what's up?

i'll bet

great show yesterday at santa anita. bomb club has a lot of friends, i guess.

second time there for me, but i could only stay a few hours, as i had to be elsewhere, and my better half had things he needed to get out and do.

yet, i almost hit the snooze button, which would have led to me blowing off yet another show. so, tiredly, i talked myself into getting out of bed ten minutes later, still before five a.m. i'd spent the week trying to figure out how i could do this show, and get from there to the other places i needed to be, and then back in time at home for wherever it was my better half had to go, which was, initially, to his office.

weather had shown it was going to be in the nineties this weekend, and i really dreaded being out in it. instead, it was overcast and cool. the bomb club was just being allowed into the tunnel to the infield when i got there. couple of the other photographers were already busy shooting the lineup, well before i arrived.

i chose to follow the cars inside, rather than be kept out like last year. the security guard chose to tell me the tripod was ok on the infield, but i couldn't take it up into the stands on the other side. told him not to worry on that, as i wasn't going up there.

spent my time staying out of the way, shooting cars already parked, before people and cars got in the way, or the owners moved them or started polishing them. shot them again, when i found them in another location, sometimes minutes later.

liked this chevy parked here, near the track and the pop-up betting info tent. i like the curves of the back end [that's what she said].

took my time walking around the bomb club's cars. then headed over to the other areas, as they started letting in groups of cars to stake out their clubs' spots on the grass.

even stopped to play with the big lens i borrowed from my better half. i used to use it when my kid played college baseball. it'd been a while. thought i'd try it on the horses. i'd asked what settings to use on it before i headed out, as i'd forgotten what i had done years ago. wasn't that impressed, and obviously i'd set something wrong...more noise on the shots than i like, and too dark. switched it from the full-frame camera to my crop sensor, and still didn't like it. maybe next year, if i am not in a rush, i'd fiddle with it more.

upon deciding to leave the infield, and passing through the tunnel back to the parking lot, i found an equal number of cars still waiting to get inside. someone said they were being held up by the movement of the horses. i didn't understand why, since the ponies had been on the track warming up and exercising all morning.

it seemed, as soon as i stepped out of the tunnel, the sun also decided it was a good time to come out from behind the clouds. the medicine the doctor has me taking, makes me sensitive to sunlight, so that was going to end my fun soon anyway—could already feel my skin tingling.

still, i picked out a few cars to shoot, stopped to chat with a few people i hadn't seen in a while, such that, one of them had a baby that was already a year and a half old...last i saw him, it had just been born. time flies.

was nine-thirty when i finally left...an hour and a half later than i had scheduled myself. had called my better half at eight, and he said all was good, take my time, he wasn't in a hurry. so i had.

i like the venue; hope they have it there again next year. will cross my fingers for another gloomy morning, and get there before sunrise next time.

dreaming

digging down to one of the older pictures that have been sitting in draft mode.

i like this picture quite a bit. probably would like it more if i just rubbed out those two modern cars on the right.

out by legg lake, so it must have been one of the los boulevardos' barbeque picnics; i'm just too lazy to look up the file right now.

well, my software is doing updates, so i can't work on a picture now. tired anyway. busy day, not enough good sleep at night.

we have baby monitors in all the rooms of the house, so we can hear if my better half's mother calls. her inner timer is screwed up, so she is often up all night watching tv, and randomly asking for coffee or meals at two, three, or four a.m., then sleeping half the day.

lately, he's had many all nighters, then full days of work, so he is mostly just stumbling through the day. he calls this place his sleep deprivation lab.

i have a hard time going back to sleep once i'm awake, so my better half pretty much sleeps in the front room, so as not to disturb me. i'm supposed to leave the volume up at night, so i can be the back up, should he not hear her.

once in a while, we both are just unconscious to the world, and she has to resort to the alarm on the monitor, and even that doesn't work sometimes. when you gotta go, you gotta go. fortunately, one of us has heard it eventually, before she has tried anything stupid, like trying to stand up by herself, and into her wheelchair.

