what's up?

sunshine

life can’t be all chevrolets and rainbows. sometimes i shoot the bikes, if they are more remarkable than off the shelf.

caught this one just before the gang were either getting ready to leave, or to just hang out by the bikes. had to change the angle of the shots to try to keep most of them out of the picture.

love the airbrushing and chrome. i hope they got it home before the rain started.

good riddance 2020

been so long since i wrote anything here, or even turned on my computer, that my computer is basically dead. at a minimum, it needs a new power button. better half will fix it when he has time, and/or will have to build me a new one at some point.

i know i took this pic of a very blue on blue cycle in west covina, at manny’s el loco. (i think they closed down not too long ago). i really can’t remember if this was a fundraiser for something, or a memorial show. i’d have to look through pics from that day, which i can’t, since as i said, my computer isn’t working. I vaguely think someone had died, and the show was in his honor.

pretty bike. there’s some good airbrushing going on all over the fenders and tank, as well as some elaborate chromework etching.

this past year sucked massively.

do i need to state the most obvious reason? pesky virus.
car shows cancelled.
office closed. job got really stressful.
restaurants closed.
mother-in-law died in june.
better half allows me to visit him in whittier as long as i wear a mask.
my computer is not working.
ex mother-in-law died new year’s eve.

let me explain a few of those bullets, since a few sound pretty sketch when typed.

the virus did a trickle down to several of those points:

my ex mother-in-law topped off the year, by checking out new year’s eve. in spite of living in a house with people that did have the virus, and being in direct contact, she did not get it, and died age ninety-six.we’ll miss you, guadalupe — my ex mother-in-law topped off the year, by checking out new year’s eve. in spite of living in a house with people that did have the virus, and being in direct contact, she did not get it, and died age ninety-six.
we’ll miss you, guadalupe

my office closed, as did most every office. i have worked from home—the front room at my mom’s house—since march. mom loves it; the dog beast loves it; better half doesn’t love it so much, but believes it’s best i stay with her.
with the work computer sitting here 24/7, i sometimes find myself easily working into the evening sometimes, just to meet deadlines, or when there’s nothing better to do. they’re hiring more people, so it’s getting more manageable. i do miss seeing my coworkers everyday, but dammit, i do love rolling out of bed five minutes before start time, and working in my jammies all day. i can probably count on one hand the number of times i’ve bothered wearing a bra, dressing in “work” clothes, and wearing real shoes. flip flops are my daily footwear anymore.
i’d taken several months off from going to car shows before this mess sent everyone into hiding. just when i got out of my doldrums and wanted to head out, they evaporated. sure there are cruises now, but they aren’t really conducive to my photography. i did manage to make it out to one show at xmas time, in between shut downs, so there’s that.
my computer not working, makes it a wee bit difficult to put up new pics. i wanted to work on one this past weekend, but it refuses to power on. even if i kick it, or whisper sweet cuss words in it’s fan vent, not entirely under my breath.
sort of miss being able to go dine in at restaurants. as it is, i bring the food home, and the stupid dog sits nearby, staring at my meal and drooling, waiting for any scraps. he’s as tall as the table, so you can’t really hide anything from his view. he’s getting better, and laying down until invited over, but he still has his moments when he’s all up in your food, at your elbow. drooling on the table. really gross.
with my kid that lives here, out and about, hanging with her friends, my better half thinks it’s safer for him if i mostly stay here with my mom. it’s good for her, as she is never alone in the house. good for him, as he can get things done at home. i do visit him once a week if i can manage it, just to keep him sane.
better half’s mother died. not from the virus; she was just old. almost made it to ninety-four. it was during an ease in visitor restrictions at the hospital, so she was not alone, he and his niece were there with her. now he fills his days with work, and evenings following her directions in getting rid of her things and shredding paperwork.

the year wasn’t all bad.

got my first grandkid on valentines day. they changed her middle name to valentina.
took an amtrak trip across the country with my better half, picked up and drove home with my younger brother, along route sixty-six.
son and his family are buying their first home, so yay, i’ll finally get my condo back.
better half and i will be moving to said condo. i don’t think he’s ever lived behind the orange curtain. it’s going to be too small for both of us, so no doubt, we’ll have to look for something else eventually. that, or we won’t be able to climb stairs as we get older and fatter, and probably not wiser.

so, looking forward to this new year, and being able to get back to whatever normal will be now.

tippy toes

quick post, since i’m up late, and only in town for the night.

made it out to pico park last weekend, for the together car club’s toy drive. met their president, who greeted me warmly.

