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first of the new year

1948 chevy fleetline

1948 chevy fleetline

i really hadn’t gone to too many shows the last few months. which was a good thing in a way, because i think i had a pulled muscle or sprain, so it apparently had time to heal.

started off this year at the veteranos’ cruise night in west covina. didn’t officially start until three-thirty, so i figured i’d get there an hour early, and shoot whatever was there while they were setting up. knew i’d be racing the sun for light later anyway.

well, no show cars were there. momentarily thought i had the wrong date or location, but when i decided i’d at least go inside and get some pizza, there were four of the veteranos at a table having a meal. apparently neither of the couples had brought their own cars to the show.

by the time i was done and went to get my gear from my car, vendors and cars had begun settling in. i had a couple of hours with varied degrees of light, and increasing numbers of people, before it got hard to get clean shots. i ended up staying about four hours, since my better half said he was not going to be able to get out to the market anyway. i think it was more about encouraging me to get back to taking pics, especially since i was actually having a lot of fun.

saw several people i hadn’t chatted with in a while, so happy new year to them, was nice see them.

had an asian man wander through the show ask me how they were monetizing it, if it’s just in a parking lot. wtf. not everything is about money, and he was free to participate in the raffle.

i’ve seen this car before. interesting color combo. makes me want some sherbet. parked against a curb, but pretty close to the dj booth area, it had a lot of people and car traffic in the way. i took the chance that a car wouldn’t need to get by for a few minutes during my exposure. still had to take several, so i could blend out the people. still have a blur, and a random shadow on the car. it was late, and maybe i’ll clean it up later, but i thought it already looked presentable enough to share.

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went to a memorial service for a former boss the other day. he’d had a heart attack xmas day, and never regained consciousness; he died on the second day of the new year.

he’d only retired a year or two before, so didn’t have a lot of time to enjoy it. hearing the memories shared, he had a good life, was a good man. enjoyed rock and roll, guitars, and mott the hoople. his eldest son looked like a carbon copy of how i remembered him, except with dark hair. he was a good boss. worked his way up at the same company for forty years.

saw several former coworkers, and many other faces i recognized, but couldn’t place the name. everyone has gotten so old, but then, so have i. told my other former boss, i guess i’ll see you again at the next funeral.

come on and rain already

1958 gmc truck

1958 gmc truck

they promised it was going to rain all week, last week. then it didn’t. just a day or so.

they said it was going to rain sunday/monday, then monday/tuesday this week, and now it’s not at all or maybe ten percent chance. what are they paying these weather people for? “it’s beyond my control…”

well it looks cloudy, with no chance of meatballs from my window here. and i’ve seen and/or heard several classic cars drive on by down greenleaf, which seems to me a better predictor of whether it is going to rain or not.

better half woke up early today, and snuck on out to the sante fe swap meet to buy some shirts. said there was a vendor selling knock off pendletons. he jokingly asked if he was a greenspans outlet, and the guy said, “no, but a hell of a lot cheaper.”

he’s out again now, driving around in a car that was originally mine, then my ex’s, then my dad’s, now my mom’s. if he decides not to buy it, i suppose i’ll take it out to pomona next month. or my sister can craig’s list it. he want’s a spare car in case he needs to get his mom to an appointment, and i’m not in town.

i have new year’s eve and new year’s day off from work. there are several new year’s day picnics happening. seriously considering going somewhere instead of hiding away in the house. or maybe at least to the veterano’s cruise night on the weekend, since one of my favs dm’d me a flyer to tempt me.


truck from a not hugely attended fundraiser show at workman high school. i think it was supposed to rain that day (it didn’t), which kept more cars away that otherwise would have been there.

it’s the color of a ring i used to wear in elementary school, turquoise stone and silver, that probably wouldn’t even fit on my pinky anymore. maybe i’ll give it to the new grandkid (not here yet) when she’s old enough.

tippy toes

harley davidson road king

harley davidson road king

quick post, since i’m up late, and only in town for the night.

made it out to pico park last weekend, for the together car club’s toy drive. met their president, who greeted me warmly.

i had only a couple of hours to get out, or i would have headed to another show, but there were enough cars there to fill the time.

i really haven’t been out to a show in a few months, so this was good enough, and not too far from the house.

