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hot rod

saw this car at moon eyes. it was a bit different, a piece of art in progress. i just liked the headlights for some reason, so old timey.

happy birthday to my sister. really should see her more than just at thanksgiving and xmas, when she just lives out by the beach.

san diego has been nice for a week, but i think we're ready to go home. back to the grind, gotta pay for this trip and save up for another in six months.

spent the day in balboa park. tried to visit museums that we'd never been in, so bought a one day pass to up to five. i think we made it to about four, with a cannibal exhibit as an add-on charge at the museum of man. they also offered a climb to the viewing deck of the bell tower, which had been closed to the public for about eighty years, and recently opened to visitors in small groups. they said it will close again soon for additional "renovations."

in the tower, you climb about four flights of stairs, about one-hundred twenty-five steps. each landing, they give you a break and talk about some historical facts, and the carillion. there are open windows that allow fresh air to blow through.

the final level to the viewing level is an old spiral staircase, one person at a time. we were with a dad with three kids and another group, with a couple of women and a guy.

one of the women happened to be wearing a short, floral dress, so she was not only having to deal with climbing steep stairs, but having to hold the dress firmly around her thighs to keep the wind from blowing it up.

on the viewing level, there are four open windows, to four different views of balboa park. out one, if you squint very hard, you can spot a mexican flag in the distance, which is the border crossing. another looks over the old globe theatre and toward the zoo. each of the other two looked either way up and down the street of museums, and out to the city and waterfront.

we were all taking pictures, or using a pair of binoculars they had up there to see what you could see out the windows.

better half said at one point, he turned around, holding up his camera, ready to take a shot, when one of our escorts started shouting and waving her hands to stop him. apparently, short dress woman's dress had at that same moment, caught more than a breeze, and he got quite a show. but no picture.

needless to say, they let her climb down the spiral staircase first, when our time was up.

hot rod

hood ornament

nice pipes

1935 ford pickup

this is a random post. at my mom's and this is the only picture i have lurking on here for a rainy day--i've been that busy.

you know a few posts ago, when i said the big project was done and things should slow down a bit? well, what kind of idiot goes to a weekly status meeting and says ya, it seems quieter? that's just a cry to the great beyond to slap down your ass with a shit-ton more work. so yes, i jinxed myself, and the great beyond shat upon my desk.

i mean i have a steady stream of work every day. every day. every day. but then you become suddenly inundated with overlapping deadlines, and juggling priorities, and no desire to put in extra hours cuz you're still trying to recover from the big project. the hamster wheel speeds up.

and then, the drive home, and that cursed (say it curse-sed) five freeway, that road to hell and back. fuck that drive.

so i've been a bit too tired to post fresh tasty pics this week. sorry. responsibility is a heavy responsibility, as my better half says.

i first saw this hot rod, about a year ago, parked by its lonesome, at a here unnamed center of commerce and debauchery. i was walking to lunch, and i've got a pretty good eye for spotting uncommon cars. i saw it from two blocks away, and wondered if it would still be sitting there, and alone, by the time i reached it. remarkably, it was. i only had my cell phone on me at the time, so use what you have.

have since seen it a few times on the streets behind the orange curtain. i've seen pics of it frequently hanging at a certain cars and coffee show. i went to that show once, near an apartment i used to live in, when i used to hit up a car show every day in the summer, two or three on weekends. ya, ninety-nine percent muscle cars, pns cars, and old white guy hot rods. so not what i like. and i certainly didn't remember seeing this one at the time, so maybe it hadn't been built yet.

blah blah. getting sleepy now; i think i only had four hours last night...its so hot...

anyway, getting to the point: this guy was a long way from home, when i saw him zoom by at mooneyes' open house. actually, it makes a lot of sense, since hot rods are what they're about, right?

so i finally got a few shots of the thing with my big kid camera. i actually like the other shot of it better, but this one shows that it actually has four chrome chimneys to play beer pong with, vs two, which is how it seems in the other shots.

nuff said. back to the regularly scheduled programming tomorrow. g'night.

busy day

chevy truck

spied this wonderously painted truck driving past mooneyes a couple weeks ago. watched it go through the intersection, and turn into the parking lot of the offices across from all the action at the burger joint. by the time they showed up, it was pretty hopeless to find parking anywhere else.

