what's up?

lazy day

there was a big car show today. i was even awake at five in the morning, but i went back to bed. i should have gone, just to get out of my head, to take in some fresh air and get some exercise, but i just didn't want to go to this one. too many hot rods the last few years, not enough low riders.

tomorrow i will. a car show later in the day, and no rain expected. anniversary show at frisco's. for sure there will be cars i like there.

walked uptown for lunch. joked to my better half to be verwy verwy quiet...i'm hunting fweetlines... lo and behold, i did pass at least three of them driving by and on the way back to the house.

right now, there's a funeral / viewing down the street, practically a car show in that parking lot. didn't know the guy, and it would be sort of disrespectful to go back and set up my tripod and start shooting, right? didn't even whip out my phone for a snap as i walked by.

really explained why i kept seeing cars driving past the house and uptown earlier.

they are welcome to find parking down here, by the house, instead of trying to jam all of their cars into the lot. i'll keep an eye on the cars while they're gone. really i will.

so now, i go outside once in a while, to see what i can see from the corner. figure i can shoot them as they slow down at the stop sign, after the viewing is over. unless they go the other way, and hit up the cigar bar or something.

the sun has gone undercover now, so it's quickly become too chill to stand out there for very long without my jacket. and i'm starting to feel like a tool, standing there with a big lens and snapping a few shots, every once in a while.

my kid and his wife are going to stop by. spending the day at griffith park and that hood. will probably go uptown again for dinner, if they're hungry.

another from last week. was a lovely car. i'd be worried about the rain, but then figured they'd just put the roof back up and rub off the water spots when they get home, safe in the garage.

sky looks sort of dramatic here, but really any pictures featuring clouds in so cal could be called that. usually such a rare occurrence.

la chillona

so i'm sitting here while a bunch of wolf whistling dudes check my tires. one of them had a nail in it a few months ago, and it seems to be leaking out again. waiting room smells--not of teen spirit--more like teen racing dreams. these display tires are all 'hairy' with the little rubber peach fuzz on them.

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here's another car from this past weekend. got pretty overcast at some points, even lightly sprinkled off and on, but that didn't stop the party going on here for the most part. did wash out the colors quite a bit, but i like the atmosphere of it.

dead president's day

had things i absolutely had to do today. different circumstances would have had me at la puente park, shooting cars, of course, but things were 'beyond my control,' so i wasn't.

this weekend was sort of messed up, and it's almost over. holiday weekend blew by. thinking i might have to reschedule a vacation, which kinda sucks, or see if my bro wants to go somewhere, which could be fun.

made it to one show, but this shot is from last month's pomona swap meet. just liked the mood of it for some reason. it spoke to me, and said post me, so i did.

i got nuthin really to talk about, and it's back to work tomorrow, so i should probably end it here.

a scare

went to the harbor knights hit-a-thon car show rather late today. i vacillated all morning, and the clouds outside seemed about ready to burst for a good while. finally flipped a coin, thus deciding it.

of course most halfway there, it starts to sprinkle. i momentarily pull into the in-n-out lot, ready to throw in the towel and have lunch. but then i decided, i'd just head over and see if anything/anyone was still there.

sprinkles let up the closer to the beach i got.

got to the high school, saw banners at the entrances, but could not see a show from the street. almost thought it was over, but then this impala drives up. i had gotten out of my car, about the same time, heard an announcer somewhere mumble something, then the music started.

so he figured out the gate was unlocked, and drove in, and i followed. show was hidden behind the buildings, on the basketball courts. super secret. glad i got out of my car.

this was a beautiful car...

being that it's now after midnight, i'll have to continue later.

let's just say, after the show, had a family emergency, and that's all i'm going to say about that.

walking backwards

i took a long walk today. gonna rain tomorrow, so figured i'd stretch my legs.

ended up taking an old familiar route, that ended with me passing my old high school. my kids graduated from there too.

the main buildings haven't changed much, but you could also say everything has changed. new additions, portable crap classrooms--class in a box--they change the landscape in my memory.

the youthful faces of the latest crop of students pass by me. listening to the bird-like chatter of their hormone-crackling voices, and the little conversations about the "big" events in their universe, make me so glad i am not that age again.

i have changed, but i have not. never did fit in, and still do not, not really. and i'm fine with that. didn't have many friends, and have not kept in touch with any of them directly. once in a while, i'll look people up online, to see where they ended up, but they really are strangers now, so i leave no messages.

i used to be so freakishly skinny, and now i'm so, so average. really hating growing old and soft. the number of years doesn't bother me as much as the ball of fat on my belly, and the general pudge all over...it just gets in the way.

youth really is wasted on the young, as they say.

looked toward the baseball field, where i could see the team practicing, running the same bases my kid ran not so long ago.

i decided enough of this depressing trip down memory lane, and turned around to head back to where i belong, or at least where i exist now. the wind shifted, and the sticky, fetid scent drifted up from the school farm, of the beasts being raised by the "future farmers," bound for the summer fair, blazed more memories in my head, of people i haven't thought of in years, as well as my daughter's stupid sheep that she raised there too. they work hard for those 'easy' credits. pretty sure not too many of these kids end up on a farm, but my daughter does work in veterinary offices, so there's that.

but mostly, the thought that shit still smells like shit, was what blew through my mind.

