This is my younger brother. I’ve probably harassed and abused him more than I should in the past, and I probably will continue in the future. But… my favorite from all of my photos.
real life can sometimes suck. A lot of really distracting stuff happened that got me out of the mood to keep up with this. Still, regular visitors stopped by to check in – thanks for that. I won’t promise to do better at blogging, still a lot going on. But I promise to try… that should count for something.
There’s a lot of jokes, and a lot of insults about people from Jersey, and about Jersey itself. Even though I’ve lived in the US South for over 20 years now, when I tell people I’m from Jersey the response I get frequently is “Oh my god!”, or the more polite version “aren’t you glad you’re here now?” For years I’ve been told I have to “polish off the rough edges”, “be nicer to people”, “be more accessible.” Well I’ve tried to do that, and been somewhat successful, but you can only polish a rock so much before you’re left with… a rock. So I’ve decided that people just need to accept the way I am, and by way of explanation I offer two quotes.
By far the most eloquent is from Bruce Springsteen during his speech on his induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame
You know, when I first got the letter, I was a little suspicious because . . . a New Jersey Hall of Fame? I don’t know. Does New York have a hall of fame? Does Connecticut have a hall of fame? I mean, maybe they think they don’t need one. But then I thought like, ‘Well, let me see. All right, Albert Einstein, Bruce Springsteen . . . my mother’s really gonna like that part.’ So . . . she’s here tonight, it’s her birthday . . . it’s the only time those two names are gonna be mentioned in the same sentence, is right now, so I’m gonna enjoy it.
But when I was recording my first album, the record company spent a lot of money taking a lot of pictures of me in New York City. And . . . something didn’t quite feel right. I was walking down the boardwalk one day. And I stopped at a souvenir stand and bought a postcard, saying ‘Greetings From Asbury Park.’ I remember thinking, ‘Yeah, that’s me.’ I mean, down south there was Patti Smith. And up north, right here in Newark, was George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, great musicians.
With the exception of, I guess, a few half-years in California, my family and I, we’ve raised our kids here. We got a big Italian-Irish family, and I found my own Jersey girl here . . . And in the end, I just found something that grew deeply resonant, like holding the hands of my kids on the same streets where my mom held my hand and swimming in the same ocean and visiting the same beaches I did as a child.
It was a place, also, that really protected me. It’s been very nurturing. I could take my kids down to Freehold, throw ‘em up on my shoulders and walk along the street, with thousands of other people on Cruise Nights, with everybody just going, ‘Hey Bruce’ . . . that was something that meant a lot to me, the ability to just go about my life. I was protected here, by the people here. And I really appreciated that.
So anyway . . . you get a little older now, you get those crisp fall days that come in September and the beginning of October. My friends and I, we slip into that cold water of that Atlantic Ocean. These days, you take note that there’s a few less of your friends swimming alongside of you as each year passes. But something about being in one place your whole life, they’re all still around you, in the water. And I look towards the shore, and I see my son and my daughter, pushing their way through the waves, and on the beach there’s a whole batch of new little kids running away from the crashing surf. Like time itself.
That’s what New Jersey is for me. It’s a repository, now, of just my time on earth. My memory, the music I’ve made, friendships, my life, it’s all buried here, at this point, in a box, somewhere in the sand, down on the Jersey Shore. And I can’t imagine having it any other way. ¶
But let me finish with a Garden State benediction.
Rise up, my fellow New Jerseyans, for we are all members of a confused but noble race. We of the state that will never get any respect, we who bear the cruelness of the forever uncool. A chip on the shoulders of those with forever something to prove. And even with this wonderful hall of fame, we know that there’s another bad Jersey joke just around the corner.But fear not, fear not! This is not our curse. It is our blessing. For this is what infused us with our fighting spirit, that we may salute the world forever with the fabulous Jersey state bird (raises middle finger). And that the fumes from our great northern industrial area, to the ocean breezes of Cape May, fill us with the raw hunger, the naked ambition and the desire not just to do our best, but to stick it in your face.Theory of relativity, anybody? How about some electric light with your day? Or maybe a spin to the moon and back? That’s right. And that is why our fellow Americans in those other 49 states know that when the announcer says, ‘And now, in this corner, from New Jersey . . . ,’ they’d better keep their hands up and their heads down, ’cause when that bell ings, we always come out swinging.
