Dry Cleaning Sign

Sigh. Someone told me about this sign before, but I didn't actually believe it existed before I saw it in person last night. Dupont Circle.

New Car Rental Sign (Chinatown)

The "Thrifty Car Rental" sign I posted about last year (see here) has since been replaced by a new one! This space is now a Hertz Rental Car, and the writing looks much better. Here, "Hertz" = 赫兹 (Hè zī), conveniently borrowing the standard transliteration of the unit of measurement (Hz) named after German scientist Heinrich Hertz. "Rental car" = 租车. This sign uses the simplified form of car (车) while the previous one used the traditional form 車. Photo taken in early 2010.

Logic (Chinatown)

Logik = 邏輯 ("luó ji," which means "logic"). Very logical. November 2009.

Garden Store

Spring is here. Who is this guy Herb, and why is he in the backyard? Capitol Hill.

Unfortunate Name Placement

Very unfortunate name placement in Chinatown.

P.S. For those who might not know, the decorative square motif below is a stylized version of the character 福 (meaning "good luck, fortune") - hence the title for this blog posting.

P.P.S. For another image involving 福, see this posting.

Collapsing Bank (Sign of the Times)

Today in Chinatown. Looks like there are a few strokes missing in the Chinese characters for "bank" (銀行); two missing on the top left of 銀 and one missing at the top right of 銀行. Perhaps this "bank" inscription is falling apart, or maybe it wasn't written correctly to begin with...

Lambda Departing

Dupont Circle, December 2009. Lambda Rising (the only LGBT bookstore in DC) has just announced it is closing at the month's end. The Greek letter "lambda" (λ) has long been associated with the gay rights movement and is often used as a symbol for the LGBT community. Incidentally, this stylized lambda logo vaguely resembles the Chinese character 入 (ru) = "to enter" (a place), "to join" (a group).

For more on the closure of Lambda Rising, see the coverage in the DC Agenda (the LGBT publication that recently rose from the ashes of the abruptly-closed Washington Blade).

P.S. For some speculation on how "lambda" came to be associated with the LGBT movement, see this website.

(Photo courtesy of Suite101).

Thrifty Chinese Writing

Chinatown. The characters 租車 do indeed mean rent(al) car. The writing is very poorly executed - thrifty indeed!