the lot was bordered by short hedges, but tall enough to conceal a few gems, if you just scanned for where all the spectators were congregating.

look at that pinstriping and airbrushing job. just in awe. or awwww.

crazy busy at work this week. should let up quite a bit next week. thinking of asking for a few days off, to fly out and see my brothers, or north to see my daughter and her new doberman puppy.

florence

motorcycle

made it out to mooneyes open house today, relatively early. sun didn't come out from the overcast for a couple of hours, but it did feel humid. way fewer people in the way at this show if you get there early.

its a popular show, but there really isn't anywhere for people with cars to park. they jam into the lot of the hamburger joint on the corner. there were other business lots that were taped off, that weren't last year. the lot of a flooring showroom on the other side of the intersection was taped off, but cars were parking in there—one of the other photographers i talked to figured they must know the owner. that, or they said they would make him an offer he couldn't refuse.

other cars parked along the side of the street, or in what other parking lots where businesses seemed to be closed. some parked on the street, but didn't pay attention to the no parking signs, so cops had to find the owners to move them. only option for anyone else was to keep cruising up and down the street until a spot opened up, or they got bored and left.

we started shooting at the burger joint, walked down past mooneyes, then back to the burger joint. same bunch of cars there, so we crossed the street to shoot a blue truck i'd seen passing by, and also found a few others parked in that lot with him.

then, crossed at the light with another photographer with a huge lens, who seemed interested in shooting video rather than pictures, at least that's what my better half said.

found this bike in the lot with the flooring store. tavertine. carpeting. tile. didn't need any of that today, but they appeared to be open for business. now if they had been selling some water, i'd have bought that.

took a couple of shots of this bike, then went to shoot a purple truck. while waiting for some people to move out of the shot, the owner of the bike came over to ask where he might see a picture. gave him a card. here it is. wish the goober on the left wasn't just standing there gawking. i think he followed me around for a little while. haven't looked at a lot of the other pictures closely, but i wouldn't be suprised to find him hovering around in them too.

found a shady spot nearby, that actually had a nice, cool breeze blowing through, where we took a break before heading down this side of the street and back to the car. better half insisted that i take a swig of his drink.

he likes diet snapple, which i do not like, and which was not cold, but it was wet. he'd rather i choke that down than have a heat stroke. he also said, "39jimbo wasn't there to give me a cold one." i argued that there was a case of water in the car, but he argued that i wouldn't make it back to the car, so...gagged down half a bottle of the stuff. warm rasberry. i'd give it a warm rasberry.

imperials show tomorrow. and dam, it's after ten, so i better get to bed.

taco town

i was on my way back to my car, from the mooneyes open house, when i saw this car sitting in a parking lot. i find it difficult to just keep walking past such a car, with all it's rusty business, particularly when i had my camera gear in hand this time. otherwise, i'm just as likely to whip out my phone and take a snap.

not sure if it was completely the car that caught my eye, or just the play of the colors of the cars against the building.

been away from my pictures for several days now. home for the weekend. very busy at work. people will start visiting this house soon; a funeral is only a week away; and one person has two additional of her own to attend...this year has started on a very sad note indeed.

hoping to be sitting in line at pomona this sunday, before the sun comes up. thar be cars to shoot...

like, totally arrrr

i guess i need to think about finding a dress for a wedding. it's only next month. plenty of time. ugh. girl clothes. i hate shopping. been so long since i've had to wear a dress and heels. no idea what to do with this stupid hair. and makeup. i fail at being a girl.

at least i'm not high maintenance. lucky for my better half.

anyway, he's going with me. says he's bringing his camera. he actually likes watching me play dress up, but that's another story for another day.

i've seen this car around a few times now. shot it a couple of times, and now i'm bored with it.

i think i like these pictures from the first time i saw it at mooneyes open house, when i was still all, like, totally, wow, dude. still had some enthusiasm for it.

the details are really fun. a pirate theme going on. nuke the pontiac hood ornament, and put in this skull. should probably paint the screw in his nose black, so it doesn't show so much. maybe people with macro lenses shouldn't shoot up the nose shots?

i liked the pinstriping of pirate wenches, and the stick shifter inside. lots of details. nice paint job. and low, so low on the ground.

