For the First Time, I Wished My Cell Phone Had a Camera

[dr_pretentious]

The advertising changes weekly on the New Jersey Transit trains that run the northeast corridor line into New York City. Lacking a camera, I seriously considered stealing the ad poster. Who will believe me? It said:

People with Tourette Syndrome Are Fortunate to Live in New Jersey.

The small print on the rest of the poster was all about treatment centers, support groups, research grants, etc., but nothing can erase that opening collision of stereotypes. A person with Tourette's who wished to pass for normal could not do better than to move to New Jersey, where we all suffer from coprolalia.

It's been quite a weekend. Various much-missed friends who now live out of state are passing through, and in the middle of all the hoopla, my sister traveled up to NYC (coincidentally, on her birthday), to hear her husband's band play. Had to go up for that--and they are very good. They sound sort of like Rusted Root, only stripped down to four moving parts, and more obsessed. (I'm delighted and amused by this very blurry picture of my brother-in-law--acoustical engineer by day, superspeedy percussionist by night.) In lieu of "Happy Birthday," they interrupted their usual driven, moody, chthonic set to give Pru a lovely rendition of "Dear Prudence."

Since today is the last day of National Poetry Month, it's a good time to urge you to visit the New Jersey Transit terminal in Penn Station next time you're in NYC. That city may be the nation's art capital, but no state loves poetry better than Jersey does. Whitman's our homeboy. Our statewide Poets in the Schools program is a model admired all over the country, and unmatched by any other. We host the best poetry festival in the English-speaking world. And our train terminal is a temple of poetry. No exaggeration. Go see for yourself.

So maybe the people of New Jersey are lucky to have Tourette syndrome?

Anyhow, what with all these people coming and going all weekend, I have accepted that there will be no lj catch-up for the four days I've fallen behind on my friends list. I hope all your weekends were fabulous.

Comments

[vgnwtch.livejournal.com]

A person with Tourette's who wished to pass for normal could not do better than to move to New Jersey, where we all suffer from coprolalia.

Given that you had to tone down the swearing in Atlantis Cranks, having been exposed to too much New Jerseyness, I find this highly amusing :)

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

I first realized I was going native when the highway jughandles started making sense. Obviously, it should be illegal to turn left. Why wouldn't one want a jughandle?

When I began to revere Bruce Springsteen, it occurred to me that maybe there was something in the water.

But the moment when my assimilation alarmed me was the moment when I discovered that I regarded it as a positive good that my municipal water supply comes from Jon Bon Jovi's hometown. Why do I even know the name of Jon Bon Jovi's hometown? That's not the kind of thing I ought to know. It's out of character, implausible.

Hive mind. It's the only possible explanation.

At least our hive mind tends to elect the right reps. And a hive mind that venerates Walt Whitman is not such a bad thing.

[vgnwtch.livejournal.com]

When I began to revere Bruce Springsteen, it occurred to me that maybe there was something in the water.

I mustn't have drunk enough of it. He strikes me as another Dylan: writes interesting lyrics, and shouldn't be allowed to sing them. To me, he sounds terminally constipated.

At least our hive mind tends to elect the right reps. And a hive mind that venerates Walt Whitman is not such a bad thing.

And this is something to really celebrate. Go, NJ!

[jr0124.livejournal.com]

I adore the poems on the wall of the NJ Transit terminal! I found the poetry by accident one day. There's one poem up there that always gives me a chuckle - and I can't remember the title or author at all right now.

But it is good.

[sleepymaggie.livejournal.com]

You know, I never really noticed all the cursing in New Jersey until I moved away. After about a month in Boulder I noticed something was off about the language but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Then I saw Garden State which is loaded with New Jersey cursing, and I realized that that was what I was missing.

[elphaba-of-oz.livejournal.com]

Maybe they really meant, "People who live in Jersey are lucky to have Tourettes rather than cancer"???

I miss converstation peppered with gratuitous fucks.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

I love that film. Absurd, lyrical, redemptive, vernacular--what's not to like?

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

Unless you live in Elizabeth or Linden, in which case odds are that you have both. I guess that's more of a gratuitous fuck-up than a gratuitous fuck.

Well, that was a downer. Time to console myself with Leaves of Grass.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

They were all chosen from an anthology of Jersey poetry called Bluestones and Salt Hay. Distinguished names in that table of contents! Plus, the title feels good in the mouth.