Category Archives: humor

Good Humor Gone Bad

Ice cream fail? Nothing sadder than a broken down ice cream truck. Love this vintage Good Humor truck, so sorry it was not all that happy with the heat.

I am tired so I am going to open up the comments and ask what your fave Good Humor ice cream was when you were a kid. Were you a creamsicle kind of guy or was the Chocolate Eclair your thing. Or were you strictly a classic dixie cup kind of dixie chick?

Now that I think about it, isn’t Good Humor simultaneously the most ridiculous and absolutely perfect name for ice cream?

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

22 Comments

Filed under companies, humor, signage

The old uptown FU

Ok, it is really the F and the V, but when you walk past it quickly and maybe squint a little it looks like the FU and it made me laugh.

I also like the bumper sticker ‘I am second’. Correct me if I am wrong but is this something to brag about? Don’t we strive to be first? Me first, first in line, firstborn, first class… you get my drift.

A little digging (or shall I say googling) and I found out that I Am Second is some sort of christian movement. Although the religious piece kind of creeps me out is not my cup of tea, their mission is kind of cool. An inspiring reach out to others sort of thing.

Which seems rather ironic since it was posted at the FU station. (what? Am I the only one that calls it that?)

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

2 Comments

Filed under carry a camera, humor, signage

Bogus Hill

Like This!

Once again, Joyce is bird-dogging great shots for me. My motto: if you can’t get out of the basement, make sure that your friends can. And remind them to carry a camera.

This is half the stone entrance for Bogus Hill. We love this name. What happens up there?

Nothing real, we are certain.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

Leave a comment

Filed under carry a camera, humor, joyce, places of interest, road trip, signage

Fax Us Your Unwanted Faxes… huh?

Like This!

Ivy received this today, via fax of course. I don’t know why but it gave us both the giggles. Ok, I know why it gave her the giggles, she was jet lagged and sending a kid off to camp lagged in combination. Everything is funny when you are in that state. Me? I guess everything is just funny to me.

Or everything absurd, anyway.

So, I get the service. You fax them the crap you don’t want like the ones I got this week: “Right Tech Roofing” and “New Vacation Policy for All Employees”. Um, I work for myself and have not had a vacation in almost as long as I have owned a damn fax machine so I get why I would want to stop these from coming in.

Adding the word ‘Environ’ to their name was clever. And adding the Commission on the end adds a level of official business. Lovely branding, guys, really.

EnvironFax Commission

Let’s see, I get a fax. (sheet of paper 1). Then I fax it to them. (sheet of paper 2). Then they fax the sender (sheet of paper 3). Environ? Not so much.

Ok, I am not stupid, in theory they will handle the unwanted faxes and they will stop coming to me avoiding sheets of paper 4-4,000. And they are a nonprofit org so that is a good thing.

Still, the headline cracks me up. Is it me?

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

Leave a comment

Filed under absurdities, humor

Nothing like a lion suit in 90 degree heat

I don’t know about you but I can’t think of any other job I would rather do less than wear a lion suit on the beach on 4th of July in 90 degree heat.

But hey, he was hugging kids all day so I guess he wasn’t all that miserable. He also stopped to take pictures with everyone.

Come to think of it he was a pretty damn joyful lion if you ask me.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

2 Comments

Filed under carry a camera, humor

Jeans, a Hurricane and Wet Feet

Like This!

I know what you are thinking, “She has finally snapped. The pressure of her son’s graduation has snipped the remaining thread she was hanging by”.

Close.

Long and short of it, Danny’s brand of jeans are nowhere to be found sending us on an exasperating quest. Some bizarre storm blew through a sliver of Long Island leaving in its wake the worst damn gridlock I have ever seen and the AC in the kids’ car is spewing ice cold water on our feet every time we make a turn.

Honestly, none of this matters. But it does give you a little glimpse into the type of day that Danny and I had – the last day together before graduation.

And there it is folks: The Last Day. Staring me down with its beady little eyes. Making me threaten to curl up in a ball and hide under the headless mannequins in the mall while searching for the perfect pair of boy jeans and finally letting it all out with either a primal scream or uncontrollable sobbing. (both of which are not all that desirable to witness your mom doing when you are a 17-year-old boy who is also at the end of his rope).

So we found jeans and the car will wait in line to get fixed. And I, being one who with a strong distaste for drama, did not lose it at the mall. It was tempting, but I used restraint.

Then I walked in the house and there it was…

The graduation gown hanging on the back of the door.

And the tape loop of a little boy turned man furiously ran through my mind. Legos. Why can I not stop thinking of Legos? And blocks. And Brio trains and bridges on the basement floor at 6AM Sunday mornings when I was dying to sleep. And little blonde bowl haircuts. Apple juice – why is the smell of apple juice so damn nostalgic?  And Axe, why do I tear up at the thought of the whole upstairs smelling like Axe Body Spray? Could I actually be craving the smell of sweaty soccer socks? Have I lost my mind or would I give any amount of money to drive one more carpool or sit on the sidelines of a soccer field in the broiling heat/pouring rain/freezing cold just one more Sunday morning in Center friggin’ Moriches or better yet Ronkonkoma?

This is what mothers do at times like these. We reflect. And we share. And we promise our sons we will keep it together when everyone knows that keeping it together is actually the last thing we are skilled at.

