Happy, er, hello Monday. Here's a cartoon to cheer you up.
I would have posted it sooner, but my plans to lounge around reading the New Yorker on vacation were dashed by Nora Roberts. I found it last night while reading and watching the Phillies game (which, yes, I can do).
I get why this is funny to a lot of people, but I can tell it's mocking the area, too. Thoughts?
3 comments:
Jen,
I don't see it that way. I guess we're supposed to think that because of the high gas prices and bad economy (getting worse by the minute) all these characters can do is go to the Jersey Shore.
But, considering the average home price and the ever-inflating price of goods in places such as Avalon and Stone Harbor...it's not like the Jersey Shore is a cheap place to vacation by most people's standards.
My real life surreal/kind of funny, but kind of sad experience from the Shore this summer occurred during our three weeks in Avalon. I thought this summed up how out of control our material culture is when I took my 10 year old son to participate in the daily rec dept soccer/baseball/b-ball games. One of the young assistant rec dept staff members, was constantly text messaging on his PDA while he was supposed to be helping run the games for the kids. He looked like he was about 14. Now, if that doesn't need to be mocked I don't what does?!?!
I like Avalon and the Shore for the small town, simple, slow pace of life aspect. The over the top/can't do enough to show off how much money I have culture is turning it into not such a family friendly place.
Anyway, I enjoy your blog. Keep up the good work.
Even with a Master's degree, and living in gentrified Hoboken, I still don't get the New Yorker. Though they have the occasional good foreign policy article and great list of films, it is still a pompous magazine that only caters to a fraction of the population . . . a population that thinks they're liberal, but they live (and spend) like conservatives.
No wait, never mind, I love the New Yorker.
Good points.
Anonymous - I heard a lot of simliar comments about AV/SH this summer, from both visitors and residents. I know many people hate the new Princeton renovation, and I'm not a big fan of knocking down those old buildings to put up whatever they put up. LBI is the same way. I made the final decision not to include LBI in my book when I heard people call it the poor man's Hamptons, so I pushed it up to Central Jersey (I know Steve will disagree with me). I wonder what shore town the artist is talking about -- probably not AV/SH.
Steve - The New Yorker is a great work to study for writers. Those 'Talk of the Town' shorts are (usually) so well done, and I look forward to seeing how the authors take something that seems so simple and makes it so interesting. I don't always agree with what they have to say, but it's interesting and why I subscribe. And because of the cartoons, of course!
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