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early bird gets

we went to chicano park yesterday.

stupid early. parked not too far on the other side of the freeway, and walked back, in the dark, to the beginning of logan street, where the cars would be parked.

we used to get there way early and there would be cars lined up, waiting to get in. we heard this year, the organizers were different and younger, and they thought it would be a good idea to have a car show on a holiday weekend. out with the old, in with the new. let’s not next year, maybe? sometimes your elders know what they’re talking about.

well, there were a few cars at five a.m. this was my first picture of the morning. really incredible paint job. not sure whether to praise the vehicle or the artist, but dayum. so nice.

even later, after eight a.m., there were not as many cars as a typical chicano park show. not completely complaining, and I know there were other shows going on the same day elsewhere. still had fun, but yeah, there were plenty of spaces available for parking, and a lot of the usual clubs were not there.

The weather was perfect, not too cold even that early. went through a couple of batteries pretty quickly. then around eight, my tripod decided to lose a leg and i thought my day was done.

my better half watched me trying to piece the thing back together, patiently. after about half an hour of thinking about it, i finally got the pieces in the right order, but I didn’t have a tool to tighten it up to see if it would stay on.

was resigned to having to leave, but my dear better half set me up with his tripod. he doesn’t mind shooting hand held; i can’t hold still long enough.

before we left, about ten-thirty, it seemed the usual throng of people were arriving and crowding the road. knew it was time to go, when they just start walking through your shots to get theirs.

low men in yellow coats drive big, shiny cars

a stephen king novel, this isn’t, but this kinda feels like a car he would mention in his novels, driven by bad men. polished to a brilliance of hot honey in a fall heat wave.

he often weaves intricate narratives that explore themes of life and death. there are parallels to the allure of shiny cars that represent freedom and aspiration. glimmering under the sun, these cars evoke feelings of nostalgia and excitement, much like king’s vivid characters who navigate the thin line between the living and the supernatural.

oooh, slipping into collegiate term paper lingo for a sec. <shake it off>

this car, at the día de los muertos car show, was in primo parking at the front door of the show host, casita del pueblo.

many altars were set near cars, celebrating loved ones who have passed away. sugar skulls and marigolds were in abundance, though i think it was too early in the morning that this guy hadn’t set anything up yet. i think he might have moved to another location later—i’d have to look through photos of that day to remember.

redundant theme, if you’ve read much of this online confessional, is a continual fight to balance too much work and not enough sleep.

i have shows i hope to get to on the calendar, and another couple that club members have asked if better half and i could attend. i’m always having an internal struggle to yank myself out of a nice, warm bed and get my ass to los angeles super early to shoot some pics.

better half has been exceptionally eager to go shoot his camera and some lightly used glass, but if i don’t go, he doesn’t seem to go. he loves to tell a whole, now often embellished story of the one time i sent him to a viejitos show alone because i was sick—the gist of it—i sent him to the correct location, just a week early. lol.

he’s retired, gets plenty of sleep, and has all the time in the world.

i still have a few years to go until i hit some magic number, where i’m comfortable enough to consider retirement. it’s bad enough that i wake up every morning wanting to say eff it and quit, but i think most everybody dreams of that.

been doing more than forty hours lately, going to sleep late, and juggling time at home vs time at my mother’s house. sometimes helping one of my kids out with my time as well.

car shows fall by the wayside until i have more energy, or just have the need to do something creative and not work related.

sleep gets interrupted by thoughts of the next day’s workload, or figuring out a better way to complete a design problem. what’s a girl to do?

at least better half and i have been trying to exercise more and eat better. he’s lost a lot of his “equator” by getting to a swimming pool for a couple hours most every morning, rain or shine. i could join him for maybe an hour, if i really wanted to, but i just can’t convince myself to hit the pool when the weather is in the forties. or if i did make it into the water, it would be too cold to get out of it.

maybe when summer comes.

