More About the Shore

I was looking at the map of New Jersey and was surprised at just how many shore towns there are in Jersey and how many I had never even heard of. I spent a lot of time in Seaside Heights and some in Ocean City and Wildwood. 

As I mentioned, I really liked Seaside Park; I felt comfortable there. It's low-key and small--only .81 square miles--and narrow. Our condo was three blocks from the ocean on one side and one block from the bay on another. It made our walks so nice, especially in the mornings. 

One thing I noticed was that a number of houses have names. As I've mentioned before, I hate named houses. In my walks, I saw Shore Thing, Beach Baby, Heavenly Afterglow, Shore Edition, Bay Angel, and  Valente Villa. Valente Villa isn't too bad. I like the alliteration, but it had two signs--one right above the other and was a bit much. Sea-Renity was the house name that bugged me the most--too cutesy. It was not in Seaside Park, but somewhere on the road between Point Pleasant and Lavallette. I also saw Sunshine Daydream in either Avalon or Stone Harbor; I liked the homage to the Grateful Dead song Sugar Magnolia. 

Sea Isle City is over three times the size of Seaside Park at 2.75 square miles and much busier. While I didn't see all its neighborhoods, I didn't notice any of the small bungalows that predominated in Seaside Heights before Hurricane Sandy and can still be found in Seaside Park. I saw a few modest houses, but primarily duplexes and McMansions. 

Sea Isle did not have a similar number of named houses. Many had signs with family names. The home where we were staying had a sign, Happy Chappy's. I also saw Cead Mile Failte or a hundred thousand welcomes.

However, Sea Isle City is big on flags as are some other Jersey Shore towns. In Sea Isle, the American, Phillies, and college flags, especially Penn State, flags predominate. I was happy to see one or two University of Delaware flags. 

I'll have to visit more of the shore to see what the other towns feature.

A Word for the Year

I was intrigued by this recent newsletter in The New York Times about selecting a word to capture your values and intentions for the new year. The idea is to focus on the things most meaningful to you and the positive changes you'd like to make in your life. 

My first thought was the word "create." Then I looked at synonyms for create and came up with "acutalize." Now I wonder if that's just a fancy and/or pompous way of saying "create."

I'll sleep on it. 

Houses of Pretentiousness

I've always hated named houses. I figured their owners were pretentious assholes. The first named home I noticed (other than famous historical places like Mount Vernon) was Byebrook in Weston, an old hunting lodge on 13 acres. 

Manor houses and plantations were established in the colonies before the founding of the United States. House numbering plans were based on local policies; many American cities in the 19th and 20th centuries improved their numbering systems.

I pass another named home in Wilton several times a week called Twist o the Hill. This one bugs me the most because it tries to be poetic in its pretentiousness. When Jeff and I went away for our anniversary, I saw signs for two named houses: Cliff's Edge and Winter Haven. 

The only named home I can approve is the Burnside Fireside from Auntie Mame. Of course Mame named her home after hearing about Upson Downs and Upson Pines--homes of the obnoxious Upson family. 

Blake Bortles and Normal Glass Moon

I'm not a football fan; I never heard of Blake Bortles until we watched The Good Place; one character Jason was a big fan of Bortles and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Yesterday, reading an article about Aaron Rodgers lying about being vaccinated for Covid (come for me Shallene Woodley) someone mentioned Blake Bortles in the comments. 

Then I dreamed about him. I was discussing him with nerdy friends (who weren't into football like me) based on The Good Place. I woke up thinking about him and the words "normal glass moon." 

I don't know what that means--maybe a band name?  At least it's not a frustration dream. 

Back to Winning Ways

I'm happy to update my results with the Spelling Bee puzzle in the Sunday Magazine of The New York Times. I'm back--genius two weeks in a row. Today I took the magazine with me to the gym and worked on it as I rode the stationary bike.

I look forward to this puzzle every Saturday.

Word Play

This morning I was lying in bed in that state halfway between dreaming and waking. Someone--a woman--in my dream said something about a stoic lyric. Because I was in the half-way state, I was watching or listening and thought there was something contradictory about a stoic lyric.

 Later I was thinking that a lyric could be stoic or a person could sing lyrics stoically. I liked the sound of the phrase too.

Maybe someday I'll figure out how to use it.