the house phone. sort of creepy to say the least. told her it was probably a spoof call.

for chuckles, i had the phone call it back, which got the “number has been disconnected” message…a “dead” line. lol.

told her it was dad, just playing a joke on her. wouldn’t put it past him if there was a way to do it from whatever/wherever you go after this life. welcome to the twight zone. dun dun dun.

you always wish to hear their voice again…but what would you do if you really did? don’t answer the phone mom…

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one of the bomb club’s own, front and center, er, off center, on the grass. pretty blue thirty-nine.

so many spindly palm trees though; if you don’t shoot up from down low, you get a lot of pictures with what appear to be random-looking lines in the background.

for the gentleman

another car from yesterday. owner was sitting on the far side of the field, under a pop-up tent. asked if i’d shot his car. had to point it out…”that one over there.”

hadn’t. shot the truck, but didn’t turn around for this one at the time. went back over before i forgot. liked this shot the best, i guess.

spring has sprung, fall has fell...

…now it’s summer, it’s hotter than h-e-double toothpicks, as my better half would say.

where have my gloomy, cool days gone? just last week it was in the sixties and sprinkly. this week has legit hit the nineties. eff that. hate summer. i should just become a hermit, and stay in a darkened air-conditioned room until winter.

but then i’d miss all the car shows. so i will again have to play the game of rolling out of bed far too early to catch cars before the sun makes it unbearable, or evening shows, which late summer makes no difference.

doctor always says to lose weight. maybe if i drop some of this blubber, it wouldn’t be so bad. and if i drop the medicine that helps keep it right where it is. youth is wasted on the young, truly.

did not go anywhere this weekend. worked late friday, so had to stay down at my mom’s. she hates when i leave. got home late afternoon on saturday and made guacamole again.

currently waiting for a big pan of homemade lasagna to finish melting the cheese so i can satisfy this craving.

master deluxe i saw down in san diego, waiting to get in chicano park. had a little black mini car hanging off the back of it.

hellraiser

glad this week is over. more overtime, but i think i just may have caught up to today’s deadlines. new onslaught scheduled for monday. i’m in no hurry, but weekends always seem to race by, only to find myself negotiating with the alarm on monday morning, or any morning lately, for just ten more minutes.

have had some hours off to go take some tests at the doctor. trying to figure out why i passed out in april. being very thorough, because i still feel wobbly a bit most days.

this week, they strapped something resembling a bathing cap on my head, that had holes in it in various places. these holes were then each poked and wiggled and scratched into my scalp with a large, somewhat blunt needle.

i imagined them jamming a needle into each hole, my face covered with a grid pattern…

said needle, did scare me a bit when i initially walked into the room and saw it sitting on the counter, atop the clean medical hankie, along with some other odds and ends.

nah, was just used to apply some sort of conducive gel, so that this lovely cap could zap electical waves into my head to brain waves.

the medical technician did not say, “prisoner, electricity will now be passed into your body until you are dead, in accordance with the state law. may god have mercy on your soul.” i totally would. that or, “is that the best you can do?” which is what the figure in an electric chair, that my better half gifted me long ago, said when activated, then commenced jiggling noisily.

i had a couple of little nippular looking hickies on my forehead for about an hour after, to which my better half said, “your horns are finally coming out of your head.” lol. i argued it involved an octopus.

the rest of my head has just been sore and itchy for a few days.

as they say, no news is good news.

—————

beautiful fleetline at the uptown show, much too early in the morning last week.

chillin’

better half remembered shooting this truck before, back when he used to bing his camera out. he had a chat with the owner while i took my shots, just like old times.

ten minutes later, he was headed back up the street, hoping he’d be home before his mom woke up.

———

kid went to solvang, then stopped to shop in camarillo. had to wait until six in the evening before i could head back to whittier. he was bringing danishes for my mother-in-law.

was late when i got home, after i made a stop at the store and in-n-out for dinner. took a shower, then worked on this pic while my hair dried. better half got called in to work, so good thing i showed up. he came back sooner than he thought, since the job wasn’t ready to go, and he wasn’t waiting around for an indefinite time in the middle of the night when all he wanted to do was sleep.

excellent day

woke up very early for the show uptown. better half was up early, his mother was still asleep, so he walked me up the street as far as the theatre here. he hung around for about fifteen minutes, before deciding he needed to get back.

posting this car, since the ladies that sat with it asked about where they would be able to see the pictures. here. right here. and also on instagram, more often than here.

i think i was out for six hours before i started feeling woozy. had to stop for lunch. wobbled over to the japanese place, but they weren’t open yet. so rolled my bag down the block for a slice of pizza at marco polos. after that, i took a shortcut down the alley to shoot a couple of cars i hadn’t gotten around to, bypassing the crowd.

it stayed overcast and cool all day; still is perfectly gloomy outside. was so happy, as this show is typically full on sun and heat by ten. crossing my fingers that summer doesn’t heat up, and i won’t have to skip going anywhere cuz i can’t take the heat.

i probably still managed to get a sunburn. at least my skin feels tingly.

back at home about one, downloaded over fifty gigs of pictures. kicked back a bit. after three, noticed cars driving by, so went outside with a camera, to catch them at the stop sign. not so many go further than hadley, so i walked back up the street to take pics of cars rolling out. more people than cars still.

saw my friend ernie and his wife. so happy to see them. been over a year, since he’d told me he had cancer. he is now cancer-free, the treatments worked. so, yay! the world isn’t done with him yet, and now he’s a good church-going boy, in thanks.

ok, i gotta go hang out with my kid’s dog and my mom. my boy is out of town with wifey, wine-tasting and enjoying good food. happy twenty-ninth birthday!! time is flying so fast. wtf.

maybe another picture to post tomorrow when i get back…so many cars, not enough time…

silent treatment

you know it’s going to be a bad day when even the rice krispies won’t snap, crackle and pop at you…

worked eleven hours yesterday…only cuz i had enough. only doing eight today because i am only doing eight.

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looking forward to the bomb club show at santa anita. such an interesting location and nice bunch of guys.

baby, it's cold outside

twenty-sixth of may, cold, rainy, gray. i love it. memorial day weekend, and haven’t really ventured very far from the house, except for my search for avocados yesterday.

i don’t want to deal with holiday traffic, so typically don’t travel to anywhere. better half can’t hardly get out to the supermarket while tending to his mom, so i feel guilty when i just take off to do whatever.

my kid seems to hit up solvang for an overnight every memorial day. something about picnics at vineyards. not sure if he went this year or not, since it was supposed to rain. i only know that he didn’t ask me to watch his dog, and if they did go, it was going with them.

other kid supposed to hang out with my mom for a few hours, so i don’t feel under pressure to not leave her alone for all three days this weekend.

trying to talk her into going to vegas later this summer, but really she’d be on her own there for several hours a day, while i attend some classes.

i want to take a vacation, but don’t want to go alone. i mean it’s great to go off on your own, and sleep in or do whatever without taking into consideration of another person. but there’s that desire to share the experience with someone else, and pictures don’t do whatever justice when you get back.

i’m feeling the itch to go back to canada, climb the mountains, sit in the meadow and look down over one of the many turquoise blue lakes. wondering how many more trips i have in me.

corvette hood from last year’s old memories pancake breakfast in montebello. used to be one of my favorite kind of cars as a kid, nothing unique.

was an overcast day there as well, but the clouds had a little more definition than today.

pretty sure i was attracted by the reflection for this shot at the time.