Turn that Frown into an Upside-Downer

The Uptowner is a high-class greasy spoon on Grand Ave - good for a late breakfast if you're sleeping off a good night. :)

Lots of fun toys

In honor of Christmas, a sign focused on toys from an antique store in downtown Saint Paul.

Don't Let Our Culture Dye: In honor of upcoming Fair Use Day

In a little less than a month, it will be the world's first Fair Use Day so I thought I'd choose an appropriately themed photo.

While copyright and intellectual property can seem vague and irrelevant, what it really comes down to culture. We need private citizens to create culture, and we need the public domain to perpetuate it. Good copyright law is about preserving this balance.

Here's more about the project. Find your own inspiration an exercise some fair use.

This is not a photo

Okay, what I have posted below is a photo. But it's a photo of a drawing at the State Fair this summer that was so good that they had to label it with a sign that said "This is a drawing". Look for sign just below the frame. Unfortunately, the photograph isn't good enough for me to get the artist's name.

So. . .Pull Hard

If you can't fix it. . .warn them.

The Sweetest Mural

This is one of my favorite places to hang out on a nice afternoon. Java Train has a nice outdoor patio with a small play area. Some coffee shops are only good at coffee, but the food here is good too.

Seeking large brown bags also in need of fulfillment

This cozy co-op in Saint Anthony Park is Hampden Park Co-op.

We're delighted you're here

This kind sign can be found at Rick Rack in Linden Hills. It's worth the trip just to meet the Grandma statue on the porch.

We Make Butter Taste Better

Now that we're starting to feel the chill of winter, here's a taste of summer from the farmer's market.

Don't Let the Ferret Ride the Elevator

This adorable note can be found at the Wild Rumpus bookstore in Linden Hills.

Stop and Eat Here

Sometimes it's best to just follow directions.

Well, if you insist

I found these wise words on a building near the Wilde Roast in Northeast Minneapolis. So here I am, writing about it. :)

Over 1 Million Butts Washed

Something only a pet grooming place could brag about. Grand Paws Pet Grooming, in fact.

The Right Choice

Normally this blog is a bit higher class, but this one was too good to pass up.

Philosophy or profit?

I'd like to say this vendor at the state fair was making a philosophical statement about the inner lives of small children but I'm pretty sure they just wanted everyone to buy tickets. (I know this is a lower quality photo than I normally post, I stupidly left my camera at home and had to use my cellphone.)

Times are tough for dreamers

This is why I always carry my camera around with me - one day you might find some temporary graffiti and you better get a picture of it before it's washed away. Be sure to click on the image to see the full photo.



p.s. Anybody have that John Lennon song stuck in their head now?

Love Tree: Cave Aged Artisan Cheese

This booth at the farmer's market smells like a classic cheese shop in Paris - nothing you'd put in perfume but a great place to pick up something to go with grapes as an appetizer.

Posted Speed Limit is the Speed Limit!

Thank you, Johnson's Home Delivery, for driving this message all around town. I'm one of those people that follows the posted speed limits most of the time, and I know it makes the cars behind me impatient. But if we make five miles above the speed limit the normal speed limit - what's to say it shouldn't be 10 miles above? Or twenty? It can only lead to anarchy and chaos.

On a serious note, I live near a lot of streets that are small but connect two larger roads and some people treat them like near-highways. People live on these streets. If you're one of those people that speeds through a thirty-hour zone at forty-five, you might think about that for a second.

Statement? Observation? Order? Suggestion? Alternative?

This week it was hard to choose the best picture - the existential message written in chalk on the Loring Pasta Bar painted sign, the felted angel advertising aged cheese at the farmer's market, or the validation of my feelings about speed limits. . .but in the end I chose this one. Don't worry - I'll post the rest of them in good time.

Runs on Apples and Bananas

This is printed on the window of the Bicycle Chain, a bike repair place near my house.

If we're being completely honest, my bike also runs on brownies and cookies. . .

When the copyeditor has the day off

Sometimes times

"Sometimes we close early or come in late!"

Here Lies The Mayor

At the Aquatennial Parade on Wednesday night, the mayor stopped to have his chalkline drawn on the road. Only in Minneapolis could you meet a group of people who get their kicks drawing chalklines of each other on the road.

Free Free Zen Bricks

We found this sign on a lazy Sunday afternoon on the gate of a house in Minneapolis.

Hey kids! Hit your head! Free!

Found at Convergence this year in the coffee lounge.

Please Keep Your Owners on a Leash

That's right, doggies. You have to be the responsible ones. (Click to see the full photo).


Photo credit: Ross Demeyere

There Oughta Be a Sign

This former bike path ends abruptly into a fence.

The Knit Column

That's a lot of knitting. Found at Borealis Yarns, one of the coziest yarn stores in the cities.

We Love Our Neighborhood

Okay, so it's June now. But let's not quibble with something that's so adorable.

This was found at Cuppa Java near May Day.

Mid-Century Miscellany

10 points for creative use of the word 'miscellany'.

Wreck Amended

Okay, I admit it. I'm a sucker for puns.

Man, I smell like dumpster so bad already

Found on a door with broken panes in a warehouse in Minneapolis.

Open to local businesses (if you own a Hummer)

Ah, summer. The season of road construction. This road in the Selby-Dale neighborhood is open to local traffic if you've got an off-road vehicle.

We have 18 different ones

A flash back to a few months ago when Como Park was still covered in snow:

The Table Police

I can't take credit for this find - my husband discovered this one at Coffee News Cafe in Saint Paul.

You Think Therefore We Are

I couldn't have put it better myself, Axman.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Axman, it's the quirky surplus store with several locations around the cities. Need an inflatable airplane escape slide? A wheel for a tricycle? Some patches embroidered with the name of a company that no longer exists? Power supplies in every voltage/amperage you could dream of? They've got it. :)

We'd like to allow your dog but we can't

Time to campaign for a law allowing cafes to have pet dogs inside if they post a sign on the door to notify potential customers before they walk in?

I know the fine print is hard to read in this picture but it reads:
"We apologize for any inconveniences but it is the law and we have received complaints."



Megan

An Unfortunate Domain Name

Girls Gotta Be Strong

I found this on a building somewhere in Minneapolis. I applaud the message but it's diminished somewhat by the unrealistic bodies, and the weird Naked Gun theme.

Always Wish You Were Here

This is at Lori's Coffee House - right next to Saint Paul campus. Follow the link to see the full photo.

So cute.

Do not not snowmobile here

I don't actually live up north, but since I've been up there so often over the past couple of weeks I'm going to adopt Silver Bay just for this week.

A premiere: Take it outside with the smokers

So I admit I did this backwards. First, you start a new blog, build up readership and then get a big book contract.

I decided to self-publish my own book, Signs of My Cities and am just now starting the blog.

I'll share new photos of cool signs in the Twin Cities as I find them, some old ones that didn't make it in the book and maybe even some more background on some that are in the book.

Here's your first dose: