what's up?

the only one

yesterday there were several car shows to consider. i can only pick one, since my better half has things he has to do, and i need to stay with his mom while he's out.

the big shows were mooneyes and the viejitos annual show. mooneyes is closer, but i've been several times, and find it hard to shoot what i do, and the cars are so spread out along the main street, with intermittent parking lots jammed with cars. there's a wide assortment of cars, to be sure, and if you're looking for the noisy cruise-bys, that's the place to be.

i chose the viejitos show. i wanted the bombs, the low lows, the big curvy-bodied cars. and a lot of them before any crowds showed up.

i arrived there in the dark. i always expect there will be cars from the host club very early, for the set up. there were two cars at the far end of the lot, but i didn't see any people, except the random homeless guy picking at trash at my end of the lot. i'm by myself, and i just wasn't going to walk over there in the dark with my camera bag, until i saw faces i recognized, or more cars anyway.

so i sat in my car, watching the sky start to turn orange, instead of watching it color up behind a car, as i'd wanted. pretty, but not a very dramatically intense sunrise.

about sixish, more cars started to show, and vendors started setting up, so i headed over. several of the club guys were there, and the president, raynbow, who shook my hand and welcomed me.

started shooting the club cars as they arrived. then there was a lull in new cars. pretty sure i leaned up against the chain-link fence in the shade for at least fifteen minutes. consoled myself that if everyone was over at mooneyes, i still had shot enough pictures of the cars i liked to keep me happy for a while, right here.

the pity party didn't last long. the closer to the real drive-in time it got, the more cars and groups of cars began to show up.

watched this cherry fleetline show up on the back of a truck. after it was unloaded, they parked it in the corner by itself.

it's a show stopper to be sure, but obviously not a daily driver.

the owner seemed to not want me to shoot it, as he said it was still all covered with dust from the freeway. i argued that if i waited, the light hitting it would be gone. i told him i'd come back around when it was as pristine as he imagined it could be and shoot it again.

i don't know if he understood, and i went ahead and shot it then anyway. he went ahead and started setting up a pop up tent right next to it, so i'm glad i got my shot before he moved the monstrosity up next to it.

i did go back later. he had moved it over a bit, another car parked in next to it. monstrosity of a pop up right up next to it. shows up in the reflection of the perfect cherry red paint. light was no longer specifically hitting it, just busy getting more generically applied to all of the cars.

as always, i liked this show. as always, i was up against a time limit, the heat, and the need to pee. i needed breakfast and to get back home, so i was on my way about start time.

all the other photographers must have been over at mooneyes. sort of missed those familiar faces; can't wait to see pictures from whatever event they were at. always good to see different points of view, how different people see the same subject. i have seen some other pictures from this show, so they did eventually turn up, but i was already gone.

not there

memorial day weekend. i should be at a car show somewhere, but i just don’t feel like it. my head hasn’t been in the game lately. other things occupying my thoughts, so cars and pictures have been pushed to the wayside.

was approved to go to a conference the end of this week, but after still not booking the trip or registering, finally told my boss i just couldn’t go...both parents had fallen recently, and i just couldn’t be two-thousand miles away just now.

on top of that, doctor prescribed some med that makes me sensitive to sunlight, so thanks for that dude. morning and evening shows for a while i guess. he said i’d be ok if i just cover up, long sleeves, hat, sunscreen—i guess he wants me to have a heatstroke too. maybe it’s the meds making me not care about anything too.

have spent yesterday and this morning sifting through pictures to enter in the oc fair...deadline coming up. hard to decide, since i haven’t done anything that spectacularly stands out in my mind, or again, maybe it’s just my attitude. better half helped narrow down my picks. just went with most of his favs for a change. got those uploaded this morning.

at least i’ll be in town for the uptown show next weekend. hard to not go to that, when i just have to walk down the street. and i can leave if/when the sun comes out...hoping the overcast of the last couple of weeks continues...

my kid took off for solvang today. invited me to go, but i don’t enjoy sitting in traffic on holiday weekends. first he said he was taking his dog with, then last night let me know that he was leaving him at home. his dad would stop by and feed and walk him, but otherwise he’d be alone. not fair to the dog, and i almost wish he’d not tell me when he decides to do that kind of crap. probably knows i’m not going to leave the dog alone all night. pretty sure his dad won’t just take him to his own house.

guess i’ll start packing for one night. better half will be ok for one night.

