what's up?

mission possible

made it out to san gabriel today. never been there, not even as a tourist. i did not visit the gift shop.

blessing of the cars. didn't get to see that—i had places i had to be at a certain time. so i got to work shooting the cars that were there early. two and a half hours, and i got most of them, at least the ones i liked.

chatted with other photographers that i run into all the time. i chatted with owners of the cars. i was just in a good mood, i guess.

owner of this car asked for a card. went over and took a picture of it before i got distracted by all the shiny, shiny chrome. told him i'd post the picture...

lick it

i think this went way more shiny than it actually was in person. too much spit, maybe.

i do love the lines of a fleetline. i have a couple of shots of this car. i liked this vertical version better, probably because of how the tree frames it versus the other...more of a typical shot, not as interesting, comparatively.

on the front

made it out to the historic front street car show yesterday. had never been, but have seen pictures from past years, showing an impressive assortment of cars.

i was somewhat underwhelmed that there seemed to be only a lot full of cars. sure i can understand that there were more than a few other shows going on, and i was there earlier than move in was really expected, but still. other streets were not closed off for the show, as should have happened per past expectations.

well, fewer cars, fewer people, this early. i had time to shoot what i wanted, without much problem. i did have a minor problem, with a particular person who'd pissed me off in the past, so i mostly skipped shooting any of his club's cars. petty, perhaps, but i remember, even if he didn't.

found this impala toward the far corner of the lot. owner, and i believe his son, sat behind it, and i hate to inconvenience people, so was just going to shoot without disturbing them. when the owner asked to see what i was shooting in the camera, i took it as an ok to move in closer.

opted not to show him the camera images, as i happened to have a book of old prints with me. let him look through that instead.

anyway, nice chat. so i'll post this shot, with the presumed son standing in my shot.

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.

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...