Live, Laugh, Love
December 16, 2022 9:56 AM Subscribe
For decades now, a certain phrase has been appearing on motivational posters, necklaces and, thanks to a particular explosion in the early aughts, in the home goods aisles at stores like Target, Marshalls and TJ Maxx: “Live, laugh, love.” The saying is a paraphrase of Bessie Anderson Stanley's 1904 poem "Success," which reads, “He achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much." And while "Live, laugh, love" is just one example of a phrase used in inspiring home decor, it has, for whatever reason, now reached iconic status.
What's With All The 'Live Laugh Love' Shit On The Walls? This article discusses the broader trend, with examples, of the type of poster we all (usually) cringe-ingly know - the "inspirational poster."
A Brief History of Word Art, the Decor Everyone Loves to Hate
Most Annoying Inspirational Wall Art: Is One Hanging In Your Home?
If these don't grab you, why not make fun of next year's predictions? Here is Wall art trends – interior designers on the new ideas to watch for in 2023 and beyond
What's With All The 'Live Laugh Love' Shit On The Walls? This article discusses the broader trend, with examples, of the type of poster we all (usually) cringe-ingly know - the "inspirational poster."
A Brief History of Word Art, the Decor Everyone Loves to Hate
Most Annoying Inspirational Wall Art: Is One Hanging In Your Home?
If these don't grab you, why not make fun of next year's predictions? Here is Wall art trends – interior designers on the new ideas to watch for in 2023 and beyond
Oh and if you need a text art alternative, someone already Asked Mefi: Short. Sweet. Macabre.
posted by tiny frying pan at 10:03 AM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by tiny frying pan at 10:03 AM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Is this where I can complain about framed Mary Oliver quotes in people's powder rooms? Because having your wall art hector me about whatever the fuck I'm doing with my wild and precious life while I'm sitting on the toilet just feels like a bridge too far.
posted by thivaia at 10:13 AM on December 16, 2022 [42 favorites]
posted by thivaia at 10:13 AM on December 16, 2022 [42 favorites]
Marge: [reading poster] "Hang in there, baby!" You said it, kitty!posted by star gentle uterus at 10:14 AM on December 16, 2022 [48 favorites]
[looking more closely] "'Copryright 1968." Hmm, determined or
not, that cat must be long dead.
Gad, it makes me cringe to repeatedly read that "Gen Z" feels this way about the phrase because they're "cynical". No, they feel that way because it's meaningless, saccharine, hallmarky bullshit. No cynicism required, just a baseline awareness that advertising might not always be true.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 10:16 AM on December 16, 2022 [71 favorites]
posted by Sing Or Swim at 10:16 AM on December 16, 2022 [71 favorites]
My fave is Trevor's Live Love Laugh in GTA V.
posted by slogger at 10:22 AM on December 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by slogger at 10:22 AM on December 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
The sign on my lawn from September 15 - well, now but should have been Nov 15 reads:
Love
Laughter
Vengeance
The other one says
Bury your bodies deep
(yes it should have been deeply but we ran out of paint)
posted by warriorqueen at 10:23 AM on December 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
Love
Laughter
Vengeance
The other one says
Bury your bodies deep
(yes it should have been deeply but we ran out of paint)
posted by warriorqueen at 10:23 AM on December 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
It is useful as an indicator that I shouldn't waste time with the owner.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 10:24 AM on December 16, 2022
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 10:24 AM on December 16, 2022
Which "Gen" is it that is supposed to like these signs? Generational divides are at their most real when it comes to the stuff we avoid talking about -- economic opportunity, largely (however unfairly distributed across the different identities with a generational cohort).
They're at their least real as marketing demographics (though I realize that's their origin). The rest of the age-inflected cultural fields fall somewhere in between.
I mean -- no self-respected disaffected Gen Xer is going to be any less contemptuous of this stuff.
This is much more class-inflected. Live, laugh, love is a motto of middle-brow conformity; mass-market Wayfair-and-Instagram domesticity. And the reaction is against that.
I'm reminded of the shiplap thread.
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:27 AM on December 16, 2022 [21 favorites]
They're at their least real as marketing demographics (though I realize that's their origin). The rest of the age-inflected cultural fields fall somewhere in between.
I mean -- no self-respected disaffected Gen Xer is going to be any less contemptuous of this stuff.
This is much more class-inflected. Live, laugh, love is a motto of middle-brow conformity; mass-market Wayfair-and-Instagram domesticity. And the reaction is against that.
I'm reminded of the shiplap thread.
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:27 AM on December 16, 2022 [21 favorites]
No cynicism required, just a baseline awareness that advertising might not always be true.
The only slogan I trust is that McDonald's one that goes "ba da ba ba ba." Where's my ba da ba ba ba on a pillow. Or in a cursive stencil for my kitchen. Screenprinted onto my wine tervis. Hellooooo manufacturers I am here
posted by phunniemee at 10:27 AM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
The only slogan I trust is that McDonald's one that goes "ba da ba ba ba." Where's my ba da ba ba ba on a pillow. Or in a cursive stencil for my kitchen. Screenprinted onto my wine tervis. Hellooooo manufacturers I am here
posted by phunniemee at 10:27 AM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
I am not cynical and I am ok with that.
posted by aniola at 10:29 AM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by aniola at 10:29 AM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
oh gerd. I have one of these. my parents gave it to us. its not intolerably ugly and its been up there for years and years. it does make me cringe a little.
posted by supermedusa at 10:30 AM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by supermedusa at 10:30 AM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
As an antidote, there's always despair.com.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 10:34 AM on December 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 10:34 AM on December 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
I had an potentially lucrative scheme to make slightly disassociative word art for aggressive wine lovers, but then this SNL skit kind of sherlocked me.
posted by credulous at 10:34 AM on December 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by credulous at 10:34 AM on December 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
Some subtext would help.
Live longer than your enemies
Laugh at their downfall
Love the sound of their weeping
posted by seanmpuckett at 10:35 AM on December 16, 2022 [63 favorites]
Live longer than your enemies
Laugh at their downfall
Love the sound of their weeping
posted by seanmpuckett at 10:35 AM on December 16, 2022 [63 favorites]
OK, the "2023 ideas to watch for" link is extra bizarre. Abstract and colorful paintings or posters: that's a new idea? Along with "establishing your own collection"?
posted by tangerine at 10:35 AM on December 16, 2022
posted by tangerine at 10:35 AM on December 16, 2022
As far back as 2012, when we were initially researching Gen Z for my book, we found that authenticity is one of the primary pillars that drive them.
