This is a test. Don’t panic. It’s all in good fun. And I don’t have any prizes anyway, so there’s really no pressure. Just the sheer satisfaction of being right. It does feel good, doesn’t it?
In any case, I was wandering about a small stretch of Oaktown on Saturday afternoon… I wasn’t feeling well, thought I was coming down with something, had a horrible headache, and had been pounding echinacea all morning. Needless to say, I was feeling a little sensitive.
Everything and everyone seemed to be in my face. People were too loud. Smells were too intense. Signs seemed to be screaming at me. I was stressed. It got me to thinking about how our environment shapes, not only our immediate experience, but our actual ongoing selves. How we internalize our surroundings…
They say “You are what you eat,” and that may be true. But I think perhaps more importantly, you are what you experience. And the surroundings you move through on a day-to-day basis definitely color this experience.
This is one of the reasons I’m such a fan of public art, but more on this in another post…
For now, we come to the test… it’s just one question. Pretty easy (I hope not too easy). But NO Googling. See if you know it on your own. There are bonus questions at the end…
1) Do you know what neighborhood these signs are from?
(clue: they were all taken in about a 3 block stretch)
Sign left has to be one of the most interesting combos I came across!
Sign right: I love the interesting mix of building tenants
Bonus questions: Do you have any kind of emotional reactions to these signs? Do certain colors or designs appeal to you while others grate? Do any make you laugh? Or cringe? I’m curious…
Oaktown Art | Oakland Art, Public Art, Murals, Graffiti, Culture, Oakland 
Don’t know what neighborhood this is, but the “Queen” sign made me click through from my facebook page. I’ve got a thing for crowns.
That’s interesting! What’s your deal w/ crowns? Is it a royalty thing? Something else?
Amazing (and somewhat disturbing, since I consider myself a pretty observant person) that I’ve probably walked past that Pet Hospital wall thousands of times without ever noticing how interesting that tile/metal pattern is. Thanks for opening my eyes to it—I’ll definitely look more closely next time I pass by.
Grand Avenue? I recognize most of the signs but have never noticed the Pet Hospital tiles before. Very cool atomic design.
The Pet Hospital sign is awesome — great find. I also like the ‘enjoy our patio’ sign because of the colors. The rest are largely informational, and don’t really do much for me.
You guys are SMART! The pet hospital sign gives it away… but I love it so much. It must date at least to the 60’s…
Grand Ave.
Looks like Grand Ave to me – I know the Pet Hospital is from Lake Vet, they’ve been our family vet for years!
grand. the queen sign gave it away for me- they have pillows there, right?