Category Archives: photography

January 28, 2009 · 9:34 pm

Home Candy

home_candy2

Those have to be my two most favorite words on earth. Seriously, talk about branding. The comfort of home and the rush of sugar. And this shot, with the confectionary dusting of snow in front of the sign is too good to be true.

When I took this picture I was not familiar with the store. Now that I have checked them out online I am hopelessly in love. Talk about innovation in merchandising. Kind of like a sale in a garage… garage sale? Their goods are the type of things that you could surely live without out but you think really NEED.

Love. Love. Love.

Except for these fluffy mittens. These I don’t get at all. And I REALLY don’t get them at $70 or even the sale price of $59.50.

But the dog bowls… very cool. Kitchenware… want everything on this page (except the egg tray, just don’t serve this many eggs unless it is Passover) . The Vintage Collection is a riot. Pretty sure between my mom and I we have most of these items. I may have to rename this section ‘Nana’s Pantry’. (seriously Mom, check this out, you will crack up). And the grand finale… the wallets are very fun.

You just never know when you grab a quick shot walking down the street what you will uncover.

Again, that is why I always carry a camera.

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 carry a camera, grandmothers, New York City, photography, products, trends

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

January 21, 2009 · 7:04 pm

Not a Snowball’s Chance…

mel_snowball

Once again, the infamous Mel finds herself on the blog. She is truly becoming an internet celebrity. I am not sure but I think I heard her asking for her own spinoff blog. And I saw an application of name change near her bed… she really does not look like a Perez!

Yes folks, that is a snowball in her mouth. She did cheat a bit as I saw her digging and then she jumped in the car with this. I believe there is a tennis ball in the center of that snow. (again, mention of cold balls, this is getting ridiculous).

Note to self: have car cleaned.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at Mid-Century Modern Moms and at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

8 Comments

Filed under absurdities, carry a camera, mel, pets, photography

Tagged as , , , , ,

January 11, 2009 · 12:46 am

Eat Me? Crude Sells.

eat-me_small

This should have probably landed on Leaving the Zip Code, but I needed to write more than I do over there and that poor blog has been quite neglected of late.

On St. Mark’s Place in NYC resides Crif Dogs, an eatery that specializes in the ever-so-healthy deep fried wiener. Aside from dreaming up ways to clog the arteries of New Yorkers, these guys have a great sene of humor and decided to hang a larger than life hot dog out front with the words ‘Eat Me’ written in an artful mustard script.

I saw this while circling for a parking spot and dragged my daughter and nephew back there to snap a shot.

Ask me how sick of my photog antics this next generation of my family has become. Actually, they bitch and moan about my snap happy behavior, but neither of them could deny that this would make a fabulous blog post.

Let’s face it, the signage is crude, but it did catch my attention. Did I purchase on of these death wieners? Of course not. If I am going to venture down the road of wiener death I am strictly a grilled Hebrew National Girl.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at Mid-Century Modern Moms and at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

2 Comments

Filed under absurdities, humor, Jana, New York City, photography, signage

Tagged as , , , , ,

November 23, 2008 · 11:48 pm

Are Bloggers the new ‘Media’?

callaheadsite

There is much talk about bloggers being viewed, or perhaps narcissistically viewing themselves, as media. Me? I view my self as someone with an off-beat view on everyday life that keeps me entertained and helps me from not going over the edge from the stresses of life. I have long kept my friends entertained this way and started to blog to bring this warped vision to a bigger audience. (friends and family getting bored).

You can only imagine how surprised I was to find a link in my stats that brought me here. For those too lazy or not inclined to click that link, my blog post about CallAhead portable toilets has been featured on their website in the media section!

This is where I tell Gary about how bloggers get free stuff all the time when they mention people’s products. Hey, CallAhead has a better social media strategy than J&J for Motrin? Yikes, way to go potty guys! Do you guys Twitter? You can find me there @amyz5.

Gary’s response: Great, so what will we get, a free porta san on the front lawn? You couldn’t blog about BMW?

