Sunday, June 28, 2009

Collector of odd things

Ok, I have to admit that I love having a camera on my phone. I love having the camera if for no other reason than when I'm shopping and see a sign in TJ Maxx that says "Active Bottoms" I can take a picture of it and show it to my friend James when we're walking in the woods. And then tell him why the sign delighted me.

I also have photos of the star trek pez dispensers that I saw in the drug store. Kirk, Spock and Sulu are stored right beside a photo of a big eyed, big headed neon green alien parakeet toy that I saw in the grocery store.

A few days ago I attempted to take a photo of a garter snake with mixed results. The results were mixed because a) he was moving, b) the phone camera is pretty limited and c) right after I discovered him twelve of his siblings found my sandal interesting and slithered over it. I like snakes, but thirteen snakes that close to naked toes made me make a girly squeaky noise and back up. So there's no picture of the snake on my phone.

My favorite photos on my phone at the moment are in no particular order a picture of a friend's dog, another picture of a different friend's dog, a picture of a boy polly pocket doll in a powder blue tuxedo that looks just like someone I know in real life, my daughter rockin a hat, a book jacket cover with the words "Santa versus Satan", a picture of some awesome awesome hooker shoes with clear platform heels with goldfish embedded in the Lucite, a picture of Lauren giggling, a tee shirt with snoopy dancing, a picture of a bowl of soup that my friend used noodles to draw a smiley face in …no alcohol was involved…a toddler tee shirt that says "chicks dig me" with of course chicks on the graphic, a really hideous painting of elvis on velvet, a neat vw bug (also powder blue), a GIANT toad sign that was outside the nature center one day, some ducks with their bottoms sticking up in the air while they forage for something on the bottom of the pond (that never gets old, cracks me up EVERY time I see it), a picture of some amazing polka dot rubber rain boots, and my robots, gotta have my robots, red wind up metal Schylling robots…. one of which is my wallpaper for the inside of my camera.

The best part about having this collection of oddities is if I'm stuck somewhere with no book in my purse (which would almost never happen) I can scroll through and look at the photos that I've collected and grin at them.

They cost me nothing to collect…take up no closet space ….they give me enjoyment….and I got to tell you guys about it…..win/win situation.

Oh, and I forgot….there is the flickering flame image that came with the phone. I use it when I want an encore at a concert.

Have a great Sunday everybody, I'll be off watching my friend Brad starring in a play. Maybe I'll take a picture of him on stage with my camera phone…nah, like the snake, he'll probably be moving around too much, but I can guarantee that even though I have front row seats and some members of the cast are in the legal profession, none of the actors will slither over my sandals…. because I'm wearing closed toe shoes to the performance.


12 comments:

Rougeneck said...

I have no camera on my phone which makes me sad because I love a camera phone for all the same reasons you do. There are so many OMG images that just need to be captured. Like the time I was driving through Myrtle Beach and passed a restaurant called El Patio: Mexican and Japanese Hibachi because that's like, totally the most natural and logical combination ever. Luckily I had a *real* camera in my purse and snapped the photo anyways. File in Twitter under #seriouslythinkingaboutaniphone.

PS 13 snakes? OMG. That would have illicited slightly more than a girly squeaky noise from me. That might have in fact caused an actual coronary.

T. M. Hunter said...

Who knew that snakes were camera hogs? They all wanted to be in the shot, that's it. :-D

Rachel S said...

I do rock hats. Now, if I sat on a rocking horse while rocking a hat, that would be double rocking a hat. That'd be pretty sweet. Maybe that's my super power!

Karen from Mentor said...

Rachel,
I love that you have discovered your superpower.

Aston, Yes, since time began, snakes have been mememememe...

Sarah,
I still wish you had a photo of the haircuts $9/used appliances repaired store sign that you saw lol...you need a camera phone, put it on your list. I always carry a real camera with me in my car now ever since I saw batman driving down the road on a big black motorcycle.

j said...

That is an awe-inspiring collection! And what a great post, Karen. Makes me grin just thinking of you flipping through your photos, re-smiling. I think part of the charm is knowing the story behind your pics - which means that you've got a collection of shorts (an anthology!) to read whenever you forget your book!

... REAL goldfish?

Karen from Mentor said...

Judy,
I love that idea, collecting oddities on my phone as short stories...and no the goldfish were plastic...my only regret was that the shoes didn't light up too....I think had they lit up I would have had to buy them...regardless of usefulness, size or price....

j said...

Light-up platform disco boots with goldfish would make an awesome night light. You'd never be scared when you woke up from a bad dream. You'd look at your boots and know that all is right in the world. ;-)

jennifertanner said...

Hola Karen!
I just took possession of my third manual typewriter. This one's a portable with pica type!

I love my camera phone!

:)

Karen from Mentor said...

Jen,
Take a picture of your newly acquired typewriter with the camera phone, then you'll have the best of both worlds!

Judy, I don't have bad dreams, but sometimes I do need a nightlight.....hmmmm....I wonder if they still have those shoes in the store...I know a guy who could adapt them to make them light up....

Anonymous said...

I understand how you must feel to take all those photos, since I love taking photos myself. it's just fun, and you'll have the memories there for pretty much a life time.
I have a huge collection of photos, not necessarily odd, but of flowers, sunsets, my sweet pets, buildings, etc. and I take a looot of photos! I'm not kidding: in 2007 my Sweetheart and I went to Budapest on a 10 day trip, and we took almost 2000 photos (I recall 1960 something.) Safe to say we've covered everything we saw ;)

Karen from Mentor said...

Estrella,
I recall reading a quote from someone saying that if you are busy taking photos you're not actually experiencing the place where you are.
I disagree. I think that you can do both if you take the time to enjoy the spectacle with your senses and to also commit it to film/digital media. Then afterwards you have the photo and can share it with others as well. Cause I don't know about you, but I think it's easier to show a friend a photo of something you saw than just to stand there waving your arms about trying to describe it. :0)
Now WRITING about something I've seen.... I can often do that....

Anonymous said...

Exactly, you're so right! Most photos just speak by themselves, we can't describe everything as well as it can be seen, that's why seeing is one of our senses, right?
We may be imaginative, but it only goes to a certain point, if it's something we never saw before, we can't imagine it as well as we would see it.
And I agree, it's all about taking it all in and then taking photos too. I remember how we went out in the morning and got back late at night tired of walking around. Memory only goes to a certain point too... but I love that we have so many photos that capture everything we saw :) and when I look at them, all the details just come back, even ones I forgot already :)