what's up?

wasn't there

early morning shot of this burb. owner talked to me later in the morning, and i took a few more shots, but i like the lighting better here. even if the hood is slightly popped open, and it's not in the other pictures. at least it isn't fully up...that's what she said.

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two equally excellent car shows occured this past sunday. but i didn't go to either one this year. not the first ones i've missed this year, but most of the others i was out of state, so...it's just been an upside down year, and other priorities are taking over.

i couldn't decide which of the two shows to go to, so chose neither. probably more importantly, with family in town (better half's, and mine), family should come first sometimes.

the previously mentioned invasion of a dozen or so relatives started friday; most left on sunday. left the two-month old baby behind for a few days to give the mother a break and more time with the two-year old. baby sleeps most of the day, so easy peasy. sister-in-law is gramma, so it's her problem, on top of helping with her own mother. i'm out of practice with dealing with babies, so most i've done is give it a bottle.

the birthday party was a success on saturday, too much food, huge cake. i still managed to sneak out to legg lake for los boulevardos' cruise to the lake show and bbq for a couple of hours beforehand. those pictures coming soon.

went to bed with a stomach ache, too much food, too much sun. slept in sunday. i could have gone to a show, but still felt, meh, so decided to take it easy, and went south to hang with my bro and parents. just stayed in oc for the night.

so here i am looking at my calendar for the next show, looking for flyers...maybe i'll just catch up with pictures i have for this weekend.

visitors

so my younger bro and one of his kids are in town for a couple of weeks. i also hear that the house here in whittier is going to be invaded by about a dozen relatives this weekend to celebrate my mother-in-law's ninetieth birthday. no idea where they will all sleep, much less how the one bathroom situation is going to work out.

i think that happens saturday, leaving me free to decide which car show to go to on sunday. two shows that i like very much running on the same day this year. hate when that happens...coin flipping time. best two out of three... one i really want to go to, the other more convenient, and probably not as hot weather-wise...

here's another car promised. fleetlines car club member, an older couple.

wonder where danny was? maybe he showed up after i left.

shady grove

quick post, gotta get to bed. been a long day, and i didn't even go to work.

owner of this car caught me on my way out of the show. nice green car sitting in the shade of the trees. why the birds didn't hit the show cars, like they got mine, i'll never know.

this was parked next to some reflections car club cars, but i'm not really sure if it is part of the group.

i was getting overheated, and in need of something to eat right about then. but i'll still shoot the cars on the way back to my own car. my better half knows if i say i'll be there in a minute at a show, i'll be ten or more, as i've stopped to take pictures on the way.

god's eye

went to the viejitos' annual car show yesterday. got there just after the club showed up, about six am.

parked under a tree, and a bird promptly crapped on my window. is that a sign?

went over and started shooting the line up. this was the first one i shot.

i actually talked to quite a few people during the four and a half hours i was there. i've promised to post pictures of a few in particular.

i'm hoping this belonged to the viejitos member who was first to greet me, and asked about where he might see it. said it was the cream color one, but i have two in my files, that are very similar, about that same location.

i believe he said his had the doll in front of it, but that was later in the day. i have that one too, but the angle i shot it, and the doll, isn't my favorite. but i thought i could see this god's eye in the window of that one, and it was in this one, so guessing the same car.

iou

i think the owner of this car was sincerely interested in seeing pictures of his car. figured he had seen me taking a shot of it earlier, as most people do, before approaching me.

i really thought i'd shot it. i'd shot the placa. i shot the back of his shirt, later, when he asked me to, sweat and all.

i'd had a handful of people already ask me to see their cars, so i'd gone back around and took cell phone pics of the cars, so i'd remember which ones.

got home, downloaded the memory cards. fifty plus gigabytes. not one of them a picture of the dude's car. not one of any of the clubs' cars. must have been people around it, or polishing it at the time i'd passed by, so skipped them. then got distracted, and never got back around to shoot them.

it is one reason, though i'd shot a car earlier, i usually will go back and shoot them again, just to be sure. apparently, this time, i fucked up. so, sorry, all i have is this not great cell phone pic of it. i owe you a better picture of it next time, and i'll even get you a free print of it.

sucks. such a nice car too.

poindexter

feeling a little misty, sentimental, a little cadillac kinda mood. maybe it's just me being tired. was looking for something in my archives, while waiting for my hair to dry, and this car from two-thousand and thirteen caught my eye.

out in rialto, at the annual run whatcha brung show, shooting down low. my better half's old wide-angle lens, that i basically took over until i bought the one i used now. i almost think it's better than the new one...the fade off into blurred detail is a bit farther.

love the pointy back end and the bullet lights. looks so yum

i was nominated for some new award at work. they announced the winners today...i wasn't one of them. and you know what, i'm ok with it. really didn't think what i was nominated for compared to those who did win, and i was actually really mostly relieved that i didn't have to stand up in front of the crowd, and/or have to pose for pictures. hate that part.

they didn't get big hardware or a chunk of crystal, that i would have added to my collection of other glass sitting on an led base, all blinged out, but hey, i still got some brownie points just for the nomination. i'm saving up to get enough for another camera body someday.

sort of like getting the honorable mention on my picture at the fair.

get 'er done

i think i have at least a dozen pictures sitting in my drafts bin here. haven't had much to say lately, and not so much time to do so if i did. i used to be so good about getting a picture ready and doing a post the same evening for the longest time. now i pretty much can get a picture or two up on instagram, then i don't get around to posting them here until i'm down at my parents' house, with nothing better to do.

wonder how i used to be able to head to a show after work, shoot for a couple of hours, then go home and post a picture before bed. too much work and traffic...all work and no play, make jack a dull boy. guess you can call me jack.

ya, so my advice is basically go to my instagram first, pictures posted there first, and as an added bonus, you don't need to suffer reading my drivel about nothing. i've lost my whole point with this blog anyway, since i've been so distracted with everything going on around me. about that time i start talking about shutting down this blog again. but, my better half finds it an entertaining peek into my mind sometimes, and there are one or two others who do regularly read this for whatever reason. (still with me, jimbo?)

