This was by far the hardest of my Illuminate SF installations to find. You would think that 6-feet, 6-inch letters on the side of the building would be easy to see but it took me THREE trips to locate it. The first time I went by myself and went to the address given on the website. I drove around the block three or four times looking up at all the corners but I couldn’t see it anywhere so I gave up and went on with the other stops I had to make that night.
The next time I enlisted the help of my husband, thinking that if he dropped me off at the corner and then went around the block to pick me up, I would have time to walk around a little bit to see if I could find it from a different angle. I mentioned in a prior post that the streets of San Francisco are not “normal” streets so you can’t just drive around the block exactly and he got lost coming back so I had plenty of time to look around and I still couldn’t see the lights. We gave up again and went on to some other spots.
This was the last letter I needed to finish my alphabet and I was determined to find the dumb thing so I went one more time by myself to see if I could capture it. I also wanted to swing back by the Lantern Stories to see if I could find the right lanterns, which I did!
The address given on the Illuminate SF website was 165 Jessie Street but when I looked at the actual description of the sign on a different website it showed Annie Street, which is right around the corner so off to Annie Street I went. I drove around the block. Still nothing. Then I decided to go down a second block on Annie Street and in front of me was the glass windows of a store on Mission Street and I SAW SOME BLINKING LIGHTS!
I drove toward them and it indeed was the reflection of the sign I was looking for. I crossed the street and parked, got out and looked up and STILL COULDN’T SEE IT! I kept walking up the block a little bit and at last I saw this:
Oh my goodness I was SO excited. I had found the illusive “Love Over Rules” designed by Hank Willis Thomas and installed in 2017. It is a tribute to the artist’s cousin who was murdered in 2000. The blinking lights are the last recorded message to him from his cousin. As you watch the video, you will see that there are different ways to read this. Is it Love Over Rules or Love Overrules?
Finding this meant my alphabet was complete and since I had all my posts drafted before the A to Z Challenge started, I knew I was home free. This has been the easiest A to Z I think I’ve ever done.
Best Viewing: Near the California Historical Society, stand near the Annie Street sign on Mission Street facing north and LOOK UP!
See you tomorrow for the final letter of the week!
Janet's Smiles 
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That’s a very moving piece of art. Thanks for the story and the pictures.
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It was very touching. Thanks for stopping by!
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Good job!
Donna McNicol – My A to Z Blogs
DB McNicol – Small Delights, Simple Pleasures, and Significant Memories
My Snap Memories – My Life in Black & White
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Thanks Donna!
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Yes!
I have a T-shirt that says:
Love
Always
Wins
(it’s the LAW)
Beth
https://bethlapinsatozblog.wordpress.com/
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Love that!
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Thank you for giving this a third effort, it’s beautiful and thought provoking.
I read up on Hank Willis Thomas’ cousin Songha Willis:
He went back to his home town Philadelphia to see some friends from junior high school. They went to a night club, and the friends he was with were robbed for some necklaces. The robbers had seen the cousin with them, but he didn’t have anything worth taking, so they made him lay face down in the snow and shot him in the back of the head and killed him.
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Oh wow! What a sad story. Thanks for adding that here.
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Such a creative sign and message. You’ve done a public service by finally locating it. Might be worth a post on Yelp or other sites to help those who are out searching.
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I was thinking about that. Then I re-read the description and it did say to go to Mission Street and look north so it’s kind of my own fault – LOL.
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After the second time and when it was my last letter I was on a mission!
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I’m impressed with all your effort to find this one!
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See my reply above. Not sure why it made it a separate comment – LOL
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