i’ve seen this bike before, i think over at frisco’s a couple of years ago. it’s posted here somewhere. that was a night shot. here in the bright mid-day sun, you can really appreciate the paint and the airbrushing all over it.

i am sort of wondering what the thing above the headlights is; at this point, i’m calling it the sorting hat from harry potter. is this bike for slytherin?

who knows when i’ll ever have enough time to work on a lot of pictures again, so i’ll just go ahead and put up some preliminary thumbnails of some of the shots i took below.

parading?

whittier xmas-219And9more.jpg
whittier xmas-287And9more.jpg

the uptown parade was this morning. don’t really care about it, but it is right outside the door, so i take the opportunity to shoot the cars that show up. i mean, they are at my doorstep, so how can i not?

this year, they staged it farther down the street and around the block. it also lightly rained early in the morning. the club that drove the pretty pretty princesses down the street last year didn’t participate this year. cars weren’t really parked right at our curb, and didn’t see many that i was interested in.

there were no horses either, which are kind of fun to take pics of too.

i was about ready to forget about it, then spied an old ford across the way. i’d just gotten out of the shower, got dressed quickly, and i went out thinking i’ll just quickly shoot that one car, and didn’t even brush my hair.

after a bunch of shots of that one, i noticed a car at the far end of the block, but by the time i got there, the parade had moved on some more, so i figured i’d catch it when it came around to the main street.

walked back toward the house, and saw that there were some cars down the street by the mortuary. so that’s where they were hiding a few that i’d seen earlier.

that’s where i found this convertible. it seemed to have been meant to be in the parade, but as i walked up to it, they were peeling the parade poster off the side of the door. maybe they had to leave, maybe it broke down, i don’t know. this end of the street is still part of the staging area, and they weren’t going anywhere, so i took a few pictures. pretty sure i’ve shot it before, if i really looked through the archives, but i don’t think i’ve ever posted it.

better half had asked if i’d seen a black one with pinstripes after i’d gotten home—he’d seen it drive past the window. i totally blanked that it was this one and said nope, being all disappointed that i’d missed it. then he walked behind me while i was working on the picture and said that’s the one i was talking about. so duh.

sonata time

1951 chevy deluxe

1951 chevy deluxe

apparently, the xmas sonata is going on uptown. no idea what they’ve scheduled this year. usually at least a horse-drawn carriage and carolers. the carriage i could get into, but never have; the carolers, i could do without.

better half has hauled a buttload of xmas decorations into the house, and they are deciding what colors to use on the fruity tree. already know it’s toy story again for the theme, but now it’s what color balls to use <she said balls>. at least it gets his mom out of her bed and into her wheelchair.

i haven’t been home since last weekend, for random reasons, including rain and my mom’s garage door not wanting to open. this is the picture i was working on last week, when the fuse blew. yay the new photoshop actually does a decent job at recovering a picture after a crash vs frying the file.

knocked the color out, because the light flares were just oddly bugging me, but i still liked the car.

i probably mentioned it before, but it was odd the lot was so empty as compared to previous years at this time of morning. makes me want to sleep in too, but i like the early morning light too much.

i should talk. i haven’t been getting out to any shows at all for the last month. and the past weekend and this morning have been perfectly gray and cold. just not feeling up to it. i have all sorts of excuses, but i’ll just leave it at i haven’t had the energy to get out. miss you guys tho.

shipped her pants

pontiac

pontiac

i hadn’t any intention of staying at my place again tonight, yet here i am.

daughter-in-law contacted me earlier today, asking if i was going to be picking up my mail after work. she had mistakenly shipped something to my address instead of her current one. she used to live here, and hadn’t noticed the account was still connected here for deliveries.

told her i would stop after an appointment, so no porch pirates would get the package.

arrived about five pm, nothing here. had her check tracking number. it is not coming from one of the big name carriers, and shows it at a facility in reno. due by end of day today — with a caveat about possible weather delays.

i don’t know what this company considers end of day. the big a company says up until eight pm, and this isn’t them. so technically, it’s still the third until midnight.

waited until eight, then had to go get dinner. there’s not really any food here, since there is still no kitchen put in. soon though. just need a decent contractor that will follow up on their estimates. that’s another story for another time.

rain has started lightly falling and i’m going to bed. i suppose their little trucks couldn’t get over the grapevine.

so i’ll swing by again tomorrow, but will not wait for it. my mom misses me. awwww.