Ok, so here’s the thing. If the social media director at BMW is out there scanning blogs I just want to let you know that I am a really loyal customer and I love, love, love, my X3 and the lease is coming up soon. And Gary happens to have a really sweet 325ci convertible that is getting kind of old and we have a kid in college and another one on the way into college so car $ are tight and I would be real happy to blog all the time about your fantastic products because frankly BMW is my life and we could do a thing called extreme vehicle makeover where you drive away my old car and bring me a new one just because I happened to write about a billboard with a funny slogan on it about being #1 at picking up #2…

Alright, so maybe the CallAhead on the front lawn is a little more realistic.

A girl can dream, can’t she?

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at Mid-Century Modern Moms and at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

7 Comments

Filed under absurdities, blogging, carry a camera, education, humor, humor, marketing, news, photography, products, social media, twitter

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

November 12, 2008 · 9:30 pm

We are #1…

no1atno2_small

…at picking up #2?!

Oh yes, you read that billboard correctly. This is an advertisement for Callahead. And who, might you ask, is this company? Well, if you live in the suburbs near a house under construction, or you attend an outdoor concert or event, then you would know that Callahead would be a supplier of…

… you guessed it, porta-sans. Yes, my friends, here is a company that capitalized on the funkiness of its product with a campy name. Then went one step further in the school of ‘i know you are but what am I’ advertising and came up with what I think is a brilliant tagline. Seriously, how can you not laugh when you see this? Come on all you lofty sophisticates and award-winning creatives. I challenge you to say that this is not effective and memorable. At the risk of using a marketing term with a double entendre, this sucker is extremely ‘sticky’.

So you get the full picture of why I took this shot, let me first say that my sister-in-law called me the day before I saw this billboard to tell me that she saw the truck and did not have a camera. The next day, there I am driving into the city for brunch and right on the ramp to the Midtown Tunnel is that crazy billboard. I missed it on the way in, so on the way out I hung my camera out the window facing backwards and caught it at the last minute. NO, I was not driving. Give me a break, I am not that nuts.

I was going to crop it till I noticed the Empire State Building, that crazy sky and the wild angle and decided the whole shot was a keeper.

callaheadJust in case you were wondering what these look like in person, I took a picture of one on my walk this morning. This baby is the Econo-Head. Oh, how I love that name. As the website states, ‘this product has evolved dramatically over the years… Econo head is one of our most attractive portable toilets available today.’ Wait, here it comes…

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? How did anyone write that copy with a straight face?

Hold on, this gets better. Here are a few of my faves in the product line: The Special Event Toilet (for those special events, you know what they are). The Construction Flush (is that like a Royal Flush?) and my all time favorite…

The Job-Site Head. OMG, this one kills me. Go ahead, think about that one. Job? Head? This reminding anyone of anything here? Really, who would not like a little head on the job site? If you remember way back when I did a post about ‘a little head would be nice’. (You really need to click on that link now, don’t you?)

Face it, bathroom humor and infantile behavior always gets a laugh. And remember, this ain’t no mom blog 7 days a week, that’s for sure.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at Mid-Century Modern Moms and at 50-Something Moms Blog where Jana joins in the election bloglove.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

7 Comments

Filed under absurdities, carry a camera, humor, marketing, New York City, photography, road signs, sex

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

November 6, 2008 · 7:23 pm

Pigpen and the chihuahua, separated at birth?

cats-and-dogs_with-gd

For those who missed yesterday’s post, the picture on the left was featured there. In the comments, Dr Jimmy mentioned the Grateful Dead resemblance in this line-up, with Pigpen being the chihuahua.

Since many of you are not Dead fans, I thought I would post the inside flap of the Skull and Roses album with the picture he referenced (and so graciously sent me a link to). Thanks Dr. J – what slow day drilling today?

El Nel informed me that she cracked up when she saw the pet picture as it is featured everyday in Newsday. Being in suburban denial I refuse to read this Long Island newspaper even though it is quite good. (BTW, I moved out of the city 20 years ago.) The ad is for the North Shore Animal League if you were wondering.

Back to the photo. Take a look at the guy in the middle (Pigpen) and tell me this is not a separated at birth scenario.