apparently, i only hear her half of the times she calls at night. wasn't a problem when i was young, with little babies, but i guess i've lost that sense of hearing, and remain solidly asleep, especially since i don't get there until after ten most nights. maybe i have insomnia.

long ago, not long after i married my better half, said he tried to wake me up one night. he claims i told him, "shhh." he tried again, but this time i said, "kathy's sleeping." pretty sure there was a variation he likes to tell people, where he said i told him "kathy isn't here right now," but not in the current iteration.

he thought i was fucking with him until i went on snoring or whatever. strange that i left a keeper at the gate to warn him off.

well, he dreams, vividly. he once told me he went to germany...

father's day

old plymouth from the uptown show. i like that even though i walked up there relatively late, around six-thirty, the street was still pretty empty. i've shot this car several times over the years, but this is probably my favorite picture of it so far.

a relation of the owner inquired about some editing on it, and inserting parents into the shot...sure i can do that, for a price...but they never got back to me, so i'll leave it be.

hey dad, probably won't make down to your house today. restaurants are busy anyway. we can go out tomorrow, mkay?

another perfectly, cold june gloom day. i really should go out to one of the parks around here, for any one of the many car club barbeques happening, but judging by the last holiday park show i went to, finding parking and dealing with the crowds, make it so much less fun. unless you're there first thing at dawn. which it isn't now...well into the afternoon, so there you go. i'll stay put. better half has marketing and probably heading to the office to work stuff, so here i am again.

i will just sit here, play with pictures, and watch as numerous people park illegally in the street, and walk up to the neighbor's door. usually towards evening. they don't stay long, so nothing nefarious is going on.

money is exchanged and they return with bags/boxes of something or other. we suspect it is some type of unregulated food prep for restaurants, cuz they're always cooking in the kitchen with the windows open. this being father's day, i expect quite a number of pit stops to happen.

we don't really talk to them, as they've been assholes since they moved in over a year ago. really surprised the old curmudgeonly neighbor hasn't call the health inspector on them yet.

used to be a drug dealer living in the house next door, and long after they were busted, strange people continued coming around, but i don't think this is the same thing.

we do like to make up stories about what might be in the plain brown bags though. i'll go with homemade playdough today, in hot pink and neon green. buyers will go home and open the bag, stick their faces in the top and take a big whiff, sending them back to their childhoods.

just close your eyes and open a can of playdough...sniff it...it totally works, assuming you played with the stuff as a kid.

but that homemade shit, probably not the same...might not take you back that far...and who wants to be a teenager again? ick, no.

whatever; i can't think just now

when wondering around city-sponsored shows, be sure to look down side streets...usually you find cars that did not register, or do not want to pay the fee to park in the main areas.

in this case, i spied a few cars down the space between the movie theatre and the building next to it. walking to the back of the theatre, in the overflow parking lot, were several cars parked near the barbershop. this year, the barbershop did not drag their barber chairs out to the show as a vendor to do some barbering, but people went to the back to their shop. seemed busy in there too.

this cadillac was parked next to it, in the alley.

later in the afternoon, there seemed to be an after-party going on back there, as i walked home from an afternoon movie.

i suppose i should write something. i didn't go to any shows today, a perfectly cold, overcast photo-loving weather day. better half joked that i would write about why i didn't go out, and what excuse i would use.

well, since no one reads this but him, and some lurkers, the only excuse i will say, is i took some me time. the blankets were too comfortable, i hadn't slept well all week, and the show would go on without me. besides, i spent most of the day hanging around the house with him, so he can't complain too much.

i did go uptown to mail a letter, and get a late lunch. an old chevy from the kustom oldies car club drove past me, on the way to the post office. it stopped momentarily on the corner by central park, and drove down the street before i could get my phone out for a picture.

then, by the time i got to the corner, i spied it coming back down the street towards me. so i got my phone out, ready, and snapped a quick shot as he sat at the stop sign. got a wave from the owner too. i think their club had one of the shows i could have gone to today.

also saw an edsel uptown too. you can see both on my instagram.

