what's up?

la van dulce

busy week and i’m tired. standing at a table in the middle of the oc fair. last weekend and had a free ticket. traffic sucks anyway. started getting dizzy so found a shady spot.

i’d rather be all alone in a crowd with my better half. early here but plenty of people. and i’m already bored.

contemplating which show to go to in the morning and/or pomona on sunday. guess i’ll see where the car goes. i think it needs a sevice soon.

one more week then i head to vegas for five days. hate that place, and it’s more hellish in summer heat. at least i’ll be staying in a hotel i’ve never been in that i can remember.

guess i’ll keep an eye on traffic and waste another hour here.

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shot through the window for this shot of every cliché you can think of in a lowrider van. fairly unimpressive white on the outside, save for some pinstriped messages, such as the name of the van. guessing “asshole” in it’s delicate paint refers to the owner and not the reader.

hangin’ out

i don’t have much to say. wanted to go out to an evening show, when it was cooler, but instead stayed home with an upset stomach.

last time i was home, just chatted all evening with my better half. never turned on my computer for one minute. only here a couple of days a week, and it’s like i never get to just hang out with him. and he needs a fresh face to give him a mental break. taking care of older parents is not the easiest thing in the world.

too hot outside all day, and i just want to sleep. got a lot going on in my head.

better half is going to try and get out of the house for a few hours tonight. we’ll see if his mother will be ok long enough for him to enjoy it.

did see an old gray chevy drive by. a little bit of happiness in the sputtering of the engine. doubt he stopped uptown; they mostly just drive on through to cruise down whittier boulevard or something.

you must be bored of sunrise shots, but here’s another. i’m usually at shows early to miss the heat and the stark shadows. and i look for where the sun is hitting cars just right.

i think this car was a bit lighter in color, but the sun is warming it up a bit.

historical reference

going to shoot cars tomorrow. which show, i’m not sure. i’ll probably just flip a coin.

really tired. i’ll catch up on sleep some other day. got things to do, places to go, and it’s going to be a hot weekend. i miss winter.

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liked this chevy parked up next to one of the many murals at chicano park. this mural is along the street, and is quite frequently seen in pictures on the internet. a plethora of mexican historical figures. a plethora.

got the blues

missed the imperials’ show this year. dug up this pic from a couple of years ago for tonight. i remember there was a pair of impalas up at the front, but irritatingly roped off, so you couldn’t get a shot without the blockade there. more of a keep off / don’t touch the cars move, and i don’t blame them – they were pretty nice cars.

liked that they used blue lights on a blue car.

no idea where i might end up this weekend; all depends on how hot it is and what time i wake up…it’s been a tough week at work so i’m kind of burned out. gotta listen to my bod. probably will stay close to home.

would have been my dad’s birthday today. missing him extra.

sad and tired, so i guess i’ll go to bed.

got it

knew it was going to be hot today. almost just stayed in bed and rolled over, but the quality of the light coming through the blinds refused to let me sleep. so i got up and dressed. figured i’d drive over to mooneyes open house, since it was close enough even though i’d gotten out later than i should.

really wasn’t a lot there initially, not like there used to be. i suppose i should have gone to one of the other shows to find the cars i really like, but i didn’t.

that’s fine. still enough cars to shoot, and more slowly turned up.

even that one a-hole who picked up his friend on the corner as i was about to cross the street, then turned the corner and did a few circles in the empty lanes and burnouts. probably the people waiting for the red light on the other side didn’t enjoy how close he came to hitting them. you’re aren’t that good buddy. he drove by again later, minus the friend and the spins. still revved his engine. compensating much?

went down one side of the street shooting, back up the other, then crossed the road and started again with anything i might have missed.

i’d seen this truck earlier, but the owner was pulling drinks or something out of the back and had skipped it. second time around, he came over to ask if i’d taken a picture of it. hadn’t, but i did right after that, now that no one was in the way. ;)

not today

imperials show was today. intended to go. better half says when i wake up arguing with myself about going to a show, he already knows i’m not going, and goes back to sleep, no need to walk me out to the car. so, ya, one of those days.

stayed in town. went back to sleep after breakfast, instead of driving away. decided to go for a walk when i woke up. unfortunately, it would have been an ideal day at the show, as it stayed overcast until about one p.m., at least in whittier. walking uptown, i noticed some sort of thing going on a block up philadelphia, tents and vendors selling stuff. took a detour from my walk to check it out. whatever it was, they’re terrible at advertising it.

going with casita del pueblo running it, as it was all latin culture sort of stuff for sale, t-shirts with skulls and aztec symbols, paper mache art, jewelry and food trucks.

at least, i wasn’t the only one who missed the imperials’ show – lo and behold, the “mayor” was there, with his fifty-six.

he said he was invited, but was unable to go. i guess i just wasn’t up to hoping they’d let me in early.

pretty buick from the other day in cypress. nevada plates, but a boyle heights flag or whatever you call those metal things. so confused.

