what's up?

vandolero

first of all, let me apologize to the person(s) on the freeway at four in the morning, who do not think eighty miles an hour is fast enough. it's not like there aren't other lanes you could be in, yet feel the need to crawl up my tail pipe.

oh how i wish a cop on you after you give up and take off at a hundred miles an hour. even a flipped car, but then i take that back--it would mess up my drive to work more than you already have, asshole.

quick post, as i do have to get to the office. this is memo's baby. it was his anniversary show, so had to get a shot of the car. where it was parked, couldn't really squeeze in for another angle, with cars and people congregating in this prime apex of the lot.

pretty sure i've seen it elsewhere, just didn't know it's history. if i tagged it right in my digital garage, i'm sure i could find other shots of it.

gotta get movin'...weekend isn't gonna get any closer if i don't. ttfn.

poor boys

saw a few cars from the poor boys' car club at the show last weekend. can't say that i've heard of them before now. don't think they had plaques, just the banner here, so that might be one reason.

i think this is one of their cars. it's nice, and the matte finish under the cloudy skies really muted out the color.

over the last couple of months, my better half has dropped about fifty pounds. he pretty much has cut out all sugar from his diet. due to other stuff going on, he's had to work from home, and do a lot of running around on minimal sleep. he's a bit stressed and distracted to say the least.

i, on the other hand, am starting to look like a bean—better half says he loves beans. i bought him a 3x shirt at the car show the other day, as would be the habit, but looking at him now, i think it's too big. i'm pretty sure if i don't start getting out off my ass more, i'll be the one wearing it.

i guess we deal with stress differently. i walk uptown to eat, i whip up a batch of cookies, i take pictures of cars. he cleans the house. he cleans the house. he cleans the house.

oh well. just gotta decide to get up and do something. need to throw out this coke and drink some water. i have a headache, probably because of the coke. maybe i'm diabetic. i don't know.

better half is asking if i can do some shopping this afternoon. i will. just need to decide which car show to go to, and find a supermarket nearby/on the way back. that's the way to do it.

may showers

I've got sunshine on a cloudy day
When it's cold outside I've got the month of May
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?...

— smokey robinson

who needs april showers, when you get these skies in may? jacket weather. hanging out at hospitals. busy month.

my birthday happened too, but did nothing that day, and usually don't care about it. ask me how old i am, and i have to do math in my head. not really something i obsess about. my son did take me out for dinner a few days later. didn't hear from the other kid...pretty typical.

another car from the los angeles bombs cinco de mayo show. before the rain came. good thing, since this car had the top down.

beautiful cars. how can we not want to take pictures of them?

may shower

it did shower after i left the show the other day. happily, got a lot of shots in before i left. great clouds, great cars.

i think it was this car, that the owner ran up excitedly to ask if i'd taken a shot of his car at a recent high school fundraiser. he showed me the pic on his phone. yep. i remembered him then.

seemed to be happy, and looking forward to seeing another one. happy to oblige.

yesterday

busy day yesterday.

had rained a bit the day and night before. i knew it was completely possible our family member was getting released from the hospital, and that i was going to have to be there with my car, to be the taxi driver.

not knowing the when, i decided to go to the local car show first, check my phone frequently, then i would head out to santa anita, if there was still time.

i was at the los angeles bombs' second anniversary show before eight in the morning. figured, cinco de mayo weekend, and a sunday, i could sleep in a little and still get there to get a parking space.

and i did. my usual parking spot, right up front. and then the club members were there setting up their trophy table and tent.

so i just shot pics of the two or three cars that were there for a good ten minutes, until more cars arrived. the skies were mostly cloudy off and on, and always a chance of rain, but it didn't stop people from showing up.

other photographers arrived, and i met a couple of fellow instagrammers. very nice and talented guys. one had stopped at santa anita first, and realized that the bomb club show had been cancelled because of the rain. thanks. saved me a trip out of the way.

the lot was about half full by the time i took a break, then heard that i needed to get over to the hospital to make my pick up.

i have quite a few decent shots from yesterday, that i hope to have time to post, but who knows what tomorrow will bring.

i rather like this buick eight. caught it during a brief moment of the sun shining through, with colors not muted down by the overcast.

made it to the hospital on time. it did pour on us a while on the way home. as unexpected as that was, the wheelchair on the back of my better half's vehicle got a bit soaked. he's currently trying to clean it up, and hoping the electronics and motor didn't get fizzled.

