i see what i see

finally, the weekend. not too much going on car show-wise. some standard weekly shows. not sure if i'll go. probably should, as i'm out of practice again. can feel myself closing into my shell again. gotta get out to shows frequently to feel like i'm getting any better in my photography and/or getting out of that comfort zone they talk about.

got netflix playing in the background. watched a couple of stephen hawking shows, which were kind of interesting. how he explains the world and how we see things. we all see things differently. just ask my better half, he'll tell you about going out on photo shoots when we travel, and how i'll see stuff he just never noticed. is it his height, or just that he doesn't notice things i don't know. is it the difference between boys and girls and what catches our attention? don't know. just know it's fun to compare what we take when we go shooting in the same places.

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saw this bomb at the latin gents show. i don't think my pictures have captured what i saw. i'll have to try again if i see it. 

loved the details—the engraved scrolling on the metal trim, the pinstriping, the paint—all good. not quite loving the window etching. did he do it himself? kinda ruins the perfection of the rest of it, but maybe it balances it out as well.

have a happy whatever

to each his own.

been too busy to think much about it. getting overworked and burning out.

had an opportunity to do a long weekend trip to san francisco, and unexpectedly, also yosemite, but backed out because i'd been sick, and just didn't feel i had enough energy to enjoy it. ended up dog sitting instead. yes, the beast thing. oh, and i'm stuck with feeding over a dozen tarantulas, two gecko things, a disgusting millipede, two cornsnakes, a beta fish, and some kind of carnivorous frog with teeth—my daughter's strange zoo, while she's traveling for the holidays. all creepy and mesmerizing at the same time. hoping she gets home sooner, rather than later.

got arm twisted into attending the annual holiday lunch and gift exchange at work. i've managed to miss the last few, as i go on auto-pilot and head to lunch...they schedule the thing to start while i'm out usually. not this year. secretary wrangled me earlier in the week, asking if i was going to be there.

so i brought a gift for the exchange. something with my sense of humor. consider it a gag gift. but something i would have bought for myself.

so we were treated to a fairly good meal, but the host was big into singing christmas carols. so they'd have everyone singing songs every once in a while. i just don't sing. at least in front of anyone. didn't in elementary school, ain't going to start now. 

one coworker offered up cash to hear me sing. no thanks. i just can't do it. won't do it.

after a food and a nice speech, the gift game got underway.

among all the obvious bagged bottles of booze, the thing i brought was the first gift chosen by the first person up to bat. is it that she wanted something more festive? or did she really dislike it? i dunno. she just seemed so disappointed.

then another seven or eight people, being ever so polite, passed on stealing anything from anyone, and pick gifts from the pile.

so my turn comes, and i take back my gift, telling her to go find something she'll like better. and she did. then someone stole that gift from her and she had to go steal another from someone else.

got better from there on out, as everyone started stealing gifts from each other. no one was ever gonna take mine from me, and i was fine with that.

but you know what? after it was all done and back at our desks, most every single person stopped by my desk to see the thing. even had an offer to trade for it.

that's ok. i wanted it anyway.

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been sick with a cold, so i haven't really been out and about much. this impala was from the old memories toy drive over at bruce's. not overtly christmasy, but there's a big bow on the back, so that will do for me.

see you all around some time. looking forward to some good shows in the coming year.

green day

ok, this one has just been sitting around in the files for a while. rarely go this show in garden grove anymore. aside from me enjoying the parking lot that is called a freeway on friday evenings, it really hasn't been all that busy and/or interesting the last couple of years. 

but i can pretty much count on finding at least one of the latin gents cars there. nice bunch of guys, almost always go out of their way to say hello. pretty sure i've posted this car before, but i like this one too. 

think i'll go to bed early. 

home, sick

apparently the office cold has caught up with me. was able to work from home yesterday, and enjoy coughing up a lung without glares from coworkers. really not that bad, at least yet. i was going to go to several car shows this weekend, but i think if i made the move to head for the door, my better half would tackle me.

