in memorium

so, i've been out of town most of the week. still am, but i had this photo here waiting to post. actually, i have a few ready, just waiting for time, and something to blather on about, neither of which i have lately.

another from last weekend's dia de los muertos show. i have several more i have promised to post, so they'll be up this weekend, when i get back home.

i've seen several other pictures of this same car, by different photographers. they all look pretty much the same. so, here's my shot for consideration. ya, the hood is open, but the show was supposedly less about the car, and more about the celebration, so i made an exception.

a lot of cars had their memorials in the trunk, but many more elaborate ones, were placed out front, or beside the cars. meanings were all personal to the owners, and however they chose to honor their much missed loved ones.

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since mostly nobody reads this, and just quickly flip through the pictures, let me just jot this down, mainly to my better half:

getting old sucks. not sure when it happened, so gradually, and while i wasn't paying attention. now i look in the mirror and see my mom looking back at me. my mind feels young, but this body must belong to someone else. always tired. i put on weight just looking at a hamburger, and if i'm interested in taking some meds to help with hot flashes, the side effects include even more weight gain. if only kids knew, they'd spend less time wishing they were grown up, and spend more time being a kid.

i spent the last day and a half starved, in preparation for a colonoscopy. yup. gross, but i've reached that age, where it's recommended.

had a coworker die a few years ago of colon cancer, because he didn't get one done, being a guy, until it was too late, and only after he was feeling really bad. if he had, they would have found it early and been able to do something before it took over and killed him. he was only in his fifties, and left behind a wife and a handful of kids, including a special needs kid. so that sucks.

my better half hasn't got his done yet, and probably won't. what is it about guys and doctors anyway? good thing they don't have to pop out kids, right?

seriously, the worst thing about the procedure, after the "cleansing" or more like "butt tsunami," is the iv. i hate needles. and then they wanted to stick it in my hand, which gives me the heebeejeebees. never have let any nurse do one there before, but for whatever reason, they had to. this nurse was excellent, and used a baby needle. i didn't look, and it was done quickly. not as bad as i imagined, but nothing i want again, when i have the choice.

they rolled the bed into another room. i remember that part. once the stuff in the iv drugs got flowing, that was it. i was out. they did what they do, and i woke up back where i started. i don't feel any effects of what they did to me. not even sore. even got some nice pictures from up in there for souvenirs. lol.

so, i guess, what i'm trying to say, mainly to my better half, and to anyone, just do it already. your ass isn't a sacred vessel, and you won't feel like you've been part of a prison movie, in a cell with a large inmate.

it doesn't hurt, so if you've gotten old, like me, just get it over with. they probably won't find anything, but if they do, you will have time to get it taken care of, and more time with me.

red vine

quick post. it's late, long ass day. i'll write something more later...meanwhile, beautiful car...

lighthouse

today was our eighth anniversary. made it past the seven year itch. (just keep scratching it😜)

better half was on call for work, and i had to drive out to pick up my daughter at the airport, so we spent several hours apart.

was over a hundred degrees outside, so no point going anywhere not air conditioned in the middle of the day. we did manage to walk uptown in the evening for dinner. still nice to find stuff to talk about after this many years.

letting my daughter borrow my car for the weekend...i hope to see it again on monday.

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this truck was at the legends show at point fermin. nice spot near the lighthouse. not sure why there weren't as many cars parked there, aside from not being out where the majority of people will pass by. this is nice near the tree, and without all the electrical wires that show from other viewpoints of the house.

i can't decide which i like best--this show or chicano park--both get a crap ton of cars and are fun to make a weekend getaway. point fermin is literally on a cliffside by the ocean in san pedro, so some years it stays cool and overcast in the morning and through the day, gets a good breeze.

chicano park is good for a roadtrip or train ride weekend.

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getting up early for the dia de los muertos show down the street in uptown. it's grown quite a bit since the first year, with maybe ten cars and a short row of vendor booths. now it's an equal part full on car show and art show with some vendors in between, all decorated with skulls and shrines for the celebration.

out early and mostly done by ten, when it heats up, people start showing up and the show officially starts.

showlows

wishing i'd pulled out a different camera/different lens right about now. wide-angle distortion is interesting and aggravating at the same time.

early on, just club guys and vendors there. their show, their line up, my shot. thanks, guys!

heart and soul

pearlescent. adj. having an iridescent luster resembling that of pearl or mother-of-pearl. 

it does have a pearly white color. it's a bit more refined than glitter-filled metal flake.

either paint is hard to shoot, especially in the sunlight. gave it a shot anyway.

owner was very nice. said this paint was only a few months old, so it would explain why i didn't recognize the car. words pinstriped on the window say "heart and soul." i've seen that on other cars, but don't remember it on one of these.