attest

having recently had the experience of repeatedly having to drive back and forth to the hollywood area over the last several days for a family medical issue, i can hereby attest to the sheer hell of driving in los angeles. fuckity fuckity fucksticks. and i may/will probably have to drive back over there at least once or twice more today and/or tomorrow. much more of that, i'll find myself in a hospital, if not from an accident, from having my own heart attack from the stress.

it's not like i'm driving like a little old lady, but if you're not going at least eighty on the freeway, you're in the way. and the glorious stretch of the ten, where several freeways split off is just a hell of a good time if you're in the wrong lane. and if the mapping program sends me off to another freeway for no good reason, say the one-o-one, that is just as delicious.

surface streets are just as fun, like running a gauntlet. stay out of the right lane until the last minute before your turn, or you get stuck behind cars parked at the curb. even better are running up to double-parked, i'll just be a minute cars.

do see some interesting people in the outer limits away from the hospital, though, and neighborhoods, that may have possibly been quite nice at one time.

anyway, airing out and cleaning the house, in case said patient gets to sent home today. too soon, and we're really pushing back to have that not happen. otherwise, all's good. things are hectic, but roll with the punches, eh?

here's a beautifully polished fifty-eight impala. yummy color, just want to eat it...but i already had a chocolate bar today...better half keeping fat. thanks d.

possibility of some rain this weekend, to mix things up. really wanted to get out to a show, so maybe it will happen later in the afternoon.

feliz cinco de mayo a todos.

new life

owner of this car came over one row to specifically say hello to me.

i was shooting another car at the time, but i didn't mind. the sun was already pretty high in the sky, so i'm not missing the light changing much.

he pointed out his car when i asked. fleetline, one of my favs.

took my time on the aisle of cars i was already shooting, but definitely told him i'd shoot it. took a few when i came back around to it.

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hoping to get out to a show or two this weekend, but things happening at home may keep me busy. beyond my control, truly.

merry go round

one thing after another around here lately. sort of a carousel.

one emergency over, another to worry about in the next week or so. being ambiguous. i like that word. more mysterious than just saying anything directly. if you know what i'm talking about, you're on the inside, if you don't, it's not important that you do.

didn't have the energy to go to any car shows today, nor probably this weekend, though i badly wanted to be there. maybe next year. big shows next week...definitely next week. that can be my mantra, no matter what happens this week.

you do miss me when i'm gone, don't you? nah, i'm more successful at being the fly on the wall, quietly walking through your life, shooting pictures of your cars. you probably haven't noticed.

saw this car sitting down at the end of the parking lot. dude sitting inside, talking on the phone to someone. he didn't appear to be in a hurry to get inside the show. i do not remember the half of the conversation that i might have overheard, but i'm going with he couldn't decide whether it was worth it, or if his friends were going to show up.

it really was a lightly attended show this year, so not sure that i'd blame him.

waiting

...waiting on the world to change.

my turn to sit my watch at the hospital. better half gone home to take a break and eat i suppose.

really i have nuthin' to say, much less think. things are looking up, but we're all very sleep deprived.

had this bike mostly ready, so since i took five minutes to check my email earlier, thought i'd put it out there. i don't think it's one of my best, but it appealed to my mood just now.

congrats to my son, he's a shiny new uncle as of yesterday.

and then...

so back in so cal, off the plane yesterday, unpack, eat, sleep six hours, and back to a full day and then some, of work. already feeling scatter brained from being away from the office for most of two weeks, and it usually takes a couple of days to get back on track. ugh, i still need to do expense reports...maybe tomorrow.

gotta do a headshot tomorrow as well, so hoping i everything goes right. i'll pretend she's a small car, maybe a metropolitan.

better half dealing with a family emergency; i'm on standby, waiting to hear if/when i should be there.

dealt with the landlord when i arrived back at home after the hour and a half drive home. so not a lot has changed on that score.

...distracted by a monster truck trying to parallel park across the street from my window...entertaining, yet so stupid looking. closing the curtains...

anyway, i can't even think straight right now.

i owe a couple of people a view of their car from the last show i went to at walnut high school. i'll get around to them, promise. just need to find a moment to concentrate.

throwing this one out there, just cuz it was ready to go, and it pleases me, with the fluffy clouds overhead. not going to take the time to worry that it looks a wee bit dark on my screen. pretty sure i need to do some adjustments, or all my pics will be edited too dark.