i think he's testing me now. he slathered me with vicks vaporub, and hoped i'd stay put while he took his mom to disneyland. i could just take a shower and go to one show, and be back before dinner. but really, i already have a few pictures i can play with, and i guess this is just one of those days i save them up for, right?

so i'll spare you my cooties, and stay put. i'll probably take a shower, and wash off this sticky stench of vicks. so gross. if they run too late, i will go uptown and find some dinner, but i will otherwise just stay here watching old reruns and looking through my files for some other cars to post.

saw this one last weekend at the classics/temptation show in santa ana. so glad the clouds started rolling back in half way through the time we were there. skies and the reflections on the spit shined cars are always so much better. and as always, the hood ornament.

outside looking in

i go to your car shows and take pictures. i am acutely aware that i don't really fit in, never have. i'm still the wallflower, observing from the sidelines, only now, i'm in the midst of things, yet still trying to be inconspicuous. doesn't really work with a bag and a tripod, so i just do what i do and sometimes you say hi.

only had time for one show on sunday, so i picked the classics/temptation toy drive at the santa ana elks club. i got there and realized it was at the same show, the year before, i went over and introduced myself to jae bueno.

i'd seen him around, but never had the nerve to say anything. but at last year's show, i found myself standing right next to him, so what the heck. he was very nice. he was there with his family. he was so fully there, healthy and enjoying the show; he was getting ready to head out to another event or family thing. so that memory was happy, but also bummed me out. so...

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i think this was the second or third car i shot. the owner, or at least one of the club guys came over and asked where they'd be able to see the pics, so lucky you, here's one. gave him a couple of cards. hope they see it and like it.

i never get tired of these cars. just love the lines. my better half is more of a '39 master deluxe guy lately, but i think i'm a fleetline girl right now.

my better half went with me. he was done taking pictures way sooner than i was, as usual, but said he was fine waiting. really, he wasn't. he was ready for lunch, and started getting a headache, so i kinda had to be more selective and hurry. i'll post more soon. it's late and i gotta sleep.

was nice chatting again with danny from the fleetliners...he knew i didn't shoot his car, because his hood was open...offered to close it, but we really were on our way out.

hey to the temptations guy who reminded me not to write a bad review...didn't know i was doing that...and don't worry...it was a good show. just close your hood all the way next time...

sweet pickle

totally rained on the parade today. but they did it anyway. doesn't start as early as it did a few years ago, and it is also not as good. and the few cars that were in it, sucked. my better half says there are probably different people organizing it than there were a few years ago. same can be said for the uptown car show, but that's a different post.

anyway, i took some stupid pictures. the camera body is waterproof, but the lens isn't, so i couldn't get out and get shots i would have liked. then, duh, i went inside and grabbed a longer lens. but still, didn't get what i wanted. you can see some of them over at my flickr page.

and wouldn't you know it, the rain stopped after the parade. made my day. and then i didn't want to go out to the car shows. the house was too warm, and it was too cold outside. so i missed moon eyes again. and the latin gents show. and something over in lakewood. ya, i totally would have done them all not too long ago. i'm just out of it.

there are a couple of shows i'm thinking about tomorrow, but i don't know. toy drives bring out some great cars, but rain drives them away, so we'll see...we have to be somewhere in the evening. also hear there's the parts show out in pomona, but gonna miss that one too.

this is one of the old memories cars from last week. hard to believe it was pushing 80 last week, and this week, maybe 60. the lady selling the blankets would have sold so much more now.

wax on, wax off

got home in only an hour today. did everyone call in sick today? recovering from the drive home in holiday traffic? i don't know, but i can only hope it continues being a relatively shorter and easier commute in the afternoon. though there were still those a--holes that feel the need to weave through the lanes at the fastest speed possible. idiots. go pull your head out, you won't get where you're going any faster, unless you are looking for the pearly gates...or maybe the fiery stank below, which is where i like to mutter at you as you whizz by.

