#273, San Francisco
Oh, California. You've always got so much to say. Since this door leaves little to the imagination about the dweller's political preferences or what breed of animal lurks inside (the oval blue sticker below the 273 says "Wag more, bark less") , I thought it'd be fun to psychoanalyze it for other personality quirks.
Now I'm no expert, but I think you can learn a lot about a person by the design choices they make and choose to share with the world. Notice, for example, how the signs and stickers are lined up: centered and perfectly level, almost in descending order by size, showing a perfectionism not usually seen in the public stickering sphere. Clearly, this person is an obsessive freak, like me. The close juxtaposition of the "Welcome Friends" and "Beware of Dog" might indicate a split personality or indecisive nature. (Or maybe they meant to say "Welcome Dogs" and "Beware of Friends." This is the west coast, after all.)
Even the layout of the numbers points to that so-called rugged individualism San Franciscans are known for. The number plates and typeface are uniform, but here they're sloped to add a bit of visual interest, much like yesterday's slanting 272. I may not have a career in psychoanalysis for buildings, but I do have an armchair degree in speculative architectural nonsense. And trust me, if there's one place in this great country of ours where I could claim this with pride, it's California.
6 comments:
This is precisely why I don't have bumper stickers on my car our why I don't wear shirts with words on them.
A welder friend of mine buys all of his t-shirts from the Goodwill Store for $1 because he ruins them almost daily. People come up to him and say, "Oh, I've been on that same Alaska Cruise!!" My friend hasn't been to any of these places. He just asks, "what did you think of the place?" and lets them talk!
Yes, we can learn a lot about people by reading these stickers. California takes the prize for bumper sticker philosophies!
And my word verification is:REVERS-- people who speed up to read bumper stickers on the cars in front of them!
The Welcome Friends sign on a solid, reinforced door with an peep-hole is an interesting combination too.
GDP - Love the story about your welder friend. I might have to try that sometime.
Adam - Good observation. Just wait till they put in the barbed wire.
I don't have anything witty to add to this conversation (for shame, I know)- but wanted to tell you that your post made me laugh. Like, out loud. Not the fake "LOL" kind. (Though I am not an 'LOL' throwing kinda chick to begin with and am wary of people who are.)
Particularly the line with the link: "...perfectionism not usually seen in the public stickering sphere"-- HILARIOUS and fairly brilliant.
Jackie, I recently heard a particularly mortifying story about a fellow who for years had thought "LOL" meant "Lots of Love". When his friend's grandma (or distant aunt) passed away, at some point he sent her a text like: "Hope the funeral went OK today. LOL!"
Needless to say, I was ROFL.
And the brickwork is sooo attractive. I feel one would have to stoop to enter this doorway.
As a non-American, I am always wary of that last sticker.
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