i had only a couple of hours to get out, or i would have headed to another show, but there were enough cars there to fill the time.

i really haven’t been out to a show in a few months, so this was good enough, and not too far from the house.

i’ve seen this bike before, i think over at frisco’s a couple of years ago. it’s posted here somewhere. that was a night shot. here in the bright mid-day sun, you can really appreciate the paint and the airbrushing all over it.

i am sort of wondering what the thing above the headlights is; at this point, i’m calling it the sorting hat from harry potter. is this bike for slytherin?

who knows when i’ll ever have enough time to work on a lot of pictures again, so i’ll just go ahead and put up some preliminary thumbnails of some of the shots i took below.

power on, garth

well that didn’t last long. power back on just under two hours. so much for my game. just posting to end the game. back to work on today’s pics if my files aren’t corrupted.

——-

bike from the bomb club show at santa anita in june. fortunately, i shot low enough, that you can’t see the little car that was parked a bit behind it.

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…

tgif

busy week. so burnt out, i didn’t know why the parking lot exit gate wouldn’t go up for a minute.

then i realized i was angrily waving my iphone at the sensor instead of the transponder.

hoping to get to whittier at some point tomorrow...i’m so tired.

———

harley from last year’s bomb club show at santa anita. wonder if they will have figured out what’s killing the horses by the next show in july. lots of cars/lots of horsepower...

——- -

happy birthday to my big bro...who is just now flying to saõ paolo.

family first

so many car shows yesterday, and i did not go to a one. sucks. as my better half says, "responsibility is a heavy responsibility." meaning, work and family before fun.

family is in town with a new baby - one that was kept secret from us until i noticed a facebook post on another family member's post. better half's mom just had her ninety-first birthday, so i guess the baby was somewhat of a surprise visit.

at least having other people in the house, allowed my better half and myself a chance to go out to dinner for the first time in months.

better half's mother still a priority. so i made another batch of enchiladas.

better half bought a new carpet cleaner. it really sucks. i mean it really cleans. literally did half of the carpets to see comparison of before and after and wow, even on this old crap carpet it's like night and day. wish the landlord would just tear it out and let the wood floors be.

meant to go to pomona this morning, but we were up so late last night, it didn't happen, and now it's already too hot for me. i am considering maybe a show in lakewood, where i know there is some shade, and better half can go shop at costco. i suppose next month the fair is in town, so no swap meet, right? maybe by the next one, it will be cooler? ha!

cool bike from the bomb club show. out in the parking lot, waiting for the go ahead to head to the infield. interesting airbrushing, and leather seat - is it ostrich? slap a few skulls on it and call it done.

a weekend | part 4

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

after the show, i sat like a zombie in the hotel room for a few hours. watched tv, my head bobbing many times, as i'd temporarily fall asleep, but i didn't want to sleep.

finally hopped a red train out to seaport village, mid-afternoon. too early for dinner. zombie walked over to the ben & jerrys and got a scoop of strawberry ice cream in a waffle cone. yes, overly expensive ice cream, was what hit the spot. sort of a tradition, but my better half wasn't with me, so it wasn't as good.

i settled down on the edge of a planter to eat it, and watched the provided entertainment—a pan pipe whistle blower guy. if you watched that episode of south park, you know he's keeping the world a safer place.

back at the hotel, watched a couple of hours of mindless repeat episodes of some show i used to watch, to kill time. also took a great deal of pleasure staring out the window, watching the stumbling drunk bimbos trying to walk down a small flight of steps, and into the street. total strangers having to stop them from getting hit by cars, or getting into cars with random men. never understood the need to drink to get blitzed that much. hope they enjoyed waking up the next morning.

didn't know where to go for dinner, but knew i was running out of energy to get it. finally decided i was on vacation, so just roll with it, and not worry that anything was going to cost too much. i wanted meat. not going to be an in-n-out anywhere nearby. decided i'd just find a steak. looked up menus of nearby restaurants, and the price of little eight-ounce chunks of cow were forty bucks and up.

i remembered we used to have a joking argument with a former coworker about who had better steak—ruths chris or mortons. he argued mortons because it's where his family had always gone, had gone for his engagement party, etc.

we argued ruths chris because of the food. it's great, even if it is pricey.

san diego has both. ruths chris was just a red train and a bit of a walk away. been there. it's excellent.

