Thursday, September 25, 2008

Miracle Mile #7: LaunderLand


Evergreen Shopping Center anchors the south end of the Main Street Miracle Mile, with a supermarket, a general thrift and drug store, and other odds and ends, including storefronts converted to offices. Popular because it always has an onsite attendant, LaunderLand hums into the night (last wash, 8:30). It was here that I saw my Blog Sister, Petrea, looking groovy in designer wear, a couple of months ago.



(Hope she doesn't mind!)

16 comments:

Pat said...

Cool. I love this kind of place...and I am a thrift-shop junkie.

Laurie Allee said...

That is such a great shot of P in the little screen! I missed this story ... what film/show of hers was airing?

I love your night shot. Purple sky! Purple sky! Beautiful.

Mo said...

Can't quite work out what sort of place it is. Like the photo though.

Halcyon said...

Have not been to a laundrymat for years now. Hope I won't be back either! Although it is interesting they now have TVs embedded in the washers. :)

Benjamin Madison said...

I don't know how I've managed to live this long without knowing about LaunderLand. And that you should see Petrea B there seems cosmically appropriate. If Bernie K is out there anywhere he surely must now admit that there is meaning in the universe. Great photo of a node in the universal nexus. Astral photography!

(I know it's picayune but you have left out the second capital "L" in LaunderLand. It's only a small thing but it's a matter of respect that I am sure you will wish to rectify.)

Saretta said...

That is a beautiful photo! Stark and evocative...very American atmosphere!

Wayne said...

It looks to me like a scene Edward Hopper might have painted.

Knoxville Girl said...

A beautiful sky can make even a strip mall seem ... tolerable.
The laundromats in my town aren't equipped with TVs. I just watch the clothes tumble in an endless circle. On second thought, that's better than some of the stuff I've seen on TV lately (the lovely Petrea excluded, of course)

Unknown said...

Beautiful light and colors!!!

USelaine said...

Bibi - I usually end up doing laundry pretty late, so this is how I tend to see the place. The thrift place isn't a second-hand store, but something called Dollar Tree. Everything in it is priced at a dollar, and often is worth less than that, in my opinion. Beware.

Laurie - She was the art gallery patron on "How I Met Your Mother". Since I don't have television at home, I did some laundry and asked the attendant to turn to the right channel. Then I stalked P's appearance on screen. 8^) I was so pleased that I didn't screw it up. Yay, Petrea!

Mo - It's a self-service laundry business. The other stores in the picture have closed for the night.

Halcyon - LOL! Well, the TVs are mounted up on the walls anyway. I like the big front-loaders which aren't so practical at home.

BM - I can't thank you enough for catching my capitalization error! It's fixed now, thanks to you. And to put Petrea B and Bernie K in the same thought is positively tantric, if you ask me. When worlds collide, and all that.

Saretta - When you posted about your local cimemaplex, I worried the same sort of thing was invading Italy as well!

Wayne - Interesting thought! Nightowls with dirty dungarees.

KG - I don't usually get to choose what goes on, and there's one gal that turns it off in favor of her Country music radio station.

JM - Thank you.

And thank you all for viewing this evening interlude in northern California. Petrea has hinted about blogging some theater work one of these days... I hope.

Petrea Burchard said...

I came to Willits late today, and sat mesmerized by the photo. I thought of Benjamin Madison's words, "This is one of USElaine's gems." The sky, the tree, the almost sad fluorescents make it just as Wayne says, worthy of Hopper.

I only read the copy after several minutes. Blog sister, you are too kind.

Dina said...

TVs on the washing machines?! You've come a long way, you Americans. (As a teenager in Chicago I used to pull my red wagon with a bag of laundry to the laundramat.)
Elaine, what a brilliantly planned evening to catch Petrea on TV and then to catch the washer and the star on camera!!

Ming the Merciless said...

That is an amazing photo. Did you use a tripod to take it?

Love the soft colors coming from the lights in the building.

USelaine said...

Petrea - I'm glad you like it.

Dina - I should make clear that the TV is mounted in the wall, over the door to the service area leading behind the dryers. I cropped the picture a little too close to really see the context. I was lucky I could get the gal in charge to go to the station I needed to see.

Ming - Thanks! I didn't use a tripod, and many of the other pictures I tried that night didn't turn out so well - I leaned the edge of the camera on the side of another light pole for some, and that helped a lot.

Fabrizio Zanelli said...

I love the sky there. Not really night, anymore day... Wonderful !

Tash said...

I'm glad I didn't miss this photo. Better late than... Really has that warm, cozy feeling - how did you do that for a laundrymat??
Clever catch of Petrea. I'm definitely going across town to see her in the new play.