what's up?

kermit

1962 chevy impala

i guess i'll put this up for the end of the year.

they always seem to park this car under the solar panels behind the bleachers at san fernando. i suppose for the shade later in the day, as it's usually freakin hot later in the afternoon.

i don't remember it being that hot this year, but then, i get hot flashes, so i overheat in the winter, so it probably was for me.

anyway, caught it early, before they popped the trunk and the hood. while a little bit of sun was still creeping low, under the solar panels.

they don't seem like the friendliest guys, but they're busy setting up, so they probably just want me outta the way.

sitting in my window, watching the clouds grow darker, going to rain again soon. got up this morning and walked uptown, saw rogue one. it was ok, as far as the search for more money goes, and it did tie in at the end to the original star wars.

had yesterday off from work, and have been effing around with updating my website. doesn't seem to be importing this here current version, progress bar isn't moving. i do have more than a couple of pages here, so it might just be taking it's sweet time.

i really do not want to manually copy and paste every single entry. and the programming interface is all different, so pretty sure it isn't going to come over simply anyway.

guess i'll work on my latest batch of stuff to send in to the copyright office.

also, there seem to be several different new year's day car shows this year. majestics, the one we usually go to, have moved out to wilmington this time. together car club is at the dam this year. there's another out by dodger stadium, and i'm pretty sure i saw flyers for one in anaheim or buena park and somewhere else. such a dilemma. don't know where to go, or if i'll go out at all.

haven't seen the photographers or car owners of the stuff i like, posting which one they'll be heading out to, so i'm at a loss. someone recommend one to me, please, so i can talk myself into getting out of a nice warm bed before the sun comes up.

probably full of stars

1962 buick riviera

quick post...gotta head to the office in a few.

saw this first thing in the morning uptown, at the dia de los muertos show. i'd seen it before at mooneyes open house, but that was midday sun and where it was parked, couldn't get a shot i really liked, or at least enough to post yet.

but here, sun just coming up, street lights still on, the layers of metal flake and clear coat were really just amazing. i shot it again later in the day, but i like these early pics better by far. this was my fav.

winner, winner, chicken dinna

1962 chevy impala

this guy asked about my pictures, and asked that i don't forget to take a shot of his and his friend's cars. not sure which car belonged to who, since i didn't write it down; but for sure it belongs to one of them. i'll add the other, a sixty three, in a little while.

after another hectic week at work, we made it out to the fair yesterday. great day, great weather. would have been perfect for a car show...like the white wall nationals. but a girl can't be everywhere at the same time, and my better half was sort of on call to go in to work, so we went to costa mesa.

second day the fair was open, and we wanted to go see my stuff hanging in the photography building. found the first, a picture of one of the dancers blessing the cars, from the dia de los muertos car show back in october. no dice, i mean no ribbon. still looked good hanging there.

then over to the where the transportation pics were...same area as last year...in the corner. there's an impala, there's a fleetline; nope and nope. and there's a nineteen fifty two chevy hood ornament. yes! a ribbon! and not honorable mention! third place. good enough. never have done better than a mention, so yay, right?

and then there was one more picture to find. and we both had a brain fart, and couldn't remember what we were looking for. lol. so, while my better half called his mom to tell her the news, i had to search my phone for the entry tag, since i just couldn't picture what it was in my head at all. finally found it, and took a few minutes to locate it, but there it was, a lighthouse, in the landscape section. and nope.

so, one bigger ribbon out of five pictures hanging on the wall is good. better half's mother was overjoyed, but they're both just that type of people. i called my mom. my dad answered gruffly; he was waiting for a call from an air conditioning repairman. heat makes you pretty grumpy. my mom got on the phone quickly, and she was happy about it, but had to get off the phone quickly.

my dad doesn't have the best of hearing, and i don't have the best communication skills. i think i'm out of his auditory range most of the time, so it's just easier to let my mom translate info to him. apparently it didn't translate all the way, as he sent an email at some point in the afternoon, asking if i'd sent a picture of the first place shot and ribbon, so he could get bragging rights with the relatives. no dad, just third place. don't be too disappointed.

1963 chevy impala

mexzcan

1962 chevy impala convertible

quick post...it got late. busy day/busy evening.

promised to post some pics of this one. i have a few more angles to add when i have more time...check back this weekend. here they are.

on track

1962 chevrolet impala

sucks. whittier uptown car show is today.

and i had to leave.

we got out there about five-fifteenish and started shooting right away.

it was all about right away. i had set my alarm for ten, to head back home and have some time to download pics, take a quick shower, and have lunch before heading to the train station.

as my better half expected, i started negotiating with myself as it got closer to ten. reset the alarm for ten-thirty, then eleven. gave up the downloading of pics, to get a little more time in. finally did pack it up at eleven, though i did also consider catching the next train, three hours later.

walked back to the house, got my not cold shower--it was hot out and it seemed unable to make anything cooler than lukewarm--but was better than nothing. ran around and grabbed the last items i needed to pack, and headed out the door.

didn't even open the camera bag, pictures will have to keep until i get back. it says the card is almost full, and i burned through one battery in about three hours, and some percentage of another. so either, i really did move hella fast between shots, each shot is a really big file, or i forgot to reformat the card last night. i know i reformatted, so i'll just hope that i just took a lot of pictures.

pretty much had used my main camera until it died last summer, and the twin to that one is on it's last legs, so i switched out and used two new camera bodies i earned with the chucky cheese point program we have at work. i call it that; its their reward thing they use instead of just giving cash or bonuses. the atta boy program.