a few thoughts from a week of long drives home:

i'd rather spend time in the evening working on a picture, then go to sleep, rather than trying to think of something to write about here. does that make me a terrible blogger, or just over-tired? i have plenty of pictures ready for a write-up, but not a lot of time to spend thinking of what to write, hence i spend my afternoon drive-time writing fun stuff in my head, with the best of intentions, only to not be able to remember most of it when i get home.
there's a person in my office building with a tuft of hair on their mostly balding forehead, and all i can think of is that he represents the lollypop guild...and to welcome me to munchkin land. terrible of me, i know, but it makes me giggle every time i see them. there used to be a girl that wore a big military overcoat looking dress, and she was one of the witch's guards...i might be working in oz without knowing it.
i need to improve my attitude at work, kind of an i don't give a fuck mood. i've been in this state of mind before. one of my better half's favorite memories is of sitting in on a meeting with my former manager and team at a former job, telling that manager to his face, in front of all my coworkers, that his idea was stupid. mostly because i didn't want to participate in that particular project. better half called it a career enhancing move on my part. manager did turn a lovely shade of red, and the vein did bulge on the side of his neck. coworkers looked at the floor, the ceiling, elsewhere. ultimately, nothing happened, but i didn't have to participate on that project, which was the point anyway. i think the mood is from all the other stuff going on in my life; it will pass, and hopefully, i'll still be employed this time.
my kid is going to move out of my condo soon. i fantasize about gutting it, and putting new flooring, cabinets, bathrooms fixtures in. then remember my other kid is moving in, with her big beast of a dog, and half of that fantasy gets put on hold. still might replace the fixtures or the kitchen. figure by the time she moves out, i'll be too old to live there anyway, too old to climb the stairs...the next person can replace the flooring.
randomly, the lowercase m will not type while logged in to this website, so i'm having to type it in a different program and paste it in here. wth, squarespace?
why does the uptown rite-aid blast barry manilow tunes outside 24/7?
did i mention my dad has been in the emergency room and/or hospital at least twice more since the last time i mentioned it? he seems somehow less than he was each time after. tomorrow is father's day. i hope he doesn't spend it there. best to go give him a hug while i still can...
oh, and i got three pictures accepted into the oc fair this year. already have the framed prints ready to go. my problem is that i have to drop them off next saturday, and i really want to go to the bomb club show at santa anita. and i think my better half has to go in to his office to hob nob with some executives, so i have to be here while he's gone. yet to see how the schedule will go...

dream big

i had a dream last night. usually don't remember them very well, but i guess this one happened right before i awoke.

a giant t-rex stomping down our street, casually chomping on the big round-topped trees, as if they were giant broccoli. and i was happy about it. along with the trees, the damn, noisy, now-wild parrots went with them.

what i want to know, is, who released the first couple of those things, rather unleashed them? all summer, the flock flys around uptown, squawking from sunrise to sunset. keeps me from sleeping in late, with the windows open on the hottest days.

i don't sleep well as it is. summer here is hell, with no air conditioning, but there are those fucking parrots.

guessing the t-rex came from a parody i watched on youtube. at least i didn't have to play the part of genarro in jurassic park, hiding in the bathroom stall.

maybe it's my reaction to some bad news i heard from a friend yesterday. the kind that sucks the big one, and you just want to strike back at the universe, for dealing a shit hand to good people.

now, in this scenario, who is the t-rex, and who are the parrots?

caught a fellow photog's car at the uptown show. should i be jealous of his ride, or should he be jealous of mine?

really, is there any comparison to a honda? nah, his is more photogenic. and a wee bit cleaner than mine.

touchy feely

so i went to the uptown car show yesterday. didn’t get down the street until fife-thirty, and the sun was already coming up. oh well. better half walked me down to where the first bunch of cars were parked, to make sure i’d be safe. when he saw tudy, there, he knew i would be ok. familiar faces make him feel better about leaving me alone so early at a show.

intended to head out to the other end of the street, by the hotel, in the staging area, but the sun was already up, and those typical sun behind the car shots i get there, were not really going to happen. different day of the month, different month than they have done in the past.

