curly

had a busy day. could have gone to three or four, even five car shows today. instead, went to one show twice, and another show in between. confusing, i know. first show, i guess the drive-in time is 9am; i got there about 10:30ish. three, maybe four cars there. then one of the guys comes over and says the show doesn't really start until one. that explains it. but why post a move-in so early on a sunday morning? everyone's at church, right? 

anyway, drove down to another show, which had the usual bunch of cars. took a few shots, and left to find some lunch. then back to the other show. more cars, so i was happy.

then, i think i'd had enough sun, and skipped any other shows i was thinking about.

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this car isn't from either one. busy downloading those pics now.

showlows car from last weekend. i like pinstripes. these aren't perfect and symetrical. a little off, but i still like it.

has bean

can't pass by a pontiac without shooting the indian.

i've got a few shots of the car, but i'm not so impressed with them. not liking the other cars and pop up tents in the background. don't know why, since that's how i find them most of the time. maybe if i look at it again another day, i'll like it better and post it.

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spent the morning doing a lot of driving. drove my better half down to the optometrist, where he got in trouble for not going in for a couple of years. he'll have new glasses soon enough.

then drove back, avoiding the eff-up on the freeway at valley view, where they are doing construction or something all weekend.

stopped at the market. cooking up pots, or more seemingly, vats of beans today. never made them before, and my better half was whining the other day that his mom hadn't made any for a while. i finally asked her to show me how to make them for him, so we had to pick up ingredients.

first market didn't have everything we needed. second market didn't have the pig cankles, so i had to go to a third market for those.

anyway, spent the afternoon doing that. the house smells like onions and jalepeños. better half chopped/obliterated onions in some sort of device he'd bought at the swap meet. his mom sifted through the uncooked beans for the defects and dirt, and told stories of when she was a girl doing the same for her mother.

so it kinda seems like they did most of the work and i just wrote down and followed her directions and stirred the pots. fine by me, i'm not going to eat them.

results are mixed, probably because of the different sizes of the pots used. better half just dumped one pot as being way too salty. says one pot is probably perfect, the other two probably could have cooked a bit longer...not my fault...his mom said they were done time-wise. i didn't think they looked the same as the first batch. whatever. they'll eat them anyway. i'll try again some other time. maybe buy more big pots to cook with, so they all cook at the same rate.

ya, i hate cooking. i'd rather bake cookies and bread. way better than beans.

chicken

i've shot this car before. and i see it often parked out in front of his business, when i pass by on the way home. sometimes think about stopping and shooting it up against the brick background, but then chicken out and/or don't have the camera with me. something about invading their personal space, when they're not at a show.

his buddy armando said i should just go ahead and stop...he'd love it. i guess that'd be the case of most owners—to have more pictures of their cars and people that admire their pride and joy, right?

everyone, except richard, of course.

san bernardino shirt guy's truck

so my better half talked to the owner of this truck. well, i did ask about the shirt he was wearing, from a car show in san bernardino, if it was a good show, etc. he said it was a three-day event, and cars drove around the lake. so it may be worth checking out someday.

anyway, he asked my better half to take some pictures of his truck. closed the hood for him. 

he usually mentions these requests to me, and i usually follow up and shoot a few as well, since i know how infrequently he posts his pictures anymore. he told the guy to give him a few days to several months when he handed him his card.

he does have cool cards—double thick, with pictures of cars on the back, his "now we dance like sprockets" portrait on the other side. if you've checked out his about me page, you'll know what i'm talking about. i like the feel of mine better, the paper is more silky. i digress...

anyway, thought i'd post one of the truck, so maybe he can see it. otherwise, he'll be waiting a while...

a model car

here's the other car. quick post. time for bed.

an original

took the better half to the showlow's fifth anniversary show in pico rivera yesterday. pretty good turnout. more than last year; not as much as the year before that. perfect weather. overcast that didn't burn off until after noon, and it didn't get too hot. gotta love that.

was shooting pictures of an acquaintance's car, when a couple of his buddies came over to say hello, and tell me they'd heard about me, and could i shoot their cars too.

ya, i'd already shot one of this car before they had walked over, but i went back and shot a couple more. i liked these better anyway.

i'll post the other guy's car shortly. i think i'll be too busy at work the next couple of days to get to others.

in your face

“Since I’m inarticulate, I express myself with images.”
- Helen Levitt

saw this quote on some photography blog somewhere. i think it fits me pretty well too. i can show you what i saw and loved better with a picture, rather than trying to tell you about it.

ask my brother what i thought about our trip to london six years ago. he was so unsure if i had fun, he called my better half to ask if i said anything. of course, i hadn't said much at the time more than, "it was ok." but i took a ton of pictures.