i’m so tired. my freshly washed hair is about dry enough, i guess i’ll try to catch the sandman.

charitable

i received an email last week from someone who’d seen my better half and i shooting out at pomona. asked if they could see some pics of their black forty-seven chevy.

luckily for them, there were not so many cars there, otherwise, it would have been a question of “which one?”

i responded promptly, that i was super busy at work—i totally am —but that i’d have my better half look through his pics to share until i could look through mine.

not saying that it bothered me that my response wasn’t acknowledged, since i’d later forwarded some of better half’s pics of it, but it would have been polite. i guess the thank you in the original email will have to suffice. maybe they went to junk mail.

so here’s another cloudy pic that i fiddled with the other day, one which happened to have been a long awaited rainy day (it rained most of last week). pretty sure it’s the car they were asking about.

i have a hard time unwinding after a long day at work, and can’t sleep, so i took the time to flip through my photos and find it. i had a side view of it as well, but i wasn’t thrilled with it.

if you’d like to see my better half’s pics of this car, check them out on his website.

going to throw in a shameless plug for my daughter’s dog rescue, in case you’re feeling charitable and love dogs and cats.

she lives in hell, i mean bakersfield, where there are so many strays, they either will die of starvation, get hit by cars, be abused, suffer heatstroke or freezing to death, or a combo of those. unfixed animals fare no better, and unwanted puppies do not thrive. she’s doing her best to help them, but she’s looking for funding for food, transporting them to no-kill shelters, medical care and fosters. her heart is in the right place, and where there’s a will, there’s a way, as they say. thank you in advance for whatever spare change you might have.

a weekend

better half and i got off our butts this weekend, and hit up a couple of events, heavily attended by cars to our liking.

not difficult for him, since he wakes up at three in the morning every day for no reason at all, but lately, i prefer to sleep in on my weekends. i was the one that mentioned wanting to go to said events, so i managed.

my older brother and his wife were in town visiting my mother. being from the east coast, we invited them to join us at the pomona swap meet this past sunday. apparently, they also like to sleep in, but rallied, and were up and going when we stopped to pick them up at four a.m.

we were in the unusually short line to the gate before five. apparently, the threat of rain kept people away, at least until they woke up and noticed it was hardly a sprinkle. while not as impressive in the quantity of cars in the show area, as there are in the summer, my bro was still quite impressed. they went off to wander the aisles of things for sale, whilst better half and i headed off to do our thing.

was wonderfully cool…i do so hate the heat of summer. the off and on sprinkles of rain before sunrise did not deter us. better half had brought several camera lenses to play with. i stuck with what i know, and tried to refamiliarize myself with my camera.

better half seemed to ambush cars as they arrived, with the owners barely parked, before he was asking for headlights to be left on. i caught a shot of this red truck, after he had his pics, and still chatting with the owner.

i could have happily kept shooting until the swap meet closed, but my bro and his wife had already wandered through the booth area, the cars for sale, and were getting hungry for brunch, so we stopped.

they also wanted to leave. things that caught their eye wouldn’t fit on the carry on luggage, and my brother was in danger of buying a car, but couldn’t decide between two, and knowing he had no other spaces to park one back at home.

brunch in uptown whittier, before going home, where my better half took a long nap, while i downloaded my pics from a busy weekend, followed by a hard time choosing which to start first...

missing my bro

wow, time flies. saw this car back in twenty-three, out at the riverside show n go. used to be an all-weekend show, but has shrunk to a friday evening and all-day saturday, run of downtown riverside, with cars parked all along the streets, cruising as they please. great opportunity to shoot both night and day shots, sunrise and sunset. stay at a hotel there, come and go to the show as needed.

actually was looking through old hard drives, and realized i had only posted a couple of pics from this show, got busy, and forgot about the more than three-hundred other photos i took that weekend. must not have been terribly hot, or there wouldn’t have been so many pics taken.

