The Triforium! And a winner.
Last weekend Payam and I tagged along with my friend Teri to tour an old art monument in LA called The Triforium. It’s a huge monstrosity right in the middle of downtown sitting on top of the LA Mall, that itself is a ghost town. It’s one of those malls from the seventies that was partially upgraded in the nineties and looks worse for it. I didn’t take any pictures of the ugliness of the mall but you can take my word for it. Sometimes I think we are better off just leaving things alone.
There is a group trying gather interest in the structure in order to refurbish it but personally, it feels a bit of a lost cause. It’s one of those sad old things that everyone has an opinion about but nobody really can get anywhere on because it is mired in politics. It kind of reminds me of the Eiffel Tower and that museum that has all of it’s ducting on the outside of the building. Everybody hates it and then over time people begin to love it because it’s sentimental just because it’s been there so long being hated by everyone.
The structure itself is kind of pretty. The glass tiles used to light up in synchronicity with bell music that was played from below. But because it was built ahead of it’s time, it was rigged with a computer that was doomed from the get-go. It only functioned properly for about two years (maybe not even that) before it broke and became more and more of a problem.
At the time it was designed the artist had grand visions of it being interactive with the plaza around it. He wanted pressure points around the plaza to make it light up and play. Wouldn’t that be cool? Can you imagine the public music people could make? But the computer was twenty years ahead of it’s time and it never worked and he ran out of money before he got to the pressure plates…. So it sits doing nothing and everyone wonders what the heck it is. And then someone designed these really ugly speaker covers for it that look like giant ladybugs but that’s probably another story.
We were able to go below and look at the command center through a tour with Atlas Obscura. But it was kind of a disappointment because the room was so tiny and our group filled it up to sticky humidity levels. I could barely stand being inside because it was so hot and claustrophobic.
It was neat to see a room that hadn’t been touched since the 90’s though. They even had an old play-list scribbled on a pad of paper that included holiday hits from Pottery Barn and the soundtrack from Ally McBeal. The city used to pay employees from the local Sbarro restaurant to come down and hit play from time to time.
So that was kind of cool. But what is cooler was finding Atlas Obscura! I totally want to sign up for their mailing list and go explore other interesting things. Maybe some underground tours in London! (Which is coming up by the way, squeeeee!)
After the tour we walked down Olvera Street because we were right there. I love LA and I always forget how bored I am of Orange County until I’m there. There is just so much more to look at and experience. Don’t get me wrong, I love my safe haven of a neighborhood and all the wonderful greenbelts but you can only take so much beige after a while.
Sometimes you need some color and some Mexican food!!!
At the end of the street there is a plaza where they play salsa music out of loud speakers and everyone is out dancing. It was so beautiful with the sun going down. Slivers of golden light shot through the trees and broke up the long shadows on the painted pavement. Old women were dancing with old men, young girls in their shorty-shorts were waving their long skinny tanned arms above their heads… I felt like I was back in time in New York in the seventies, where it was hot and sticky and maybe there would be a fire hydrant somewhere that might shoot water into the sky for kids to play in.
I was so busy making instagram movies I didn’t take any pictures. But maybe that’s okay. Sometimes the memories are better with words and pictures inside your head anyway.
In other news! I have chosen a winner!
KRISTEN who commented with this funny joke: Why can’t you hear a pterodactyl when it goes to the toilet? Because the P is silent.
You win because I actually laughed out loud and your joke is totally appropriate for my gross and disgusting joke book. Check your email and I will send you a copy! Yay! Thank you for playing, all seven of you!
I know. Why do I keep this blog alive? It is dying a slow, slow, painful death. I am just unwilling to pay the mucho bucks it would take to make a book out of it and I’m too invested in my old stories and pictures to let it go. So I keep on paying for hosting and punch out a post here and there. And I super appreciate you old-timers who keep on reading after all these years.
22 Comments
Allison J
I never comment but I read. So I guess that makes 8. :)
pinky
I love reading your posts! Although fb and ig have trained me to always look for the button to like or love :-)
BeachMama
Still love your posts!! And you are still very much alive compared to me. And my blog hosts my photography site do it can never die!
Sara
I love your blog! Count me as number 9.
Kathy
I love your blog and your perspective on the world. I’m glad you haven’t killed it yet!
I didn’t enter the contest because I have no age appropriate child to give a gross joke book to. Besides, I can’t tell a joke to save my life!