besides, i got distracted by the big, shiny things parked along the way. volunteers get first dibs on parking early, and there were a couple of clubs that i saw—originals and socal tribe. so i shot some of their cars first. tried to take advantage of where the sun shown down between buildings and hit the cars. a few of those were busily being polished before they headed off to direct traffic, or whatever they were told to do. others, the guys were in the way, and it’s not my place to tell them to move...it’s their show, they’re doing a job, i’m just a fly on the wall, so to speak. i just come back for the shot later.

finally got to the staging area, shot the few cars i liked there—usually they are packed in and overflowing to side streets by that time, but this year they’d moved drive-in to eight in the morning. that’s ok, whittier shows always seem to be let in late...usually by the fire marshall’s hold up.

anyway, retraced my path back up the street, shot cars i’d passed up, and decided to head home for a break. it was already getting warm, and i was thirsty. convenience of having that option is nice.

noticed the groupe car club cars had filled in one of the last side streets i had to pass on the way, and decided to get some of them too. there were a lot of them—i think i heard someone say they had at least thirty or forty members there, and it looked like most of them where on that block.

unfortunately, it was after eight by then, and they were beginning to let them in to the main drag. i hurried up, but once they get going, they move too quick for me.

i spied this impala a block down. just by itself, the owner and another dude standing by, a street closed sign just beyond. i took a short break in the shade of an overhang, expecting them to get in the car, and head up to the line of incoming cars. i really didn’t want to head down the slight hill for nothing, only to walk back up the incline.

after a few minutes, him not moving, but rather talking on the phone, i headed over.

the other guy came over and watched me set up. he hovered around, out of the direct shot, but his shadow kept moving across the car. finally started talking to him, hoping he would move to a different position, but no. i think i’ve talked to him before...can’t quite remember which show, or maybe it was at pomona, but i did remember the accent. from the follow up email he sent me, and his email address, it must be french.

anyway, i moved to the other side of the car, thinking at least i’d get him out of the path of the light, and that did work, but he continued hanging around next to me. finally asked if he wanted to be in the picture, which really was what he wanted all along.

so this is how he wanted to pose for the picture. does the owner know him? i wouldn’t touch someone’s car without permission. at least it was just the tip of his gloves. not sure if they were for weight lifting or bike riding, but when i reached over to shake his hand, he stopped to remove the glove first.

i left to walk up the hill, and he went back to the car and the owner. he had told me that the battery had died, and the guy had been calling for a tow truck, which arrived by the time i’d reached the next corner. hadley tow must love these shows, as there are always cars that overheat or otherwise not start.

ruined

here’s an old impala, with the morning sun hitting it just so. there was a line up of an impala club, just under ther coronado overpass, waiting for their turn to get into the show at chicano park. i think this car was near the end of the line, so his back end was hanging out in the sun—-lucky for me, i saw it.

———

today is my son’s birthday. i’m sitting down in san clemente, outside some random restaurant his wife selected, waiting for them to show up. got here early to avoid the worst of friday southbound traffic.

almost tempted to keep on going to san diego, but the uptown show is tomorrow, and my better half would miss me, so i’ll head home tonight.

for my kid, i have a small gift, as well as some cash—what the kids always ask for—not enough to help them move out of my condo, but enough to go to get him into disneyland for one day...so not really that much.

i’d stayed up late last night, making him some pan de elate, a sweet bread thing, his tia used to make him when he was a kid. it’s sort of like a yellow cake, cut into squares,and drowned/soaked in sweetened condensed milk and brandy. i used to make it for him often, but now he tries to keep in shape and so hasn’t had it for a few years.

i was at my parents’ house. my daughter is currently living there with her dog, waiting for her brother to move out of my place. sort of musical chairs, where i probably will never live in my own place again.

like i said, i was up late baking. left the pan of bread on the counter to cool. my mom said she’d cover it before she went up to bed, so up i went to sleep.

