what's up?

leafy

back in whittier after a week. haven't decided if i'll go to a show tomorrow or not. my arm would probably be ok. i don't think it will rain either, and probably there will still be some kick ass clouds.

i think the first time i used a camera to shoot classic cars seven or eight years ago, it was a cloudy, march day. those are still some of my favorite pictures.

pomona swap meet is tomorrow. hmm. hmm. maybe.

all those leaves on the ground, i should have checked inside the car, to see if it was full of leaves too.

days away

better half and his sister both had a cold this week. ran me outta the house to avoid catching it too. i have to get on a plane in a few weeks, followed by several days driving a rental truck.

that being said, i've been away from my computer. and also too busy in the storage unit to write my piddly rants here. sorry, to my few lurkers, or recent acquaintances looking for their cars. it's beyond my control.

took the wrapping bandage off my arm today. i think it hurts more wearing at this point. still have some twinges of ow-fuckity-oww moments, depending on how i move it or what i'm holding. good thing it's raining this weekend or i might be tempted to roll out to a show.

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impala. front street in norwalk. practically perfect in every way.

empty unit

better half realized that i was going to attempt to keep moving boxes, even with my gimp arm, so yesterday he took the time to help me. i know he had a list of other things he needed to do this weekend, while his sister is in town to help with his mom, so i really appreciated his help.

his help basically ended up being moving most everything that was left. which was a good thing, since mostly the rest of the boxes were full of books, and then there was my old desk.

all i did was repack some boxes of monster toys into big plastic bins—i really liked collecting the monsters for a few years. only found one damaged thing...the heat had melted an old rubber alligator's arm onto a model of a skull. ok, i was a weird kid. oh, and i also swept the floor, when we finished up just before storage closing time.

so that's done. just need to spend time repacking cardboard boxed stuff into plastic bins, and there should be enough room for whatever my kid's bringing down here. now if i can only talk her into selling her snakes and tarantulas, everything would be great.

better half went out for a 'boy's night out' the other night. for him, those usually consist of driving to fry's and just wandering the aisles looking at stuff, usually until they tell him they are closing. he's just happy to be out of the house, i guess, and that's his thing, like women go shopping to unwind thing.

this time, he went out to guitar center. he's been looking for a particular guitar, and their website said they had one in stock.

he got there, and of course, it's not there, or otherwise sold. so he started fiddling around with some other guitars.

said he was sitting there playing, when he realized there was someone standing entirely too close behind him. he said that as he turns around, he realizes it's the sales person, and notices that—in his words—she's really beautiful. at the same time, as he's mentally noting this, his wedding ring flies off his finger onto the floor.

as he quickly reaches to pick it up, his response was, "don't read too much into that!"

he said the girl basically just went, "what?" in such a tone that ruined the illusion, heading right into valley girl territory. just a kid, not too quick witted, and didn't get the joke. probably hadn't even noticed it fall.

he's lost a little weight, so his ring falls off sometimes. he found it funny.

lil blue oldsmobile from the blessing of the cars in san gabriel last year. kinda like the old cars with the eye-like headlights hanging off the sides, looking sleepy with those overhanging bits like eyelashes.

aches & pains

so many car shows lining up, while it's still not raining, and i have to go sprain my arm. makes it difficult to carry a tripod and pull a bag on my own.

i've been moving stuff from one storage unit, to a bigger one, in anticipation of moving my daughter's junk in with mine. at least until we figure out where she's going.

been mostly moving it after work, for a few hours at a time. anyway, reaching up to snag a box too high on the stack, another box fell down and whacked me near my wrist. was aching so much after a couple of days, i went to a walk-in clinic yesterday. x-ray showed no cracks, so i just need to wrap it up.

feel like i should wrap both forearms and pretend i'm a boxer, or better yet, wonder woman with those stupid metal things that she used to deflect things. nah, more like the metal things they wore in 300.

anyway, not sure how much i'll get out for a few weeks. still have a month to move stuff. guess i'll get my other kid to do it. piece of cake for him; probably can move all the boxes in a day and not break a sweat.

was talking to tudy a couple of weeks ago, and somewhere in the conversation he mentioned the showlows st hilary car show. said he hadn't made it there this past year, but his son had. described the car, wondered if i'd seen it.

looking through pics, yes, yes i did.

weekend

saw this car across the street from the park. sometimes i wonder why groups park off on their own, if they're participating in an event. usually you can see if they're making friends with mary jane, and well, they can just stay off by themselves. so often i look on at their cars forlornly, and move along on where i am.