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found this old cadillac between the buildings at the super cruise, kinda parked next to some newer cars. it was in the path less traveled, so i don't know that many people noticed it.

don't remember seeing around, and not quite sure of the year.

how romantic

beat my better half home from work. today is valentine's day, so he got stuck in traffic, and ended up just going to costco, since he was near one.

switched my hours at work, and so far, it takes me just over an hour now to get home. i guess that's better than over two, and there's no way i want to start at five in the morning, so it is good enough.

i was just going to walk uptown for a slice of pizza for dinner, since my better half decided to just have something at home, but then he didn't want me to go out in the dark alone. ended up that he needed to go to home depot, so i drove, with the intention of going to pollo loco.

upon arriving at that fine dining establishment, we were assaulted by some overpowering, lovely aroma from the "rest" room hallway. figuring how the sense of smell plays into the sense of taste, we decided to find sustenance elsewhere. wasn't quite as awful as the taco bell a couple of weeks ago, but the reek was just starting to permeate the dining area.

my head was swimming, so i just ended up at del taco in the home depot parking lot. meh. not quite ruths chris, but filled the empty space gnawing at my insides.

saw this car drive into the lot. better half says the driver was waving maniacally at me/us, but i didn't notice the driver, just the car, noting the club. i've seen it before.

gotta be just a blem tire, but that suspicious bulge makes me nervous as it did the first time i noticed it a year or two ago.

maybe i'll spy another suspicious bulge later...

ding ding

winkin' blinkin' lincoln.

this car drove up and parked just as i was walking by.

first glance, my thought was, well, that's a horse of a different color. usually see these only in black or white.

next thought, was that the owner looked familiar, but i'd never seen this car before, to associate with that guy. from what i've read elsewhere, he's only had it out and about recently.

hadn't noticed when i shot the picture, on the car or on the teeny tiny camera screen, but on my computer screen, there's a great big dent on the side. maybe he should have kept it in the garage—would have been safer, but what fun is that.

maybe someone will let me know where the dent came from, assuming it's new, and that he didn't have it painted and polished that way.

donuts

no car shows for me today. got my taxes done instead. looks like i can either take a small vacation or put new flooring in my place, maybe new kitchen cabinets. decisions, decisions.

changing my work hours starting tomorrow too. hoping my drive home will get closer to an hour more consistently, instead of more than two. i can't take it anymore.

saw this pink caddie last week. pepto-bismol pink. or rather, donut box pink. helped that they happened to have a donut box next to it, to confirm.

the other nomad

one of the cars that were at the super cruise when we arrived early early. i only shot them because they were there.

better half was talking to the owners, and the one that owned this one came over and asked if i'd seen the his other nomad. uh, no. just got there.

so he proceeded to pop the hood. normally, that would have ended my interest in the car, but since he seemed so proud of his little joke, and had made nice with my better half, i shot it.

might say a pale man on a pale horse, but nope, death rides a moldy camel.

i would just say, i've seen better airbrushing. and i've seen a hell of a lot worse.

nomadic life

i've been so busy at work, that all i want to do when i get home is zone out in front of an episode of game of thrones. the saving grace for the last couple of days has been that the evening drive has only been just over an hour, instead of the new norm of two plus. no reason why the difference; traffic just goes with the flow.

mentioned the drive time to my boss the other day, joking that something was going to have to give. either i was going to live at my parents' house or move back in to my house with my kid and his wife there, on weekdays, and see my better half on weekends, or... well, needless to say, he's willing to explore other options, mostly shifting my hours however i think would work best.

thinking about shifting from seven to four down to six to three. i'm down here by six anyway, so might as well, right? doesn't mean that i don't want my house back, but i'm in no hurry--pretty sure my better half likes having me around, but i do feel somewhat like a nomad, bouncing from place to place, collecting mail, walking a dog, avoiding long drives in rainstorms.

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i've seen a car like this one before, but hell if i can remember what kind it is now. what is it? pretty sure the last one i saw had all identifiers removed too, so looking it up wouldn't help.

on a typical car, all the airbrushed patterns and pinstriping might be too much, but this car has fairly simple lines, so it just works. >> was told the paint was done by starlite rod & kustom (thanks usautos98)

watched it drive in and park here in the corner. the main parking area was full and busy with foot traffic. here in what felt like a back alley of the industrial park, it found an interesting place among an interesting backdrop.

i got to it first, before any of the other photographers. they got good pictures too, look them up on instagram.