runnin’ with the devil

ok, enough of a break. this blog thing's ramblings are mostly a journal of randomness, or an ongoing convo with my better half. not many people read it anyway, so what i say doesn't matter.

i'm sitting in a cafe, on one of many days i'm being made to take off before the end of the year, to burn off all the exceeding the limit of allowable vacation time, that will not roll over into next year. did that sentence make sense? sounds strange.

i didn't catch the usual week-long cold, that typically follows a vacation, or otherwise take a lot of time off at work. i'm always busy, running on deadlines, and i mostly just really like what i do. so now i have to use those extra hours, or lose them. still have deadlines, so i'll have to share work with our other equally busy designers, or work later when i get back to the office.

they tell me they will be hiring a junior person in the new year, but we've heard that for several years. and who will have the time to train them? already get the most interesting files from our agencies, which show how little their junior people understand the software.

even my better half has mentioned the lack of practical understanding one of his coworkers has, in spite of an overpriced education at that unnamed art school in valencia.

i'm sure no one cares to hear the problems in designer world. i assume it's the same for any profession, when the shiny new graduates start their careers.

where was i? yes, sitting here, nothing to do today. maybe i'll drive out and have lunch with my better half. just hate the traffic, but what can you do anywhere in cali, without sitting on the freeway somewhere?

i was out earlier, and really just wanted to keep driving. to anywhwere. solvang. san fran. monterrey. canada. or to a train station, and hop on. with no luggage. just take off.

but then, i'd miss the car show tomorrow at st hilarys. and my better half is at work. and it's always more funner when he's with me.

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got this shot of mr. 666 at mooneyes open house. usually see it around, and mostly don't shoot it. it's not my favorite car, and if you ignore the details and painted on sayings, it's a pretty dull car.

but, i think this time, the location and light was right, so i took the shot. check it off the list, probably won't bother with it again.

hot chocolate

been a hell of a week at work. but now i have to go. a week away from computers, work, and worry. i am tired. and my side hurts off and on. still cannot contemplate how i cracked a rib. so bizarre.

i am sorry to have to miss a few car shows. i did want to go to the bomb club show, but i'll be on a plane while they roll in. maybe next year.

saw this brown car, on a particularly hot day at mooneyes open house. the warm, rich color just makes me think of chocolate. milk chocolate. not that bitter dark stuff. ick.

upside down

saw this cadillac out at the moon eyes open house. seems to be a work in progress, and i'm not quite sure where its going. bits and pieces sliced and spliced, and chopped.

someone said that back bumper is just a cadillac bumper flipped upside down and stuck on there. it is quite different, but can only hope they have some good air bags to keep them from dragging the ground going up a driveway.

the watchers on the wall

winter is coming...just not for another few months, here in cali. it's been humid the last couple of days, with short, funky rainstorms during the day, and crazy winds at night. puts a crimp in the car shows, but the diehards still go.

i didn't go out this weekend. things to do, and then sunday was my dad's 82nd bday...yay dad! growing old is no fun, and watching every one around you grow old, is almost worse. watching your parents...you're looking at your own future. he's finally accepted that he needs to use a cane, possibly a walker. yee ha.

ordered more business cards, with new pics on the back. well, not business cards, since i'm not running a business, really. should i just call them info cards? handouts? they just give people my website, so they can possibly go see a picture of their car. i like the feel of the paper. i get to see how pictures print, in case i want to get bigger prints.

still just sharing pics as a hobby, or until i get tired of paying to keep this site going. there are about nine hundred and seventy posts since i started, no ad space to annoy you. when should i stop blathering on—one thousand, fifteen hundred, two-thou?

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typical scene at a busy car show. wait for a pause in the crowd, so they don't get in the way of the car. then, notice the group of people, usually against the wall, or sitting behind the car, under a pop-up.

i like these guys hanging by the building. dudes. i see this a lot. they watch, they whisper. sometimes, they send out a representative, to talk to me. i wonder do they pick straws, flip a coin, rock-paper-scissors...how do they pick? maybe one is just brave enough. inevitably, that's the guy whose car i'll post.

no, none of these guys left the safety of the wall. i like walls too. i'm a quintissential wallflower; at least, when i'm not hiding behind a camera and a tripod.