anyway, he said was going to have the roof done in some other irridescent opal color as soon as he saves up the money to get it done. that will even more of a challenge to photograph. i'm looking forward to it.

wake up

we got up early and got to st hilary's today before six, and the sun. sure, roll-in wasn't until six-thirty, but i get my choice of parking, and the host club's cars are there setting up, so we just start with them.

then the sun did it's usual thing, and a few more cars showed up.

i was suprised that these spaces in front of the statue didn't fill up first, as is usual. this guy sat all by it's lonesome for a long time. i would have preferred shooting from the other side, because there's a big old tree i really like to have as a background, but, unfortunately, there were a couple of port-a-potties under that tree, so settled for this angle instead.

building lights were still on. timers or sensors? not sure, but they are mildly irritating, adding extra, unwanted lights and reflections.

milestone

look what ronnie has been hiding in his garage. said he'd had it there for five years, and finally got it fixed up and running. so he brought it out to the whittier uptown show. he was helping with the early morning setup of the show, so he got this choice spot on the street. just one of the advantages of getting there early.

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check it out. this is my thousandth rambling post here. who knew? nobody. who cares? nobody.

wondering if it's worth continuing with this website. i like it, but really, i'm running out of things to say, or maybe it was the need to say things. maybe i'm just going through a period of climbing back in my shell, migrating south for the winter, i don't know. i'm blaming the blood moon tonight.

most people just come looking for the pictures anyway. got flickr for that. and this doesn't satisfy the instant gratification most people are seeking, looking for that photo dump from that day's show.

i think i'll kill of the other site for ordering pictures, since so few people ever used it. ya, i'll start with that. not renewing it.

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skipped the dead sled show yesterday. figured i'd spend some time with my better half, and give my side a rest. i don't understand. if it's one particular rib with a crack in it, why it hurts randomly in different spots on that side, and not relating to any rib.

badger

saw this special deluxe at the fleetline fest. better half also managed to get this far in the parking lot, and spoke to the owner. asked him about the badge on the grille. since my better half seems to never post anything much anymore, i will take the opportunity to relay a short story here.

and of course, a week away his details are getting fuzzy.

guy found the badge on what was left of a grille in a junkyard. pulled it off and took it up to the office to ask how much it was.

dude in the office didn't even know what it was, and wasn't sure what to charge. better half can't remember how much he paid, but probably undervalued, since the dweeb didn't wait for the manager to get back. online, they seem to go for a couple hundred bucks, in the original blue velvet gift box.

says the historical value is in that it was an item chevrolet would give to employees / salespeople / owners that served in the war...one of the world wars, not clear on the first or second. i'm thinking more like the first.

also said the shades over the headlights helped to mute the glare of the lights from enemy aircraft that may be flying overhead. why give them a target?

anyway, some of the badges i see on grilles are quite interesting, and i'd never asked the why or where they come from, but my better half has no problem chatting people up, so he usually picks up these little tidbits of trivia.

top down

back in the grind at work and already overflowing with deadlines. that's why i hate taking vacations, the coming back to the office. 

took a long walk when i got home from work today. we walked about six miles a day on vacation, so it's the usual, let's keep it going when we get back. i suppose it will last a week or two. less, if the weather doesn't cool off.

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another from last week's fleetline fest. my better half didn't even get over to this side of the building, so didn't see it. very nice.

i like shooting dashboards of convertibles...always looking to update the header on my page. different steering wheels, dials and the different fonts they used to use...it's a designer thing, i suppose.

this one seems to be real wood fitted in there. and this one had yogi bear and dashboard jesus together...which is more useful?

fleetline fest

i really love fleetlines. saw a flyer for the fleetline fest online, while we were out of town. just back late last night, so we got up late this morning...didn't hear the alarm...or we would have been out earlier.

over at k1 in gardena, where i usually check out the old memories harbor area shows, i knew the parking would be limited. wondered how many fleetlines they would manage to jam in there, plus vendors. you would think whatever the number it would be enough, right? 

funny thing was that, in with all the fleetlines, there was other stuff. deluxes, special deluxes, bel airs, trucks... and maybe it was just the locations, the backgrounds, the surrounding cars with hoods up, but i have quite a few pictures of other stuff that i quite like, better than the fleetlines that i went for. all good. i like the old cars, so i'm pretty happy in spite of that.

this car was really nice. i've never seen it before, which is great. awesome paint job.

wasn't so happy with how damn hot it was. as one of the guys said, supposed to rain the next couple of days, shake and bake weather. i'm not ready to go back to work after a week off. especially up a bunch of floors in a tall building, parked in a parking structure. kinda have to not think about that when you live here in cali.

didn't stay too long. couldn't take the heat, forgot the suntan lotion, and don't tell my doc that i was out pulling my bag around with a cracked rib. didn't hurt, but kinda sore now.