I'm pretty sure that "you're all so PHONY!" has been the universal sentiment of all teenagers about their parents throughout human history.
posted by Saxon Kane at 10:36 AM on December 16, 2022 [24 favorites]
I'm pretty sure that "you're all so PHONY!" has been the universal sentiment of all teenagers about their parents throughout human history.
posted by Saxon Kane at 10:36 AM on December 16, 2022 [24 favorites]
Despair.com went VERY right-wing. They still have the old ones, but the new ones....well, not as good.
As a long-established Zillow stalker, the only other inspirational home decor that makes my eyes roll as much as the LLL is "Gather" in the dining room. (rollseyes).
posted by hwyengr at 10:37 AM on December 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
As a long-established Zillow stalker, the only other inspirational home decor that makes my eyes roll as much as the LLL is "Gather" in the dining room. (rollseyes).
posted by hwyengr at 10:37 AM on December 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
I thought we had moved on to "Welcome to Poundtown" (previously).
posted by Ber at 10:37 AM on December 16, 2022 [23 favorites]
posted by Ber at 10:37 AM on December 16, 2022 [23 favorites]
Crush your enemies
See them driven before you
Hear the lamentation of their women
posted by Saxon Kane at 10:39 AM on December 16, 2022 [25 favorites]
See them driven before you
Hear the lamentation of their women
posted by Saxon Kane at 10:39 AM on December 16, 2022 [25 favorites]
"Live, Laugh, Love" has become my husband and I's verbal code for decor or accessories or tchotchkes that are very much not to our taste.
My sister and my mom totally vibe with this aesthetic and that's cool even if it isn't my jam.
posted by Kitteh at 10:40 AM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
My sister and my mom totally vibe with this aesthetic and that's cool even if it isn't my jam.
posted by Kitteh at 10:40 AM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
Replace them with “live, laugh, lube” and see how long it takes anyone to notice, is your go-to move for these things.
I missed the window to get a “live, laugh, log4j” shirt, which I was reminded of on the 1 year anniversary of that disaster.
posted by mhoye at 10:40 AM on December 16, 2022 [13 favorites]
I missed the window to get a “live, laugh, log4j” shirt, which I was reminded of on the 1 year anniversary of that disaster.
posted by mhoye at 10:40 AM on December 16, 2022 [13 favorites]
having your wall art hector me
Glurge and forced emotion of any kind are annoying, but it's the exhortations that exhaust me the most. Even in elementary school the constant "Read!" signs bothered me. I'll read when the mood strikes me, and no thanks to you!
posted by trig at 10:41 AM on December 16, 2022 [8 favorites]
Glurge and forced emotion of any kind are annoying, but it's the exhortations that exhaust me the most. Even in elementary school the constant "Read!" signs bothered me. I'll read when the mood strikes me, and no thanks to you!
posted by trig at 10:41 AM on December 16, 2022 [8 favorites]
...giving tours of their homes in which multiple "Live, laugh, love" signs appear, typically in that classic, loose-script font.
Oh nonononono honey you do NOT get away with glossing over that fucking font.
It's as annoying as the word art itself and it totally doesn't surprise me that this version I just found is titled "Millenial".
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:45 AM on December 16, 2022 [16 favorites]
Oh nonononono honey you do NOT get away with glossing over that fucking font.
It's as annoying as the word art itself and it totally doesn't surprise me that this version I just found is titled "Millenial".
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:45 AM on December 16, 2022 [16 favorites]
amongst my group of friends "live, laugh, love" decor has been used entirely ironically for so long that I think if I saw one meant sincerely I would just assume I was missing the joke. I'm pretty sure I have one of those picture frames (that literally has "live" "laugh" "love" with a picture for each word) in my storage room where each of pictures is Nicolas Cage from his Cage-iest of movies, which I got for my birthday probably ten years ago?
posted by selenized at 10:49 AM on December 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by selenized at 10:49 AM on December 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
... but it's the exhortations that exhaust me the most.
I remember seeing motivational Bible verses taped to the walls on that Jon & Kate show, before the divorce. I also formed my strongest association with the L-L-L sign from seeing it on the otherwise bare bedroom wall of a subject on Intervention.
So, no, I don't do affirmations, in decor or otherwise. I even broke up with a therapist because she was affirmation-focused. But I wasn't always this way. I remember having this poster on my wall in youth. I should know better than to judge people from their signs, but I do tend to assume that someone who has, say, this thing or a variant thereof is bad news unless proven otherwise.
posted by Countess Elena at 10:50 AM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
I remember seeing motivational Bible verses taped to the walls on that Jon & Kate show, before the divorce. I also formed my strongest association with the L-L-L sign from seeing it on the otherwise bare bedroom wall of a subject on Intervention.
So, no, I don't do affirmations, in decor or otherwise. I even broke up with a therapist because she was affirmation-focused. But I wasn't always this way. I remember having this poster on my wall in youth. I should know better than to judge people from their signs, but I do tend to assume that someone who has, say, this thing or a variant thereof is bad news unless proven otherwise.
posted by Countess Elena at 10:50 AM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
The house we are in now came complete with these pithy little platitudes (including, of course, LLL) all over the walls. Luckily, they were stickers that easily peeled off. Gah. I cannot imagine living day-to-day with the stuff everywhere in my home.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:53 AM on December 16, 2022
posted by Thorzdad at 10:53 AM on December 16, 2022
When my daughter was in first grade, I found some piece of construction paper where she'd written "Live Laugh Love" and first, I had a good laugh, and then I was genuinely concerned that she was being infected by Basic culture. I felt like Morticia when Pugsley wants to be a Boy Scout and play baseball.
She has since transformed into a little goth, but I was a little concerned for a while.
In any case, the only good LLL sign says "Dig Burn Slam." Fact.
posted by uncleozzy at 10:56 AM on December 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
She has since transformed into a little goth, but I was a little concerned for a while.
