bummed

harley davidson softail

not really in a mood to do anything today. heard some stupid crap news yesterday about my younger brother. and it's fucked, and not fair. and i want to smash things. he was already dealing with a health issue, and now it's double fucked and i want to scream, and cry.

i sat for a long time this morning. doing nothing. finally decided i'd go uptown to find a couple of xmas gifts for people i know will get me something, no matter how much i tell them not to get me anything. found one item, that will undoubtedly be tossed aside the next day. looked around. thought about lunch, but nothing around was tempting me.

so i stomped home. sat a bit longer. then decided i would drive out to the con stilo toy drive in montebello, to see what might be there. then would think about lunch after.

i went through the motions, but wasn't really feeling it, but did shoot most of the cars there.

this bike was sitting behind the mayor's car. couldn't get a decent angle on the car, so shot the bike instead. pretty sure it was the owner who watched what i was doing, then asked about it. introduced himself, shook my hand. gave him the cliff notes explanation and a card.

sorry it's a bit funky colored, but i was shooting into the sun, and the sensor misbehaved a little. i banged on the pixels a little, which are a little better, but i'm just gonna let them slide this time.

in your face

cadillac

not many showed up at dia de los puercos toy drive. i think i had seen a flyer online for another toy drive there not too many days before, so maybe people had already given at the office.

i mostly think it was due to mooneyes the day before, and nursing hangovers.

don't usually shoot newer cadillacs, but this one remotely reminded me of one my mom used to drive, though without all the pinstripes and airbrushing on the trunk. kinda think she should have kept that one, but i'm sure it's bouncing it's way down whittier blvd or elsewhere now.

there’s a line

1939 chevy master deluxe

so, here's the thing: i go to the shows to take pictures of the cars, meet people, and have fun. been going out there for more than five years now, so i'm slowly becoming acquainted with a lot of the owners and photographers.

as i've mentioned before, there are a few that just have that personality and i'm comfortable getting/giving a hug, or shaking hands when i see them. one hug is normal, is good, i don't mind.

i do mind the dude who came around for a second hug yesterday, initially, thinking it just a joke, because i'd run into you again, but ending with 'accidently' brushing/cupping my ass with your hand, and kissing my hair, that was just rude.

then later, calling me over, in front of your club members and saying what you said, i could take it one of two ways: one, a stupid, but innocent joke, poorly delivered; the other prettily put in it's crudeness, and not as a joke. i think i know which you meant, and no thanks. do lines like that really work in real life? holy crap, if they do.

it was not funny, and your boys did not laugh, though i'm sure they heard. i hope they gave you shit for it afterwards, and not high fives. i do not deserve that disrespect from anyone at a show, much less from someone i've run into many times over the years.

perhaps you were drunk, that early in the morning, but you didn't smell of beer. don't do it again. in fact, just stay away from me. you know better, and you know my better half would have no problem having a chat with you.

i chose to just walk away, because i don't like to make a scene, and if it was a reaction you wanted, wasn't going to give it to you, at least not then. no drama.

thought about it all night though, and just needed to vent here, so there's your reaction. hope you recognize yourself, and apologize. all i have to say to you in the future is nothing, if i even bother to go anywhere near you or your club's cars.

i choose to have fun and keep shooting pictures. i choose to throw you in that box with richard, and not think of you at all.

thanks for the flyer, but no, i will not be attending the classic dreams' toys for kids cruise.

---

beautiful day, otherwise, yesterday for shooting. made it to two shows: duke's la habra toy drive, and the danny boy fundraiser at bob's big boy.

sky was full of passing clouds. supposed to rain sunday and monday; so, happy about that. made for more interesting pictures.

first saw this car back in 2013. chilo's car, i think, probably still is. the story i remember hearing was that it was a family project car; time spent sanding and sanding, using flour to find the blems, and more sanding, before all the coats of paint. nice to see it's still around.

it's a harley, dahlink

harley davidson

away from home tonight, so i'll just put this one up.

took several angles of this bike, which are all just fine, but i thought this angle was just more interesting. not an extraordinary bike, but it was clean, and sitting off mostly by itself momentarily. not long after, the owner moved it in with the crowd of cars, where i never would have bothered shooting it then.

---

been busy as usual at work. i've been trying to squeeze in a walk before work, or climbing nine flights of stairs if i can. my legs hurt from sitting all day; i should get out for an afternoon walk like i used to, just block out some time on the work calendar and go.

really need to try an experiment and go cold turkey on the coke and/or pepsi. i like my caffiene bubbly and on ice, but it comes with a lot of sugar, which my body is apparently just converting into ass, boobs and belly. i could say i let myself go, out of some bizarre curiosity to see what i'd look like "with a little meat on my bones," same way i'd just see how long my hair would grow, but that would just be an excuse.

better half isn't complaining, but i'd like to be able to bust a lot of my old clothes out of storage, if i lost a few inches.

i spent a good part of a year working in what we called the dungeon, at a previous employer. was a huge project, with multiple companies working together, day and night. they kept a steady supply of snacks and soda, to keep the captives, er, employees, happy and working.

i used to joke, that i could just sit and mainline/iv drip the coke twenty-four/seven. was easier then; i was only a hundred pounds and burned those junk food calories without even trying.

