Observations from the Shore 6.23

And so the VQs arrived at the shore yesterday. It seems Ash apparently packed for two weeks and any possible weather. One does never know when one will get the call for a wine and cheese party. She seems to be enjoying it though. How do I know? The first sure sign is that she turned off her omnipresent cell phone.

But honestly it’s cool having my girls here and be able to show off my little hideaway, normally I like spending this shore time alone. It is a totally sweet sight to see them stand on the deck sipping beers.

Than again I smile a lot when I think of them. So different in looks, but both gorgeous in their own ways, and personalities. Ash is the hyper one while Chloe is more laid back. One has a fine arts degree and the other a degree in theatre, which alone should send up warning signs. But it works for them and works most awesomely.

Other than for my severely depleted beer stock the first day went rather well. But their differences quickly became apparent during our first trip into town. The Oceans Gallery is a cool little gallery off the main intersection, just up from the all important Fred’s Tavern. Until she was finished there Ash not only met the owners but had a cell number too. Meanwhile Chloe shopped in funky jewelry stops and picked up a pile of Fred’s t-shirts.

I won’t pretend I know anything about love and relationships, it’s just not my area of expertise, but I know what I see. I see two women who are strong, each sure of themselves in their own way, and very happy together.

The VQs have been a couple for over four years now and sometimes I am in awe of how close they are. One time Ash and I were on the roof pondering life and I asked her what the attraction was. What was it that held them together in the crazy world that is the Village? She told me it was simple. Chloe lets her be herself, makes her happy, and brings her peace.

Karma

Paper Tongues - Trinity

Observations from the Shore 6.22

There can’t be a much better thing in life than crawling out of bed in the morning, out the door, and onto the deck to the sound of ocean waves crashing on the beach. The scent of the ocean fills your head as the breeze blows off the water. I look out and thinking, wondering, about nothing in particular as I sip on a mug of dark brown liquid I like to call coffee.

Hardly anybody is on the beach this early. Just a few people are walking and a few others flying kites. There was a time I loved flying a kite. Not those cheap two dollar varieties you buy at the beach shops. I had a way cool stunt kite I got on a trip to the Outer Banks. I don’t know what ever happened to that kite but I have a sneaky feeling the kid borrowed it.

I saw a list of the top ten Jersey beaches. I don’t know what morons make up lists like this because Stone Harbor didn’t make the cut. Both Avalon and Sea Isle made the list. Come on its called Seven Mile Beach for a reason so how can you have two thirds of it on the list without the best third? Prob just pissed because there is no boardwalk. To me that is the best part of this town. Wildwood came in at #1 but I haven’t been there in years. It is the one time party capital of the shore that now claims it was the perfect family destination all along. That thought makes me laugh because it just happens to have about fifty bars and clubs in the area. I tend to stay away because it is the one place down here with more bad memories than good so why fight my karma.

A couple of weeks ago i read an article in the Times, 'Where the Party Is Perpetual', that I wanted to share. Just one of those articles that makes you smile knowingly unlike MTV's Jersey Shore which tends to make me gag. The end has the totally perfect quote, one of those been there done that type of things. "The house began to stir. Bagels were fetched. Mr. DiMassa ventured out to the porch and returned with shocking news. “Dude,” he said incredulously, “people are gardening.” Life doesn't get much better than that.

Now I must enjoy some down time before my VQs get here later today. This poor town may never be the same.

Nickelback - This Afternoon

For Dad

I suppose I never mention my dad much, not nearly as much as he deserves. The quiet one of the family, just sitting back and watching as his crazy kids grow hopefully into something worthwhile. If my mom was my early inspiration my dad was the rock I leaned on. The one I go to when everything seems destined to fall apart.

I was the first, and I don’t think he wanted to wait years for ‘the kid’ to come along, so I became the pseudo jock artist at an early age. Of course I hadn’t yet thrown lesbian into that mix, even I wasn’t that young. I played all kinds of sports before settling on field hockey full time and he was always there. He was always the quiet one but always there for the games, the tournaments, and would drive me to Philly to go to a kewl sports shop for sticks.

I am a lot of things because of my dad and a few things despite him, ja try and guess that last one. I suppose that is how it is with anybody. I’m totally passionate about my sports and at times I am a voracious reader. I have been known to fish, yes fish. While my mom was taking me to New York and museums my dad was sneaking me off to Phillies games and sharing the shear sloppy joy of a cheese steak. I love to play ice hockey, skate, and I always wear hockey skates.

He bought me my first camera telling me, with a wink, that I couldn’t paint everything.

And he pushed me to get my masters when I had had just about enough and was ready to give up. Though, to be honest, I always thought he steered me into Art History because he figured I would have a better chance of getting a job and getting out of his hair.

Like I said he is always there.

