Comments (0) BEST SIGNS OF THE TIMES - 2005

"A Few Pieces of Advice to Help You on Your Way"

We can't recall when we first noticed the signs stuck in the grass where Mill Avenue veers into Apache Boulevard, curving around Gammage Auditorium at Arizona State University in Tempe. But we figured they had to be a prank, since one of the poster-size boards -- designed to look like a green chalkboard -- held the message: "Always have at least 5 boyfriends."

Other signs read:

"The most important things can't be taught in a classroom."

"Network. It's not what you know it's who you know."

"Learn to Draw."

"Be kind to your knees."

"Don't talk about yourself too much."

"Don't eat tuna fish more than twice a week."

The signs made us think -- enough to call around and try to figure out what the heck was going on. Turns out, the public art project was a collaboration between ASU and the City of Tempe, the brainchild of an artist named Mary Lucking, who collaborated with members of the community to come up with the modern-day truisms.

ASU's Dianne Cripe reports some interesting reactions:

"Some people initially thought they were 'Burma-Shave-type' signs and were supposed to be read as a single message," she says.

One ASU music professor reported that he watched a woman pull up in her car to get a closer look at the "5 boyfriends" sign. She told him that was disgusting and changed it to read "1 boyfriend."

Cripe says: "Mary, the artist, thought that was amusing and then fixed it."