i will miss it. i will be tempted every day, and it's just so easy to get my hands on the stuff.

gonna change to water. but it has to be ice water, to top off the ice water in my veins.

says the girl who chugged a coke whilest typing this missive...

flat

1959 chevy impala

had a hard time getting up and out of the house today. just feeling out of it. finally decided to get dressed around noon, and head down the street to the show at the high school, a fundraiser for the football team. it was poorly advertised, as school shows go. only noticed a couple of flyers taped to business windows uptown, in alcoves, not the best locations to be seen.

i hadn't been to a show at the high school for several years; that one had been for the baseball team, and had way more cars, and of the types i cared about, so i had high expectations for this show.

this show had a disappointing majority of muscle cars vs the bombs i look for, but since this was a football fundraiser, that would be the crowd i'd expect to find. seemed to have been a tent with someone signing autographs in the midst of the new model mustangs, but i have no idea who it may have been.

did enjoy watching some dude in a mustang not paying attention, while wanting all the attention, driving into the parking lot, and somehow managing to drive over a parking block with a bang. took a whole group of guys to help direct him off the thing without doing damage to his side panel.

there were a few cars from each of a few clubs we were familiar with, and my better half and i were greeted with "about time you showed up" from more than a few people. they're more used to seeing us at sunrise i guess.

spent about an hour and a half at the show, before i overheated and we'd shot most of the stuff we liked.

this little detail is from ronnie's fifty-nine impala. its late—i'll have to add a picture of the car some other time.

---

after the show, i had to go deal with a flat tire on my car. like, one thing has led to another since my car got hit last month. i don't know why. got it to the tire store, and they found a nail in it and patched it up, so i guess that will be good for a while. 

then we went out to see about getting the alarm on the car working right again, but they were getting ready to close and aren't open tomorrow. so that may take another week before i get it fixed.

stopped by my parents' house the other day. they recently got a new used car to replace their old one that had been totaled in minor accident. had just gotten it registered, since the dmv had been downed by a hacker in their system, and they finally felt able to drive it. 

apparently my dad was backing up in a parking lot, had looked once for anyone behind him, and started to back up. either he didn't see the other car coming up behind him, or they didn't notice him backing up, and now the new car is back in the same shop that totalled the other car.

my mom said he just wasn't used to the height of the brake pedal in the new car. i think it is more his reflexes are getting slower and he can't lift his leg so high or quickly. still can't talk him out of giving up driving; it's one of the last things he has that gets him out of the house. anyone that has ideas on how to convince an old person its time to give up driving, please let me know.

probably full of stars

1962 buick riviera

quick post...gotta head to the office in a few.

saw this first thing in the morning uptown, at the dia de los muertos show. i'd seen it before at mooneyes open house, but that was midday sun and where it was parked, couldn't get a shot i really liked, or at least enough to post yet.

but here, sun just coming up, street lights still on, the layers of metal flake and clear coat were really just amazing. i shot it again later in the day, but i like these early pics better by far. this was my fav.

peekaboo

1964 chevy impala

i think there has only been one time i've ever seen this car not under a pop up tent. it's a historical car, so sure, they want to protect it and the paint job. the one time it wasn't, was probably five years ago, at the broiler. late in the day, i think it was surrounded by people. i'd have to sift through my hard drives to find it.

typically it's also surrounded by admirers and photographers. found it very early at the imperial's hawaiian gardens show last month. still was under the tent, so i only bothered shooting the front end. i'm guessing when it got pinstriped and painted, the chrome was off, otherwise, why does that squiggle go beneath it?

---

better half definitely is sick. drove home early from work to take him to some doctor out in arcadia, only to find out they had no more time for patients for the day. we'll try again in the morning.

i'm still not as sick as he is, but i suspect it will hit me full force before the end of the week, just in time for labor day.

so baby

found this car at san fernando last month. pretty sure i've seen it somewhere else, if not just the previous year at the same place. i want to say the tangiers cars are usually here, and a few show up at the showlows st hilary show in october.

it was highly polished, and the sunrise was just popping the light through that clear coat.

i want to ride my...

harley davidson

so, i've been busy doing stuff i'm not allowed to talk about, so i won't talk about it. i've been away from my computer and/or too tired to turn the damn thing on all week.

saw this bike at the viejitos show. one of the few i saw that morning before i bailed. only one i shot.

liked the paint and pinstripes. not a girly girl, so i won't call it pink; more of a mauvey marooney color.

now i think i'll work on another picture until it gets late, which is going to happen quickly...time flies when i'm having fun...then gotta get some sleep.

pain in my chesh

1951 chevrolet deluxe

and i can't breev. one of george lopez' classic stand up bits.

so, saw his car out at san fernando. famous not only for the owner, but for the glittery mexican flag painted on the roof. and check out that interior. 

yet another time i wished for a ladder or roof or platform to shoot from, but none of those fit in my camera bag, so maxed out the tripod, and got this piss poor shot of the roof.

curb was higher than the street, and the street had the occasional car driving by, so couldn't shoot too well from there.

golf carti was curious why his car was there, but he wasn't. maybe he's afraid of danny trejo? can't have two celebs at the same show at the same time?

he also had his golf cart there...el mas chingon...it is, it really is.