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this car belongs to the abraxas ltd car club. owner wondered what i did with my pictures. i put some of them here, and write something about the car, the show, the people i saw or things i heard, sometimes. mostly it's irrelevant to whatever picture is there, and more about my day, an observation, or random thoughts that pop into my head while i sit in traffic every day.

i'm a good fly on the wall, and sometimes things are better left unsaid. i really need to chat with more people at the shows and write down any specifics or history about the cars before i forget. better half usually does the talking, and has a memory for details. my memory just seems to be getting worse all the time.

beautiful car, btw. the sun was heading down, and was just catching the chrome and hitting the cars with a golden light about that time.

saw you

was out for lunch today, mostly for the air conditioning. went to chipotle, because i guess i'm looking to get food poisoning once in a while. should have gone to vallarta market and got my carnitas fix, but some other time.

anyway, had a book with me—i know, who reads books anymore, right? read a few chapters in the back corner, while enjoying said air conditioning and a coke. finally decide to leave. on my way through the parking lot, this here car drives by me.

i guess he turned the wrong way, because his friends in another old chevy were honking at him. ya, he did a u-turn, and headed back the way he had come. my hands were full, or i'd have snapped a pic with my phone.

saw them all parked out back of pollo loco, on my way out of the lot.

figured, since i'd just seen it last night at a nearby park, i'd just post that one. if i remember right, i think he showed up relatively later than the other cars, but i still got a few shots before my better half came back to pick me up. i wasn't sure about the parking sitch, so he offered to drop me off/pick me up. it all worked out, even if he did get himself lost or something, coming back for me. thanks d.

countdown to game of thrones...now if i can get my sister-in-law away from nascar on the big screen...

as old as

was my dad's birthday yesterday. he's as old as this car, but hasn't aged as well.

for whatever reason, he had his mind made up to go have dinner at red lobster. fine. but he would only go to the one in brea, though there are a couple that are closer to home.

he claims that the chef and service at that one is the best. at his age, it is hard to argue any other opinion except for his on anything.

well, like hell i ever let him drive us anywhere when i'm there, but he knows that. if i hadn't gone to their house, he would have driven my mom out to dinner. i don't even want to think of that white knuckle ride...he drives his soccer mom van like it's his old porsche.

anyway, i wasn't looking forward to more driving. i'd hoped it would be just simple dinner, cake, then sleep early...i'm so tired. after his insistence on going to brea, at near the end of rush hour, i knew it would be stop and go traffic. i was going to take the canyon, just as long, but at least i'd be moving, but he said no, he wanted to go the freeway.

so an hour and a half later, we made it to the restaurant. he orders a dozen raw oysters, followed by some shrimp dish and salad, and something else i don't remember. my mom orders shrimp linguini. i get some dungeness crab legs and a cup of clam chowder. was late, i was tired, not hungry anymore.

they were happy with their food. mine was sort of not hot, for the crab, that didn't matter so much, but the soup was only lukewarm. meh.

after the journey out there because the chef is the 'best,' my dad says the best part of the meal was the oysters. the raw, uncooked oysters. so much for the chef. shucks.

and just before they bring the check, my mom mentions that it was his birthday. that is followed by a small crew of wait staff singing the song, and a plate with a ball of ice cream for him. nice, but since they were basically trying to close and get us to leave, it was a pretty weak display. i'm sure they have to do that all day, every day, so i don't blame them for it.

back to their house, hoping the angels game hasn't let out, which it hadn't, so thank the stars for not getting stuck in that post game traffic. so tired when we got home. i guess he was happy, and who knows how many he has left, so i was glad i went, in spite of all my inner mental bitching.

fair day

was my turn to run all over hell and back today.

decided to run down to the oc fair really quick, to see my pictures on the wall. had to go down to my office just to turn on my computer so i can do an unexpected/unplanned work from home day tomorrow, and the fair was on the way.

got there just before they opened the parking lot, so got a good, close parking spot near the entrance. then, since i already had my ticket, got to head straight to the entry gate, where i ended up being first in line, which meant i got to stand under the tent cover, out of the sun until official open time at eleven. you don't know how much i needed that.

they let us in at eleven on the dot. i stopped for a drink before heading to the visual arts building, where i had to sit outside until i finished it, since i wasn't going to trash an eight dollar drink.

found my pictures in the usual place, the far corner of the building. two cars, one ferris wheel...ferris wheel got an honorable mention, wouldn't you know. hope my better half can go see them sometime.

spent an hour looking at all the other art in the building and enjoying the air conditioning. so chill. the weather outside was actually pretty good, being relatively close to the ocean, a breeze blowing constantly, and some cloud cover as i headed back to my car.

another ten miles down the freeway, five minutes in the office, and the return trip to whittier, with three stops at various stores, with a brief shopping list at each. hot in whittier, and managed to miss whatever they were doing uptown and streets were open again.

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damn stunning paint job on this impala at the imperials show. usual internal whining about needing to drag a ladder with me sometime. i do love the back ends on these cars, sleek curves up to the arcs of the fins.