In any case, the only good LLL sign says "Dig Burn Slam." Fact.
posted by uncleozzy at 10:56 AM on December 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
Gen Z are the kids who grew up in houses with over-the-top farmhouse style with way too many signs and phrases everywhere. No surprise that they see it for the crap that it is. The
The only Live Laugh Love shirt worth buying...
posted by hydra77 at 10:59 AM on December 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
The only Live Laugh Love shirt worth buying...
posted by hydra77 at 10:59 AM on December 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
I had some semi-non-cynical reason to send the "hang in there baby" poster, that original was quite well done, but it's really hard to find and the many copies range from just bad to someone should loose their meme-make-credentials.
posted by sammyo at 11:00 AM on December 16, 2022
posted by sammyo at 11:00 AM on December 16, 2022
That "Rules for dating my son" poster that Countess Elena posted is some seriously deranged, sociopath shit.
posted by Saxon Kane at 11:00 AM on December 16, 2022 [17 favorites]
posted by Saxon Kane at 11:00 AM on December 16, 2022 [17 favorites]
I have one small sign in my house. It says, blockily, on a little square of burlap glued to a wooden block: I Am Your Mom Your Arguments are Invalid. It cheers me. My kids hate it so much and that cheers me as well.
posted by mygothlaundry at 11:00 AM on December 16, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by mygothlaundry at 11:00 AM on December 16, 2022 [9 favorites]
The only word art thing I have ever liked and hung on my wall was a really pretty laminated card I bought when I was about 10 or so that really spoke to me. It was a prayer, and I was non-religious, but the typesetting made it seem more like a joke with a punchline
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things
I cannot change
The courage to change
the things I can
And the wisdom
to know the difference.
That's right, the thing that spoke to my very pre-teen soul was probably actually a tchotchke for alcoholics.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:05 AM on December 16, 2022 [18 favorites]
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things
I cannot change
The courage to change
the things I can
And the wisdom
to know the difference.
That's right, the thing that spoke to my very pre-teen soul was probably actually a tchotchke for alcoholics.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:05 AM on December 16, 2022 [18 favorites]
...giving tours of their homes in which multiple "Live, laugh, love" signs appear, typically in that classic, loose-script font.
Oh nonononono honey you do NOT get away with glossing over that fucking font.
I wanted to find information about WHY THE GODDAMN STUPID SCRIPTY FONT but couldn't find much. Any graphic design people have the foggiest idea of why this particular fontiness is the norm for this crap?
posted by tiny frying pan at 11:10 AM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Oh nonononono honey you do NOT get away with glossing over that fucking font.
I wanted to find information about WHY THE GODDAMN STUPID SCRIPTY FONT but couldn't find much. Any graphic design people have the foggiest idea of why this particular fontiness is the norm for this crap?
posted by tiny frying pan at 11:10 AM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
And why do "farmhouse" people gravitate towards this in the 1st place? No one needs a sign that says "eat" in the kitchen, etc. Like, I am so upset there is no explanation for this.
posted by tiny frying pan at 11:12 AM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by tiny frying pan at 11:12 AM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
#DieCryHate
posted by glonous keming at 11:13 AM on December 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by glonous keming at 11:13 AM on December 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
I have to admit that I have hydrophobically painted a Sapphic fragment in the form of an Anne Carson translation along my front walk to the door.
But that is only because the owners of the house objected to Home Of Kerkylas of Andros.
posted by NoThisIsPatrick at 11:30 AM on December 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
But that is only because the owners of the house objected to Home Of Kerkylas of Andros.
posted by NoThisIsPatrick at 11:30 AM on December 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
Because having your wall art hector me about whatever the fuck I'm doing with my wild and precious life while I'm sitting on the toilet just feels like a bridge too far.
I lived with a Dutch couple in the States for about a year and had picked up a little of the language during that time. A few years later, at a conference in the Netherlands, I cleverly busted out a couple of pithy sayings I'd learned.
My interlocutor, when he heard me, immediately replied: "It sounds like you've spent a lot of time in Dutch peoples' bathrooms."
I laughed and scoffed and changed the subject. Only ONE of those sayings had been on their bathroom wall. The other had been on the wall in the hallway, just OUTSIDE the bathroom. So there.
posted by darkstar at 11:38 AM on December 16, 2022 [25 favorites]
I lived with a Dutch couple in the States for about a year and had picked up a little of the language during that time. A few years later, at a conference in the Netherlands, I cleverly busted out a couple of pithy sayings I'd learned.
My interlocutor, when he heard me, immediately replied: "It sounds like you've spent a lot of time in Dutch peoples' bathrooms."
I laughed and scoffed and changed the subject. Only ONE of those sayings had been on their bathroom wall. The other had been on the wall in the hallway, just OUTSIDE the bathroom. So there.
posted by darkstar at 11:38 AM on December 16, 2022 [25 favorites]
The only wall aphorism I've ever considered displaying, which teenage me no doubt saw in a mail order gift catalogue:
May those who love us, love us,
And those who don't love us,
May God turn their hearts,
And if he doesn't turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we'll know them by their limping.
posted by daisystomper at 11:46 AM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
May those who love us, love us,
And those who don't love us,
May God turn their hearts,
And if he doesn't turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we'll know them by their limping.
posted by daisystomper at 11:46 AM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
Because having your wall art hector me about whatever the fuck I'm doing with my wild and precious life while I'm sitting on the toilet just feels like a bridge too far.
I think that's hilarious and it's given me an idea for my bathroom, which is sadly plain because I can't be bothered to decorate a bathroom. However, now I'm thinking TO STRIVE, TO SEEK, TO FIND, AND NOT TO YIELD right across from the toilet.
posted by betweenthebars at 11:50 AM on December 16, 2022 [8 favorites]
I think that's hilarious and it's given me an idea for my bathroom, which is sadly plain because I can't be bothered to decorate a bathroom. However, now I'm thinking TO STRIVE, TO SEEK, TO FIND, AND NOT TO YIELD right across from the toilet.
posted by betweenthebars at 11:50 AM on December 16, 2022 [8 favorites]
Ha! I proposed 'To strive, to seek... and not to yield' for a congratulatory plaque in college. I didn't realize it doesn't mean what I thought it meant, afterwards.
(That line is preceded by "Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will")
posted by porpoise at 11:58 AM on December 16, 2022
(That line is preceded by "Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will")
posted by porpoise at 11:58 AM on December 16, 2022
No one needs a sign that says "eat" in the kitchen, etc. Like, I am so upset there is no explanation for this.
To me that's like the second circle of word art hell after LLL, but there's a third: Life is Better at the Beach.