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pomona swap meet this sunday. wonder if it will be raining. that would be a wash for toy drives too. really thinking about getting out and shooting some pics and picking up some t-shirts for my better half.

nice pontiac from earlier this year at pomona. at least it won’t be too hot there this weekend.

running late

kustom oldies 1-73And9morehdr.jpg

so tired, but can’t sleep. got two hours of sleep last night, and took a four hour nap when i dragged myself home to my mom’s this afternoon. maybe i’m coming down with something.

didn’t turn my computer on all weekend until sunday afternoon—attempt to, that is.

after a couple of days at my mom’s, i spent the next couple in whittier. mother-in-law wants the tree up this year. last year we only got the lights on the bottom fourth, not even visible from the street, before everything went to hell and my dad died.

so i helped my better half string the zillion fruity pebbles colored lights on the thing until i couldn’t reach the branches. i have the scratches from the artificial needles and wires to prove it.

he says he’ll have the top done by the next time i get there. hopefully his mom will get in her wheelchair and supervise decorating with whatever this year’s theme is. better half would leave the tree up year round, as he used to, but his mom doesn’t do that. i think this year she said fuck it, leave it up until february to piss off the landlord.

anyway, the computer came up with some message and not wanting to load. better half finally got it going, but told me to back stuff up, as he might have to reload windows. ugh.

i was almost done working on a picture to post, when, for the first time this year, better half forgot to turn off his mom’s space heater, and started the microwave. boom. blows a fuse. down goes my computer, as i haven’t bothered replacing the battery backup that went bad.

instead of me also blowing a fuse, i just thought, “fuck,” and went and packed my bag for the days i’ll be at my mom’s, and tried to go to bed. it was close to eleven pm. didn’t even turn the computer back on…figured my file is toast anyway.

so no new pic tonight. here’s one from a show at dolphin park earlier in the year. liked the dappled light and fallen leaves around the car.

hoping i can sleep now. so exhausted.

sraining

1948 chevy

1948 chevy

hiding out at my condo, rain pounding, checking to see if there are any leaks in the roof. kid has been here off and on the past week packing her things finally. place seems somehow deflated the emptier it gets, but i will better see what needs doing, fixing, replacing without all the stuff in the way.

last rainy thanksgiving i can remember was in the early eighties, the year my sister got married.

my ear is aching and my eye is puffy and itchy. wondering what new problems await me to finish out the year.

turkey day. time for reminders from last year’s memories of my dad’s last year.

he’d just gotten out of a month-long stay in a hospital the day before thanksgiving. was super tired and only came downstairs to the dinner table last minute, and sat at my mom’s seat instead of his place at the far end. didn’t eat much, went back to bed early.

pretty sure my mom has set one extra place, not just for symmetry in place settings.

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here’s a chevy from last year. a con stilo club picnic, at a park not far from the house, on a cloudy day. small lot of cars, shot most of them before i had to leave. wonder if this car still looks like this, or if it was a work in progress.

53 truck

1953 chevy truck

1953 chevy truck

waiting at the dmv to get the new fangled driver license. got a timer running to see how long it takes with an appointment. fun times. the bingo number keeps just being a digit or two off from mine. why can’t it go in a logical order?

like the waiting room in beetlejuice. just need the guy with the shrunken head. this music sucks.

coming direct from a fire drill at work. they emptied the building and kept everyone outside for half an hour. glad i took my keys with me so i could just take off instead of waiting forever for the elevator or climbing the stairs.

lunch after this hell. then i guess back to work.

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haven’t been to a latin gents show since summer. sometimes they’re packed, sometimes, not so much to choose from. but the club members do have cars, and i think this is one of them. light was hitting it right and made the color pop.

monday blues

mateo2-10-Edit.jpg

is it friday yet?

not too busy at work, so that’s good. just enough to fill eight hours, without an imminent deadline. nice for a change.

it’s late, so quick post. just got to my home, and wondering why it reeks of spaghetti. i mean it’s making me hungry, but there isn’t any here. unless my kid dumped some in the trash, but i took that out and saw no evidence. blaming the neighbors.

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shot this back in march, at manny’s el loco, with my macro lens. depth of field focused where i wanted it, and very shallow (the lens, not me), but looking at it again, kinda want that headlight sharp too. some other time, maybe.