what's up?

good morning

it's just after six in the morning, on a monday. sitting here, at a fast food joint, not wanting to go to work.

survived another journey down the five freeway, with assholes driving / flying by at one-hundred miles an hour. can't believe anyone needs to drive that fast to get to work, so they are just assholes. went by so quick, didn't actually see their puckered faces. all i can say is, stay in your own effing lanes when you're trying to kill yourselves! i don't want to go with you.

apparently, seventy isn't fast enough.


saw this car while waiting for the dam(n) show to open on new year's day. early, freezing outside, we parked the car and took a turn about the streets, taking advantage of the parked show cars. this one had its lights on, so that was different. i suppose the people inside were just trying to keep warm.

wishing i'd done my usual ten shot exposures, instead of this three shot my better half said to try. i think even he admitted later, that maybe he should have just let me do my thang, as his shots weren't as great as he thought they'd be either.

no mad

i really hate going to walmart. well, i hate shopping, but walmart is a special hell. i'll go there maybe three times a year, usually just tagging along with my better half, who is a frequently visitor there.

tonight, he wanted to pick up a space heater, since he is about ready to call for a young priest and an old priest, to exorcise the ghost of the ancient wall heater in our room, which doesn't work, and the landlord won't fix it, but it is just perfect for hot flashes.

our last space heater went to his mom's room after her own heater crapped out. gotta keep the little old ladies toasty warm. myself, i prefer piling on the blankets, and adding or subtracting clothing as necessary.

anyway, walmart sucks. from the people zooming the wrong way in the parking lot, not stopping at stop signs, to people selling tamales out of their back seat. nah. didn't really see any outstanding 'people of walmart' oddities, so that entertainment was missing.

we wandered around the store, picking up items from his mom's shopping list. better half wanted hair goop for his long hairs (because he has hairs like a woman). turns out, they lock up the fancier stuff, in hair goop prison. then you have to hunt down an employee, who inevitably doesn't have the key with them, only to be told that if you aren't done shopping, they will have to leave it a particular register. same with razors. 

we wander around some more, do not find any heaters at all, which was the whole point of the trip. will either buy one online or i'll pick one up down in orange county, where most homes have built in air conditioning and heating, so more likely will have one in the store.

up to register fifteen, to free the prisioner hair goop. longish line, relative to the others. shopper currently being rung up, is staring blankly at the cashier for a minute after being given the total for her purchase. blink blink. then she slowly starts to dig through her purse for a credit card. fuuuuuuucccccckkkk.

after waiting for five minutes, the cashier lady is turning off her register sign, and we are being told go to the next one. better half is asking about how is he going to get his hair goop. he is assured that they will get it for him. he was ready to throw a tantrum he said. i asked if he would also add throwing himself on the floor and banging his head around, like his niece did the other day. he thought that might be a little too much this time.

i just want to leave. it's getting late, and i still want to post a picture. haven't been to many shows lately, so haven't really got anything to write about, and nothing else is pissing me off, so this will just have to do for now.

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haven't posted one of these in a while. mostly because i haven't seen one in a while. or one as nice as this. not quite sure i like the cadillac lights sticking out like cold temperature indicators, if you know what i mean, and they're just asking to have a baseball bat swung at them.

chrome and paint

the show last night at lowdown in uptown was fun. it was well attended, and drew so many classic cars, that the cops wanted to shut it down a few times for having an unauthorized car show.

i got my better half and went down there just when it was technically starting at five. only a few people inside, so actually could check out the artwork. the last couple of shows, it's been so jammed with people, i couldn't really appreciate the show. better half tried shooting a picture of me by my pieces, but i hate being in front of a camera, and just feel like a dork, and can't crack a smile. and he does a three shot burst with his little camera...and i'm supposed to hold still for all three shots. nope. i'm not sure if he got any worth keeping. whatever.

myself, i'm a big, shy, introvert, and just get very uncomfortable in a big crowd like that. instead, i can get behind the camera, and take advantage of the party goers' cars. we walked back to the house and got my cameras and headed back over. i can focus on the cars, and ignore the pack of people staring at me, and whatever i'm doing. not being a big old bitch, just coping.

anyway, i think this car belongs to the shop owners, so i'll start with that. best angle i could get, without standing out in the street, which wasn't closed...because it wasn't a car show, remember? thanks for letting me participate, and sorry for pestering you, to the point of just walking some pictures into the store to get an answer. the fun part of taking the pictures, is sharing them, so thanks for the opportunity.

olde wagon

so i skipped a small car show today. busy all week, and had things to do. like laundry. something to wear might come in handy sometime.

gotta get back out there, i don't have any stories to share that you'd care to hear. or maybe i'm just too tired to think right now.

