Monthly Archives: May 2009

I wish I could make this funny, but I’m not that creative today. My computer just crashed this morning. The Mac Dude just confirmed it. RIP computer.  I was also  laid off this week from the job that was supposed to pay for my Summer 2009 trip. I’m keeping the faith and hoping it will all work out, but for now, I won’t be able to upload any more picture stories until I:

a) get a credit card (which is harder than I thought)

b) find more work

or

c) find a new computer under my pillow when I wake up one morning.

If the apple store let me upload photos, I’d come here all the time to update my website.

I see this website as my job. I try to write pictures stories 5-6 days a week and I look forward to it every day. I didn’t want anyone to think I stopped writing cuz I was just getting lazy. I love this website more than anything I’ve ever created, so I’ll be back telling stories as soon as humanly possible.

I tend to assume it’s the end of the world when crap like this happens, so I’m probably being pessimistic. However, If I can’t afford Summer Tour 2009, those of you who donated will be refunded (your money, but not my deep gratitude) of course. Maybe I’ll end up having adventures living in my truck in NYC for the summer. Who knows what will happen

Thanks for reading and stay tuned……

Everywhere I go, I seem to find treasures.  But I have the most luck in NYC, where people donate things everywhere you go.I came across this neat little Dolphin scale in Queens

I have to remember to  subtract 117 lbs from what the scale tells me I weigh.

Someone left this nice umbrella conveniently placed by this dumpster

While using the payphone the other night, I came across this

I had just been thinking about making a few home repairs. How serendipitous!

That payphone didn’t work, so I tried another one. As I was talking, I noticed a beautiful green pillow that would look perfect on my couch. JACKPOT!

The other night, my sister took me to a bar where  The Dirty Dozen Brass Band was playing. It was a crowd of people mostly in their 30′s or above.  When I went to the bathroom…

I found a purse!

No, wait! A my little pony Purse!

The My Little Pony candy necklace was missing from the inside, but I still got to keep the purse!  I never expected to find such a treasure in a bar bathroom.

It reminded me of the last time I found a toy

in the Jacksonville Airport bathroom

But nothing tops the yummy Valentine’s Day candy I found a couple weeks ago

in the subway station.I heart NY.

I think we got lost right around the time we saw this semi truck pulling a roofless bus.  We must have missed our turnoff from staring at it so long.

Or cuz we were staring at the other bus that passed us a few minutes later.Where on earth could a school bus be taking an SUV?

We knew we were in the sticks when we started running into weird animal advertisements.
I thought the Haircuts! sign was for the place next door

I was wrong. The sign on the truck next to the pink dinosaur had a picture of the dinosaur and the name “The Barber Shop” written across it. For such an over-the-top advertisement, this was an incredibly boring name.

Then we came across a gray duplicate dinosaur at another local business
only they were selling tires and restored tour buses.

A few minutes later I looked in my rear-view mirror and saw this animal gaining on us
not a Volkswagen rabbit, but an actual rabbit.

For someone driving a ridiculous looking car, he sure was serious.

The town also used human faces to sell stuff
A dental office

A diner.

interesting lips on this dude.

But this was the creepiest of them all.
I’m still having nightmares about this Sloth/Shmigel/Mini Me look alike.

I think he was saying “Fuck!” not “Hey!”

This baby creature reminded me of a time when I saw a New York vendor using a baby to sell stuff…

like bubble guns and other stupid toys.

And he was kind of a dick about it.

He didn’t sell many bubble guns, but he sure did piss off a bunch of New Yorker pedestrians.

If you liked these pics, you might also enjoy this post from a couple weeks ago
http://melaniehamlett.com/2009/04/29/weird-religious-stuff-and-beds/

I ventured to the Upper West Side last week for my sister’s graduation at Columbia University.  It was in a big beautiful church older than dirt.   After waiting 45 minutes in line, they herded me into this room.  I couldn’t figure out where the graduates would be sitting since this screen was taking up the whole stage. Then I realized I was in a cafeteria and not going to see the graduates at all.  A few hundred people and I watched the ceremony via satelite tv.

We were all asked to stand as the graduates entered the room.

Since no of the graduates could see us, this never happeed.

The Camera person was not too smart.  He/she kept the camera in a corner with only the view of a few graduate’s backs.

This lucky girl on the right had a phone. Her parents from the cafeteria called her to tell her to wave at the cameras.

