An APPlE a Day

Yet another find in my nabe Park Slope, Brooklyn, you can experience the taste of the orient with a bite of a Fuji APPlE at this 7th Ave. bodega. The lowercase L, looking like an "I", made me think this was an abbreviation for APPLE PIE, so I was confused to see nothing but apples in the bin above. Hence the danger of using lowercase L.

This is not the first bad APPlE to be mentioned on this site. An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but an APPlE with any frequency may require a visit from a psychologist with a background in dysgraphia.

Kids lOVE Myspace

You are all probably familiar with Myspace, the online social network that is becoming increasingly popular with young teens and adults alike. You may have even found this blog from a link on my Myspace account. Since lowercase L's are usually the product of handwriting, it was a special treat to find not one, but two cases in Myspace! The first one, above, is a letter from a fan of my Shabot 6000 cartoons. His lOVE for Shabot is eclipsed only by his grasp of how to use the caps lock key properly.

Then there's this cute gal, purportedly from Yugoslavia, who proudly displays her Myspace name as AlEXANDRA. I don't know who she is, but I will forgive her use of lowercase L because she's probably using one of those complicated Yugoslavian keyboards. AlEXANDRA, if you are out there, I invite you to state your case here.

FlOWERS for Algernon

The night before Valentine's day I found this post behind a locked storefront on 7th Ave in Park Slope, Brooklyn, the source of many lowercase L's here. The sign advertises DELIVER FlOWERS HELP WANTED. The inconsistent use of lowercase and uppercase L's in the sign makes me wonder if they are advertising for help writing signs properly. Or perhaps the cry for help is from some guy trapped in the store, being held captive by the weirdo who wrote the sign.

I'm finding an average of 1 lowercase L per week in my neighborhood alone. Surely this phenomenon is not restricted to just a few square blocks in Brooklyn. Readers, please keep your eyes peeled and your digital cameras handy.

Mis-PlACE

Last night I went to hear my friend, Yoshie Fruchter, perform at Makor Café in Manhattan. The music was great, and I had a fun time. Unfortunately, the whole wonderful experience was marred by a stealthy lowercase L that I caught on my way out. Behind the check-in desk, a fax machine sat far in the corner, with a small note taped above its LCD panel. As I moved in for a closer look, security closed in on me, as if I was about to discover something wicked. When I saw PlACE, I took my camera out for the shot. Security piped up, "Excuse me, sir, what are you taking a picture of?" As I zoomed in, I explained feebly, "It's for an art project I'm working on, hard to explain". The officers seemed leery of my request, but reluctantly allowed me to go about my business. I left the building, heart racing, hands shaking ... was I being followed? But I got what I came for, and that's all that mattered.