saved up enough points and fortuitously, the cameras were on sale. hoping the shots came out all right. i'm sure they did. i think i got some good ones too.

better half dropped me off at the station, bought us a quick lunch in the little cafe, and he's heading back home, and back uptown to take more pictures. so say hey to him if you see him, and know that i'm so jealous.

found this impala at the vfw a few months ago. it's much too nice to be stuck here in the corner by the storage container and/or trash bins, but they do provide a nice color and texture contrast, i thought.

pinks

1962 chevrolet impala

looking at my project for work. i don't want to do it, but i really should. will just hurt less on monday, if i get it out of the way today.

i could still make it to the car show. get my better half to drop me off. think we're going to walk uptown for bfast now, so maybe later...

impala from the new year's show at the dam. sparkly. caught my eye. one of the few low riders i shot that day. just love the details these guys add to the cars—really remarkable artistry. i think maybe this one is right on the cusp of doing too much of a good thing.

auntie freeze

had a busy weekend. better half got called in do work, so he didn't get to have any fun at car shows with me, as originally planned. hope they remember he is out of town when we go to chicano park.

spent all day saturday out at the chino corn feed run. a lot more cars than last year, adding a few more "overflow" lots. and i saw them all. didn't shoot them all, but really, who could?

also stopped at the unidos fundraiser at walnut high school on sunday. annual show. been there twice before. i thought there were more cars this year, but maybe because i got there later than i usually do.

anyway, i'll start by saying i took more pictures than i'll ever get around to doing anything with, as usual. i actually talked to a lot of people, which for me, is really interesting. met a lot of people, and i probably won't remember your name, until i've run into you a few times, but i definitely remember a car.

since i took a lot of pictures, i've posted single exposures of most of the cars on my flickr junkyard. feel free to check them out, and let me know if you think your car is worth polishing up. easier if you view by album.

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this impala was really nice. owner offered to put the top down for me, but it was fine as it was. how i found it, how i shot it.

muy bueno

i've seen the famous bueno family impala several times now. another car that i just can't get enough of. so many details. airbrushing, etched chrome and pinstripes all over. can never get up high enough to shoot the roof of these kinds of things.

there's stephanie waiting patiently. i don't know her well enough to know what she's thinking, so i won't presume to guess. we pass each other at shows, and don't say much more than hello. i'm shy. she doesn't seem shy. so it's just me.

other people we ran into at this show expressed happiness that she was there, and getting out, making the effort to be out with people. i imagine it can't be easy.

saw her around the show later in the day, without a camera in her hand. that was unusual.

one family

when i was in high school, i had an armenian english teacher. he was funny. he talked funny, like he had a mouth full of marbles, he mumbled through the day. i took several classes with him during my years there.

he liked the way i wrote. so much so, that for one of my finals, while everyone else furiously wrote their minor tomes on whatever the topic was, he had me write a satire about the students in the class. i was already gonna get an a, so why the heck not?

i took classes on shakespeare and the classics from him. the papers i wrote for that class, i used for term papers in college. i knew how to write, i guess.

i think about him once in a while, joke with my brother about him too, since he took classes with him after me.

he was older then, so i can only guess that he's gone now. but i do wonder what he would think of this late night drivel i scribble without thought of order, more of a stream of consciousness than anything else. i suppose without wringing it out and editing it over days and hours, this is what you get. but i wasn't an english major, and i mostly just write whatever pops into my head at the time i'm sitting here.

and that had nothing at all to do with this car. this is anthony's car. i know his name is anthony because his shirt says "anthony" on the patch. oh, and that he spent a lot of time talking with my better half.

i suppose i should be jealous at how easily my better half can work a crowd, get into a conversation on a wide variety of topics, and come out the other side with lots of stories to tell.

but i'm not jealous. he's just that kind of guy, not shy. big, gregarious...greg-garious. lol. he gets more stories. i get more pictures. i'm the innie to his outie.

and to my dad, who seems to be reading this blog more often than i think, no, there's no competition with who gets better shots. just simply the joy of taking the pictures and for me, of getting out, trying to get more out of my comfort zone. but i'll never get as comfortable as my better half just chatting people up. my mouth freezes up, just like in high school, when we had to give a speech.

but it all depends on the person who wants to converse. personality trumps shy anytime. or, if you're a richard, i'll just stare at you in amazement and write about it later.

back to the car. clean, basic, classic. the guys were sitting on the curb behind it eating their mickey d. i was perfectly happy to just squeeze down nearby and shoot the car, but they politely moved their feast away from the car, happy to have someone taking a picture of it.

yes, my better half took a similar shot. his is better. my opinion.

i don't like coffee

can't stand the smell of it. can't imagine how foul that inky molten sludge must taste as it scorches down your throat. flavored varieties just add an overtone to the stench below.

no thanks. i prefer my caffeine cold. gimme a coke anytime. though, if you think about it, is probably just as bad for you. rusts nails and stuff. wonder if it would remove tarnish off of silverware?

anyway, besides the point. these cadillac guys are almost always here at bob's. they play musical chairs with the parking spots. this one got lucky tonight, out from under the roof of the drive-up, and below the neon. and just a hint of the last of the sunset. and the white paint really reflects all of that color back.

haven't been there in over a month. now the time has changed, and it gets dark early. in spite of the longer drive from the new office, i still got there about five-thirty. apparently, still too early for much to be there, but i just didn't feel like waiting. going to "bed" "early," if you can call nine-thirty early.