Happy Father’s Day Dad

Kenny Chesney - Old Blue Chair

What can i say? One of his fav singers :)

Observations from the Shore 6.19

Top down, tunes cranked to jet engine level, cruising down back roads I know like the back of my hand. Through endless fields of tomatoes and peppers, past roadside fruit stands, than finally through the Pine Barrens, it’s the back way to the shore I have taken for years.

As the sun rises higher and higher the ocean beckons, the scent of salt water begins to fill the air. That’s when you know, when you know it isn’t far now. Down the long straight road leading to the bay, finally the water tower rises in the distance, and the drawbridge is just ahead.

Lacuna Coil's Manifesto blares as I cross the bridge onto 96th street, and pass Fred’s on the left. Than I have to laugh as I look in the rearview mirror and see something a little different than my normal entrance. A robin egg blue car behind me with my sister driving, shades on, and her fist pumping in the air. I might be in trouble here.

Finally we pull up to the house with the ocean just behind it. The waves crash as we walk out onto the deck on a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. And so I’m back yet again. MTV be damned, this is my Jersey Shore and always will be.

Only one thing left to do. Fred’s.

Lacuna Coil - Enjoy the Silence

Observations from the Window 6.17

Two more days till I go down to the shore. No, for the record, I said go down to the shore not go down on the shore. God I’m surrounded by dirty minds! And why do people always look at me strange when I call it the shore?

I have so many memories from the shore running from the very best to the very worst. But thankfully the bad ones are few and far between, I guess that is why they stand out sometimes. As much as I talk about the mountains it is the shore where I sometimes think I most belong.

I love walking on the beach at dawn as the sun just begins to break over the horizon. The sky blazes with more and more color and, if you are really lucky, dolphins leap just offshore. Now I’m not to sure how I will be getting up at dawn this time, the way my clock is re-tuned. I might just have to stay up all night to see the sunrise.

And I love the other end of the day too. Sitting on the deck as the sun sets into the bay behind me. Sipping a Corona and watching as people reel in their kites and the water gets darker and darker till all that’s left is the sound of crashing waves and the first reflections of moonlight.

I like buying fresh fruit in the morning from the truck right outside and ice cream in the afternoon. Reading away the afternoon on the deck, sketching, or it might be photo taking this year. Just sitting back and listening to tunes as the sun passes overhead. I am packed for most anything. Every little space in Foxy will be filled to the bursting point. But for now i must do some shopping as the vendor dude never did get my sunscreen.

The next time you hear from me it should be Observations from the Shore :)

Norah Jones - Sunrise

Observations from the Window 6.16

A wet dreary day outside the window today and I really don’t feel like writing anything. Maybe the lull before I head home Friday and the shore Saturday. Looking forward to the house, ocean, and Fred’s but I can’t forget my sis, friends, and hopefully some special downtime. Oh and Stieg too!

Anyways, like I said, I don’t feel like writing much but I wanted to pass along some things I read over the last few days. Each one touched me a little differently whether mad, sad, or just plain pissed off. The end of the first actually brought a tear to my eyes. So when you have a minute, ok maybe thirty, take the time to check them out.

"MARJA, Afghanistan — The Marine had been shot in the skull. He was up ahead, at the edge of a field, where the rest of his patrol was fighting. A Black Hawk medevac helicopter flew above treetops toward him, banked and hovered dangerously before landing nearby ...."
'As Afghan Fighting Expands, U.S. Medics Plunge In' via The New York Times

"KEY LARGO, Fla. — When rigs first started drilling for oil off Louisiana’s coast in the 1940s, Floridians scanned their shoreline, with its resorts and talcum-white beaches, and said, No thanks. Go ahead and drill, they told other Gulf Coast states; we’ll stick with tourism ...."
'Florida Skips Offshore Oil Binge but Still Pays' via The New York Times

"Reports have been coming out of the Gulf for days about British Petroleum blocking access to beaches and animal-cleaning stations, in some instances using private Blackwater-style mercenaries to do so ...."
'Enough of This Crap' via truthout

And finally my tune for the day, and a first at that, country music. But fitting.

tuneage, Brad Paisley - Alcohol

The View From The Roof

flickr

The view from the roof is so different from that of the street, or the window for that matter, that one has to wonder if it is of the same world. Just a few flights above the window seat is a place to utterly lose one’s self. The street and its sounds are lost in the canyons below. On the roof the city itself swirls around you in all its myriad scents.

At dawn the sky is a bright pastel with cool crisp air blowing up from the water. Sunset brings more muted hues and thick calm air as the sun falls into Jersey. The beer tastes good at either time.

When you sit on the roof and ponder life you begin to understand one thing. This really may be the center of the universe.

