New York gets apples, DC gets donkeys and elephants, and Chicago cows - so naturally, San Francisco is filled with decorated hearts. I left my HEART in San Francisco, get it? (nudge nudge - sigh). Brought to you with a heavy hand by Cow Parade, the folks who previously left fiberglass cows all over America, there are approximately 130 5-foot-tall hearts scattered throughout the city, sponsored by the largesse of various corporate entities and decorated by an odd mix of artists, socialites, community groups, and random others (....why does the cast of Passions/Days of our Lives get to decorate a heart? Are they particularly committed to our fair city?).

Some of the hearts are a little cutesy, and some of the corporate themes are a little lame (what's up with the Intel wi-fi heart?). Plus, some of the hearts also designed to look like they've tipped over, which has the unintended effect of looking kind of like broken hearts all over San Francisco. It's not as cool as the fake "great moments in San Francisco history" that were posted on Market Street a year or so ago, or even as good an execution of the hearts in SF theme as the Claes Oldenburg bow and arrow outside the Gap corporate headquarters, but as public art projects go, it's not so bad.

For those of you with extra cash, you can sponsor a heart for $10,000, or buy one at a charity auction (Coincidentally or not, one of the hearts is decorated with the theme "Unaffordable in San Francisco"). All money goes to the San Francisco General Hospital fund.

The hearts will be on display through September. Click for a PDF map.