Tamara K Lang
Me too to all of this!!!
Gingermog
Ohh your blog isn’t dying, its boutique! I know we are living in the age of Instagram and our attention spans are getting even shorter, but I love your blog. No pressure of course, its your decision and your paying the bills ;)
Love your description of the old abandoned mall, what a beautiful vision the designer had and your really painted a picture of the Olevra Street. I had it in my mind to visit last Summer but ran out of days.
I was in Paris a couple of Summers ago and I found out something delightful about the Centre Pompidou… I really adore the sculptures in the nearby pond and was sitting there one sunny afternoon people watching, when over time I could hear snatches of this bell like music, I couldn’t fathom where it was coming from. It was fleeting and almost half imagined. Curious? I eventually realised it was coming from underneath the flag stones and a child going round and round on his scooter was triggering it. You had to jump on the flag stones to make sounds. Which I enthusiastically did and got Matt to join in. A magical moment :)
Tina
I have to add I read as well! I’m just lame and know NO jokes, so didn’t comment. :-) (Though I now have a friend giving me daily Chuck Norris jokes, so now I’m set!) I found your blog way back when you were pregnant with Bug and I was pregnant with my 2nd son…kind of amazing how long I’ve been following along, never commenting. :-/ Sorry.
Jenjen
I have been reading since Bug was a baby but this is my first comment. I just don’t comment on blogs. Yep, I’m a lurker. :) I love to read your posts and hope you keep writing. You’re honest, you’re humble, and you find joy in everyday things, which is refreshing. I feel like we could be friends.
Ju
Exactly what everyone else said! I’m in New Zealand and i’ve read your blog for a very long time…
Kristen
Yay me! My son, who has recently learned to appreciate jokes and has ALWAYS appreciated gross stuff, will enjoy it, to be sure. Thank you!
There is much to appreciate about your blog. I think my favorite posts are the party ones. Whenever I have a party, I think, what would SAJ do? And I get overwhelmed and can’t figure it out. Maybe you should host some boy parties, so I can steal more ideas!
SAJ
Sorry, everybody. It probably sounded like I was fishing for encouragement to keep going. I didn’t mean to whine. Just discouraged. But I’m going to keep on doing my thing and maybe someday I’ll figure out why. :)
Kate
I love your blog! I love seeing and hearing about a part of the world I will probably never experience.
Melissa
I always look forward to reading your posts, and seeing what you’ve created. I’ve been reading your blog since the beginning! Don’t stop!
Lisa
I love your blog and I really love Olvera Street. When I was try’s no to get pregnant with my first child, my husband and I found ourselves on Olvera Street. There is an amazing Wishing Well there. I dug the shiniest penny I could find out of my purse and we both wished for a baby. One month later I was pregnant (after trying for several unsuccessful months)…so Olvera Street and that wishing well is in our hearts forever!
Lisa
Wow, lots of typos! Sorry, it’s my dumb thumbs…hopefully you get the gist of my cave woman comment typing??
Jeanie
I’m still reading but I’m not much of a commenter, I’m sorry.
I’m glad you are so happy. I do love reading your posts and seeing all the cool and creative things you are doing!
Clownfish
There are number of blogs I’d like to read (and now have a couple family members that blog and I want to read). But yours was the first that I can remember. Some may peg it as a mommy blog; I do not. It is about being a mother, it’s about family and friends. It’s about experiences that are yours. You know why I come (that’s a statement because you do know). It’s because I have a passion for both writing and photography and I feel that this blog has the perfect balance. When I do respond, I’ll use my secret agent name because that is the way I first replied within your blog. You of course know who I am but I enjoy certain things that are constant. – Oh, one last thing. I’m glad the blog is still here. – Clownfish
Lesa
I’m another one who has read you for years, but I just don’t comment on blogs usually??I found you when heather helped you move to the sticks and then went back and read from the beginning ?I didn’t even know what a blog was back then ?
Lesa
Those question marks were emoji’s
Angela Hamel
Your blog is not dying. I’ve been reading it since you started. Granted, I only come by a couple times a year and binge read but I still stop by to see how you are. Happy to see that you are in love and that Bug is happy.
I wish you still did the A-Z flash cards. I was one of the many that bought them oh-so-long-ago. I know you do the books but I really liked the cards.
Anyway, don’t give up on the blog.
SAJ
Thanks, you. I will keep that in mind about the flash cards. I don’t have an easy way to print them but maybe I should put some effort into that.