what's up?

hellraiser

glad this week is over. more overtime, but i think i just may have caught up to today’s deadlines. new onslaught scheduled for monday. i’m in no hurry, but weekends always seem to race by, only to find myself negotiating with the alarm on monday morning, or any morning lately, for just ten more minutes.

have had some hours off to go take some tests at the doctor. trying to figure out why i passed out in april. being very thorough, because i still feel wobbly a bit most days.

this week, they strapped something resembling a bathing cap on my head, that had holes in it in various places. these holes were then each poked and wiggled and scratched into my scalp with a large, somewhat blunt needle.

i imagined them jamming a needle into each hole, my face covered with a grid pattern…

said needle, did scare me a bit when i initially walked into the room and saw it sitting on the counter, atop the clean medical hankie, along with some other odds and ends.

nah, was just used to apply some sort of conducive gel, so that this lovely cap could zap electical waves into my head to brain waves.

the medical technician did not say, “prisoner, electricity will now be passed into your body until you are dead, in accordance with the state law. may god have mercy on your soul.” i totally would. that or, “is that the best you can do?” which is what the figure in an electric chair, that my better half gifted me long ago, said when activated, then commenced jiggling noisily.

i had a couple of little nippular looking hickies on my forehead for about an hour after, to which my better half said, “your horns are finally coming out of your head.” lol. i argued it involved an octopus.

the rest of my head has just been sore and itchy for a few days.

as they say, no news is good news.

—————

beautiful fleetline at the uptown show, much too early in the morning last week.

father's day

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.

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

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.

whatever; i can't think just now

when wondering around city-sponsored shows, be sure to look down side streets...usually you find cars that did not register, or do not want to pay the fee to park in the main areas.

in this case, i spied a few cars down the space between the movie theatre and the building next to it. walking to the back of the theatre, in the overflow parking lot, were several cars parked near the barbershop. this year, the barbershop did not drag their barber chairs out to the show as a vendor to do some barbering, but people went to the back to their shop. seemed busy in there too.

this cadillac was parked next to it, in the alley.

later in the afternoon, there seemed to be an after-party going on back there, as i walked home from an afternoon movie.

i suppose i should write something. i didn't go to any shows today, a perfectly cold, overcast photo-loving weather day. better half joked that i would write about why i didn't go out, and what excuse i would use.

well, since no one reads this but him, and some lurkers, the only excuse i will say, is i took some me time. the blankets were too comfortable, i hadn't slept well all week, and the show would go on without me. besides, i spent most of the day hanging around the house with him, so he can't complain too much.

i did go uptown to mail a letter, and get a late lunch. an old chevy from the kustom oldies car club drove past me, on the way to the post office. it stopped momentarily on the corner by central park, and drove down the street before i could get my phone out for a picture.

then, by the time i got to the corner, i spied it coming back down the street towards me. so i got my phone out, ready, and snapped a quick shot as he sat at the stop sign. got a wave from the owner too. i think their club had one of the shows i could have gone to today.

also saw an edsel uptown too. you can see both on my instagram.

a few thoughts from a week of long drives home:

i'd rather spend time in the evening working on a picture, then go to sleep, rather than trying to think of something to write about here. does that make me a terrible blogger, or just over-tired? i have plenty of pictures ready for a write-up, but not a lot of time to spend thinking of what to write, hence i spend my afternoon drive-time writing fun stuff in my head, with the best of intentions, only to not be able to remember most of it when i get home.
there's a person in my office building with a tuft of hair on their mostly balding forehead, and all i can think of is that he represents the lollypop guild...and to welcome me to munchkin land. terrible of me, i know, but it makes me giggle every time i see them. there used to be a girl that wore a big military overcoat looking dress, and she was one of the witch's guards...i might be working in oz without knowing it.
i need to improve my attitude at work, kind of an i don't give a fuck mood. i've been in this state of mind before. one of my better half's favorite memories is of sitting in on a meeting with my former manager and team at a former job, telling that manager to his face, in front of all my coworkers, that his idea was stupid. mostly because i didn't want to participate in that particular project. better half called it a career enhancing move on my part. manager did turn a lovely shade of red, and the vein did bulge on the side of his neck. coworkers looked at the floor, the ceiling, elsewhere. ultimately, nothing happened, but i didn't have to participate on that project, which was the point anyway. i think the mood is from all the other stuff going on in my life; it will pass, and hopefully, i'll still be employed this time.
my kid is going to move out of my condo soon. i fantasize about gutting it, and putting new flooring, cabinets, bathrooms fixtures in. then remember my other kid is moving in, with her big beast of a dog, and half of that fantasy gets put on hold. still might replace the fixtures or the kitchen. figure by the time she moves out, i'll be too old to live there anyway, too old to climb the stairs...the next person can replace the flooring.
randomly, the lowercase m will not type while logged in to this website, so i'm having to type it in a different program and paste it in here. wth, squarespace?
why does the uptown rite-aid blast barry manilow tunes outside 24/7?
did i mention my dad has been in the emergency room and/or hospital at least twice more since the last time i mentioned it? he seems somehow less than he was each time after. tomorrow is father's day. i hope he doesn't spend it there. best to go give him a hug while i still can...
oh, and i got three pictures accepted into the oc fair this year. already have the framed prints ready to go. my problem is that i have to drop them off next saturday, and i really want to go to the bomb club show at santa anita. and i think my better half has to go in to his office to hob nob with some executives, so i have to be here while he's gone. yet to see how the schedule will go...