Because none of us could look around at the beautiful church or anything other than a close-up of the speaker calling out names, people got bored real quick.

I wondered if the lady next to me was narcopletic too since she slept for the entire ceremony. Luckily, I had taken my medicine so this wouldn’t happen to me.

This man video taped the entire graduation. I can’t imagine him actually watching a video of a video of a man calling out 2,000 names.

When they called out each person’s name, family members got to yell.  I was representing my entire family from Tennessee, so I yelled… but sis never heard me.But I took a picture of him calling out her name to show my parents.

After the ceremony, we were herded to the reception, where they told us there’d be plenty of food. This was not quite what we were expecting

Chocolate chip cookies on a stick

Spoons with one bite of cheesecake on them.

And several trays like this where a whole pineapple was displayed.  I’m not sure how we were supposed to actually eat this.

As I looked around for real food, I came across this guy.

He carried that doll around all afternoon. I origninally thought it was his kid’s….til I realized he didn’t have a kid. 

I couldn’t figure out for the life of me what this chic’s hat was supposed to mean.

Earlier that week, Columbia had sent out warnings about Swine Flu. They told anyone who had symptoms to stay home. They said, “To aid in precautions, we are arranging for hand sanitizers to be placed at convenient locations.”

I started to get paranoid being around all these people, so I took appropriate precautions.

After the ceremony, we got on the subway to go to a pub to celebrate. 

Well what do we have here?A graduate left his shoes

This reminded me of the other times in New York I have come across nice shoes.

New Yorkers are a generous bunch. They love to donate their shoes.

They just leave them in the strangest places.

After watching the sponge movie and getting over my sponge-diver crush, I explored Tarpin Springs a little more.

We saw these signs for Santrini, which is Greece’s most beautiful islandI’m not sure why you would need to buy golfballs in this town. An episode of Seinfeld is the only thing that comes to mind

Although it looks just like Santorini, we were a little disappointed.

So we went window shopping

I have always wanted a Roman man statue. They’re hot!

Inside the store, everything was so Greek.

Well, eveything but the back-scratchers in a Santa Clause bucket We couldn’t afford to buy anything, so we moved on.

I had no idea that Tarpin Springs is the sponge capital of the world!

Oh, not another reminder of my sponge-diver crush.
(the sponge-diver even loves dolphins like me!)

The whole store was full of this guy.

I couldn’t help but think of my crush now.
To get my mind off him, I played with sponges.

I had no idea there were so many kinds of sponges.

Just outside the store we came across THIS!!!!

Then this! I had no idea what Greek music sounds like!

( I was a little surprised by Greek speaking Fisher-Price toys. I guess I’m a little ethno-centric)

At first I thought this was some twisted version of Fantasia. But no, he was actually playing a mop!

I’m not sure if they were American, Canadian, or Greek.

The crowd loved it! They were apathetically clapping and singing along.

Looking around, I realized that once again, like most my travels, my sister and I were the only ones there who weren’t retired or mothers.

I really liked this man’s shirt. It made me laugh.

After a nice long dance, we decided to move on.  We came across this sign on the way out.They ask nicely here in Florida.  In New York City, they just do this…

For more adventures down this street through the town obsessed with sponges, stayed tuned……..

To see the first round of stories and pics from Spnge-O-Rama, click here
http://melaniehamlett.com/2009/05/10/a-town-obsessed-with-sponges/

I get to walk all over Queens for my job.  I am fascinated by the advertising strategies of these local businesses.I’m not sure if they are warning us about their food or just wishing us well in life

This business needs a new advertising  department.

After looking in the window and through the door, I still hadn’t a clue what they are.

This strip of stores caught my attention

Pop quiz:  What does not belong in this liquor store window?

Answer:A Winnie The Pooh mirrot that is above head level

This little boy does not make me want to eat here.

I think they’re making promises they can’t keep.

But not as cocky as this store.They must be talking about the store across the street because this store has mostly clocks.

This is an interesting way to sell houses.

Appealing to women trying to live out their childhood dollhouse fantasies?

It didn’t surprise me this restaurant was closed during the day

This is either a really bad idea or a brilliant idea. I can’t decide

If you like these pics, click below for more
http://melaniehamlett.com/2009/04/23/259/

http://melaniehamlett.com/2009/05/02/weird-crap-in-the-window/