So, you're at the beach right now. In your beach house (or rental beach house). Is the sign there to remind you that you are at the beach? Perhaps to instruct you to start having more fun at the beach because you've forgotten how? It's meta, but more than that.
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:59 AM on December 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
To me that's like the second circle of word art hell after LLL, but there's a third: Life is Better at the Beach.
So, you're at the beach right now. In your beach house (or rental beach house). Is the sign there to remind you that you are at the beach? Perhaps to instruct you to start having more fun at the beach because you've forgotten how? It's meta, but more than that.
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:59 AM on December 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
I have a"live, laugh, dissociate" print here and admit I also bought a "die, cry, hate." shirt after a particular bad day of toxic positivity foisted upon me. They make me happy and give me hope.
posted by Bemused Recluse at 12:00 PM on December 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Bemused Recluse at 12:00 PM on December 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
As an antidote, there's always despair.com.
Despair.com went VERY right-wing. They still have the old ones, but the new ones....well, not as good.
I’m pretty sure that despair.com was where I found demotivational posters based on the seven deadly sins, which were great. I have them printed off and laminated somewhere, if they didn’t get tossed in one of my purges. But they seem to have somehow been erased from the internet, even more so than The Onion’s Easter cards.
Around here, all the “Live, Laugh, Love” stuff often has “pray” in there somewhere.
posted by TedW at 12:06 PM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Despair.com went VERY right-wing. They still have the old ones, but the new ones....well, not as good.
I’m pretty sure that despair.com was where I found demotivational posters based on the seven deadly sins, which were great. I have them printed off and laminated somewhere, if they didn’t get tossed in one of my purges. But they seem to have somehow been erased from the internet, even more so than The Onion’s Easter cards.
Around here, all the “Live, Laugh, Love” stuff often has “pray” in there somewhere.
posted by TedW at 12:06 PM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
As someone who lives near Minnesota Lakes country, I often see replacing the last L with "lake" being an even more eye-rolling corruption, given that I can live, I can love, I can laugh, but can I....lake?
There's a tossup between whether it should be "Live Love Lake" or "Live Laugh Lake", although "Lake Laugh Love" does seem to be lurking in the shadows as a reasonable alternative.
posted by AzraelBrown at 12:16 PM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
There's a tossup between whether it should be "Live Love Lake" or "Live Laugh Lake", although "Lake Laugh Love" does seem to be lurking in the shadows as a reasonable alternative.
posted by AzraelBrown at 12:16 PM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Whatever metafilter user posted the (paraphrased)
Live in the ditches
Laugh at the witches
Love in the back of my Dragula!
in a random thread I can no longer find is 100% my hero.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:24 PM on December 16, 2022 [25 favorites]
Live in the ditches
Laugh at the witches
Love in the back of my Dragula!
in a random thread I can no longer find is 100% my hero.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:24 PM on December 16, 2022 [25 favorites]
The people who previously owned out house had so much memorabilia nailed, bolted and stuck to the walls that we called it "the Chili's house" to distinguish it from other houses we were looking at, to the hilarity of our real estate agent. Quite a lot of it was word "art", leading to two events:
1. us looking at the "Always kiss me goodnight" emblazoned on the wall over the bed, turning to each other, and pledging to never require a written reminder to do so
2. a supremely awkward moment during our visit with the inspector, after they'd accepted our offer, when one of the homeowners pointed at the "May all who enter this house leave as friends" sticker on the inside of the door and asked us if we wanted them to leave it, and we said no.
The only word art in the house now is a Christmas-themed plaque with "Hope visiting your family during Christmas doesn't ruin all the work you did with your therapist" in red glitter, because it speaks deeply to our hearts.
posted by telophase at 12:36 PM on December 16, 2022 [18 favorites]
1. us looking at the "Always kiss me goodnight" emblazoned on the wall over the bed, turning to each other, and pledging to never require a written reminder to do so
2. a supremely awkward moment during our visit with the inspector, after they'd accepted our offer, when one of the homeowners pointed at the "May all who enter this house leave as friends" sticker on the inside of the door and asked us if we wanted them to leave it, and we said no.
The only word art in the house now is a Christmas-themed plaque with "Hope visiting your family during Christmas doesn't ruin all the work you did with your therapist" in red glitter, because it speaks deeply to our hearts.
posted by telophase at 12:36 PM on December 16, 2022 [18 favorites]
This is just what mainstream likes? It doesn't deserve any more angst than three plaster ducks, prints of Blue Boy, macrame owls, geese in bonnets, or Olan Mills portraits, to name some past trends. You've gotta put something on the wall, this is cute and easy to buy and offends no one*, bam.
*Except disaffected snobs like us, of course.
It offends me less than the "grouping of 20 blinged up crosses" that you saw everywhere, or religious art in general.
posted by emjaybee at 12:41 PM on December 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
*Except disaffected snobs like us, of course.
It offends me less than the "grouping of 20 blinged up crosses" that you saw everywhere, or religious art in general.
posted by emjaybee at 12:41 PM on December 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
My favorite parody
---
For display over the bathroom sink:
Live
Love
Lave
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:41 PM on December 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
---
For display over the bathroom sink:
Live
Love
Lave
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:41 PM on December 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
JoeZydeco: “Oh nonononono honey you do NOT get away with glossing over that fucking font.”
Saxon Kane: “Crush your enemies
See them driven before you
Hear the lamentation of their women”
I am very, very sorry.
https://imgflip.com/memegenerator/430987120/Crush-See-Hear
posted by ob1quixote at 12:44 PM on December 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
Any graphic design people have the foggiest idea of why this particular fontiness [Millenial font] is the norm for this crap?
If I had to wager a completely uneducated guess it's because this font looks pretty close to hand-drawn calligraphy. Graphic nerds see it right away but everyone else doesn't. It's also a little looser than typical calligraphic script so it conveys a bit more warmth and whatever those Millennials call it now. Real-ness?
I can't be too sure but I recall seeing a LOT of this in wedding paraphernalia (invitations, signs, place cards) before it spread into the word art in homes. For that matter when did weddings suddenly require so much signage?
So now it's just a easy font and doesn't look like Papyrus and thanks for coming to my TED talk.
posted by JoeZydeco at 12:45 PM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
If I had to wager a completely uneducated guess it's because this font looks pretty close to hand-drawn calligraphy. Graphic nerds see it right away but everyone else doesn't. It's also a little looser than typical calligraphic script so it conveys a bit more warmth and whatever those Millennials call it now. Real-ness?
