what's up?

mirror, mirror

very shiny riviera, from before covid (bc?). it’s an older model than the one my mom used to drive, and waaaay nicer.

i like how reflective the hood was, even on an overcast day. that’s better than a spit shine; it’s elbow grease.

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last day in arizona. upper nineties today. i hear it only made it to the sixties back home…i’ll be there as soon as i can…

learned a lot on this trip, my brain so full of new ideas, it might ‘splode. looking back through the copius notes i took, pretty sure i won’t understand my own handwriting next week. every class had online handouts, and was videotaped, so i can go back and translate later.

also remembered that it is better to not gaze into the concave magnifying mirror in the hotel bathroom. the reflection isn’t what it used to be, and the attention to detail leaves my camera in the dust. glasses off made no difference. every pore, hair and wrinkle…like the lunar surface through a high-power telescope. ick.

already went out for dinner. thought about a big restaurant meal, but decided i really wasn’t hungry enough, so just did fast food at a truck stop on the other side of the freeway. really disappointing, about what i expected, but it was interesting to wander around the store.

skipped the casino; didn’t feel like breathing cigarettes and whiskey fumes, if it’s anything like vegas used to be.

i’m all packed, so hot bath and tv for me. i can sleep in a while in the morning, before i have to pedal back to the airport. don’t even need to top off the tank, i didn’t really go very far.

better half says he’s feeling better, but hasn’t really left the house all week. almost out of food, except for a bit of guacamole i made before i left. says it’s mostly sticking to the avocado pits i left in the bowl. i told him he should put those balls in his mouth and suck it. it’s ok to spit the seeds out. enjoy.

i hope he still picks me up at the airport tomorrow.

fucksticks

the moon in retrograde or mercury doing a thing to the tea leaves? these past couple of weeks have just been so stupid. best i didn’t place any bets in vegas…

first my car, in for a simple maintenance, now just a continuing issue to be solved. was again put on eternal hold twice before i was connected to the service manager this afternoon.

check engine light was still on when i took it back this afternoon, so at least they can’t say i’m making it up. left work an hour early, hoping to not get in stop and go traffic, and possibly stalling out on the freeway. finally lost my nerve about beach boulevard, and took surface streets the rest of the way to avoid all the freeway construction slowing things down toward the 605. red light intersections are only slightly less nerve wracking. didn’t use the air conditioner either, since it seemed to make the stalling sensation worse.

at least they saved me a loaner car.

next, work waited for me to get back, so it’s piled up, and more added. i especially like the rush jobs needed by thursday, mostly i suspect because of the holiday weekend.

so i’m pushing back what i can, finding out who is crying wolf on deadlines. otherwise, i’ll either work late if possible with the car sitch, or work the weekend.

now, figuring i’m in whittier, i might as well play with my pictures. no can do. my computer has decided to fuck up, and wants a boot disk we cannot find to make it happy. better half says he’s going to order me an upgrade of the software and a new ssd drive. basically, i’m down until they arrive in the mail, then for the period getting reloaded with all my software and tweaking the preferences for how i like to work. at least a week, if not more, given our schedules.

maybe i can get to a car show this weekend, but unable to download and process anything. frustrating it will be. humpf.

well, i can get back to posting a few of my old pictures on my ipad anyway.

back end of a riviera from mooneyes open house several years ago. amazing paint job; another that needs a ladder or scaffolding to get up above it to capture it better, but this is the best i can do with my tripod.

when i put it out on instagram, someone got sad because one of the people in the shot had passed away since then.

fiddlin’

i need to get to bed, but i was messing around with this picture. still needs some tweaks, but i wanted to post something. my hard drive is almost completely full, so i'm surprised i got it to do this much.

saw this rivi at los boulevardos show last week. i should really post some other point of view of it, so you can see the really interesting paint job on the roof.

there are a couple of shows to choose from tomorrow, and i've never been to either one, so don't know when to go or where to park. i think they start later, so no point at beating the sunrise really. wait too late, no parking and i can't take the heat.

stayed at my mom's house last night. woke up this morning with half my cheek puffed up a bit, and my eye sort of squeezing shut. guessing something bit me in the night, otherwise i have no other explanation. kind of calmed down to mostly normal by the end of the day.

if it had turned red, into pink eye, i would have blamed my brother...maybe he let one go on my pillow when i wasn't looking...