Jungleland

Observations from the Window 6.14

Ever since my ‘lost summer’, and quite possibly long before that, I have had this deep seated fear of failure. It was reinforced a few years later by a failed relationship, OK poisoned relationship. Psychologically I have been told it’s called atychiphobia, which is defined as ‘defined as a persistent, abnormal, and unwarranted fear of failure. Atychiphobes may subconsciously undermine or sabotage their own efforts to prevent having to continue to try, and therefore preventing any potential failure.’ Hmm sounds familiar.

A fear that people won’t like my paintings, my work, my photos, and for that matter they not like me either. I cover it all up with my cocky, some might say arrogant, personality. Now the arrogance has been a part of my personality as long as I can remember, seriously I was prob a cocky baby, it’s the fear that is a more recent addition. Sometimes to the point that it’s almost a fear of the fear. Jesus I wonder if there is a name for that. I know, I’m just totally insane sometimes.

Saturday afternoon something happened that might finally begin to change that. A watershed moment? Somehow I doubt I would go that far. But for the very first time I sold two of my paintings. Seriously some loon gave me cold hard cash for two of my paintings, two that I had painted a few years ago. Neither was one of what I like to call ‘the big three’, one of which is in the right sideboard, those I don’t think I could ever part with.

But anyway I guess I’m not exactly Vinnie van Gogh yet, hell I might be a little crazy but I ain’t dead, but still it’s a start.

So at the moment life is pretty damn good.

tuneage, Audioslave - I Am The Highway

Observations from the Window 6.12

I sit in the window, after a long night of bartending and breakfast, and watch fog roll in from the harbor. The once clear dawn sky is now gone. I have to wonder what the day brings, well after I get some sleep that is.

A few days ago I suddenly realized I had been here in the Village for six months now. This all got lost in the hectic couple of weeks I had. It seems to have been the quickest six months of my life. At the same time I have now know my one friend for two years. That thought always brings a smile to my face. Maybe they haven’t been the quickest two years of my life but they have been eventful.

But after six months I seem to have more to decide than I ever did. This may be my last weekend of bartending, at least ‘full time’ bartending. I still have to decide whether to stay here or go back to the mountains, to Penn State. But now another, admittedly fun, option clouds that decision. I can't do both so deciding to go with this new opportunity basically decides it all. Plans, ideas, thoughts, none are very clear at the moment. Not that they ever are with me.

A week from today I head to the beach house in Stone Harbor for a week’s stay. Hopefully a bit of shore stress relief is in order. Maybe that will clear my head and I can come to some decisions.

But whatever I decide this strange journey continues.

tuneage, Shinedown - If You Only Knew
(awesome background in this vid)

FYI – This week the ‘Queer/Art/Film’ moves to the IFC Center just blocks away from here. I think I’m going to have to check this out.

Observations on The Morning After

The morning after, a dull aching pain in my head, the feeling of something lost. The Flyers lost game six last night, in overtime no less, ending a long storied run through the playoffs. Highlighted by being down three games to none against Boston and coming back to take the series. None of this was expected when the playoffs began, the orange and black just slipping into the playoffs on the final day of the season, beating the Rangers in a shootout.

After my final preparations I watched the game at a local corner bar where I watched most of the games, sometimes alone and sometimes with friends. Funny thing is I enjoyed spending time with some of these crazy people even though none were Flyers fans when I first walked in. Not that any are now either but they did cheer with me and cry a little too. And when we took out the scorned Boston Bruins there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. Last night, as I left, I even got a hug from a middle aged guy in a Rangers jersey who told me it was a playoff run he would never forget. Sweet but I could have done without the pat on the ass.

As always I traded texts with ‘the kid’ as the game progressed. He filled me in on his preparations for the game “They've never lost a game when i've worn this jersey or been at this particular bar. I've done all i can.” What he felt when the game was tied “Oh thank god”, overtime “I'm dyin”, and the liberal use of alcohol as a calming agent “I've had many drinks. It doesn't help! Ha ha.” And than his final thoughts as he faded away “I was pumped we beat the devils. And got further than the pens.” Poor kid stuck in an apartment with three Penguin fans for roommates.

I’ll always remember so many things from this season. Not the least of which is a new ‘tradition” that seemed, at one point, to help bring shutout after shutout. I’ll keep that one to myself as you never know when you are going to need that one again.

So it is over. Ill have to wait another year to see the Flyers hoist Lord Stanley’s cup. But this Flyers team never gave up, never quit, and they proved anything is possible. No more hockey for this year but it seems a bright future is ahead for this young team.

I guess it always seems that way the morning after.

tuneage, Indica - In Passing

Go Flyers !!!! 6.9

And it again comes down to a must win for my Flyers. Win tonight and force a game seven Friday night. Lose and it's all over. Another loss in the finals, their sixth time since they last won the cup in 1975.

I want to help all that I can so I made a check list ....