I can't be too sure but I recall seeing a LOT of this in wedding paraphernalia (invitations, signs, place cards) before it spread into the word art in homes. For that matter when did weddings suddenly require so much signage?
So now it's just a easy font and doesn't look like Papyrus and thanks for coming to my TED talk.
posted by JoeZydeco at 12:45 PM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
that classic, loose-script font.
It can be ambiguous at times...
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:52 PM on December 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
It can be ambiguous at times...
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:52 PM on December 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
It brings warmth to the most haunted of hearts.
posted by reynir at 12:52 PM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by reynir at 12:52 PM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
It's not even one font, it's many and they are the bane of my existence when trying to find a handwritten-ish script-like font for romance book covers, because I have to page through SO VERY MANY of them to find the sort I need.
posted by telophase at 12:52 PM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by telophase at 12:52 PM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
It's really not a "millennial font," though. It extends far past only millennial-age people using it. I really don't understand why anyone likes this, at all. I swear I would not make fun if someone could earnestly explain WHY. I don't know why it's cute and until it ever ends I will feel upsettingly bewildered. Put up this post as a way to cope with seeing a lot of it lately and I am happy to have found my people (those who say UGH).
posted by tiny frying pan at 1:03 PM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by tiny frying pan at 1:03 PM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Yes! Wedding stuff is also filled with it, I should have included something along those lines. Trust MeFi to always add the follow up links, thank you.
posted by tiny frying pan at 1:04 PM on December 16, 2022
posted by tiny frying pan at 1:04 PM on December 16, 2022
One of the several reasons I regret not being extremely wealthy is that we couldn't antistage the old house when we listed it. I'd've loved to have a thing in the kitchen reading INGEST, or a little thing reading
As for me and my house
We will serve
GREAT CTHULHU
but in an LLL font.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 1:05 PM on December 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
As for me and my house
We will serve
GREAT CTHULHU
but in an LLL font.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 1:05 PM on December 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
I'm hunting for the perfect Live/Laugh/Love photo frame to give to my friend as a housewarming present.
He is a giant Twin Peaks nerd, so I need a three-photo frame that lets me do this:
LIVE — Photo of Dale Cooper looking at the camera and giving a thumbs up
LAUGH — Photo of Dale Cooper right after he has hit the mirror and he's laughing
LOVE — Photo of Dale Cooper looking down affectionately at the cup of coffee he has just sipped
Oddly, it is surprisingly difficult to find just the perfect frame. But one day. One day my dreams will come true.
posted by Katemonkey at 1:15 PM on December 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
He is a giant Twin Peaks nerd, so I need a three-photo frame that lets me do this:
LIVE — Photo of Dale Cooper looking at the camera and giving a thumbs up
LAUGH — Photo of Dale Cooper right after he has hit the mirror and he's laughing
LOVE — Photo of Dale Cooper looking down affectionately at the cup of coffee he has just sipped
Oddly, it is surprisingly difficult to find just the perfect frame. But one day. One day my dreams will come true.
posted by Katemonkey at 1:15 PM on December 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
i only have one clever saying in my apartment, on a refrigerator magnet
"the house was clean last week - sorry you missed it"
posted by pyramid termite at 1:23 PM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
"the house was clean last week - sorry you missed it"
posted by pyramid termite at 1:23 PM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
There is a very good episode of Big City Greens where the dad discovers "Live Laugh Love" and he really takes it to heart.
posted by sleeping bear at 1:24 PM on December 16, 2022
posted by sleeping bear at 1:24 PM on December 16, 2022
Witness
the firepower
of this fully armed
and operational
battlestation
posted by aramaic at 1:24 PM on December 16, 2022 [18 favorites]
the firepower
of this fully armed
and operational
battlestation
posted by aramaic at 1:24 PM on December 16, 2022 [18 favorites]
I mean, the reason these are annoying is that they are smug. They're literally virtue-signaling, but they're virtue-signaling things that are either trite ("In this house we recognize the virtue in living, laughing and loving, unlike you fools out there who prefer dying, sobbing and hatred") or signaling that we should be very, very respectful of you because you are a badass*, like that Rules For Dating My Son thing linked upthread. They're statements of superiority that don't involve any actual superiority.
This is why they are, on an aesthetic level, more annoying than, say, a print of the Lord's Prayer or "it was then that He carried me" stuff or those "Love is....." things. Those may be treacly and certainly the people who put them up may be smug or vain or whatever but they aren't about how very superior the sensibilities of the displayer are.
Similarly, those "In This House We...." liberal signs get under people's skins because they're smug (although not morally bankrupt in the way that those Rules For Dating things are) in a way that "Stop the Immigration Raids" or "It will be a great day when the airforce has to hold a bakesale to buy a bomber" etc are not.
It has to do with pointing outward toward an idea rather than inward toward the Very Fine People displaying the sign, I guess.
*When I get to do my time travel, I am going to go back to about 2008 and excise "badass" from all quirky Gen X lady blogs and that will be my gift to the future.
posted by Frowner at 1:30 PM on December 16, 2022 [28 favorites]
This is why they are, on an aesthetic level, more annoying than, say, a print of the Lord's Prayer or "it was then that He carried me" stuff or those "Love is....." things. Those may be treacly and certainly the people who put them up may be smug or vain or whatever but they aren't about how very superior the sensibilities of the displayer are.
Similarly, those "In This House We...." liberal signs get under people's skins because they're smug (although not morally bankrupt in the way that those Rules For Dating things are) in a way that "Stop the Immigration Raids" or "It will be a great day when the airforce has to hold a bakesale to buy a bomber" etc are not.
It has to do with pointing outward toward an idea rather than inward toward the Very Fine People displaying the sign, I guess.
*When I get to do my time travel, I am going to go back to about 2008 and excise "badass" from all quirky Gen X lady blogs and that will be my gift to the future.
posted by Frowner at 1:30 PM on December 16, 2022 [28 favorites]
LIVE with daily existential horrors
LAUGH at the futility of human endeavors
LOVE Arby's
posted by credulous at 1:47 PM on December 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
LAUGH at the futility of human endeavors
LOVE Arby's
posted by credulous at 1:47 PM on December 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
To me they're just culture signaling for hobby lobby types. They immediately tell you what a person is about.
posted by Ferreous at 1:55 PM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Ferreous at 1:55 PM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
The question which has been on my mind as I read this thread: Is the LLL phenomenon as awful as sillisculpts?
posted by maxwelton at 2:21 PM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by maxwelton at 2:21 PM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
When we sold our house, the stager we used was either completely blasé or had a quietly wicked sense of humor. The LLL sign she installed in the bedroom? “Gather”
posted by cupcakeninja at 2:32 PM on December 16, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by cupcakeninja at 2:32 PM on December 16, 2022 [12 favorites]
The LLL sign she installed in the bedroom? “Gather”
I'd be tempted to write under that, "the laundry".