and now if i see stuff about london on tv, its, "oh, i saw that."

bigger wallflower would be hard to find.

quite the opposite of this buick. all that chrome coming at you. big bullets. lots of teeth in that smile. and a shine you could use as a mirror. even in the shade.

tricicleta

don't know why i'm posting this one. i didn't give them a card.

this kind of bugged me. not the bike. not the kid(s). not the music he was blaring out of the box tied on the back of his trike, at least in a different setting. he/they kinda held still long enough for my shot.

the thing was the rap/crap he was blaring was blabbering on about fuckin', asses, eff yah, shit, etc.

that doesn't bother me. i love throwing out f-bombs all day, every day. it wouldn't be my first choice in music, but that isn't it.

i think it's that, how old is that kid? he can't be older than ten, right? why the fuck doesn't it bother his mother/father that he's listening to that shit, much less blaring it at the show? i know, he/they think its cool and hip. part of the car culture? gimme angel baby oldies any day. kids don't need that crap at that age. actually, the grown ups don't need it either. it's crap. sounds stoooopid. but whatever.

the kid isn't smiling. that music isn't the kind to be happy with. not even to be bored by. gotta look tough. cuz somehow by extension, you're gangsta cuz ur listening to tuff muzak. have you really listened to the words? idiotic most of the time. you're so fly. <ending rant>

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i heard a kid arguing with his mother/guardian/whoever yesterday at pollo loco. teenager. full of angst. wanted to drop out of school. argued he could get a job, the usual kid think. it's so easy. didn't want to do the work at school.

wanted to go slap him silly. dumbass. i've known the type...old relatives. he'll end up working his ass off harder then he ever would have doing homework, if not just sitting on his ass all day, living off everyone around him.

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ya, ya. neither situation is my business. must be the hormones...wait...holy crap...i'm turning into my mother!!! aaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

wrong photographer

my better half mentioned that he'd received an email from someone looking for pictures of his truck. said my better half had taken pictures of it at this show in gardena, and he wanted a copy cuz he's selling it or something.

there's been a few back and forths about it, and it didn't sound like a happy ending in their exchange.

for one thing. my better half has never gone to a show in gardena. that'd be me. twice now. don't know how he got the email address in that case. 

there's always that second consideration my better half mentions a lot. a lot. he thinks they're scared to ask me. he's my middleman. he's my cheery side. i'm dark and twisty. he compares me to wednesday on the addams family...i wanna be perky...but i'll scare the other kids if i smile too fake-like.

he gets random requests like this once in a while. and most of the time, when he mentions it to me, ya, it was me they should be asking.

so from what he told me, i think it's this truck. i have a back end view of it too, but it was pretty tight, so it looks a mile long. it looks too green on my monitor. not how i remember it. guess i'll have to tweak it and tone it down.

so, boo.

training

riding on amtrak to san diego right now. haven't been on a train trip since my kids were little and we'd go visit relatives in ventura. double decker surfliner, top level, so that's fun. better half working at the office down there until tuesday, so i'm gonna stay overnight and enjoy his air conditioned hotel room. too hot today. ugh.

no cameras with me, so that feels strange. almost naked. nothing to hide behind. and i'll be on my own while he works; i have no idea what i'll do or where i'll go. and he will worry...

didn't get going as early as planned. got a message that my daughter's borrowed car was making strange sounds, and that her dad wanted to just go look at new or used cars for her. she burned out the engine on her old one. probably ignored the evil red light on her dashboard too long.

first, though, had to pick up dry cleaning for my better half and lunch for my mother-in-law. squeezed in breakfast around eleven. thinking of hitting the cafe car now...almost six. nah, i'll eat when i get there. got those errands done, then off to the apartment.

stop at a car wash on the way, where the code i had, was about to expire on. great, only one of the two bays open. stuck in that line for half an hour. just pulled up to the code box, when the douche of a station owner opens the other line. thanks for that.

ended up waiting at her new apartment, in the bit of shade by the door, only to find they were still moving stuff in...so i helped with that when they arrived after half an hour. no air conditioning...melting inside the place. overhead fan didn't really move the air much. didn't want to think about cars after that. her dad decided the borrowed car only needed power steering fluid for now. don't want to make a quick decision on a car anyway. dealers always bend you over and make you take it in the pants too.

took off from there, and headed to my mom's. niece's bday today. she's staying there while she goes to school. she was in the shower and my parents were sleeping. they're old. they can. i had a train to catch, so just left a gift on the table.

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saw several pontiacs at the san pedro show. not so familiar with models and years on them; just know i have to shoot the hood ornaments when i see them. liked the overall car for this one, as well.

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oooohhhh i see the ocean now...ttfn.