mortons happened to be about a block away. have never been, so went there out of curiousity. no reservation and just after five, so took a chance they could squeeze in a single person. they did, in spite of my scruffy car show jeans and t-shirt outfit. seated me at a nice table in the back. very dark in there. restaurant still pretty empty, but noisy nevertheless.

like ruths chris, everything was a la carte. they brought out a loaf of bread while i looked the menu over. like the diameter of an elephant's foot loaf of bread. sliced off a chunk, and slapped some butter on it. and was disappointed that it wasn't the best bread i ever tasted. took a few bites to be sure, and no, didn't like it.

ordered just a steak and a baked potato, and a coke. turned on my ipad and waited. i'm sure they don't often get a patron lighting up an ipad very often, so i got a few awkward stares from other diners. they were loud, and rude. i ignored them.

the food shows up. waiter stands by with the condiment thingy, wanting to load up my potato to my satisfaction. he seemed disappointed that i only wanted butter on it. then when i started to add salt and pepper from the shakers on the table, was sad that i did want them to run off and fetch the big pepper mill.

my final opinion of mortons: the food was average. the steak wasn't flavorful, the potato was huge, but it was just a potato. i skipped the creme brulee that i would usually have. i could have had the same meal for a fifth of the price, albeit less salty, at sizzlers.

so eric, i think i will just stick with ruths chris for special occasions. you should try it sometime. even the garlic mashed potatoes will rock your world.

after that very pricey meal, back to the hotel to soak my disappointment out in the tub. packed up my bags, so i could sleep in, and be ready to go quickly.

to be continued...

sunday sunday sunday

spent the day at home, watching my mother-in-law, whilst the better half ran to the market(s), and playing with pictures. ordered some more business cards for my non-business...one hundred new ones...collect the set.

here's a motorcycle for a change. it was highly detailed, with etched chrome all over, airbrushed and pinstriped, custom leather-worked seat. well worth a look.

off to a start...

new year. new day.

started well so far. for some bizarre reason, i thought i had january second off, same as we had the day after xmas off the week before. and i was enjoying it; slept in until nine, had breakfast, watched some inane youtube videos, and was about to start working on some pictures.

then i went back to the bedroom to get my ipad and phone. picking up the phone, noticed i'd missed an hour old text message from one of my coworkers asking if i was ok. wtf?

texted her back asking what/why? ten minutes later she responded asking if i was coming in or taking the day off. i'd missed a telecon, and no one had heard from me.

so after pleading idiocy, told her i'd be there by noon. first time i'd ever ever screwed up like that in all the years i've been working.

then i get to the office, and by one o'clock, i'm being asked/told i need to do a photo-shoot of someone for a press release—and they'll be there at two.

i haven't touched a camera in three months. hadn't set up the lighting equipment in three months or more. my brain is not thinking clearly. i looked at some old notes, then texted my better half for what camera settings i should use because he is a tech and camera geek, and dragged the equipment out of the closet.

asked if the other designer could come help me set up. he usually does the videos, and had used everything recently. he was out to lunch, but would be there soon.

so i set stuff up from memory, and it was mostly fine. only the camera was set up for video, and i had to surf through the menus, to make sure everything was good for a portrait. but it was still set for video, blinking standby.

the other guy shows up, i explain it isn't doing what i want, and that i haven't touched a camera for a while, and i'm sort of already having a weird day. he walks over and turns the dial on the camera from movie to manual. omg. duh, so basic.

manual setting wasn't working for me, lights weren't bright enough, didn't want to crank up the iso and add noise. flipped to aperture, like i'm used to shooting cars.

by then, i realize i've left my ipad in my car, because my day is already screwed up, and i have ten minutes before the person is supposed to be there. got there and back with a few minutes to spare. and i have to pee. no time, don't think about it.

then, i hadn't had lunch, so i start feeling dizzy. i think now, it was mostly nerves. suck it up, it will be over soon.

next, i hear the guy will be half an hour late. whew. more time to worry, but at least i can go take a leak.

when they finally do show up, it takes all of five minutes, got the shot, and they were gone. all that for a quick shot. and it turned out all right. i even managed to seem cheerful, to undercut how uncomfortable i was with humor. told them about my day so far, and got a smile from them, so it worked. i'm an idiot, nice to meet you.

so i guess, when i do go out to a car show again, i will be ok. muscle memory will kick in, not to worry. just got to get my eyes refocused, and get my head back in the game.

shot this bike in late november, at the latin gents/dukes toy drive. i think it might be with the majestics club, or maybe it was just parked near their pop-up. mostly, i think i liked the paint job, as it was otherwise, just a harley.