Bathroom Stall Series #11

I spotted this in the bathroom of Vancouver's Our Town Cafe. Ry and I had just spent the afternoon exploring the beautiful Stanley Park, where we saw seagulls lunching on sea stars and found a beaver dam but no beavers. And then we tumbled into this coffee shop on East Broadway. The coffee and paninis were good, but the best by far was this bathroom and its not-so-subtle artistic messages. I especially like the way this octopus was born out of a broken hook.

Other great graffiti animals included the snail:






and Le Skunk, who hearts bikes. As if there weren't enough reasons to visit and/or move to Vancouver.

Bathroom Stall Series #10: J Pride

I spotted this chalk drawing inside one of the bathrooms at SF State last year, and it is what inspired me to begin photographing potty drawings. Call me crude, but this shit is entertaining, so to speak.

Bathroom Stall Series, #9

To Do Today:
*write about roses
*watch Yo Gabba Gabba

Found on the bathroom stall wall.
These are directives a girl can really use.
Awesome.

Bathroom Stall Series, #8

Not sure where exactly to locate the tragedy in this particular installment of the Bathroom Stall Series. This was taken in the humanities building bathroom at SF State, which means this girl is probably in her 20s, and is probably pretty torn up about her boyfriend's actual sexuality. I glean all this from the elegantly long downward curve of her frowny-face.

What perhaps is more tragic are the attempts to assuage her feelings of sadness and remorse: "He's confused" counters nicely to "Woo! Fag hag!" I wonder what it feels like to be stuck between two polarizing reactions. It's as if our culture still doesn't know how to approach the complex nature of adolescent sexuality. I mean, we really must not be ready to talk about it, otherwise we wouldn't write about it on bathroom walls.

Bathroom Stall Series, #7

Why are there so many stupid people in COLLEGE?

I find this rather tragic. Is stupid relative? Is college relative? Do stupid people read the writing on the bathroom wall? Or defend it?

Perhaps what's saddest about this one isn't the sheer existence of stupidity on campus, but rather the realization that there are stupid people everywhere. The world's full of them, and at some point we all recognize that there's no one magical place to be, no one magical thing to study, no one magical job to have. And maybe, the day we realize this, we'll be doing our business on a public toilet, as this young lady has here.

And for the record, I'm not really such a fan of the word "stupid." I overheard a comedian on the Sound of Young America say that hearing his work described as "silly" or "dumb" actually was a compliment, because it was the silliest ideas that he enjoyed pursuing. "Stupid" implies not only ignorance, but willed ignorance, something far more dangerous than simple immaturity.

Personally, I like the silly and goofy on my campus, and don't mind the stupid, as long as it's debated on bathroom stall walls.

Bathroom Stall Series, #4

I'm dying to know what exactly it was that motivated this particular bathroom graffiti artist to write this on the stall wall. Did she have a copy of the latest Harry Potter book open in her lap? Had she just lost a bet?

...is her real name Ginny Weasley?

Bathroom Stall Series, # 3

Books Before Boys Because Boys Bring Babies.

Extra points for alliteration.

Bathroom Stall Series, #2

Love Sucks. Take Steroids.

I didn't write this, but I enjoy reading it in the girl's bathroom.