what's up?

the few, the proud...

continuing on with the majestics pics...i've been to this show for the last three years, at least.

the first year, i was overwhelmed by the sheer number of cars, as well as the heat, leaving before i could get through all the parking lots. there were so many, an excellent assortment to choose from, i hated to leave so soon.

the next year, pretty much the same, though i think i managed to stay a bit longer. better half ran out of steam before i did. i think maybe he got bored, but followed me around anyway.

this year, the weather was perfect: freeze your ass cold in the early morning, and cooling to a nice, comfortable level by mid-morning. i ditched my coat fairly early, after wandering through the first lot. most people had their jackets on, but between any hot flashes i was having and carrying the tripod around, as long as i was moving and not in the shade, i was quite happy with just a t-shirt and jeans.

we found not so many of the old cars i prefer this time. considering it is hosted by the majestics, it does not surprise that the majority of cars were from the sixties and seventies. while they are interesting to look at, and i sometimes do shoot the few that catch my eye, they are not what i'm looking for.

still, there were some few older cars sprinkled about; just had to slog on through the lots to find them. pointedly criss-crossed the main road all day.

found this one on the other side, the owner watching the parade of cars cruising past. he did stop long enough to ask about who i was shooting for...myself. told him i'd post it if i got a decent one, so i hope this will suffice.

was told there was also a viejitos show going on the same time, same day. perhaps, next year, i'll go there, just for a change.

light it up

went out to the dam today. probably a bit earlier then needed to — probably there about five-thirty am. parked further away then we've had to before. someone said they wouldn't even open the gate until six-thirty. so, as usual, we got out and took advantage of the cars and bikes just sitting there in the dark.

better half had me shoot using different settings than i usually use, just because it was so dark. i don't think it would have mattered, since there weren't many people around cars i did shoot. not so sure i like them as much. a lot of detail is lost in the dark, but i guess in past years, when i went to evening shows, the results were negligably better.

posting this one, because the owner came over to chat, and because he casually walked over and flicked the lights on for me. pretty cool lighting, contrasting the yellowing street light.

i know i saw the bike cruise by later in the day, but it was far less interesting, and way more a typical harley that i wouldn't have shot otherwise.

i've got more pictures to post for a few people, and more to say, but i'm dead tired now, so i think i'll call it a night.

compensating

playing with old pictures. thought this one was funny. this truck was way too big and high up. 

that's not the owner, just some goober looking under it's skirts. love that doofus "golly gee" expression he has.

i saw this truck and it's owner around the corner from here later in the day, after i'd already put my camera away. truck was parked, and the owner was getting into the car. he was waaaaay shorter than the average guy, and looked like he should have had a ladder to getup into this beast. kind of like a toddler trying to get into daddy's truck.

says it was for sale; this pic was from 2014, so i suppose someone else is now doing the compensating.

better half had to work today. says pasadena is no place to be on new year's eve, unless you have to be there. security everywhere. he got pulled into a checkpoint and cops ran a drug dog through his vehicle before they let him go. just being vigilant, what you'd hope for the cops to be doing.

i, had the day off. didn't realize it was a company holiday until tuesday, when a coworker was asking what i'd be doing for the four day weekend. what what. car shows, dude, car shows.

took a four mile walk today, out to lunch on washington blvd, and a random route back. saw a thunderbird, and an old cadillac. 

on the way back, at hadley and whittier blvd, waiting for a walk light, watched some of the goodfellas club drive on by, the swirly script placas in the back windows...too quick to whip out my phone for a picture. i've seen them before. wondered where they were going...cruising up whittier blvd, or heading to a party. wherever, be safe.

to the dam tomorrow, possibly also to southgate...party on garth.

reality bites

this show is coming up in february. hillco's supercruise, for people that need a car show fix just before the big game on superbowl sunday. usually, there is an interesting assortment of cars that show up—classic cars, hot rods, muscle cars, semi-trucks...—cruising through, screaming past, or just parking throughout the industrial complex.

my better half has gone with me two out of three years that i have gone. he takes off, and shoots what he wants, and i go my way. he usually takes an assortment of lenses to experiment with, and runs into and talks to way more people than i ever do.

i'm not sure if he saw this one or not, but i'm thinking he wouldn't have passed up a shiny black car like this. had to get down low, to try and avoid the majority of lens flares, for a change.

for the past couple of years, there have been little red bumps randomly popping up on my skin.

first one showed up on my leg. doctor said maybe it's just an infected hair follicle, from shaving. it's not very big, maybe an eighth of an inch in diameter, it bothers me more than the scar on my knee from a childhood bike crash (don't pedal without hands on the handlebars while riding over gravel covered pavement).

while it's not red anymore, i prefer not to wear shorts unless it's insanely hot outside because of it.

then another showed up on my thigh a few months later. doc said the same thing, but i don't shave my legs that far up, so nah.

