what's up?

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.

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...

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.

my teef

lovely car from bomb club's santa anita show. can i say again, i really liked the venue. do it again when it isn't so hot. makes me move quicker than i'd like, and i miss taking a lot of the detail shots, just trying to get to the shade. i should have shot that hood ornament, but i'm not seeing that i did. oh well.

been a tough, nay, tuff week. for my better half, more than myself. he thought he'd let me go to work at the office, while he stayed home and took care of his mother, and put in a full eight-hour day of work at the same time.

he's done it all week, but you can totally tell how tired he is, as well as hear it in his voice. hoping his sister comes back this week.

my work is ramping up for the next few weeks, so i don't know what my hours are going to be. apparently i've been grinding my teeth in my sleep, and now they are hurting a lot. stressing out or something. probably should go buy some that stuff you smear on babies gums when they are teething.

this evening's weather is very pleasant, and i really should go to a cruise nearby, but i'm going to stay put and help out here. heating back up this weekend, and i will stay put in front of the fan. but hey, come uptown on sunday, for the stupid family time they are planning—walk n roll—not a car show, but hey lets close a bunch of streets and ride bikes, listen to live bands, do a farmers market, face painting, etc. hope they have a heatstroke station. stupid. how to share your hot, tired, cranky, whiny kids with neighbors. not feeling it...can you tell?

tired, i should go to bed early, but my teeth hurt...

sparkly

really liked the paint job on this one. and since the owner came over and said hi, thought i'd post it.

talked to some guys that drove down from fresno. they said this heat was nothing to them. one of them chatted about my cameras, which sony models i'd used or liked and why. he said he's seeing more people interested in getting them. he knew the difference between full frame and cropped sensor, so not a novice.

forgot to ask him which car was his, or i'd post it if i shot it. maybe he'll read this and let me know.

three hours

i headed to hawaiian gardens early this morning. not too early, and not sure i'd get in anyway. had to be somewhere else after ten, so had my fingers crossed.

my usual parking over there was already full, so i had to find somewhere else in a nearby neighborhood to park. that put me closer to a different gate than i usually go through. pass the guys at the crosswalk, directing traffic, ask them where i could get in. they said it was kinda early. i said my time was limited. they pointed me to a gate with a security dude in front of it. i think the vendor gate.

asked the security guy if i could get in, that i only had a short time to shoot, etc. he says there are hardly any cars there yet. i can see a dozen from the gate. i should have been a smart ass and said is there one? then that's enough, but i just said there was enough for me. more will come.

anyway, he asked some other guy, and they just said sure, so wizard, i'm in.

moved as quickly as i could. it was already really hot, and on the grass, it was just humid.

got over here near the new life club cars, heading back to my exit. was shooting the fleetline, and the owner of this impala came over and chatted a bit.

loves his old car. talked about the sentimental value that gives him his happy place. old cars remind him of when he was younger, memories of his parents who are gone now.

he is still working on it, seems to never be finished, even after spending so much money on it. time, just takes time. looked ok to me.

i told him i love the classics. they just make me happy. i'm not beyond shooting other cars, so i took a couple of his car.

hope he sees this and likes it.

seemed like it was going to be a very good show. sorry i couldn't stay.