kid is back

pretty sure i saw this one last week at in-n-out, before my trip. figured i just post this one from last year’s uptown whittier show, since i just saw a flyer for this summer’s show in a store window recently.

so highly polished, like they poured liquid shellac all over it.

———-

so i drove over one-thousand, one-hundred miles over the last two days. i’m feeling that i should have split it over three. today i get to unload the rental truck, but that somehow sounds easier than loading it was, though my arms are pretty tired from just holding the steering wheel on the truck.

of course, the worst part of the drive was going through los angeles. traffic could have been worse, since it was easter sunday, later in the evening, but it was moving, even if it was slow. thank goodness the dodger game had already started, so we weren’t stuck in that traffic.

knew we were back in california, just by the sudden decline in the road quality. washington and oregon seem to actually spend money on their highways. maybe because the weather up there makes it critically important, but california roads are just shit all the way down. sure there are stretches of road that are smoother, and maybe those counties cough up the money for it. but the majority of the way, especially in the right hand travel lanes, are bumpy, potholed, tire eating grinders.

i am surprised that none of the kid’s tarantulas or spiders died from the stress of all that bouncing. she had the snakes in pillowcases, and when she had to leave the dog in the car, would put them in the truck, so the dog wouldn’t stomp or chomp on them. they creep me out, even in the bags, and i only imagined them getting out and slithering around my feet while i drove, so i always made sure i gave them back before we got going again. i can only wonder what we looked like handing bags back and forth between truck and car.

had to hold up the line at the cali inspection stop, to open the back of the truck and have the inspector peek in. no fruit, or drugs, or guns, or whatever they look for, but at least he was nice enough about it.

i also had to drive through a weigh station at one point. never had to do that before, and that guy was a little snippy because i didn’t know i needed to drive three miles an hour while they weighed in motion. got yelled at by the invisible office worker via an intercom.

otherwise, i think every other weigh station in the state was closed for the day, so what was the point? i could have loaded up a shit ton of bricks, drove a lot, ruined the roads, and they’d never know. or what is the point of those stops anyway? guess i’ll have to ask the one trucker i know.

i do remember seeing someone northbound in norwalk, with a broke down white thirty-nine master deluxe. tow truck was there, and with all the road construction on that part of the freeway, i know that was a pretty tight place to have to take care of that type of thing. but really, my first thought was whether i’ve taken a picture of it before...

on a streak

randomness:

women who can't walk in high heels. sort of just stomping their feet up and down instead of normal steps. they sound like horses walking across the marble lobby floor. but they look good.
two weeks / three doctors: latest guess is that i have a sinus infection with none of the standard symptoms. still look like i got slapped in the face without the red hand mark. yet another med to throw at it, and the side effects... oh and the male receptionist looked just like the weeknd...i so wanted to tell him, 🎶 "i can't feel my face when i'm with you..." 🎶
dad made his decision for surgery, now just has to schedule it.
one brother in the path of hurricane irma but hoa won't let him shutter windows until last minute--likely to pull a leiutenant dan to get it done; other one thinks it will miss him, so goes diving...logic?

if

i'm helping my better half this weekend, taking care of his mother. not sure if i'll get to any shows. might be a long night.