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still need to post a few cars from last week’s show at whittier high school. love fleetlines, so this will do.

a weekend | pt 2

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5

arrived in san diego around five, and only needed to cross a set of tracks to catch the red train to my hotel. i still had a fare card for them from a year ago, so just needed to add days to it.

the train was due to arrive within minutes, so i hurried through the add days menu. paid for a one-day fare, then thought, duh, here for two more days, and added a two-day fare. that gave me a dollar off vs what i paid for a one-day fare. wonder if there was a three-day fare, now that it was too late to fix.

whatever. figured i had a total of three days on the card, so the fare-checking police could scan away and pass me by.

this time around, i stayed out in the gaslamp district, since they had lower rates then where we usually stay. nicer neighborhood too. since my better half couldn’t go, i’d offered up a free weekend with me to my daughter and her dog...city is very pet friendly...she had to work, then hit a funeral the next day, so no. mom wouldn’t go and leave my dad behind, since he’s feeling poorly healthwise, and he just might burn down the house if left on his own. sister is on a group vacation in peru, apparently. son and his wife had relatives visiting. even mentioned it to my bro on the east coast, but he wasn’t flying this way until next month.

i’d reserved a basic room, with an option to upgrade if the executive type rooms were available. with the padres on the road, of course the upgrade was available. pretty sure that room had about the same or more square footage than my condo. at least it felt that way. king-size bed, sunken tub, separate sitting area with couch, chair, big screen tv, bigger than a mini fridge, dresser, marble shower with marble bench, high ceilings, and overlooking the main drag of the gaslamp. pretty damn nice, but sucked since it was only me in it.

being that i’d only had about three hours sleep the night before, i set out across the street for dinner, then back to the room for a shower, and a hot bath. checked the cameras, charged batteries, and pretty quickly passed out in that king-size bed.

to be continued...getting ready for work...

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.

hit-a-thon

woke up today at eight a.m., thinking someone had called my name. no one had. really wanted to roll over and go back to sleep—it was so cold in the room, and the bed was so warm.

but i got up. was too late to head out for a sunrise car show, but knew about this one out at jfk high school. i'd gone last year, on a much rainier, cloudier day. today was boringly, clear, blue skies, and warmish.

was practically noon, by the time i arrived, which i hate. the full on sun, harsh shadows, just aren't my favorite. but i'm just out, getting back into a groove, and it isn't a broiling summer day, so i'll take it.

saw several guys/clubs that i know from past shows, many i haven't seen for a while, and made a few new acquaintances. also saw a few cars i recognized, but didn't see the owners. oh well. a familiar place, with familiar faces, i was ok without my better half. sent him a text not to worry. he does that sometimes. well, most every time.

i have a few pictures i told people i'd post, so i'll start with this one. owner asked for a picture, because, you know, cell phone pictures just aren't that great. told him i'd post one, to see if it was any better. so what do you think?

looking back

my thoughts have bounced around in my head a lot lately, to the point i don't know any one thing i would write about, that might be of any interest to any lurker who may be reading this on a somewhat irregular basis lately.

if you've never met him, my better half might be considered imposing, especially when he has a 'stache and goatee, and his long hair. when he's clean shaven, he just seems more friendly and younger, rather than tuff. he's a big guy, six-five, hovering around three-hundred pounds most of the time.

big enough to stare down the little shits that block sidewalks when his mom used to roll her wheelchair uptown. he would politely 'suggest' that they make way, and when they'd turn their back and stay put, he'd 'make way' for his mom. fucking little posers.

there's a new generation that hang out uptown now, only i think they are wannabe drug lords, making their little drug sales out in the open. i have my own little bitch face that moves them out of my way when i go uptown by myself.

he's mostly a big, friendly bear of a guy. i really don't know why he picked me, but i'm happy he did, and that's all i'll say about that. no need to get mushy here, and i really am not that gushy kind of girl.

there is one car club guy, i'd like to sic him on, but i'd prefer to keep my better half with me, than to visit him behind bars, so there's that.

better half has tossed a more than a dozen memories at me, to write about. we laugh about each recollection, giggle at the details of what people said or did, and how we ended up where we are today. then i say i've already referenced most of these stories at some point, and how a lot of stuff is inside jokes, or too gross.

i haven't been anywhere lately, except work, my parents' house, and picking up mail at my house. boring, but i gots things on my mind.

i could bitch about stuff i see on the freeway every day, but there hasn't been too much going on with the holidays, and i assume people home with the flu. traffic has been really light in the evening, so the few drives to whittier i've done the past couple of weeks have only been about an hour.

i'm hoping to get up in the morning and head to pomona for the swap meet. was thinking, it's january, it will be cool outside, everything will be great. summer is hell out there, and i usually can't / don't stay that long in the sun there.

it was fuckin' eight-five degrees outside this afternoon. it's going to still be in the eighties tomorrow. so it will be a short day as usual, in spite of being the middle of winter. really is no winter in cali, so what am i thinking?

one of these times, i'll have to actually walk the aisles of parts and stuff for sale, but i never seem to be able to tear myself away from the cars themselves. maybe next month it will be cold again. next week it will be sixty again.

so, long-windedly, i have no stories to blather on about, or that anyone might care to hear anyway. not feeling very enchanting at the moment, though my better half seems to still be stuck under my spell. who knows why?

here's a lovely back-end of a fifty-seven bel aire. it's all about the fins on these cars. the fronts are pretty generic and boring.

better late, than...

