Tag Archives for new jersey

i miss my jersey shore

And, no, I don’t mean the ridiculously moronic television show.

While I sat in my Boston home, warm, dry and comfortable, Hurricane Sandy trashed my home state of New Jersey. Four days after the storm, my relatives are still without power, friends have lost homes, and entire towns lie underwater. The achingly beautiful coast of New Jersey is a disaster. Families who have lived there for generations have lost their homes, all their possessions, their mementos of childhood.

Seaside Heights, Funtown Pier after Hurricane Sandy

Seaside Heights, Funtown Pier after Hurricane Sandy

I am in no way belittling the horrible damage from the hurricane in New York City. The national media, however, is almost exclusively focused on the impact of the storm there, and only peripheral attention is being granted to the normal people and humble homes of New Jersey seaside towns.

I had no idea of what happened there until I saw a Facebook post from a high school friend. I Googled “jersey shore hurricane impact” and sadly, my first page of search results had 1 legitimate link to news, and the rest were what the cast of the aforementioned TV fodder thought of the storm.

Here are a few sources where I found local photos and information: 

To donate money to help those affected by Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey, here are some worthy options:

If you are in the New Jersey area and would like to do more, the state has set up a volunteer emergency response hotline: 1-800-JERSEY-7. Also check listings from specific agencies at Volunteer New Jersey. Contact your local food banks to see what supplies they need — here’s a list from Feeding America.

We were so fortunate in the Northeast, an area I always thought was known for getting the worst of everything. It’s November 1st, and the holidays are coming up fast. My heart aches for my Jersey Shore, and for all the proud, feisty, good people in my home state.

big hair, marching band, and bon jovi

Three things that remind me of high school. I just received a Facebook invite to my 20-year high school reunion. I am 99.9% positive I will not be going. Here’s why:

  • I grew up in central Jersey. No, I don’t know what exit. I fled the state as soon as I turned 18 for what I call “irreconcilable cultural differences” that still exist.
  • The reunion isn’t just in Jersey — it’s down the shore (note that I use the proper local terminology “down the shore”), at Point Pleasant, on the boardwalk, at Jenkinson’s amusement park. It doesn’t get much more Jersey than that. I’m scared.
  • I have social anxiety when going to dinner with people I know and love. I’d need ativan or valium or some such thing to just get through this.
  • Do I really want to party with people I haven’t seen for 20 years? People who I wasn’t even friends with in high school? People who contributed to my deeply depressed and disturbed state of mind throughout my formative years? Um… not so much.
  • Does anyone really enjoy going to these things?
  • Social media has enabled me to find people I wish I’d kept in touch with. I don’t need to drive 6 hours to Jersey over a weekend in June to find them. If I wanted to find the rest of them, I would have already.

I’m not the only one who feels this way — so does this guy. That said, there remains a 0.1% chance I could change my mind. If you have any words of persuasion, pearls of wisdom, or experiences from your own high school reunions, please share!

And no, I never had big hair. I tried, but I’m Asian. Yes, I was in my high school marching band — we were state champs. And yes, I did, and still do, love Bon Jovi.

hi there, handsome.