what's up?

got the blues

1964 chevy impala

missed the imperials’ show this year. dug up this pic from a couple of years ago for tonight. i remember there was a pair of impalas up at the front, but irritatingly roped off, so you couldn’t get a shot without the blockade there. more of a keep off / don’t touch the cars move, and i don’t blame them – they were pretty nice cars.

liked that they used blue lights on a blue car.


no idea where i might end up this weekend; all depends on how hot it is and what time i wake up…it’s been a tough week at work so i’m kind of burned out. gotta listen to my bod. probably will stay close to home.

would have been my dad’s birthday today. missing him extra.

sad and tired, so i guess i’ll go to bed.

decisions, decisions

imperials1-5290And9morehdr.jpg

another summer saturday. another decision to make. a handful of car shows to choose from, all running at the same time. 

was at my mom's last night, without my camera bag or tripod, so that cancelled out the early morning show on my list. the other evening shows...i could run all over the place and stay a little at each, or pick one or two to get some variety.

or none, tomorrow is another day.

things are quiet at home, so i can get out for a bit. i still have a few hours to decide, for the outside to cool off a bit.


found this piece of eye candy at the imperials' show. tj friends club member. so nice.

fair day

1959 chevy impala

was my turn to run all over hell and back today. 

decided to run down to the oc fair really quick, to see my pictures on the wall. had to go down to my office just to turn on my computer so i can do an unexpected/unplanned work from home day tomorrow, and the fair was on the way.  

got there just before they opened the parking lot, so got a good, close parking spot near the entrance. then, since i already had my ticket, got to head straight to the entry gate, where i ended up being first in line, which meant i got to stand under the tent cover, out of the sun until official open time at eleven. you don't know how much i needed that. 

they let us in at eleven on the dot. i stopped for a drink before heading to the visual arts building, where i had to sit outside until i finished it, since i wasn't going to trash an eight dollar drink.

found my pictures in the usual place, the far corner of the building. two cars, one ferris wheel...ferris wheel got an honorable mention, wouldn't you know. hope my better half can go see them sometime. 

spent an hour looking at all the other art in the building and enjoying the air conditioning. so chill. the weather outside was actually pretty good, being relatively close to the ocean, a breeze blowing constantly, and some cloud cover as i headed back to my car. 

another ten miles down the freeway, five minutes in the office, and the return trip to whittier, with three stops at various stores, with a brief shopping list at each. hot in whittier, and managed to miss whatever they were doing uptown and streets were open again. 

 -----

damn stunning paint job on this impala at the imperials show. usual internal whining about needing to drag a ladder with me sometime. i do love the back ends on these cars, sleek curves up to the arcs of the fins. 

evil mistress

saw this great bike the other day at the imperials show. might have belonged to one of the vendors, but so what. it was named the evil mistress.

lots of great details, with skulls and bones hidden here and there. airbrushed women in dia de los muertos face paint and fancy ostrich skin seat. a gun and an oversize bullet there too.  i'll have to add a few detail shots when i have time. totally forgot, and i'm sitting at my desk typing before i'm on the clock at six. enjoying the air conditioning, ya know?


stumbled down the hall in the dark this morning, just before four, to take a shower. it was warm last night, so i was just wearing my underwear. figured my mother-in-law was asleep, so she wouldn't notice as i walked past her door, and i know my better half wouldn't have minded, had he been awake...he'd have been up...  anyway covered my boobs with my hands, just on the off chance she woke up.

in the bathroom, shut the door, turn on the light, start the shower. have seat on the porcelain throne, cuz, ya know, my eyes are floatin'. on the floor in front of me, is a foot bath and a scale, both leaning up against the wall. my tired eyes see a momentary movement, something dark. not getting the total heebie jeebies, i figured it was just another cockroach, courtesy of our neighbors, but a mighty big one.

in a split second the damn thing ran toward me, along the baseboard, and literally ran over my foot, and behind the toilet. i made a stifled squeal, because, ick, and also i didn't want to wake everyone up. 

but then the thing, ran out, and across to the towel cabinet, and back along the tub. 

it wasn't a cockroach. it was a fricking big brown mouse. not a rat, didn't have the creepy tail. but still. 

so i'm sitting there with my feet up, watching this thing do a few circuits around the room, before disappearing under the sink cabinet. finally put my feet down, wiped (yes, let's not forget to do that) and flushed, then out, closed the door. standing in my panties, topless, tapping my better half on the butt. he rolls over and says hi. 

told him there's a mouse in the bathroom, be the man. 

while he's waking up, i went back, peeked in the door. didn't see it, so jumped into the shower--i gotta go to work, and i've only so much time to get ready.

better half shows up with a broom and a dust pan. i guess his intent was to crush and carry.  he poked all the corners, then looked where i'd last seen it.

there's a one-inch gap, with a void to under the cabinet, hidden behind the shower curtain. ya, that's where it went. no idea if it was still under there, or if it leads to a space between us and the neighbors', but that would explain one way for the roaches to get in. 

anyway, that's my morning so far... 

sparkly

1963 chevy impala

really liked the paint job on this one. and since the owner came over and said hi, thought i'd post it.