planning to get up really early, before the butt crack of dawn and head to southgate tomorrow, for the azalea car show. always a good time. all the cars we like to shoot in one place. just need to be there before the sun comes up, and early sun, before the heat starts to evaporate the dew off the grass. then it's like a sauna.

haven't had time to work on my pictures all week, so i'll just pick a few to make up for it. how about i just post a few and just shut up?

nomadder what

stopped by original mikes yesterday, on my way to my parents' house. still hadn't made my dad his xmas taffy. it's his annual thing. first time i didn't have it ready for him on xmas day in like, forever. just ran out of time. figured i'd just make it at their house, it would be as fresh as can be.

i got there, and he had the idea in his head to use some of it to make popcorn balls. wtf. couldn't argue it out of him, so why not experiment.

i boiled up a double batch. he popped a bag of popcorn. burned it. he can't hear it stop popping, didn't notice the smell. so he did another, and i told him when to take it out.

i poured about half of the sticky tar into the bowl of popcorn. told him to let it cool a bit, so he doesn't burn his hands. typical guy, doesn't listen. he only waited a few minutes. then started shaping it into balls.

it worked in theory. it formed into balls, and held the shape. only when he was done did he realize he hadn't separated out the unpopped kernels.

the rest of the taffy, i pulled after it cooled off a lot. still not sure that it turned out as brittle as it should have been.  either way, brittle or soft, he usually ends up each new year with a dentist appointment to reglue a crown or two, and has been known to use super glue or epoxy to do it himself. but he wouldn't have it any other way.

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oh, and the lot was pretty full at original mikes. got there at almost one. lots of hoods up, so that winnows down the selection i'll bother with. this one had the hood up, and there was a group of people up at the front. so screw'em, i just pushed in on the part i like anyway, and ignored the parts i don't care about.

on 56, 57, 58, 59 chevys, it's all about the back end anyway. i'll shoot them, no matter what's going on up front.

shaggin’ wagon

getting ready to head over to the latin gents' monthly show. going to shoot some sunset pics for a change. then maybe dinner at disneyland. by myself. single-rider pass on a ride or two maybe. better half staying home playing with a camera, and then going to the market, supposedly.

hoping to get up early and drive out to pomona in the morning. doesn't look like rain at all. probably next week, when mooneyes happens.

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saw this wagon up at the end of the street at the old memories ela veteran's day show. was still getting shined up the first time i wandered past. fortunately, i went up and down the street a few times.

pretty car. not quite positive about the year. that's typical. sometimes, people actually send an email and let me know. sometimes, i won't even guess. 

green with touches of red—that's about as xmasy as i'm going to get. i think i'll print it out and hang it with others on my cube walls at work.

family affair

i've seen this wagon at a couple of shows now. i liked where it was parked here at the broiler, in a sea of chevys. was hard to get a clean shot of it, as there seemed to constantly be people ogling it. just had to wait patiently, and shoot quick to get it. 

need a ladder to get the glitter/airbrushed roof i suppose. i do like the pinstripe curlies on it.

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better half's birthday today. he doesn't want cake; pretty sure he wants pie... >:)

muy bueno

i've seen the famous bueno family impala several times now. another car that i just can't get enough of. so many details. airbrushing, etched chrome and pinstripes all over. can never get up high enough to shoot the roof of these kinds of things.

there's stephanie waiting patiently. i don't know her well enough to know what she's thinking, so i won't presume to guess. we pass each other at shows, and don't say much more than hello. i'm shy. she doesn't seem shy. so it's just me.

other people we ran into at this show expressed happiness that she was there, and getting out, making the effort to be out with people. i imagine it can't be easy.

saw her around the show later in the day, without a camera in her hand. that was unusual.

plain and simple

rather like when cars don't get all the bells and whistles that muck up the lines of the car.

last shot before i left the old memories show. sun was high and i was melting.

it is quite nice when the car is buffed to a fine shine. just don't like how it always captures my reflection as well as the lovely tripod.

stealthy

saw this pontiac out at the unidos show in walnut. can't remember seeing one before, so i had to take a few shots of it. i otherwise might have walked on by, since the back end was open, and you know how i am about hoods up; same for the trunk. or shoot real low and try to keep it out of the frame.

i think i like this one best, as there are no people in the shot and there are clouds in the sky.

the owner watched me for a little while then came over to ask if i sell pictures, answer is: sometimes. he's looking for something big, though he wasn't specific. 16x20? billboard? on metal? guess we'll see. he seemed sincerely interested, and had never even seen my work, so i hope he likes this one.

i liked the hood ornament: inspiration for, or inspired by the stealth bomber?