true, i get too busy to post anything, but not very often do i forget to go back and look through what was a full day and evening of shooting. as always, i started tagging pictures to post when i get time, but i probably have thousands at this point, so what’s a girl to do?

anyway, on a quick glance, there were a dozen that caught my eye, but this one suited my mood for the time being.

probably should get a taller tripod, or step back a bit more to avoid the little hint of distortion from the camera lens, but i thought this was still a decent shot of this car.

went to a memorial service for my younger brother today. i can’t believe he’s been gone not quite four months already. it still just feels like he just hasn’t come to visit my mom in a while.

early-on, i took a picture of the crowd—his wife said more than two-hundred people had rsvp’d, but when i took the shot, it was still closer to a hundred.

he would have loved it. people we grew up with, people he went to college with, his navy buddies, former co-workers all gathered to reminisce, as well as to enjoy seeing old friends. so many stories being told.

a couple of the guys that lived across the street, that i hadn’t seen since we were in high school showed up. i hadn’t recognized them as they walked past, but i guess they recognized me, and called after me. said they recognized my eyes. we’d all gotten older, and i would have never known it was them. so that was nice.

our mother, just turned ninety, was constantly surrounded by people sharing their memories, and i think that made her happy.

a table was set with things from his life: one of his flight helmets from his helicopter days; medals from his military sevice, and folded flag; pictures of his family, souveneirs from his career as an fbi agent [say it like keanu reeves] at lax; a letter to the family, signed by president biden; and more. his favorite drink was mountain dew, and favorite breakfast was kids cereals, so cans of the dew were included, and several containers of fruit loops and lucky charms were sat between the serious memorabilia.

a slideshow ran on a large screen off to the side. catered tables of sandwiches, cheeses, and cookies were visited by the crowd.

both his kids got up to speak. i don’t know how they got through reading their thoughts out loud, but they did. he would have been, and was, very proud of them, and in the scheme of things, they were his biggest accomplishments.

several people, from different parts of his life, got up to speak about him, as you do at these events. they all ultimately said the same things, he was the most kind, professional, funny, compassionate, great friend, social butterfly, and loving person they’d ever hope to meet.

my better half says he was the type of person that you’re all the better for knowing, or something to that effect.

and now there’s another empty chair at our holiday table, and a lot less laughter.

i miss him. and that’s all i want to say about that.

wet

just out of the shower, and waiting for my hair to dry. better half has already drifted off to sleep. windows are open, and chilly air is wafting into the room…much preferred over the summer heat. it will feel so good to slip in under the winter blankets, knowing i don’t have to get up early tomorrow.

flipping through some older pics, and this one is so shiny, it looks as wet as my hair feels.

older pic from twenty-nineteen, from a random barbeque at legg lake. doesn’t appear to be very busy—either because of the pandemic at the time, or possibly some other car show going on the same afternoon. i’d have to dig up my archives to see what else was there, but i’m too tired right now.

i guess i’ll look through pics from a few shows we went to recently…so many to choose from…saved up for the rainy days coming soon. :)

tis the season

2024 dia de los muertos in whittier. went out of our way, and planned to be there. fortunately, the weather played nice for me, and we were able to stay until around noon, before it got too hot, and crowded with people.

early in the morning, while cars were still rolling in, we found many outstanding cars. we were able to shoot a bunch before too many observers gathered around, or before the altars got set up. some we shot, then found them later in a different spot, so we shot again.

this really nice caddy stayed put, out front of the old folks’ home.

added bonus, there’s the “mayor” of whittier there, probably preaching to a friend. he’s a nice guy. sounded like he’s had a tough few months since i’d last chatted with him. same, brother, same.