Draw a big circle around the TV a
Put out traps for any black cats in the neighborhood a
Dig out the dried four leaf clover a
Run across the street and get that flag off the sidewalk a
Be careful not to step on any cracks in said sidewalk a
Hang horseshoe over door a
Cross my heart over and over a
Water that dyeing ivy plant a
Stick rabbit's foot in pocket, be sure rabbit doesn't mind a
Get all shoes off of tables and hats off my bed a
Turn on Discovery Channel and wish upon a shooting star a
Chant all kinds of weird mantras, that mean god knows what, in a language i don't understand a
Shrug

Stop and take a deep breath ....

Open twenty packs of tarot cards and dig out the Sun cards a
Spread Suns liberally around room a
Hide all umbrellas a
Get out hockey stick and smack all four walls a
Spit on said hockey stick a
Put on grandmothers amber necklace a
Add a clove of garlic to said necklace .... you never know a
Toss any brooms out the window a
We have no crows in the Village but i refuse to count pigeons a
Ooops ! Hide the dead ladybug a
Pick up all pins a
Put Corona on ice and slice the limes a
Lay out Flyers jersey and pick out the perfect black hat a

OK I think I'm ready. Oh one last thing, the original ....



And finally a little geek chat. Depending what browser you are using you might see check marks or the letter a. Well it seems not all browsers read all fonts. Firefox doesn't read webdings which was the only way i could get the check marks (thanks for the help!) so i did this in Google Chrome. I don't pretend to understand.

Observations from the Coffee Shop 6.7

So how did people live before the internet? Tell me please as I am going thru withdrawal here and it has only been about twelve hours. Poof it went late last night and I awoke to a blank screen. I have vented by text and chat and now I guess I vent by blog.

It is a beautiful day in the Village though, a welcome touch of spring in the midst of early summer. Wait it isn’t summer yet, well you could have fooled me, calendar be damned. Seems like every year there is less and less of spring, to the point it seems like a distant childhood memory. But all that is forgotten as I sit at a table outside my coffee shop just watching the girls pass by.

Which brings me back to the web and the question, why am I here when I should be working? Because I needed a fix, I needed some more internet than my little Droid will give me. So I said I needed some iced coffee and headed off with my orders and laptop. Little did they know what I was up to, or maybe they did, but I guess they will now!

Maybe it is me but even here my connection seems slow. Verizon says it could be the end of the week till whatever is fixed. They don’t tell you what the whatever is however. I see steam, or is it smoke, rising from the grate in the street and have to wonder if that is Verizon hard at work. Or maybe the city is just overheating and frying all the cables. So life goes on I suppose. It’s just a little less exciting and heated than it would have been normally.

I have to laugh thought because this is the front page headline from the Times today, 'Hooked on Gadgets and Paying a Mental Price', rather fitting I think. “We are at an inflection point,” he said. “A significant fraction of people’s experiences are now fragmented.” Whatever that means. I'll have to think about it some other time.

tuneage, Stabbing Westward - What Do I Have To Do?

(even this post was delayed because blogger was down when i originally tried to post it. all this, plus the flyers loss, makes for a pretty pissy mood. I am so cursed right now !!)

Go Flyers !!!!

Chicago, Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks, game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals, the series tied two games apiece with the home team wining every game. The puck drops in little over an hour. If the Flyers, who have not lost a game 4 or later in the playoffs, win tonight i think the win it all Wednesday night and hoist Lord Stanley's Cup in front of the home fans. All superstitions and traditions are in play, all of them. So I give you Kate Smith and Lauren Hart, daughter of the late Flyers' announcer Gene Hart, and "God Bless America". The Flyers' record when "God Bless America" is played or sung in person stands at 87 wins, 22 losses, and 4 ties.

Just doing my part ......



(sorry the sound sucks!)

Observations from the Window 6.5

The oil spill in the gulf, not to mention my last post, is all to depressing so i thought i would share some funnier comments. Hey you have to be able to laugh at what life throws you or you end up crying it away. Can't have that can we?

"In what may be the most positive news to date since the onset of the oil spill crisis, images taken by robotic underwater cameras revealed today that the broken oil pipe is the exact diameter of tween singing sensation Justin Bieber." Andy Borowitz

“The BP president said yesterday that the company would survive. That's like someone running over your dog and saying, 'Don't worry, my car is fine." Jimmy Fallon

"On Monday, British Petroleum promised to pay all necessary cleanup costs for this oil spill. And they said they will do it, no matter how much they have to raise gas prices." Jay Leno

"Have you been following the big oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico? Or as we call it now, the Dead Sea." David Letterman

“BP has put more birds in oil than KFC.” As seen on my brother’s Facebook page

And thanks for all the kool aid, arsenic, and other sundry poison tips I got from my last post. Much appreciated.

tuneage, Sonic Syndicate - Revolution, Baby