blah blah blah. weird day. and i'm tired anyway. so i'll keep it short.

i'm not sure of the year of this beauty, but that's no surprise. anyone care to help a lady out, and let me know, so i can make a note of it?

i like how the sun is glinting on the squiggles left by the buffer and of the last vestiges of wax on the hood. otherwise polished to perfection. liking the honey tones here. more frequently see these all in one color, so nice for a change.

i'm thinking the blanket vendor behind the car there didn't sell as much as she had hoped, being that it was so hot outside. no worries. cold weather is coming.

daddy's girl

i wasn't sure what to expect at this show. if i had just listened to my better half, we'd have been there earlier. last show i went to in this parking lot was pretty sparsely attended, and figured the same for this one, or at least that people would show up later, being that it was a sunday.

another photographer introduced himself because he recognized me from my flickr page. he said it all depends on which club is hosting and their connections, for pulling in cars. looking back at the good shows i've been to, i'd have to agree. i can be stupid sometimes. 

was unexpectedly hot outside for a december day. being late, i'm only going to have so much time before i get too overheated to stay and shoot all the cars i'd like.

there were a few impalas amongst all the other chevys. i can't pass up the swoopy back end, especially on a ’59. because it was midday, i was having to work around the harsh light and keeping my shadow out of the picture for a lot of the cars.

the only person who came over and asked for a card happened to be the daughter of the owner of this car. couldn't really decide what shot i liked the best, so i'm posting the one i liked the most. no people milling through the background is nice, but the modern suv thing next to it isn't my favorite. i'd have the door closed, but at least the hood was down.

o xmas tree

i'm trying to ignore all the activity going on behind me. relatives in town are helping my mother-in-law put up the tree and decorations.

there is a mini skating rink with little figures spinning around on the "ice" and the music loop playing keeps making me think the ice cream man is driving outside the window in circles, instead of his twice an evening pass-by. i'm wearing headphones, but i can still hear it faintly. 

anyway, the lens flares through these trees are a more appealing sight for my xmas celebration. and i could really get in the xmas spirit if there was a car like this waiting under the tree for me. it's just stunning. 

my better half seems really interested in this kind of car, and he's mentioned a few he's seen for sale at shows. he can dream, right? no where to put one even if he could buy one, and i doubt they fit in newer garages anyway.

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thinking i'll go to the old memories show tomorrow at bruce's. went there once before, but since it's the toy drive, maybe there will be more to see this time.

next saturday, the whittier xmas parade marches irritatingly close, down the main street here. usually seems to be several old cars participating and lining up nearby, so thinking as long as they and all the school marching bands are going to wake me up, i might as well go out and take some pictures.

then there are a couple of shows to choose from in the afternoon. i wanna say there is somewhere we have to go in the evening, but i'm not finding it on my calendar. stupid iphone. maybe it's on sunday evening.

and i'm kind of craving ice cream now.

puppy love

was going to call this one gravy, in the vein of thanksgiving, was going to babble on how mine went. simply ordinary, with ten other family members and a dog beast; several whom have not made the trek to gramma's house in a few years. but why would you care?

but then i spotted the puppy. he makes this beat up, imperfect truck bearable.

the owner of both wondered why i was shooting a picture of the truck, knowing it wasn't as pretty as other cars. i do this for fun, i enjoy taking the pictures. if you like them, and buy a print, it helps pay for this website, and somewhat towards buying replacement cameras, more backup drives, saving for a new lens.

i take pictures of the cars that i like, that catch my eye. i know i have a hard time accepting compliments. i guess this guy was feeling the same, in a manner of speaking.

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had planned on going out to riverside for a couple of shows tomorrow, but instead will be taking my car in for some unplanned maintenance. so that sucks. december is looking pretty busy, so if i get to a show, i get to a show.

oh, hey, i got a new box of "business" cards, featuring cars i've shot over the past year. a different car on the back of every one. it's fun opening a new batch, seeing how they look in print. collect the whole set.