Back at this Broadway hipster coffee place. Probably not going to make this a regular spot. Did some real work today. I’ve done a bit of futzing with web stuff the past few weeks, after deciding once and for all to try and make my sites more mobile-ready. My sites are so freakin’ ugly it’s hard to believe. I really need to exit this business. I have not enjoyed it for years now. It feels smarmy to play these stupid keyword games. I think my attitude about the keyword brinksmanship shows in the rotten quality of what I put out. Some stuff is alright. The main payphone pages are fine. It’s the million or so pages behind that passable facade that make the Internet’s eyes hurt. Or maybe just mine. Mine eyes have seen the ignominy…

I noticed this weekend that a lot of buildings around here have names. It is not a new observation but I thought there might be some history lessons lurking in some of the more obscure building names. Presidents seem to be popular among building namers. I spotted Washington, Lincoln, Coolidge, and Harding. Harding seems like kind of a strange choice, assuming the building was named in honor of Warren G. Harding. I guess even bad presidents are invoked for whatever flourishes of prestige they might bring to an otherwise characterless structure. Many building names seem meaningless, or else curiously ambiguous. A building on my street is called GEORGIAN HALL. Another building is also called THE GEORGIAN. The RAPELJE and WOOLSEY buildings need no explanation to historically-informed Astorians. Will anyone ever know why a building on 33rd Street is called LORRAINE? And what lovely ladies are referenced on the two buildings on 34th Ave called LINDSAY-ANN and GINA-MARIE?

I may not be remembering all these building names with 100% accuracy.

PLYMOUTH COURT and the MAYFLOWER building on Crescent Street round out a short-lived Thanksgiving theme, while an amusing building on 30th Street is simply called “THE”. Either they ran out of ideas for naming that building or it will be christened with something meaningful at a future date. Actually what the building says is “THE” with a blank space under it, followed by the street address of 31-40. Seems odd to me if they intended to name the building “THE 31-40”. That sort of name makes no sense for any type of street number address. THE 5? THE 14314? THE 1600? Or maybe it was named for the 70s rock band The The.

The most imaginative building name in these parts is DREAMLAND. That’s a fine name for an apartment building. I have a picture of that building on 500px. I took she shot with a film SLR using film that had expired years earlier. It’s a cool shot.

I think another building was named LOCARNO. I looked that up and coincidentally made an amusing discovery. There is a commuter train in Switzerland that is called the FART. I forget what it stands for but something REGIONAL TRANSIT sounds right. I’d like to get a job where I get to ride the FART TRAIN every day.

Amy Winehouse is on the radio. Maybe I will make this a regular place after all. It’s WPLJ and nothing else at the ghetto coffee shop. And there is a lot to be said for a lousy view.