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:41 PM on December 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
I'd be tempted to write under that, "the laundry".
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:41 PM on December 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
The only pithy saying I’d like to see in a bathroom would be something like: “Remember not to strain. You don’t want to go out like Elvis.”
posted by slkinsey at 2:49 PM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by slkinsey at 2:49 PM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
My favorite sign in the bathroom is the meant-for-the-kitchen sign: "Life is short. Lick the bowl."
posted by hydra77 at 2:58 PM on December 16, 2022 [23 favorites]
posted by hydra77 at 2:58 PM on December 16, 2022 [23 favorites]
LIVE through the ditches and
LAUGH with the witches and
LOVE in the back of my Dragula
posted by gentlyepigrams at 3:00 PM on December 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
LAUGH with the witches and
LOVE in the back of my Dragula
posted by gentlyepigrams at 3:00 PM on December 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
This is totally not my personal style, and I tend to give these signs a bit of a side eye because it's kind of a "protest too much" kind of thing -- if you are genuinely loving/laughing/living, you probably don't need to announce it with a sign.
But, if I was going to own a vacation rental, I might well decorate it this way, since it is so completely unoffensive and appeals to lots of people's taste.
posted by Dip Flash at 3:06 PM on December 16, 2022
But, if I was going to own a vacation rental, I might well decorate it this way, since it is so completely unoffensive and appeals to lots of people's taste.
posted by Dip Flash at 3:06 PM on December 16, 2022
>I often see replacing the last L with "lake"
There's a poem by b p nichols engraved into the cement laneway outside the old Coach House Press building in Toronto.
A
LAKE
A
LANE
A
LINE
A
LONE
I liked walking through the laneway to see the poem. On the sidewalk, the letters A, I and O are lined up vertically, it's a very nice display. Plain typeface.
(Apologies. "Engraved" is not the right word. I can't think of the word for setting letters into wet cement.)
posted by philfromhavelock at 3:13 PM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
There's a poem by b p nichols engraved into the cement laneway outside the old Coach House Press building in Toronto.
A
LAKE
A
LANE
A
LINE
A
LONE
I liked walking through the laneway to see the poem. On the sidewalk, the letters A, I and O are lined up vertically, it's a very nice display. Plain typeface.
(Apologies. "Engraved" is not the right word. I can't think of the word for setting letters into wet cement.)
posted by philfromhavelock at 3:13 PM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
This is how I feel about American flag stuff. One, I was brought up to think that the flag on clothes, cars, products, etc. was a disrespectful dilution and possibly in violation of the flag code. Fuck you, Tommy Hilfiger! Two, when I’m out and about and see big flags here in the heartland, I always think “No shit, motherfucker! I’m in America too! We all are!” The fact that I’m here in the US is enough; no need to talk about it. Flags are for government offices and foreign embassies where there and identifying label might be required.
posted by caviar2d2 at 3:28 PM on December 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by caviar2d2 at 3:28 PM on December 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
I'm reminded of the shiplap thread.
We had a shiplap thread and I missed it? I only know about shiplap from reading m/m romances written by cis women.
I moved into a new place about two months ago—starting life over after a 29-year-relationship. I've been furnishing and decorating via friends' hand-me-downs, Facebook Marketplace, and the occasional Etsy splurge, because money is tight. My 15yo son lives with me, and we had a running joke about LIVE LAUGH LOVE signs, so I got this punk-inflected one and hung it in the bathroom. He hates me.
This is much more class-inflected. Live, laugh, love is a motto of middle-brow conformity; mass-market Wayfair-and-Instagram domesticity.
I try not to be a snob, but I've been thinking a lot about this kind of decor, as well as signs that say things like, "Gather," and "Family" and "Home." I think what gets me is the banality of them. The not-actually-saying-anything-ness of them. I want people to know better and want better.
There are zillions of these signs for sale on Marketplace. The other day I saw one that was especially badly designed, and lit up to boot. It made me think, for a moment, of making my ironic LIVE LAUGH LOVE gallery wall a reality.
posted by Well I never at 3:40 PM on December 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
We had a shiplap thread and I missed it? I only know about shiplap from reading m/m romances written by cis women.
I moved into a new place about two months ago—starting life over after a 29-year-relationship. I've been furnishing and decorating via friends' hand-me-downs, Facebook Marketplace, and the occasional Etsy splurge, because money is tight. My 15yo son lives with me, and we had a running joke about LIVE LAUGH LOVE signs, so I got this punk-inflected one and hung it in the bathroom. He hates me.
This is much more class-inflected. Live, laugh, love is a motto of middle-brow conformity; mass-market Wayfair-and-Instagram domesticity.
I try not to be a snob, but I've been thinking a lot about this kind of decor, as well as signs that say things like, "Gather," and "Family" and "Home." I think what gets me is the banality of them. The not-actually-saying-anything-ness of them. I want people to know better and want better.
There are zillions of these signs for sale on Marketplace. The other day I saw one that was especially badly designed, and lit up to boot. It made me think, for a moment, of making my ironic LIVE LAUGH LOVE gallery wall a reality.
posted by Well I never at 3:40 PM on December 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
Glurge and forced emotion of any kind are annoying, but it's the exhortations that exhaust me the most. Even in elementary school the constant "Read!" signs bothered me. I'll read when the mood strikes me, and no thanks to you!
My Kindle app has started congratulating me for how many days and weeks in a row I've read something, and it makes me want to smash something.
posted by Well I never at 3:42 PM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
My Kindle app has started congratulating me for how many days and weeks in a row I've read something, and it makes me want to smash something.
posted by Well I never at 3:42 PM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
::Puts on sunglasses::
BUY.
CONSUME.
REPRODUCE.
::Takes off sunglasses::
Huh.
Weird.
posted by Faintdreams at 3:47 PM on December 16, 2022 [26 favorites]
BUY.