talked to some guys that drove down from fresno. they said this heat was nothing to them. one of them chatted about my cameras, which sony models i'd used or liked and why. he said he's seeing more people interested in getting them. he knew the difference between full frame and cropped sensor, so not a novice.

forgot to ask him which car was his, or i'd post it if i shot it. maybe he'll read this and let me know.

three hours

i headed to hawaiian gardens early this morning. not too early, and not sure i'd get in anyway. had to be somewhere else after ten, so had my fingers crossed.

my usual parking over there was already full, so i had to find somewhere else in a nearby neighborhood to park. that put me closer to a different gate than i usually go through. pass the guys at the crosswalk, directing traffic, ask them where i could get in. they said it was kinda early. i said my time was limited. they pointed me to a gate with a security dude in front of it. i think the vendor gate.

asked the security guy if i could get in, that i only had a short time to shoot, etc. he says there are hardly any cars there yet. i can see a dozen from the gate. i should have been a smart ass and said is there one? then that's enough, but i just said there was enough for me. more will come.

anyway, he asked some other guy, and they just said sure, so wizard, i'm in.

moved as quickly as i could. it was already really hot, and on the grass, it was just humid.

got over here near the new life club cars, heading back to my exit. was shooting the fleetline, and the owner of this impala came over and chatted a bit.

loves his old car. talked about the sentimental value that gives him his happy place. old cars remind him of when he was younger, memories of his parents who are gone now.

he is still working on it, seems to never be finished, even after spending so much money on it. time, just takes time. looked ok to me.

i told him i love the classics. they just make me happy. i'm not beyond shooting other cars, so i took a couple of his car.

hope he sees this and likes it.

seemed like it was going to be a very good show. sorry i couldn't stay.

elite green

chevy impala

this is a nice green car. couldn't get a good angle on it, since the front end was hopped up, and i'm not that tall, but this will do. lots of pinstriping and airbrush work. wondering if these are the type of wheels that they have to pull each spoke out and polish them individually. pain in the ass, i would think.


almost xmas. almost forgot that we had today off at work. all right, i really did not realize until last monday, when someone said something about the day off. which really screwed up my project deadlines, since i had factored in working today. oh well.

i guess tomorrow i'm getting baked, err, getting my bake on...a variety of edible xmas gifts. certain family members don't want things, but they do expect to receive their preferred baked treats. vinegar taffy for my dad...i'll do that last, as i'll burn my hands pulling that shit as it cools. but he likes it, so i'll make it for him. he says he doesn't inhale it all in one day like he used to, and his crowns on his teeth don't come out anymore, since he super glued them in.

my younger brother just decided he'd fly his family in on xmas day, so i'll have to make him a danish pastry. have made it for him every year since high school, except for last year, since he moved to the east coast right before xmas. i'm saying he's coming back just for that, but he won't admit it.

gave my kid the choice between some sticky, sweet, brandy-covered mexican bread or a loaf of carrot bread; he went with carrot. went to the market earlier, with a list, and yep, forgot to get the carrots. i'll go tomorrow.

and i think i'll make my mom some zuchinni bread, with cinnamon and nutmeg flavor.

apart from all that, i gotta make a batch of cinnamon rolls too. that takes all day, so i'll start those first. will be a busy day, and i'm going to make a big mess in the kitchen.

peekaboo

1964 chevy impala

i think there has only been one time i've ever seen this car not under a pop up tent. it's a historical car, so sure, they want to protect it and the paint job. the one time it wasn't, was probably five years ago, at the broiler. late in the day, i think it was surrounded by people. i'd have to sift through my hard drives to find it.

typically it's also surrounded by admirers and photographers. found it very early at the imperial's hawaiian gardens show last month. still was under the tent, so i only bothered shooting the front end. i'm guessing when it got pinstriped and painted, the chrome was off, otherwise, why does that squiggle go beneath it?


better half definitely is sick. drove home early from work to take him to some doctor out in arcadia, only to find out they had no more time for patients for the day. we'll try again in the morning.

i'm still not as sick as he is, but i suspect it will hit me full force before the end of the week, just in time for labor day.

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

sunny

1936 chevy

as usual, working my way through a few promised pictures, not going in any particular order. going pretty slowly: the time spent in traffic, the workload, my constant state of not quite fatigue, and my better half preventing me from having time to work on my pictures. better half simply reminding me that its already late and i should get some sleep. maybe i have insomnia. i have a hard time falling asleep, unless i'm completely exhausted or completely relaxed. i guess i will be posting when i post for a while. all i need is time, and its on the short end for a while.

firme bombs plaqueby the time i got to this car, the sun had burned through the clouds, and was climbing pretty quickly. it is purely by chance that you are where you are as the sun rises and you see how the light is hitting things. just have to shoot what's in front of you in that moment.

i remember the way the sun was hitting this car and the one next to it, from the other side of the car. it was nice, but there was also a pop tent behind them, and i just couldn't get low enough to get it out of the shot, and time was a-wastin'

as i've said before, turn around, look the other way. there might be something interesting you won't notice if you don't look.

so this was a better angle for this car. the trees framed it better. and i like how they sort of filtered the sun, keeping it from flaring out or just being a white blob in the clouds, adding some definition.