Just plain scary!

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at Mid-Century Modern Moms and at 50-Something Moms Blog where Jana joins in the election bloglove.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

4 Comments

Filed under absurdities, humor, music, photography

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

September 16, 2008 · 9:34 pm

Welcome to Relations

Ok, this could be one of the weirdest shots I have taken all year. Sadly, my camera was not charged and I had to use my phone. But it actually came out pretty good.

Normally I would have posted this on Leaving the Zip Code as it is a perfect example of the mission of that blog, but I could not resist the opportunity to elaborate on this.

At some ungodly hour Bright and early Sunday morning, we took a trip out to Ronkonkoma. Don’t you just love the name of this town? It is in Suffolk County on Long Island, about 50 minutes east of where we live. And why would I do such a thing on a Sunday morning?

Soccer, of course.

We dropped Danny for warm-up and went in search of breakfast (another post in itself). During our travels in search of hot coffee and a bagel – stat, we made a U-turn in this auto body shop parking lot.

Yes, the name of the this place is ‘Relations’. Now really, look at the mural painted on the wall of this place. (and this is only a piece of it). I had to get this close up because the look on the faces of these guys was priceless.

Hmmm. What is on their minds?

Are THEY relations? Are they HAVING relations? Are they OUR relations? Do they practice GOOD relations? Could there be some activity of SEXUAL relations going on in their shop?

C’mon. The possibilities here are endless!

Now, one step further down on the mural. Dog? Fox? Rabid hybrid? Rags the mechanical dog (for you Woody Allen fans).

OMG could they be having relations WITH this animal?

Gary was reluctant to stop for this shot but now I am sure he is glad we did.

Would love to get me a Relations t-shirt, how about you?

6 Comments

Filed under humor, photography

Tagged as , ,

August 31, 2008 · 10:48 pm

The Perfect Labor Day Outfit

I will be shamelessly self-promoting my new photo blog, leaving the zip code, here from now on. You won’t be disappointed, I promise. Let’s see if some of you will take the ‘submit’ challenge.

Once again, I have illustrated why you should always carry a camera. Or why I should, anyway.

The image gods dropped this babe for me from photography heaven.

After the most perfect beach day imaginable, spent with my one of my BFFs from childhood, we stopped at a local lobster market to pick up dinner.

As we were getting back in the car we happened upon this couple. Fumbling for my camera we lost sight of them. Off we rode down the block into the belly of the beast of bars and restaurants until we caught up with them.

I love black leather boots on Labor Day Weekend! What was that rule about wearing white?

4 Comments

Filed under carry a camera, fashion, friendship, humor, photography, trends

Tagged as , , ,

August 21, 2008 · 9:31 pm

Why did the Chicken(suit) Cross the Road?

So his friend could try on his head!

Standing outside a restaurant on Main Street with Danny we saw a man in a chicken suit! Of course I had my camera. But it did this weird resolution conversion thing to the pic that made it look more like a painting (notice how when I screw up a shot or a vid I come up with all sorts of artsy descriptions for it?)

What was even funnier is when I showed Jana the pic it turned out that we knew the guy!!  And then tonight, we were in a restaurant and the same guy came in (sans suit). Nothing like a small town! How very John Mellencamp.

Funny how sometimes cool things can happen even if you don’t leave the zip code (another shameless plug for the new blog).

1 Comment

Filed under blogging, humor, photography, video

Tagged as , ,

August 12, 2008 · 1:02 am

Baby You Can Drive My Car


Don’t laugh, she can probably drive better than me (those who have driven with me will confirm that).

Mel has a sweet habit of jumping into the driver’s seat to wait for our return. It is pretty funny to watch people when she does this in the convertible. Sometimes I will sit in Starbucks and watch the people point at her as they pass by.

She, like Gary, is a good sport.

I love the graininess, lighting and color in this shot. I shut the flash to capture the moment. And OK – a little photoshop work – but I just screwed around with the levels to bring up the detail. I swear.

5 Comments

Filed under carry a camera, mel, pets, photography

Tagged as , ,