CONSUME.
REPRODUCE.
::Takes off sunglasses::
Huh.
Weird.
posted by Faintdreams at 3:47 PM on December 16, 2022 [26 favorites]
One of my favorite trashy shows features a very special word art sign. It's pictured and discussed in this reddit thread. The camera crew seem to enjoy cutting the first part of the sign out of footage as often as possible so it usually reads:
somewhere along the line we have gone terribly wrong...
Maybe I should get a LIVE LAUGH LOVE sign and cut it in half vertically because truthfully the motto
VE
UGH
VE
could speak volumes to my guests about my Lifestyle and Personality.
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 4:32 PM on December 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
somewhere along the line we have gone terribly wrong...
Maybe I should get a LIVE LAUGH LOVE sign and cut it in half vertically because truthfully the motto
VE
UGH
VE
could speak volumes to my guests about my Lifestyle and Personality.
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 4:32 PM on December 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
You only live once, lick the bowl [is far funnier in a toilet than in a kitchen above a pristine stand mixer.]
posted by ambrosen at 5:04 PM on December 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by ambrosen at 5:04 PM on December 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
I’m still bitter about having read a Boingboing article about the rediscovery of the Keep Calm and Carry on poster, which I ordered an expensive print of and hung on my wall for a couple of years, during which it became ubiquitous and over-used and cringe as hell.
posted by slightlybewildered at 5:12 PM on December 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by slightlybewildered at 5:12 PM on December 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
THINK!
posted by clavdivs at 6:10 PM on December 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by clavdivs at 6:10 PM on December 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
When I was a kid my mother and her stagflation-broke peers liked framed word things on the walls, but they had to write them themselves. Letter-sized homemade calligraphy, often a gift from a friend down the block, understandably varied in usefulness and skill. None of it as bland as LIVE LAUGH LOVE.
Also the handsomest recipes for three-bean salad you ever did see.
posted by clew at 6:15 PM on December 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
Also the handsomest recipes for three-bean salad you ever did see.
posted by clew at 6:15 PM on December 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
At this very moment I am looking at a "Be grateful for this life" sign, which seems vaguely threatening.
posted by credulous at 6:43 PM on December 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by credulous at 6:43 PM on December 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
> When I was a kid my mother and her stagflation-broke peers liked framed word things on the walls, but they had to write them themselves
that's a great point that highlights the bizarre mindfuck of modern capitalism: how broadly accepted and mainstreamed it is to buy a LLL sign variously printed, painted, and/or made overseas to hang above the couch vs just making one oneself. the underlying message seems to be the conformative consumption.
posted by glonous keming at 6:51 PM on December 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
that's a great point that highlights the bizarre mindfuck of modern capitalism: how broadly accepted and mainstreamed it is to buy a LLL sign variously printed, painted, and/or made overseas to hang above the couch vs just making one oneself. the underlying message seems to be the conformative consumption.
posted by glonous keming at 6:51 PM on December 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
Is this where I can complain about framed Mary Oliver quotes in people's powder rooms? Because having your wall art hector me about whatever the fuck I'm doing with my wild and precious life while I'm sitting on the toilet just feels like a bridge too far.
FUCKING THANK YOU I never knew somebody else out there hates that poem for the same reason I do! Seriously mary if you don't get off my fucking case and take it down five or six notches I'm gonna go full howard hughes just to spite you
posted by cubeb at 7:34 PM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
FUCKING THANK YOU I never knew somebody else out there hates that poem for the same reason I do! Seriously mary if you don't get off my fucking case and take it down five or six notches I'm gonna go full howard hughes just to spite you
posted by cubeb at 7:34 PM on December 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
I think one reason people hate "Live Laugh Love" signs is because they feel pre-emptively dismissive of people's genuine pain
"You can't get a job? Don't care!"
"Your partner died? Don't care!"
"Health insurance won't cover a medication you really need? Don't care!"
the subtext of the sign seems to be toxic positivity
eg "Anyone can be happy 24/7 if they just choose to be!"
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 7:55 PM on December 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
"You can't get a job? Don't care!"
"Your partner died? Don't care!"
"Health insurance won't cover a medication you really need? Don't care!"
the subtext of the sign seems to be toxic positivity
eg "Anyone can be happy 24/7 if they just choose to be!"
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 7:55 PM on December 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
At this very moment I am looking at a "Be grateful for this life" sign, which seems vaguely threatening.
I recently saw a thing on Facebook that noted that it is a pleasantry to say "have a good day" but if you tell someone to "enjoy the next 24 hours" somehow they don't like it nearly as much. It is funny how things can take ominous tones.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:55 PM on December 16, 2022 [13 favorites]
I recently saw a thing on Facebook that noted that it is a pleasantry to say "have a good day" but if you tell someone to "enjoy the next 24 hours" somehow they don't like it nearly as much. It is funny how things can take ominous tones.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:55 PM on December 16, 2022 [13 favorites]
I can't stand most word art,
but I did really like this aesthetically gorgeous Blackbeard's Bar and Grill sign that IneffablePenguin lovingly made and auctioned off for charity.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 8:01 PM on December 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
but I did really like this aesthetically gorgeous Blackbeard's Bar and Grill sign that IneffablePenguin lovingly made and auctioned off for charity.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 8:01 PM on December 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
I always want to add a post-it saying What if I don't want to?
The only sign of this ilk that has appealed to me says Be Nice or Go Home.
posted by theora55 at 8:04 PM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
The only sign of this ilk that has appealed to me says Be Nice or Go Home.
posted by theora55 at 8:04 PM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
but if you tell someone to "enjoy the next 24 hours" somehow they don't like it nearly as much.
Once I was given a fortune cookie that said "Enjoy life while you can." Years later I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Absolutely true story.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:31 PM on December 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
Once I was given a fortune cookie that said "Enjoy life while you can." Years later I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Absolutely true story.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:31 PM on December 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
this aesthetically gorgeous Blackbeard's Bar and Grill sign
The dinglehopper in the lower left is a nice touch.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:34 PM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
The dinglehopper in the lower left is a nice touch.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:34 PM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
One of my first questions on AskMe was trying to identify a typeface so we could create a "Live, Laugh, Love" word art thing for a breast cancer awareness pot with pink mums that would be on sale in Walmart in October. Why would anyone pair LLL with breast cancer awareness? I am really good at identifying Black Jack in the wild though.
posted by gladly at 8:59 PM on December 16, 2022
posted by gladly at 8:59 PM on December 16, 2022
<grumble> that why I say "I hope that you'll have a great ______!" instead of the imperitive of "Have a Great ______."