God bless the Garden State.
The shorter, more to the point version is adapted from comedian Lewis Black.
“I realize I say “fuck” a lot but,…..
I don’t give a shit!”
13 words that sum up the attitude that makes people from Jersey the unique people we are. So when you meet us and walk away thinking “how rude”, or “what a jerk” please realize we don’t do it on purpose, that’s just the way we are.
On the way from Calabash to Sunset Beach in North Carolina, the one road in crosses over part of the Long Bay Inlet. Keep following the inlet east and you’ll end up in some golf communities (Oyster Bay and Sea Trail Plantation). Follow it west, and if you know where you’re going you can end up headed out into the Atlantic. If you don’t know where you’re going you’ll end up either grounded in the mud in the marsh, or cruising down the waterfront in Little River SC, on your way to North Myrtle Beach and points south on the Intracoastal waterway.
During the drive from home to the shore there are 2 mileposts for me. The first is Darlington Raceway in Darlington SC. Not because I’m a big NASCAR fan, but because passing that track is about halfway between homes, and it’s the place where my mind shifts from working to relaxing. The second is this inlet. If it’s late afternoon on a clear day the view is at least this good, usually better. If there’s no breeze and it’s just about between tides there’s no current and the water is like a mirror. There’s few homes and little traffic, so I almost always stop for a few minutes and sit on the guardrail overlooking the edge, just taking in the view and looking for the first birds of the trip. The tang of the breeze from the marsh, the silence, the inlet, and the luxury of just being able to sit and take it all in for a few minutes is the perfect way to start decompressing, whether it’s for a few days, or a few weeks.
I have many different shots of this same view of the inlet, but this one is my favorite. I think it’s the late winter angle of the light, I’m not sure. Anyway…
Sure I’m from Jersey, but one of the points of this blog is I don’t live there anymore, I live in the south, have for a long time. But besides the accents there’s a lot of differences between the two, even though it’s only a few hundred miles from there to here or here to there. So I’m starting some lists to point out some of those differences and to help both northerner and southerner understand the other a little better. I’m starting with the easy stuff – the language, but I’ll be adding more as I go. Trip the North and South link to follow along.
The obligatory “why blog” entry. Truth be told I’ve had a few other blogs before this one, some public, some anonymous, covering any topic anyone can think of. This one will be anonymous, but if you happen to know me you’ll be able to pretty easily figure out who owns this blog. In the past I tried to keep my blogs focused on one particular subject, which seems to keep me interested for about 3 months. After that, I run out of things to say on that topic and give it up. So this time this blog will be about whatever I feel like spouting off about at the time. Hopefully it’s interesting enough to give some folks something to read for a minute or two on a regular basis. We’ll see.
About me – I’m 50 years old and obviously, if you believe the title of the blog, I’m originally from New Jersey. I’m married to a beautiful born and bred southern woman. We have 2 young adult sons currently living with us, at least for a little while longer. I live in the south, have for almost 25 years. But it doesn’t feel like home for some reason. I work a lot, and have a fairly senior job in IT, working for a large corporation. I love the beach, I love live, acoustic music, I play around with digital photography and will probably share some of my favorites for your approval or criticism.
What will I write about? My family, my job, my hobbies, my leisure, politics, music, some of the absolutely stunningly surreal things that happen in this world every single day, some things I find amusing, things that piss me off, or something just for the hell of it. It remains to be seen. If you visit regularly I welcome you, if you just stop by occasionally – please come on back. I don’t censor comments, but I do ask for validation to stop the spam. I take emails and will answer just about ANY question, but if you’re a jerk about it expect the same kind of response. In any case I invite you to…
