psychoceramics: The Sign Guy

[spl @ szechuan.UCSD.EDU (Steve Lamont)]

Art Medlar's posting on "The Boston Mystery Writer" reminded me of an 
(apparently) local kook I've taken to call "The Sign Guy."  This fellow
will pop up on a busy street corner with large (5 foot x 3 foot) semi-
professionally lettered signs bearing often cryptic messages.  They will
say things like (and I paraphrase, since I never have the opportunity to
write them down)

	THE TRUTH HURTS ONLY IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT

	EASY QUESTIONS HAVE HARD ANSWERS

and

	THERE IS NO 'X' IN CHRISTMAS

He also has a smaller (3 x 2) 'auxillary' sign that he displays.

He sits at a street corner, usually on top of his duffel bag, wearing
a sort of straw hat, a very serious expression on his face.  I've never
seen him make any gestures or actively attempt to draw attention to himself
(not that a cryptic 5x3 sign doesn't do so).  He doesn't seem especially
want to interact with passersby.

Only rarely is there an overt mention of the deity and then often in a
way that makes you wonder exactly what the hell he's talking about.

The first time I encountered this person was about three years ago at the
entrance to the UCSD Medical School (corner of Via La Jolla and La Jolla
Village Drive for those familiar with San Diego street geography).  He was
there for about a month and then he suddenly disappeared, only to pop up
a bit further north in the area of Carlsbad, CA, known as La Costa (near
the La Costa Spa and Country Club, where one of the more well known 
golf tournaments takes place).  He had a similar set of signs.  He hung
around there for a month or so and then was gone.

He recently returned to the UCSD area for about a month and a half and
then left, leaving one of his signs hanging from a pedestrian overcrossing.

He does not seem to be one of the homeless -- he dresses reasonably well,
clean shirts and jeans every day -- though he does seem to be camping out,
since I've seen him shaving on some early mornings. 

Has anyone seen this guy or know anything more about him?  There seems
to be a "Question Authority" bumper strip theme to his work and I'd be
inclined to put it down to "performance art" if it weren't so apparently
long running.

							spl