this morning, i go to the kitchen for a bowl of cereal before work, and the pan has been covered with foil. atop that is a post-it note warning that is not to be eaten, it’s for my kid—this pointedly directed at my dad, who will help himself to anything in the kitchen.

knowing my boy will not want to eat the whole thing, and likely to take it to work or relatives to share, i added to the note, that it was ok to have some pieces. i left it there and headed to work. figured i’d pick it up on the way to dinner, placing some chunks into a gift box of some sort, that i’d buy at lunch.

got a call today frm my daughter around eight a.m. she seemed distraught, as she said something terrible had happened.

being that both of my parents have fallen recently, and have health issues, i began to worry instantly. you know, the adrenaline build up kind?

she began to tell me how she had awakened and realized she needed to go buy some dog food or something for the beast’s hungry belly. she assumed my mom and dad were still sound asleep.

she locked the dog in her room and left for the store. she got back about a half hour later, and the dog was waiting inside, by the front door. my mom was not home, so she figured she had gone to run errands.

in the kitchen, she put the food in the dog’s bowl, on the floor.

he’s usually like a vacuum, always famished, and inhales food in minutes. this time, however, he seemed uninterested. weird.

then, she noticed that the foil was slightly warped up at the corner on the bread dish. she hadn’t thought much of it before, as foil is bendy and the bread was still covered.

as she pulled the aluminum back, she realized why the beast wasn’t hungry. the mofo had helped himself to the bread!

i’ve mentioned before this dobie is tall enough he can just rest his chin on the counters, but he’s never done anything to stuff on the counters before.

and it turns out my mom had been out all morning, so the little bastard had also figured out a way to open the bedroom door. is he some sort of velociraptor from jurassic park? did he learn?

we are guessing he just stood on his back legs and helped himself to breakfast. no paw prints or things knocked on the floor. and he hadn’t knocked the glass pyrex bread dish on the floor, so there’s that.

he conveniently had only eaten most of the soft center of the bread, leaving the crusty edge pieces behind. no one is going to eat that—he probably still licked it.

anyway, my daughter was distressed and had cried before calling me, knowing that i’d stayed up making it for her brother’s birthday.

i just kept laughing, picturing that dog doing his thing. she kept saying sorry, and not understanding why i wad laughing. what was i supposed to do? i couldn’t fix it, couldn’t go home and make more at the moment. it is/was going to make a good story tonight at the dinner table.

captivated

another picture promised to post from last week. pretty sure it was white, but the overcast turned it as gray as the clouds above.

————

stuck here at my kid’s home with his dog, waiting for them to come home from solvang. i’d have left by now, but then he asked if i wanted any danish for my mother-in-law...so, like i said, waiting.

dog woke me up before six. i guess he either had to pee, or thought i was rather late for work. i turned over and tried to ignore him, but i could feel his beady eyes staring at me in the dark. oh well, at least everyone else is asleep, so i could take him to the park, the school, anywhere, and no one will care if i let him run around off leash. pesky rules, pesky people.

took him to the park, walked over to the junior high school, so he could sniff out lacrosse balls in the bushes. walked around the track. everything dewy and wet from the overcast. he tried to catch a canadian goose randomly dipping for bugs on the centerfield of the track. not fast enough, and the goose honked away overhead.

back home for breakfast. then what. figured i could kill a coule of hours by taking him to my parents’ house.

didn’t realize my other kid was back from her trip, and was just heading off to work. so, from the front, upper window, her own dog howled and barked hearing us outside. idiot, shut up before you wake the neighborhood. spastic, tall, gangly horse of a two-year old dobie ball of energy. had to run upstairs and let him out of the room. hot in there, for the snakes, who just stare at you with dead eyes. creepy fuckers.

anyway, these two dogs don’t really get on well. the older one tolerates the dobie, but their personalities are opposite. the older, shy and only like certain dogs, and the dobie, who is gregarious, and would play with any dog, as long as they want to play chase.

took a while to calm dobie down to a tolerable level, the other mostly trying to stay away, and/or hide under my legs. my parents didn’t hear a thing, and continued sleeping, in spite of me yelling, “asshole” around the house, trying to get the beast to stay out of things. food works. pretty sure he got fed, but i gave him more.