i used to be all about halloween. i’ve got a big box of costumes from years’ past. my daughter typically has rifled through it by now, and pulled out some favs. now the box is somewhere in storage, and the memories are in tatters or rotting away in the heat. that might make some of them even better…

tonight i’ll be tossing candy at what few kids come by at my mom’s house. never can tell if there will be a lot or no costumed visitors, but at least this year, she got candy i like. tootsie rolls will probably pull out my fillings, and the chocolate will probably go straight to my waistline. oh well.

aware

i think i’m trying to block the sadness i’m feeling from losing my brother with something that makes me happy—going to cars shows and posting pictures again. it’s a nice distraction. i’ve missed it. i don’t miss the heat.

i am supposed to be scanning old family slide carousels to digital, but the little scanner my older brother loaned to my mom sort of sucks. fifty slides in, i decided to check the quality. i’m not liking the color. i guess i’ll reset the little scanner to the defaults, and just be done with it. but i’d rather work on my cars…

this week, better half and i decided to go to the latin gents’ cancer awareness cruise. forgot to bring my hat, but i did smear sunblock on before we left the house. i am aware that my pale skin and genetics will predispose me to a lovely sunburn, at the very least.

better half had to be out until about one in the morning, so we both slept in a bit later than we otherwise would have liked. we didn’t arrive until after ten, and the sun was cooking already.

we spent about an hour, shooting just two aisles of cars, before i needed a break from the sun. we went into carl’s jr for about another hour, having a burger and chugging some water. figured the light wasn’t going to change much in the middle of the day to make a difference in the pictures anyway.

only spent another hour and a half after that, and i’d had enough sun for the time being.

this is one of the latin gents’ club’s cars. i don’t remember a red fleetmaster from anywhere, but i haven’t been going out much the last couple of years, so that doesn’t mean anything.

silly us, after this show, we decided we’d drive out to legg lake, and check out the bbq show going on there. another forty minute drive, we could cool off in the air conditioned car, and be ready to take more pics.

well, we drove to the gate on rosemead boulevard, which was closed, but had a sign to take the freeway one exit to another gate. this allowed us to pass by where the cars should’ve been. well, by about two pm, there really wasn’t too much there to justify paying the entrance fee, so we skipped it. headed back to our old hood in uptown whittier, and better half picked up some overly zealously garliced chicken and some sides at the chicken koop. it’s currently stinking up the refrigerator. he says it’s very good, but i haven’t ever tried it. maybe another day.

headed home after, and we both took naps for a few hours.

thinking about hitting up huffarama next weekend, if the fires in the area are out…

easy rider

been busy with work all week, and exhausted by evening. but it’s friday, and my better half is out doing some work. home to myself, so not bothering him with my movies playing in the background, while i sit in the dark in front of a very bright monitor, playing with a picture.

we’re thinking about going out to a show or two tomorrow. maybe flip a coin, as i can’t stay out in the heat too late in the day. or i could just keep fiddling with last week’s pictures. there’s never enough time.

here’s one of the few bikes that showed up last week. at least the only one i bothered to take a picture of.

my favorite point of view is down low, for bikes like this. they just seem more grand. just a typical motorcycle, but lots of chrome to catch the light.

back to it

we decided to get of the house today. try to get happy again, after the terrible stuff earlier in the month.

got up early, and headed out to the southeast classics fundraiser at pico park. i figured it would have enough cars to keep me happy, while i figure out how to use my camera again. better half came with me, he’d never been to a meet up at that park, and he wanted to play with some of his lenses that he’d never really had a chance to test out.

we started around the side of the building, after finding a bench to pull the cameras out of the bags. better half thought we should have left earlier, once he saw the cars already there. official roll-in was at eleven am, but here we were at just past eight.

this was the first car i took shots of. i liked the color. i took some pics of the back end, but didn’t like them so much, with a couple of modern vehicles in the background.

the owner enquired where he might see a picture of his car, as i was waiting for my better half to finish taking pictures, for a change. the sun came out after ten, so i was overheating, as usual, and was ready to go.

overall, it was a good turnout. more cars were showing up as we were leaving, but we were done.