i did get a really nasty sunburn on my legs one fourth of july, not so long ago...i thought hmmm, too much sun, growing little moles, since they weren't going away, sun damage.

then, the other day, while playing with the baby niece on the floor, i felt a sharp sting on my finger. didn't see anything, but fairly quickly there was a little blister there, and it itched like crazy and hurt like a son of a bitch if you touched it.

when i was a kid, growing up back east, i was a mosquito magnet. every summer, i'd get plenty of bug bites, and my mom would practically be painting me pink with calamine lotion. she always said it was because i was so sweet...but that's what mothers are supposed to say.

anyway, i didn't see any spider or mosquito, or other bug, and the kid seemed unaffected.

so, here's my thinking: it's either the zuni fetish doll from the film, "trilogy of terror" or the troll from "cat's eye." they both carry little swords or sharp pointed sticks, and both move hella quick, so it's no wonder i didn't spot it.

zuni doll from "trilogy of terror"troll from "cat's eye"well, maybe it's not one of them, but i'm also guessing there's a family of spiders, or mites or fleas from the neighbor's cats, roaming the house. some critter with strangley poisonous, infectious spit.

those poor, little flea bag cats, that are left outside to freeze in the winter, and cook in the summer. the ones the crazy cat lady comes around to feed everyday—yet when you confront her, with the food falling from her hand to the plate on the ground, she screeches that she isn't feeding them...she doesn't even live near here—maybe the bugs are so cold or hot, they jump off the cats, and crawl under the door and into the house.

fuck the neighbors. they gave us roaches when they moved in too.

i prefer to think it's the doll. i gotta find a gold chain.

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.

------

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.

bow to me, splendidly

so, sitting here doing nothing most of the day. niece and her husband and baby are visiting.

i gave the nine month old a cookie, and she has been staring and smiling at me all evening. no, not giving her another, but she's hoping. not saying she's acting like my son's dog, but he does the same thing...

guess i'll just sit here and consider whether i want to get up and drive out to tustin and santa ana tomorrow for smaller car shows. it's frigging cold outside tonight, and the heater in our room isn't working, so will probably just hide out under the blankets in the morning.

went to dinner with my better half. without fail, at some point when we are out, i'll say something, without particularly thinking about timing, that will almost make his drink fly out his nose, just as he's taking a sip.

twice that happened this evening: don't remember what i said the first time, but the second time, we had just boxed up the leftovers and placed them in the bag. he started to take a drink, at the same time i mentioned that the bag looked like the egg pods from the movie alien...i closed the top and then burst it open, as if the thing was going jump out at suck his face...he stopped himself from drinking just in time.

looking back at old pictures, while looking forward to the new year's day show at the dam again. technically, it's still a holiday weekend, so this be-bowed chevy is still appropriate to post, in all it's cherry candy colored sweetness. almost want to lick it, but not quite.

end of the road

back to reality. technically, i'm still on vacation until monday. should be a shock to the system, after being out of the office for two weeks. and the other designers will be off, leaving me there to fend for myself...back into the frying pan, as if i'd never left. really hate taking time off, just because it sucks so bad going back.

figured this was a fitting car to post, being as it has the story of a roadtrip, down route sixty-six down both sides. this is really a lot to look at on one car, but very skillfully and playfully done.

if you squint your eyes and see past the paint, the car is really in good condition.

my favorite part is the shark faces painted on the front bullets.

p.s. — merry xmas, or whatever you may or may not celebrate on tomorrow's over commercialized holiday.

on my way home

ok, enough alone time. i don't feel rested or recharged. maybe if this last hotel had given me a room with atub, but nooooo.

i have enjoyed the rain, and this "quaint, little danish town" is pretty quiet, compared to shopping at the mall. biggest line is for breakfast, for those looking to eat cock and balls with jerk sauce, or more likely, aebleskivers, which is basically a donut hole with jam.

i've just settled for the "continental" bfast in the lobby here. it's just easier.

guess i'll get out of bed now and throw my shit in the car.gotta go buy a buttload of pastries and cookies for the relatives coming in to visit this weekend. maybe i should just book a hotel in santa barbara or los angeles and hide out til sunday...

nice car. missing my pictures...getting closer to the majestics' new year show at the dam.

skirt

still recovering from the weekend. note to self: stay away from chipotle. bad idea to eat that burrito then drive out to the middle of nowhere the next day. omg. was never so happy to see the golden arches and their clean bathrooms...not for the food.

currently in solvang for the night. roadtrip almost over. raining lightly outside. eyeballing the fireplace, but not quite sure how to work it...better half usually sets that up. ya, i know about "apply flame to log." it's the open the flue or turn the key i'm not sure about...i'd like to wake up in the morning.

happy birthday mom!

not sure why i liked the side of this bel air so much. the curves maybe.

©2025 kathy gonzalez