pizza

1941 plymouth

uptown whittier, just ordered pizza. so i have a few minutes to spare.

went out to the fundraiser for brother richard this past weekend. i’m sure i’d seen him around, but probably never spoke to him. he had a lot of friends, judging by the number of cars and groups of people attending.

weather was perfect for mid-morning. should have gone earlier, but things had need of doing first. still wrestling with the new camera and lens settings.

shot this car as i was heading back around to my car. better half was waiting at home—had to make a storage unit run—did i mention we are moving? his mother is gone and i get my condo back soon, so nothing holding us here. going to be closer to my mom now, where i am living ninety-nine percent of the time now anyway.

on-screen, full-size, this car glows. seems pretty sharp where i wanted it focused, but the lens does start fuzzing out towards the edges. need to find it’s sweet spot.

pizza ready. walking back.

h20

1937 plymouth

bored yet? another from last week. owner gave me a bottle water, when i really needed it. thank you. was overheating about then.

charging batteries for tomorrow. was reminded about the fleetlines show in garden grove, but had to tell them the dia de los muertos is just up the street first.

quiet

1936 plymouth

currently sitting on my bed at my mom’s house. same bed i used to sleep in at my grandmother’s when i was ever so small. seemed much bigger then.

worked a little bit late today. grabbed some dinner and took it back to my condo, where i ate in silence, amongst my kid’s piles of junk. i’ve given her a deadline to move it out. she hasn’t said much to me since then.

thought about going for a walk, but i’m so very tired. so back here at mom’s, and she is off at church. sings in the choir. gives her something to do.

but the house is so quiet without my dad shuffling around, though i hear every creak. said hello to his box of ashes, which isn’t the same. one of these days i’ll have a good cry, but the slow tears work just as good.

today was back to gloomy, sprinkly weather. i like that just fine.

have to take some pictures tomorrow for work. i don’t have time for it, but will do it anyway. it’s payday, so i won’t stress about it too much.

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thought this plymouth turned out ok. should have rubbed out those bullet hole stickers…they are so stupid…but i sort of didn’t care to take the minute to do that. this club has cars painted with the brightest colors of the rainbow; maybe it’s a requirement to join?

father's day

1941 plymouth

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.

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

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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.

distract me

1934 plymouth

my brother is being rolled into surgery right now, two-thousand miles away. giving birth to a large kidney stone or something. usually these things pass, painfully, on their own. but this time, it’s too big, and just blocking the waterworks.

his wife and kids are in town (fortunately/for a change), and with him at the hospital. 

she reports that the drugs must be pretty good; pre-op he said, “they need to operate to remove the stone, or it will continue to rub on my uterus.” 

so, i’m going about my typical day, but my head isn’t in it. guess i will be like this until i hear he’s out and ok. 

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chicano park. i heard the owner of this car telling someone else that this was a pretty rare car. it was also very popular, so i really had to wait it out to get my shots. 

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follow up: bro is out of surgery, stone free, but totally stoned. can't wait to hear what he said while still under the influence...

hoodies

a few hood ornaments from last weekend. quick and dirty, and straight from the camera. i should take more hoodies, like i used to. maybe i should just shoot something totally different. i need a change in attitude, maybe a change in subject matter. just don't see a vacation anytime soon.

have been otherwise busy and melting at home today. skipped mooneyes, though i was up at six-thirty this morning. took a walk around the block and through uptown, just to stretch my legs, but have otherwise been holed up in the house all day.

heard about a death in the family today. never met her, had alzheimers, went peacefully. still sucks, even when the closest people were expecting it, they were not prepared.

saw there were a couple of other tempting evening shows, but since i said i was only going to do one show a weekend, figured i'd go tomorrow. but now it's getting late, and it's still warm outside, and i just don't know. i gotta find the sunscreen. my arms are getting all freckly from the sun and all that vitamin d.

on the other hand, if roll-in isn't until eight in the morning, is it even worth getting there before the sun comes up? especially for shows that aren't out in the open; there's always that chance that the people at the gate just won't let me in. i'll pay the entry fee, just let me in early. i guess i could always look for some club that knows me, and try to bum a ride in their car, through the gate.

i don't have time to deal with that right now. either i shoot very early, before the heat, and before i have to be home to help with my better half's mom, or very late in the afternoon. if i can't get in, i'll just go home, and watch cars drive past the house or something. maybe i should set up my tripod at the stop sign and wait for the cars to drive through uptown.