So here’s to the class of 2010.

And their moms (and dads). And to sons thinking that maybe it is ok to let mom lose it once in awhile… because they know that the act of keeping it together may be the one that finally sends her over edge. And that crying at graduation is the mom version of separation anxiety. And perhaps our sons remember that feeling from way back when…

as they watched us drive away.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

4 Comments

Filed under college, danny, family, humor, moms, shopping, teenagers

Discount Sushi?


After a good Time to Cry Tuesday it is always fun to follow it up with a Time to Puke Wednesday.

Buy One Get One Free Sushi?

Um, ew.

I get it. At 5:59 it is still fresh. At 6:00, not so much. And then there is that legal disclaimer up in the right corner of the shot:

Consuming raw or undercooked seafood can increase the risk of food borne illness, especially in the young, the elderly, or those with weakened immune systems.

Yikes, check your guest list before you serve the sushi, kids. Certainly the (almost) day old kind.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

1 Comment

Filed under absurdities, carry a camera, health, humor, signage

Congrats are in order

Like This!

Today was the big pre-college Bed Bath and Beyond shop. I believe this is branded as Pack and Hold, or Equip Your Space, or spend as much money you can on crap that you will throw out in May when you move out of the dorms (which was the tagline that got killed I am sure).

For those who have not done this yet, if your kid goes to school out of town, they give you a price scanner and you pick out all the stuff you need. Then they contact the store in the town where the college is, check the inventory and pack you up for storage in their ‘pods’ till you get there. Saves a lot of aggravation and shipping costs.

Apparently the same scanner is used for bridal registry. (admit you were all getting worried about the illustration looming up there at the top of this post)

Jana came with us to boss her brother around help her brother pick what he needs for the dorms. As I was trying to force the pop up laundry basket back into the package it exploded out of examining the pop-up laundry baskets, an employee passed by:

Employee: Congratulations (I thought this was a sarcastic remark about my struggle with the laundry device from hell).

Jana: For what?

Employee: Aren’t you two newly engaged?

Awkward silence.

Then awkward hysteria.

This guy thought my kids were a couple about to be married!

I am sure this is illegal in NY State.

If only we did not have to go back and ask the guy where the duvet clips were. (don’t even ask what a duvet clip is).

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

2 Comments

Filed under college, conversations, danny, education, humor, Jana

The ‘girls’ in their summer clothes…

Like This!

Do you think this is what Springsteen had in mind when he wrote this song?

I am not gonna lie, I chased this guy down from 7th Avenue and 23rd Street to Broadway and 21st before I got this perfect shot. Yes, I am worried about the fact that I have become a bit of a stalker. But so far I have not gotten caught.

I always wonder what possesses people to put clothing on dogs. I sort of get the little coats and sweaters, maybe even the little orange socks to keep their feet clean if you are predisposed to OCD.

But a blue gingham sundress?!

MFTA material for sure!

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

1 Comment

Filed under absurdities, carry a camera, humor, magnet for the absurd, pets, photography

Family Mall Day

Like This!

Once a year we have family mall day. Every June, between the end of school and the beginning of camp the four of us spend an eternity a few hours at the local mall. We are not particularly good shoppers, but there is something about an activity that we all do together with some short term goal attached that makes it a nice tradition.

Of course I spent 4 hours and countless dollars and I still have nothing to wear, but that is the way it goes.

A few observations:

1. People are 60% uglier in the mall. I am not sure if we too, become 60% uglier or just the odd looking like to congregate in these places. This also holds true for all theme and water parks.

2. For the most part, the clothing is ugly. I am not sure if that is true either but I know a lot of it is. And the price point does not matter. Sometimes the more expensive stuff is uglier than the cheaper stuff.

3. Mall food is… well, it is mall food. Enough said there.

4. Every store is playing the most annoying song in the universe the second we walk through the doors. (and remember we are a music family, we have very diverse tastes). Oh and there is usually an underlying layer of white noise involved.

5. The yogurt is DEFINITELY NOT low fat.

And now, because of course I had a camera, I will leave you with the highlights of the day. I am only sorry that even though I stalked a woman through the racks at Sterns I was unable to snap a picture of her carrying her little white dog in a baby carrier on the front of her body. Even I was a embarrassed at my behavior. Oh and the baby with the leash on its wrist… a memory of blog posts past.

So, I will start off with a little trend spotting. Seriously, everyone is going Techno Tribal! Um, do with that what you may. I am sort of at a loss on this one.

This poor chick not only lost her hand, she lost her pants. And by the looks of her Brazilian I am guessing she is probably not Techno Tribal; I believe the tribal piece requires hair. I am pretty sure I know where her date is, we ran into him a while back.

Yes, I considered buying a dozen of these T-shirts. But I am not gonna lie, the graphic was just way too disturbing.

And last but not least, sure the ladies like it! But sadly the Mustache has just sort of faded a bit out there. It’s generational, but no worries ‘ladies’, styles are cyclical.and those who still wear them do so proudly.

That’s all I got. Now if you are interested in Family Mall Day next year, we are considering selling tickets. And sponsorships, this day is not cheap!

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

2 Comments

Filed under carry a camera, danny, humor, Jana, shopping