#346: San Francisco Steps

San Francisco, CA

#347: What's Cooking in Hell's Kitchen

Hell's Kitchen, NYC

#348: Ups-a-Daisy

Pittsburgh, PA

#349: Upstanding Citizen

Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn

It's been a tad laconic over here in Ampersand Land as you may have noticed, and the bit-of-quiet may persist for a little while longer. My hibernation instincts of mid-January have lurched into frantic packing activities as I'll be off in Dublin for the next two weeks gathering more numbers and generally cavorting about. In the meantime, I hope the consistency of the images bring a little light to your screen. I'll be checking in and chiming in as time allows. Enjoy the journey.

#350: Sweet Tooth Sunday

Hudson Street, NYC

If these bright, spirited numbers don't make you feel like a kid in a candy shop, then you need to get a move on inside, 'cause this is a candy shop. Jacques Torres Chocolate Haven, that is, the "visionary chocolate brand" of NYC. Need to get in touch with your inner Veruca Salt? This ought to cure you.

#351: Carvalicious

Hell's Kitchen, NYC

#352: Bright's All Right

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

They like stuff bright and cute up in those colder climes.

#353: Poe-Faced

Edgar Allan Poe Street, NYC

Yes, there is an Edgar Allan Poe Street in New York City. The name was bestowed on the section of West 84th Street between Broadway and Riverside Drive, and while it took the city a couple tries to get the spelling right (they originally spelled it "Allen" instead of an "Allan" on one of the signs), it's now there for all to see. It commemorates the fact that old Poefellow penned his most well-known work, "The Raven" nearby, in what was then the Brennan farmhouse. The house was torn down in 1888, but 84th Street keeps its Poe street cred by not only having a cool name, but also having appropriately creepy numbers like this one to keep his spirit alive.

#354: Away, Awful Awnings

Yorkville, NYC

Most awnings in this city, while serving a practical purpose, grate on my nerves like sandpaper. Little to no thought is put into design; it's like someone took a scissors to the Barnum & Bailey tent and ran off with it, sticking the flapping monstrosities into the cement with rickety poles that look like they belong on a campground rather than the sidewalks of Manhattan. Such affronts to innocent, historic buildings are many, and unfortunately with my number-spotting obsession, the awning eyesores are hard to ignore. But every now and then, I'll stop in my tracks to note a happy exception. This clean sans serif number, carved into galvanized steel and fixed to the sides of a cherry red awning, is one.

#355: Caret Gold

Venice, Italy

They like their numbers punctuated and framed in Venice, and who am I to argue with the experts? Consider today's number a companion piece to last week's #361, though here the caret has grown -- nay, mutated -- into two fine strapping young triangles.