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.

rub it, rub it

gratuitous post here. of all the cars that reine has, this one isn't my favorite.

it's hard to get over your first love, but i go ahead and shoot all his new babes when i see them. he is keeping them on the other side of the 605 this year, so i don't get to see them or him very often.

silly rule, but whatever works for him. can't wait to see the flavor of the month if he shows up at the uptown show this august, breaking his own rule.

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now i get to do some work for work, when i would rather be out at a car show, under this perfect overcast for pictures. :(

call me wednesday

not my usual car, but i really liked the paint on it. and it was out here by itself. unfortunate that the other club's banner is up there on top of another car's convertible top directly behind it. oh well.

i liked the way it smiled too:

oh ya, regarding the title, anyone watch the addams family movies? my better half remembers seeing the first one, and upon seeing the girl, wednesday, he thought, "holy shit, that's kathy." especially when they come out from the little cabin and she says something to the effect of wanting to be perky, and then tries to smile, thereupon scaring everyone.

ya, that would be me. dark and twisty, and i don't smile a lot unless it's for real...the continuing arguement/discussion of me not smiling at car shows or on demand. i can't fake one. really, i will, if there's a reason.

hell, that's not true either. i have wedding photos without a satisfactory smile plastered on either. sorry d. photoshop can fix that...joker joker joker!

notorius

ya, not so much into these kind of cars, but i can appreciate a good paint job or pinstriping. bright, sunny, hot day, so it kind of blows out the glitter paint on the roof, but i did like the pinstripes. and that's all i have to say about this. it's late, it's raining, and i'm tired.

oh, and btw, happy bday to angel...your facebook page keeps reminding me...gotta kill off that feature. that and "other people you might know..." thanks zuck. ttfn.

winning

went to the uptown show today. three times. at 6am-ish, 10am-ish, and 2pm-ish. as i said, it's up the street. got so damn hot as the morning went on, just had to stop and go home to sit in front of the fan for a while. not so bad in the shade, but i still felt icky after a while each time. too hot.

anyway, the so cal tribe guys seem to always be the first ones there, and get their choice of spots. so the group parked it over by that smelly cigar bar. but it did stay pretty shady most of the day for them. reine even brought his bitchin' cadillac, which i have not seen in months—thanks dude. i'll post one soon.

their website says this buick belongs to one of their newest members. my mom had a riviera when i was a kid, and i learned to drive in it. not this model year, but close enough, and definitely not this cool.

end of the day, after the awards had been given out, i walked back past the cars and they were gathering for a group picture under their banner. the owner was there holding a trophy, so i assume he won something for this baby. congrats, guys.

cool riv

yeah, i don't usually shoot many models older than the early '60s, but every once in a while, i yearn for something different. this one was quite lovely, in spite of it's simplicity.

so angel tells me the other day (that's his name, not one of the filmy wing-ed ones), that the lot at the broiler was actually very full, even all the way out in the back lot. oh, stick the knife in and twist...i couldn't go to the show that evening due to other commitments. i've been lamenting how empty it's been the last few months. and tomorrow is the 4th of july, so suckage, no one will be there.

recovered yet?

originally took this picture a couple of years ago. hell of a hot day. somewhere in lakewood. says on the window real small that it belongs to the sultans of long beach club, and also that it's "in recovery." not sure if that's referring to the car or the owner.

been to a couple of shows, briefly, this week. another weekend balancing family time and baseball games. hoping to squeeze in a car show or two, on the way to the field. hoping to see some different stuff. hoping to get some good, fresh pictures to play with.

saw several really nice chevy bel airs driving the opposite direction today. seeing old cars always turns my head, and makes me want to make a quick u-turn or shout "where are you going?" followed by a quick thought of whether my camera is in the car...