mine eyes have seen the glory

felt bad, but went out to the latin gents’ monthly car show last night. whatever aches and pains i did have managed to disappear almost the whole time i was taking pictures. don’t worry, if i shook your hand, it’s not a cold.

was a pretty sparse turnout, but the heat dissipated, and a cool breeze came up. my hair, in spite of a headband, insisted on blowing in my face as i tried to focus, but i stood far enough back, so as to not have it in my shots. not ready to chop it off yet, but sometimes, i’m close to calling it for this reason.

anyway, mostly enough space and freedom to take as many shots of each car that i wanted. i was waiting for the sun to head down, and had already been around once, before just standing and watching what the light was doing to the cars. didn’t see anything really spectacular, but there were a few i liked well enough.

here is the back end of mr blvd’s fleetline. better half thought this was a better shot than the one from the front. i think this is the second time i’ve posted this point of view of this car. it just has a nice ass, i guess.

i should have stayed until the sun actually hit the ground, but my insides started to hurt, so i packed it in. had fun anyway. thanks everyone!

delray / sittin’

at my condo, picking up mail before heading to my mom’s for the night.

sad to be here; it smells because my daughter’s dog is a not so well trained doberman who has taken one too many dookies in here. that and a stagnant piss smell permanently in this ratty carpet. and just a hint of vomit. really need to leave, but i have to close all the windows, and this chair is just uncomfortable enough that i don’t want to sit anymore.

tired of it just being an expensive storage unit for her stuff. she doesn’t realize how good she had it yet—a rent-free, utilities-free place to stay. but she just couldn’t be on her own, and met a guy that lived too far away, then got a job in that too far away place and complained of not getting enough sleep, and the price of gas, etc.

well just tarantulas live here now, and i hope she stops to feed them sometimes.

gave her until the end of summer to pack, but i’m betting she’ll just leave it to see how serious i really am. that or she knows i’ll box it up for her just to get it out. she can put it in her dad’s storage.

soon, her stuff will be out and i can get on with the demolition that is needed in here.

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i did stop at the crossing church’s thirteenth annual car show last weekend. had to park a block or two away, after circling the neighborhood once. got there close to noon, never a good time for me with all the heat and all the people walking through the shot.

i still managed one loop around the parking lot. seemed to be fewer cars than past years, but it was later than i usually go, and there were many other shows going on at the same time.

i was pretty overheated after the sun came out, when i got to the last few cars. eh, i overheat in the middle of winter, it is just extra gruelling in the summer. had to stop inside the church kitchen for some cold water, shade, and slow moving overhead fan action.

i think this car was the second or third one i shot, up at the front corner. looks like an impala, but it’s not. can’t remember seeing it before, at least it wasn’t in this year’s files, so it was nice to shoot something different.

throwdown

saturday morning i was out at the oc fairgrounds, dropping off a couple of pictures that were selected for the fair. slept in at my mom’s instead of spending the night in whittier, hitting a show early, then dropping off the pictures, because it just was easier for me. i’d just stop at the show on the way home.

as i was driving up the street towards the gate, i see a line of classic cars parked in the middle of the street. i was starting to pass them, i saw one with the windows rolled down, so i slowed down and inquired where the show was—at the fairgrounds. huh. oh yes, i’d seen a flyer, but hadn’t added it to my list—the michelada throwdown. ya, i don’t drink, so i’d throw it down.

got there before nine, so apparently it was free to enter. as a bonus, i got into the swap meet free too.

well, pretty much what i saw out in the street was all that was showing up for this show…the brown descents and the fleetlines car clubs, with a few other solo riders…at least during the time i was there.

i’m acquainted with danny, who owns this car. met him years ago at an elks club show in santa ana. have shot his car several times over the years. he of course came over to say hello.

made quick work of the cars that were there, and before the official start time for the drink-a-thon or whatever it was. still hoped to hit up that other show before the sun came out, as i’m still getting over the sunburn from last week.

i was so very tempted to hit up that slide before i left, but ultimately skipped it. didn’t want to leave my cameras down at the bottom for even a couple of minutes. sometimes i miss my better half not coming to the fair to drop off pictures, making a big deal about nothing.

trickery

at my mom’s tonight. she accused me of playing a trick on her. said there were several phone calls today that she didn’t answer. she screens her calls…so many robocalls come in.

these calls popped up with my dad’s name. calling from the house phone. sort of creepy to say the least. told her it was probably a spoof call.

for chuckles, i had the phone call it back, which got the “number has been disconnected” message…a “dead” line. lol.

told her it was dad, just playing a joke on her. wouldn’t put it past him if there was a way to do it from whatever/wherever you go after this life. welcome to the twight zone. dun dun dun.

you always wish to hear their voice again…but what would you do if you really did? don’t answer the phone mom…

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one of the bomb club’s own, front and center, er, off center, on the grass. pretty blue thirty-nine.

so many spindly palm trees though; if you don’t shoot up from down low, you get a lot of pictures with what appear to be random-looking lines in the background.