what's up?

bigger isn't always necessarily better

my better half bought himself a couple of new gigantor computer screens. Actually just some tv screens, that with a little hacking are now working as computer screens.

yesterday, he decided that i needed bigger screens to work on. nothing wrong with my current screens. threw in a better graphics card he had sitting around as well.

he was being nice. cleaned off the desk i work on, polished the wood desktop, dusted off all the fans and guts of my computer, and spent several hours figuring out why the new screens weren’t working properly with my computer. updated the drivers, wiggled wires, did some research online. needless to say, i was unable to use my computer yesterday evening.

this morning he told me that he had figured it out. he had two screens for me. one is ok, one is better. the better one is incompatible with my graphics card he installed. now he is online looking for a better card for his computer, and then i would get that hand-me down that he knows worked with these monitors.

so currently, i am working with the one big screen that does work, but not at it’s optimal resolution, but at least it isn’t flickering. i’m not as tall as my better half either, so this is probably the maximum size screen i’d use here, as i can’t adjust my chair any higher to find that sweet spot on the screen and not be straining my neck to view it.

the vibrancy and color are more muted on this screen versus my old one as well, so i have to calibrate my eyes for editing on this monitor.

this olds from chicano park is the first one i’ve fiddled with on this screen. what do you think? too dark, too light? sort of think too much shadow on the wheel and on the door. i’d rework it, but i’d rather start another car.

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.

————-

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…

——-

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.

santa anita

out at santa anita yesterday. sooooo many cars. third year, i’d say it’s a success. perfectly overcast cool weather until about noon, then it just turned into typical california sunny perfect weather. i still managed to get a sunburn either way.

nice to see the other photographers out there early too. they work those lenses and their instagrams show it. we all shoot the same cars, and each has their own sense of style. really good pictures out there. they are uploading lots since yesterday.

i am doing my usual, sorting through the pics, backing them up, and tagging the first few i promised to post first. but then i got sleepy, and took a nap. my nap lasted over four hours. better half figured i’d just sleep all night.

nope, woke up about eight pm, had some dinner. then couldn’t sleep. washed a sink full of dishes, then sorted more pictures. i like to tag them before i do anything with them. sixty-six gigabytes worth of pics…wasn’t moving as fast as i used to, or it would have been more, since the weather stayed cool longer.

next time i looked at the clock, it was one-thirty in the morning. went to bed, and mostly rolled around unable to sleep until about three am. anyway, my internal clock is off, i’m tired, and i don’t want to go to work tomorrow.

…..old chevy just drove by the house. beige with a brown roof, pinstripes on the trunk…heard it before i saw it….

owner of this harley came over to me some time after i’d shot it, to ask where he could see the shot. don’t remember meeting him before, so figured i’d start my posts with his bike. i like that he has bottle on the side. probably just uses it for water. i like that it is a coke-a cola bottle. i like coke; it’s bad for me, but i wouldn’t mind having one now. time for lunch…

quiet

currently sitting on my bed at my mom’s house. same bed i used to sleep in at my grandmother’s when i was ever so small. seemed much bigger then.

worked a little bit late today. grabbed some dinner and took it back to my condo, where i ate in silence, amongst my kid’s piles of junk. i’ve given her a deadline to move it out. she hasn’t said much to me since then.

thought about going for a walk, but i’m so very tired. so back here at mom’s, and she is off at church. sings in the choir. gives her something to do.

but the house is so quiet without my dad shuffling around, though i hear every creak. said hello to his box of ashes, which isn’t the same. one of these days i’ll have a good cry, but the slow tears work just as good.

today was back to gloomy, sprinkly weather. i like that just fine.

have to take some pictures tomorrow for work. i don’t have time for it, but will do it anyway. it’s payday, so i won’t stress about it too much.

————

thought this plymouth turned out ok. should have rubbed out those bullet hole stickers…they are so stupid…but i sort of didn’t care to take the minute to do that. this club has cars painted with the brightest colors of the rainbow; maybe it’s a requirement to join?

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.