fortunately, my better half was with me. i told him i'd like to go over there, and he said sure. he facilitates things, he plays nice with people so much better than i can. he chatted with the owners of these cars while i did my thing. got the stories on the histories of these cars, where the guys grew up; he can relate since he grew up in the same hoods.

thought the light was nice on this side of the street. just had to patiently wait for the breaks in traffic. i like it.

my doctor said i was vitamin d deficient. strange, since i spend a lot of time in the sun, and don't you get a good dose of it there?

told my better half that my doctor said i need to get more d. he pretty much said, "when?"

deadly

so, school shooting yesterday in florida. my niece and nephew were there...that's their school. they are ok, spent time hiding in the dark, under desks. saw stuff, heard stuff.

nephew has been doing interviews on tv; niece spoke to abc london. four of her friends died.

other nephew on swat team, clearing classrooms.

scary stuff.

quiet, early morning, waiting to head in at the bomb club show at santa anita last summer.

lunch

waiting in a quiet corner for my food. it's going to make me sick, it always does. but it tastes good going down. maybe they don't wash their hands here, but i'm not going to think about that.

took the bandaid covering where my stitches were off last night. gotta keep putting some medicine on it for a few days. first look since they pulled the strings...looks like a kitten's little pink sphincter. great now i'm a little asshole. maybe it will fade.

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speaking of rear ends...nice little impala from a while back.

bitch

i like my doctor. really i do. but she pulled out my stitches today, so i'm kinda hating her ass right now. she coulda numbed it out first. now this bandaid she slapped over the holes is a bit tight.

going to go to sleep now. won't feel it or think about if i'm unconscious. at least i'll be able to scratch that skin soon. better half was threatening to put one of those cones on my head...like a dog. who's the bitch? i guess i am.

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almost didn't go to the fundraiser at montebello park. got my taxes done in the morning, and didn't get back home until after noon as it was. it wasn't far, i wanted to shoot, and if i couldn't find parking, i could just turn around.

and my better half decided to join me. he wanted out of the house, and left his sister to care for his mom. he also needed to stop at the market for a few things on the way back.

shockingly found a spot in the little parking lot. lots of cars still there and arriving though it was after two o'clock when we got there.

he got to catch up with people he hasn't seen in a while, and i shot more cars i probably otherwise would have skipped, because they were parked across the street from the crowd, and i didn't know them.

afternoon light and shadows were what they were, so shot around it or just said fuck it, and shot into the sun. a few lens flares don't bother me, if the best angle happens to get pegged by the sun.

the car next to this thirty-nine just happened to pull out as i was walking up to it, so i had a little extra room to play. the trees blocked a lot of the direct light, but couldn't filter it all, so a few flare spots here and there.

at least no camera errors yesterday. afraid i'd be cameraless for a couple of months while they get repaired--but not really; my better half is already letting me use one of his...and i hate it, as he predicted. though it is a better camera.

they know me

is it bad that when i walk uptown to get lunch or dinner, most any place i frequent, already knows what i will order? they already know to bring me a coke without asking first.

i sit at my favorite table, and let them bring me my food. is that more godfather or tony soprano?

so here i am, at the mexican cafe, sitting in my window seat, watching for old cars to drive by. already saw an old, black, noisy chevy, and of course, the "mayor" and his fifty-six bel air are down the street.

i may not make it to a car show, but there is always one to be had uptown if you wait long enough.

saw this impala out at legg lake a while back. not one of my favorite years, and i usually don't bother shooting them, but maybe it was the paint job or the way it was up in a yoga pose that i did this time.

at the house, the tree is down, but still a lot of xmas to be boxed and stuffed back in the garage. better half undid my computer while i was out of town, and it's not back together yet, so can't work on a picture right now. i wanted to book a hotel for an upcoming roadtrip too.

i guess i could reconnect everything, but the visiting grandbaby is trying to fall asleep, so i shouldn't make a racket.

lunch break

sitting outside, seventy degree temps, on my brother's bday. guess i better call him. he's east coast, so i guess he's already three hours older than he would be here.

time really feels like it is racing by lately, and there's just not enough of it. one of these days i should actually get around to writing a will. would be nicer to leave someone an old chevy, rather than here's a well-used honda, right? better start looking for my fleetline now--think they'd trade me for a well-used honda? lol.

anyway, sun came up pretty quick last sunday. couldn't get to a lot of cars fast enough, or they just weren't in a good spot.

liked this one ok, but that damn pop-up sort of ruins it. guy was selling matchbox cars.