it's possible i may if i go to the closest show—foursquare church—and if i go first thing, before she wakes up. we'll see. i may get there, only to have to turn around quickly and head back home.

i still have plenty of pics from the uptown show i haven't had a chance to consider.

like this one. was parked in staging, waiting for them to let the cars in. took a set of pics before this shot, just a normal stance. then the owner, i think that guy there, stepped in to the frame, and dropped the car down like this.

it did look better this way, thanks.

uptown show

went out at five-thirty am today, up the street to the car show. better half walked me uptown, and pulled my camera bag around for a while. sun was already coming up.

noticed a bunch of classic cars in the rite-aid parking lot. went to shoot them, but they soon started to move over to the main street—they were there to volunteer to help set the show up and direct move-in, in exchange for prime parking.

strangely, as compared to prior years, they weren't starting move in until eight-thirty. we're used to a zillion cars lined up down the street waiting. nope, not much there.

spent time shooting the cars that were there. then noticed cars showing up further down, and went off to get those.

really love to shoot at this time of day, prior to move-in. fewer people, cool, overcast, everyone happy with anticipation. i really took the majority of my pictures waiting for eight-thirty.

then the time came, and it went very slowly. not sure what was going on, but it seemed to take forever to get cars moving. i took the opportunity to get some bfast.

i'm starting off, not with my favorite, best pics, but with the cars of people who talked with me, or asked about what i'm doing with the pics, as usual.

this nova was owned by the first guy that really chatted us up, mainly my better half, of course.

he popped the hood to show us what was hiding there, in spite of me wearing my infamous hat. whatever. here's a shot of the engine. dare a cop to try to catch up with it.

by cracky

i've stayed in the house all weekend. alternated between being too hot and too cold, depending on which room i was in. planning on going to work tomorrow. just been kicking back watching netflix, posting random stuff in my flickr sets.

finding it hard to decide which car to post tonight, so i'm putting up this pontiac chiefy guy, because my skin feels as dry and cracked as the amber of his face.

down in flames

so i'm running late already today. on my way to the viejitos show and lunch. you know what? decided not to go to work this weekend at all. i'll work late all week. i wanted my weekend too much. and my better half is also so persuasive. :)

i noticed at the legg lake show yesterday, that the tribe was there, even had their tent up. but i didn't see this one. and not even his lincoln. he's a busy guy i guess.

i stayed out among the cars, didn't go up on the grass and talk to anyone. they knew i was there, good enough. i was trying to hurry to go to work, remember?

anyway, this one from the whittier show in august was ready, so i'll just post it now and be done with it. the flames, the flames, the cursed flames. guess the early light was good enough to pop the ghost flames off the hood.

there and back again

so my weekend was spent on an unplanned trip to washington state. flew up to move my daughter back to cali. packed a rental truck with her stuff and filled her beater car with aquariums filled with her tarantula collection, a frog, two snakes, two geckos, and i think one with big roaches in it. i mostly drove the car, thinking i'd be better equipped to push it up the mountains without frying the engine. really hoped i didn't have to brake quickly and have spiders fly out of the tanks.

now her car, which was a perfectly good used car when she left, has been quite neglected in the maintenance department. it needs a new catalytic converter. the rotors are warped, the brakes, sort of not right; if i stepped too hard or fast on the brakes, the whole car would shimmy real bad. let me tell you, i didn't think it would make it up the mountains, nor did i think i'd be able to stop it going down the other side. magic mountain roller coasters have nothing on that trip. big roller coasters make me yawn, but this was a white knuckle ride. for two days. the things people do for their kids...they are always your baby, no matter how old, really is true, i guess.

anyway, i hope to never have to make that trip again. i'm still tired, but i can unclench my hands now. j/k. got the chance to spend a lot of time with her. she's interesting, to say the least.

ruined my plans to attend the bomb club car show, which i had been looking forward to; fortunately, my better half did not get called in to work, and he went instead, somewhat to taunt me with images of the cars i was missing; can't blame him, i do the same when he can't go to shows with me. he had a good time, and everyone was very nice to him. the club guys even let him in early because they recognized him. thanks!

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here's one from early morning at the whittier uptown show. i think the owner was still sitting in it, and dropped it down when i set up my tripod. not a problem, shooting from this angle, you can't even see him. i think i'm just liking the black car against the red brick and wooden door.