The Quiet During the Storm

This will be my last post on here, I am almost positive. Today I am going to write about the weather. That's right, the weather, the snowy, rainy, sunny, sticky humidity of it all.

One thing I remember about North Jersey and weather is how much I absolutely adore THUNDER STORMS. I am not talking about some wimpy bright flash of white light and trickles of rain. I am talking about CRASHES of thunder, blasts of dangerous lightning and some fist sized chunks of hail denting cars left and right. The type of tyrannical rain that send North Jersey residents scurrying into their homes. Yea that is the type of thunder storm I like.

I would sit in in my car and make sure that I could slink back in my seat with my head tilted up and watch the wetness cascade onto my glass sunroof. Quiet. Peace. God. Those are all the things I would feel in moments as such in North Jersey. My special downtime. The cool thing about weather is that it follows you everywhere. So I will hold onto the power of those Thunder Storms where ever I may be.

City Lights to Salty Breeze

So I spent my first weekend at my new home in Seaside Heights, NJ for Easter. It was such a drastically different experience that I have ever endured during a holiday. I did not see any of my friends, it was just me and my parents. Most of the weekend I spent in my backyard sitting at the edge of our dock and staring intensely into the dark murky water with its streaks of rippling white light from the sun above. I fed the duck I agitated the Seagulls and I thought, reflect, prayed and wrote. The cool wind tossed up sprinkles of water across my sunken in eyes and refreshed my very spirit.

In North Jersey introspective thinking seemed to be drowned out consistently by the light pollution the perpetual angry drivers and their beeps of discontent. Sure being able to drive ten minutes to see the New York City Skyline on a Friday night was fun and adventurous and a demonstration of synthetic beauty, but never could i just relax.

Does this mean that I am tossing away my brash North Jersey attitude for an easy going lifestyle? No probably not. Life will be different but I am not ready to give up my sarcastic ways. No, not yet.

Ti Amo

Traffic Patterns of Life

I am surprised at myself that it has taken me until my eighth post to bring up one of North Jersey's most popular claims to fame. TRAFFIC!!!

Traffic, traffic, friken traffic. I would love to end the post there. Right there, on that note. Screw traffic.

I am getting aggravated just thinking about sitting in a mile of traffic on the way to high school every morning during my senior year. Absolutely infuriating. A two hour trip to visit my sister in South Jersey often has turned into a five hour painful death. I have tolerance though. I am accustomed to the horrors of bumper to bumper traffic that slowly sucks your very soul out from your form.

I like to laugh at people in St. Davids, Pa when they get all flustered in their 15 minutes of fame as they sit in traffic that breaks up momentarily. Me on the other hand, I keep a cool head and just smile with my windows down. Their red little faces make me giggle and due to the transitive property I like traffic in St. Davids, PA.

I am not saying I am a better person from living in North Jersey (I sorta am). I am just saying that I know when you should get stressed out and when not to.

My fellow PA peers, don't let traffic get you all out of sorts, just deal with it. No wait actually I lied. Get really really upset, it makes me chuckle.

Ti Amo

Moooooooovin' South

In this post we are going to intimately discuss the on going struggle between South Jersey "Hicks" and North Jersey "City-folk" Now I don't mean to use either of those terms in derogatory manners. They are just good descriptions of the inhabitants of each region. For those who are not Native to the great state of New Jersey you may not be aware of the ongoing battles of our separated but never equal homeland.

The Debate seems to go on and on and on and on. Who is better? South Jersey or North Jersey? Well since my roots are in North Jersey and now my residence is at the Shore I will give an "objective" description of South Jersey to all of my readers. This is not an argument just a statement of facts.

I have spent my summers in Southern New Jersey since I was in 5th grade actually. My sister lives there with her husband and my nephew. Some of my closest friends to date hail from South Jersey and I love them dearly. The landscape is absolutely unique and gorgeous, if you like the country like environment. Not all South Jersey is like my sister's home but I associate my sister's home as the representative of South Jersey in the Great Jersey Debate (as I like to call it). The landscape is rural to say the least.

"COWS! FRIKEN COWS!" That was my first thought when getting off of the Jersey Turnpike and entering the realm of southern hicks.

A land where it is not only accepted but encouraged your four wheeler to work. (Trust me I have done it)

A land where the statement, "The Acme food store is just up the street" Is a blunt and rude lie. Everything is actually exactly twenty minutes away from you. Like you are the epicenter of a giant bowl of lies!

A land where there is nothing to do at nights. Unless you are willing to get arrested (which is also encouraged) then you will find yourself at home watching movies every night.

A land where the Small-town mindset is not just a theory but an annoying and aggravating fact. Every one knows everyone and everything about each other. No rumor falls on deaf ears (and if it does someone there is ready to translate into sign-language).

A land where...it is okay to be quiet. That's right. I said quiet. You can sit in your backyard or go for a walk without any interruptions. Just you, the fresh air and God. For that reason I love South Jersey. I adore it. I can relax, I can pray, I can reflect. My time in South Jersey has never been a regret or a something I dislike. I love the people and region dearly.