i’d take them both to the big dog park, but i would not be able to wrangle both, the older not really wanting to play with other dogs, only dutifully walk the perimeter and take a requisite dump, then head back to the car. he’s only really happy at home.

the other beast loves it there, and will run until he’s tired or overheated, whichever comes first, and never wants to leave. he does not come when you call, and mostly either have to pull him off some other dog, or wait him out. pretty sure one of these days i will break a finger twisting in his collar. little bastard.

these are both of my furry grandkids, all i have for now.

anyway, parents finally came downstairs, mom cooked bacon and eggs, and defended that from the tall beast, who can reach right across the counters, if you’re not paying attention.

hung up the flag outside, for memorial day. mom was afraid she’d fall off the step stool. i was almost too short to do it in spite of the step.

finally, judged the older one had enough of the younger dog, and headed back to the house.

now watching game of thrones episodes, made chocolate chip cookies, and ordered dominos pizza, the whole time being stared at by this dog. no, wait, he’s taking a nap finally.

kid still an hour and a half away, but traffic still seems to be moving. let’s see how it is when i finally head back to whittier.

not there

memorial day weekend. i should be at a car show somewhere, but i just don’t feel like it. my head hasn’t been in the game lately. other things occupying my thoughts, so cars and pictures have been pushed to the wayside.

was approved to go to a conference the end of this week, but after still not booking the trip or registering, finally told my boss i just couldn’t go...both parents had fallen recently, and i just couldn’t be two-thousand miles away just now.

on top of that, doctor prescribed some med that makes me sensitive to sunlight, so thanks for that dude. morning and evening shows for a while i guess. he said i’d be ok if i just cover up, long sleeves, hat, sunscreen—i guess he wants me to have a heatstroke too. maybe it’s the meds making me not care about anything too.

have spent yesterday and this morning sifting through pictures to enter in the oc fair...deadline coming up. hard to decide, since i haven’t done anything that spectacularly stands out in my mind, or again, maybe it’s just my attitude. better half helped narrow down my picks. just went with most of his favs for a change. got those uploaded this morning.

at least i’ll be in town for the uptown show next weekend. hard to not go to that, when i just have to walk down the street. and i can leave if/when the sun comes out...hoping the overcast of the last couple of weeks continues...

my kid took off for solvang today. invited me to go, but i don’t enjoy sitting in traffic on holiday weekends. first he said he was taking his dog with, then last night let me know that he was leaving him at home. his dad would stop by and feed and walk him, but otherwise he’d be alone. not fair to the dog, and i almost wish he’d not tell me when he decides to do that kind of crap. probably knows i’m not going to leave the dog alone all night. pretty sure his dad won’t just take him to his own house.

guess i’ll start packing for one night. better half will be ok for one night.

——-

still need to post a few cars from last week’s show at whittier high school. love fleetlines, so this will do.

next best thing

there were so many good shows to choose from this weekend. but i really couldn’t get out for long, so i went to the closest one—so close, i could walk there. and knowing that the majority of cars and people would be elsewhere.

this one was a fundraiser for the whittier football team. don’t worry if you missed it; they will have another in july. small show, home team, someone should document it.

i got there later than the ass crack of dawn, knowing the overcast was going to be around all day. the last couple of weekends have been so wonderfully cool and overcast, and i have been unable to partake much in car shows, so kinda bummed about that.

reflections were the host club, better half had mentioned he’d seen a couple of their guys hanging up a sign very early, on his way back from the market.

during the time i was there, maybe about thirty cars had shown up. a few had driven by and kept going. there seemed to be one or two from other clubs, there to show support: viejitos, old memories, kustom, dukes, groupe, and several others i can’t recall without being at my computer.

this one was one of the first i shot. had his blue lights on, which glowed a bit in the gloom. owner asked if i had an instagram, so i suppose he already saw this shot there. told him and his friend i’d post pics of their cars. still need to get around to the other car.