dam fine

stayed up late last night, slept in a bit this morning. my better half assumed we weren't going anywhere and was settling in to watch the idiotic rose parade on tv. he was laughing because channel 5 had missed the thunderbird flyover and only caught the contrails. can't stand the talking heads with their milquetoast voiceover.

when i said i was going to go to the majestics show at the santa fe dam, he got moving. we've never been there, and i figured it would be mostly low riders and jumpers, but also a bit of the stuff we like. flickr contacts are good references when trying to judge going to new shows by looking at past shows images. and mentioning flickr...hey to rudy and to luis...a couple of contacts who have introduced themselves and were at the show today. also, hey to steven, who ran into my better half, but i was off in another parking lot at the time.

needless to say, it was an incredibly well attended show. didn't realize that it continued from parking lot to parking lot, and we only got around to about five of them. also didn't expect to stay very long. we got there about ten in the morning and didn't leave until three-thirty, and still didn't take all the pictures that i could have if i wasn't worrying about my better half and taking up his day off. he had been bored early, but then got over it. said it was because he had gotten something to eat.

anyway. i know we both shot pictures of this car. i can't quite figure out what it is...to me, the body looks like a '39 chevy, but the front looks like a '34. i dunno, and i guess it doesn't really matter much. it was pretty detailed all over. it had airbrushed girls on the visor and in the engine space. can't quite remember if they were also in the trunk, but that was full of engraved hydraulics, if i'm not confusing it with another car. i gotta re-sync my two cameras, so the pictures are sorted by time...the detail shots start getting separated from the car i'm shooting too often.

it also had pinstriping on the hood and about the headlights and such. the grille was so gold, it seems to be throwing off the sensor in my camera trying to catch both the brilliance of the gold and the brightness of the red paint.

really amazing car. the owner lost interest in me after he asked if i was with a magazine. i threw my card on the seat, so maybe he'll enjoy the picture anyway.

long day, but so worth the time. extra glad it wasn't a summer show, as it did get warm, but not the hell hole it must be down in the ditch as during the summer would be.

enjoyed watching the cars hop for a bit in a different lot, though i don't think i can understand why you guys spend so much time and money fixing up the cars to look good and then bounce the hell out of the chassis. i suppose its just because you can.

i would go again next year.

misty morning

this chevy was from the old memories show out at st hilary's in october. the misty morning sprinkled the cars with dew. i liked it best on the hood reflector thing. what is it properly called?

i wanna say it is an originals car, as it is parked next to others, but i can't find the plaque or other note saying for sure. my apologies, if not.

only remember that while taking some pics of it, some dude was busy pacing in front of it on a probably unimportant phone call. i don't think this one was his, but he did get in the way.

i am loving cars parked next to large overhanging trees, for the framing quality, as well as the reflections. best to be a car that i really like, not just the tree, because that's just sad when the foliage makes the picture rather than the other way 'round.

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so we come to the end of the year. and again i've run out things to say.

can i complain about advertised shows that upon arriving, i and several hapless others find that the hosts have canceled and not bothered to remove the advertised date. unfortunately, they do not stay long enough for me to get my cameras out, so i've nothing to show for it.

though, it's happened before in previous years, so i am not that surprised. holidays always make shows and/or attendance spotty if anything. i enjoy the drive, investigate different ways around cities i know nothing about, and make the best of it, and take a turn around the local mall.

oh, how i hate shopping. i enjoy the exercise, and leave empty handed. a fine reason to get out of the house before i become a hermit. meh.

is it just me, or does anyone else find the orange chicken at panda express to typically taste of dessicated cat scraps dipped in a tangy sauce?

we're thinking of going to the majestics show tomorrow. earlyish. we'll see.

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.

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. 

by cracky

i've stayed in the house all weekend. alternated between being too hot and too cold, depending on which room i was in. planning on going to work tomorrow. just been kicking back watching netflix, posting random stuff in my flickr sets.

finding it hard to decide which car to post tonight, so i'm putting up this pontiac chiefy guy, because my skin feels as dry and cracked as the amber of his face.

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...

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.

stylin’

the week at work is going as i thought, very busy, even if very short. hoping to get to leave early like everyone else tomorrow, but its kinda up in the air now. traffic will be hell, so i'll be going to my parents' house. fortunately they are about fifteen minutes from the office if i stay off the freeway.

relatives will be taking the room i usually stay in, as well as the spare. thinking about inviting myself over to my own house with my kid, to avoid sleeping on the couch. or maybe a hotel...that sounds nice too.

gotta spend time this weekend backing up files. maybe a show or two or three.

this one was from the viejitos show back in july. never have really taken the time to post a lot of pics from this show. that was the month i was dog sitting the beast, so i was otherwise occupied. and there have been so many other shows since then.

don't shoot a lot of packards, but the lighting on this one was intriguing.

back to school

yup, another bel air. i can. 

i just liked how i caught the car and the school sign, and how it framed up. could almost imagine that it's the 1950s, save for the overhead electrical lines...did they have those there back then? ditto for the school logo.

and that i got all my shots between groups of people walking down the sidewalk. patience pays off sometimes. must have been an early in the day shot.

second time i'd been out the july show in san fernando, this time on my own, as my better half was very sick. i know he hated to miss it. many more cars there than the previous year. lots of awesome cars, and good vibes. it is included on our do not miss list now, and we'll be there next year.

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countdown to turkey day, and i don't care. family gatherings test my introvert's boundaries.

if anyone has peeked at this blog over the last couple of years, you know how much the march up to xmas just makes me more and more morose. one year, before i remarried, i did just hide out at my house for xmas, because that's what i wanted. so everyone left me be. and i was fine with it.

no, santa didn't leave me any toys there, nor lumps of coal. i found the usual gifts from "santa" over at my parents' house, so curious that he always has had the same handwriting as my mom as long as i can remember. hmm hmmm.

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throwing in this pic of the real reason you guys show up at these shows, apart from the camaraderie. a very large table full of trophies. of the many categories awarded, i just don't know how the judges narrow it down to the lucky few.