With that being said. North Jersey is STILL better than the lowly South Jersey. =p

Ti Amo

Sleezside Heights, NJ

So in my last post I said so long to Parsippany and North Jersey. I do not believe that I mentioned where we are moving to though. My parents are moving to a shore house in no other place than Seaside Heights, NJ! I love it there so much, we have visited my grandparents at their house every weekend since I was born. Seaside is my home away from home and I couldn't imagine moving anywhere else. After my grandparents passed away my mother and father inherited the house and now they are all ready to kick back and enjoy the shore.

So here is my problem. Thanks to the awesome culture of MTV and its programming during the summer months one of my favorite Shore points has received the title Sleezeside. MTV for years held its summer break broadcasting directly out of Seaside and they single-handily turned a family vacation spot to a festering pool of lazy and drunken college students. MTV vacated Seaside after it had successfully desecrated the town's image and reputation.

Seaside spent a good amount of time rebuilding its worth and a family image but after years of freedom MTV came back with its show the Jersey Shore. If you recall me earlier post about the Jersey Shore you would know how I feel about the production of such a disgusting program. I hate this show and what it has done to the image of Jersey at large. So here is my tribute to that atrocity called entertainment.






TI AMO

So Long North Jersey

Well my last full day on spring break is being used to pack up my house because on March 25th we are leaving North Jersey for good and moving down to Seaside Heights New Jersey. The shore.
This will be the true test of my North Jerseyness, with out a physical connection (besides friends and family) to North Jersey will I still hold onto my "deep-rooted" love for sarcasm, attitude, and interesting point of view.
Of course I will!!!!!

It isn't by chance that at Eastern University I am way too often asscoiated with North Jersey. The saying always has been: "You can take the boy outa Jersey but you can never take Jersey outa the boy!"
Until I feel it absolutely necessary I will continue to "Tawk" with an accent, make rude comments and eat really good food.
My memories in North Jersey are my anchor to that reality and I don't think I will cut the rope soon. I think instead I will learn how to turn my "Jersey" on and off. I sort of understand the mystical powers held in that ability but I will work very hard to hone it.

So don't worry, even though my parents are moving elsewhere this blog will still be saturated with a North Jersey theme.

Ti Amo

"Wonderin"

Tobymac is a stand-out Christian performing artist who just so happens to be one of my favorite musicians in all genres. His new song, Wonderin', off of his new album, "Tonight", has lyrics that just will not get out of my head.

You may ask, "How does this relate to a New Jersey mindset?" Well it does without much doubt in my mind. At least where I grew up in Northern New Jersey Christian Culture was absolutely never ever ever the norm. If it weren't for my sister attending Eastern University, I wouldn't know this school existed, bands like DC Talk and Newsboys would have never danced to a beat in my ear drums and my life would be drastically different.

In this post I just would like to shortly address the gratitude that I hold towards my sister. I am Italian, so I have to love my family unconditionally, but I would love my family even if I didn't have to.

Rather than leaving all my readers with a sense of sappiness I am going to post the lyrics to Tobymac's "Wonderin'" Please comment back and tell me how these words affect you directly...Listen to the song and then tell me you think.

Ti Amo

"Wonderin'"

Well I'm wonderin' bout the road ahead of me,
Wonderin' bout the things you said to me,
Wonderin' if these dreams will ever do.
And I'm wonderin' bout the way I spend my days,
Wonderin' if it's even worth the chase,
Wonderin' if there's still a need from you.

(Uh) We didn't know what to do
You were lookin at me and I was lookin at you
We were thinkin' it odd but we were thankin' our God
For the hope that He put down deep in our hearts
And yo, without a second to think
We was turned around and we were makin that bank
And we was ridin in style clockin them miles
With the songs that He put down deep in our hearts

Well I'm wonderin' bout the road ahead of me,
Wonderin' bout the things you said to me,
Wonderin' if these dreams will ever do.
And I'm wonderin' bout the way I spend my days,
Wonderin' if it's even worth the chase,
Wonderin' if there's still a need from you.

Yeah, it's been a minute my friend
And you and I, we never thought it would end
But when we stopped to pause and opened the doors
There's some dreams that were put down deep in my heart
But hey, I'm always thinkin of you
And I can see your influence in the things that I do
Think and thin, forever my friend
Cause there's a vine that was put down deep in our hearts

Well I'm wonderin' bout the road ahead of me,
Wonderin' bout the things you said to me,
Wonderin' if these dreams will ever do.
And I'm wonderin' bout the way I spend my days,
Wonderin' if it's even worth the chase,
Wonderin' if there's still a need from you.

We didn't know what to do
You were lookin at me and I was lookin at you
We were thinkin' it odd but we were thankin' our God
For the hope that He put down deep in our hearts
And hey, if I could turn back time
I wouldn't touch a day I wouldn't shade the shine
Cause I do know this, I won't be remiss with the memories locked away in my heart (locked away in my heart..)

Well I'm wonderin' bout the road ahead of me,
Wonderin' bout the things you said to me,
Wonderin' if these dreams will ever do.
And I'm wonderin' bout the way I spend my days,
Wonderin' if it's even worth the chase,
Wonderin' if there's still a need from you.