Or Else.
Same with my replacing saying "guys" with "folks."
posted by porpoise at 11:09 PM on December 16, 2022
Or Else.
Same with my replacing saying "guys" with "folks."
posted by porpoise at 11:09 PM on December 16, 2022
This reminds me that I was working on a gift a while back for a friend and got distracted:
Lie Lurk Loathe
posted by Shepherd at 3:07 AM on December 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
Lie Lurk Loathe
posted by Shepherd at 3:07 AM on December 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
Is this where I can complain about framed Mary Oliver quotes in people's powder rooms? Because having your wall art hector me about whatever the fuck I'm doing with my wild and precious life while I'm sitting on the toilet just feels like a bridge too far.
In defense of the poem, if you actually read the whole thing, what she was doing with her wild and precious life was literally goofing off and that's actually what the poem is about before the Live, Laugh, Love People made it into a message about productivity I guess:
In defense of the poem, if you actually read the whole thing, what she was doing with her wild and precious life was literally goofing off and that's actually what the poem is about before the Live, Laugh, Love People made it into a message about productivity I guess:
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall downposted by hydropsyche at 4:09 AM on December 17, 2022 [9 favorites]
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
We do have a sign posted above our toilet, a plaster novelty from the 1950s, which says "stand close, it's shorter than you think" as a warning to men standing while peeing that either the toilet itself, or... something else...is not as 'big' as they are aiming for.
posted by AzraelBrown at 4:21 AM on December 17, 2022
posted by AzraelBrown at 4:21 AM on December 17, 2022
I don't like this stuff personally. I'm 52 (almost) so that makes me a solid Gen X.
I remember these kinds of things since the 1970s, my earliest memories. Sometimes they were motivational and sometimes I'd see the "Jesus footprints on the sand" thing in someone's house. I'd guess this kind of text-inspiration art goes back to the 1960s. The very famous Robert Indiana "LOVE" artwork (1967) could be considered an early inspiration of this trend. "Hang in there, baby!"
I'd call this more of a class thing versus a generational thing, though. My friend's very intelligent wife (around 45 years old) who works as a forensic accountant has some of these in their home, and even has a collection of Precious Moments figurines that she now keeps sort of hidden away. She's from a rural-exurban upbringing in the middle of the USA and I think that's where the bulk of this stuff appeals to. Not my business to judge.
posted by SoberHighland at 5:37 AM on December 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
I remember these kinds of things since the 1970s, my earliest memories. Sometimes they were motivational and sometimes I'd see the "Jesus footprints on the sand" thing in someone's house. I'd guess this kind of text-inspiration art goes back to the 1960s. The very famous Robert Indiana "LOVE" artwork (1967) could be considered an early inspiration of this trend. "Hang in there, baby!"
I'd call this more of a class thing versus a generational thing, though. My friend's very intelligent wife (around 45 years old) who works as a forensic accountant has some of these in their home, and even has a collection of Precious Moments figurines that she now keeps sort of hidden away. She's from a rural-exurban upbringing in the middle of the USA and I think that's where the bulk of this stuff appeals to. Not my business to judge.
posted by SoberHighland at 5:37 AM on December 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
I liked this stuff (Live, Laugh, Love, millenial handwriting font, etc.) a lot as a teenager. It was important to me to externalize my values, I think, if that makes sense? I figured if I woke up and saw that stuff on my bedroom wall every morning that I’d remember to seize the day or whatever. So I read these things as reminders to self/family rather than virtue signaling.
I never actually put up a literal Live, Laugh, Love sign, but in college I did write and hang the quote from Thoreau about sucking the marrow from life in my dorm room, and my friends made fun of me for ages for that one: “how’s the marrow-sucking going?”
posted by chaiyai at 6:05 AM on December 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
I never actually put up a literal Live, Laugh, Love sign, but in college I did write and hang the quote from Thoreau about sucking the marrow from life in my dorm room, and my friends made fun of me for ages for that one: “how’s the marrow-sucking going?”
posted by chaiyai at 6:05 AM on December 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
I'd guess this kind of text-inspiration art goes back to the 1960s.
Much longer ago than that, if you check out the links.
posted by tiny frying pan at 6:45 AM on December 17, 2022
Much longer ago than that, if you check out the links.
posted by tiny frying pan at 6:45 AM on December 17, 2022
My boss at my first real job had a sign in her office in block letters that read NO SNIVELING positioned to be eye level if sitting in her chair. (That is, it was aimed at her, not visitors to her office.) I thought it was hilarious and a little inspirational.
posted by joannemerriam at 7:11 AM on December 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by joannemerriam at 7:11 AM on December 17, 2022 [4 favorites]
Once I was given a fortune cookie that said "Enjoy life while you can." Years later I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Absolutely true story.
RIP Greg_Ace
posted by paper chromatographologist at 7:23 AM on December 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
RIP Greg_Ace
posted by paper chromatographologist at 7:23 AM on December 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
Better still, Live, Love, Larf & Loaf.
posted by the sobsister at 8:53 AM on December 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by the sobsister at 8:53 AM on December 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
A history of wall mottoes should include cross stitch samplers —
and reproductions and updates of them. Possibly also mottoes and banners in the Morris production and tradition.
posted by clew at 10:38 AM on December 17, 2022 [6 favorites]
If all Mankind would live in mutual loveMary Ann Body, 1789
This world would much resemble that above
and reproductions and updates of them. Possibly also mottoes and banners in the Morris production and tradition.
posted by clew at 10:38 AM on December 17, 2022 [6 favorites]
I'm watching the movie Shutter Island (free on YT now). There's a sign that says "Remember us, for we too have lived, loved and laughed." IMDB says it's from a plaque at Medfield State Hospital, one of the locations used for the film.
posted by The Half Language Plant at 12:40 PM on December 18, 2022
posted by The Half Language Plant at 12:40 PM on December 18, 2022
Triple L to the Grave [screengrab of the plaque]
posted by snuffleupagus at 5:36 AM on December 23, 2022
posted by snuffleupagus at 5:36 AM on December 23, 2022
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posted by tiny frying pan at 9:57 AM on December 16, 2022 [6 favorites]