end of the year has been a minor hurricane in my life and time, and i feel like it's just the eye of the storm right now. there will be the other side to get through soon enough. so i'm gonna just sit here and breathe for a bit.

took a little thinking out of the box to get this post up. i guess while i've been away from home, better half discovered someone had been trying to hack into the home network, so he did some finagling of the router and stuff. so when i was here the other day, i worked on this picture, and when i was ready to post it, found i couldn't get on the internet.

better half has pretty much stretched himself a bit thin, between work and home, as well as trying to fight off a cold, so he was exhausted, not thinking clearly, and already gone to bed. couldn't wake him to fix this piddly little problem; it could wait.

also not getting the best vibes here, so packed some clothes and headed back down to my mom's for a few days. had stuff of my own to deal with there. took my dad in for followup appointments; his heart and pacemaker are working fine, see you in a year, thank you very much.

back home again today. better half in a mood, probably catching the cold he wanted to avoid. i'll probably leave again, and let him be a bear in a cave. my niece is in town for the holidays, in from japan, so i should probably go say hey to her anyway.

oh, so i did a workaround to get my picture posted today, as my computer is still not connecting, and it has to do with his router, and, well, i'm not going to wake him up again.

but, ya, been too busy, away, sick, and/or unable to post lately. waiting for the other shoe to drop in the new year.

meanwhile, this chevy is from the oc viejitos show last july, at the anaheim marketplace. haven't posted much from the show, from a lot of shows, actually. shame, cuz i have so many lovely pictures.

anyway, i wanted to post a shot that isn't already out there, and this one caught my eye, as i flipped through the past six months' of shots.

early morning sun is hard to beat, bouncing off a beautiful car.

lico

got chatted up by a very friendly viejito at the bomb life show in santa ana yesterday. two shows in one day, just like old times, right?

i'd seen a picture posted on instagram (hey slick51), and recognized the location. i inquired if it was from today, because i know he travels around from show to show a lot. he said it was.

i just happened to have to be in the area, so drove a little further down the street to see what might be there, though i was running a bit late for a show.

sure there probably weren't as many cars left in the lot as there might have been earlier, but plenty to shoot. i did have to get back home, so i just did a relatively quick run through.

i'd taken a picture of this freaky, different doll and the front of the car already. then a bit further down, was the viejitos tent. there sat raynbow and some other guys.

one of comes over, introduces himself and asks if i'd shot his car. says they call him lico, and then tells me the story of why. i hand him my card, he notices the back end of the fifty-nine on it, and some other car on the back of the card. then starts talking about how i should shoot the back of his car like this. has a wheel package on the back.

so he walks me over to show me what he's talking about. keeps talking while i proceed to shoot a few angles. was kind of a tight spot, against the hedge, so i sort of squish in a gap, and took this shot.

liked the little homie head on the placa.

was nice meeting you, lico.

wasn't there

early morning shot of this burb. owner talked to me later in the morning, and i took a few more shots, but i like the lighting better here. even if the hood is slightly popped open, and it's not in the other pictures. at least it isn't fully up...that's what she said.

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two equally excellent car shows occured this past sunday. but i didn't go to either one this year. not the first ones i've missed this year, but most of the others i was out of state, so...it's just been an upside down year, and other priorities are taking over.

i couldn't decide which of the two shows to go to, so chose neither. probably more importantly, with family in town (better half's, and mine), family should come first sometimes.

the previously mentioned invasion of a dozen or so relatives started friday; most left on sunday. left the two-month old baby behind for a few days to give the mother a break and more time with the two-year old. baby sleeps most of the day, so easy peasy. sister-in-law is gramma, so it's her problem, on top of helping with her own mother. i'm out of practice with dealing with babies, so most i've done is give it a bottle.

the birthday party was a success on saturday, too much food, huge cake. i still managed to sneak out to legg lake for los boulevardos' cruise to the lake show and bbq for a couple of hours beforehand. those pictures coming soon.

went to bed with a stomach ache, too much food, too much sun. slept in sunday. i could have gone to a show, but still felt, meh, so decided to take it easy, and went south to hang with my bro and parents. just stayed in oc for the night.

so here i am looking at my calendar for the next show, looking for flyers...maybe i'll just catch up with pictures i have for this weekend.

god's eye

went to the viejitos' annual car show yesterday. got there just after the club showed up, about six am.

parked under a tree, and a bird promptly crapped on my window. is that a sign?

went over and started shooting the line up. this was the first one i shot.

i actually talked to quite a few people during the four and a half hours i was there. i've promised to post pictures of a few in particular.

i'm hoping this belonged to the viejitos member who was first to greet me, and asked about where he might see it. said it was the cream color one, but i have two in my files, that are very similar, about that same location.

i believe he said his had the doll in front of it, but that was later in the day. i have that one too, but the angle i shot it, and the doll, isn't my favorite. but i thought i could see this god's eye in the window of that one, and it was in this one, so guessing the same car.