The bus dropped me off in Asbury Park, just a few blocks away from Ocean Grove, where I was visiting relatives.
Ocean Grove is famous for its high concentration of Victorian houses, many of which retain the original (and highly ornate) gingerbread details. There's also a high concentration of gays/gay couples who of course are renowned when it comes to obsessive restoration. People often ask why the gays are so artistic: my theory is that it's a way to compensate for the often extreme amounts of hatred showered down upon us by society, or a way to control at least one aspect of our lives when so much in the larger, more public spheres is rooted in discrimination, hostility, and unfairness. As if to say: "You might despise me, but I'm going to restore the effing shit out of this house in ways that you can't even dream of, and guess what there's nothing you can do about it." You might say there's even an element of vengeance in this kind of restoration, or that it's a way to remove yourself from the present. "This world is horrible, so I'm going to create a better one." Often this process is unconscious, and you might not even realize why you're being obsessive until well after the fact. Non-homosexuals can also suffer/benefit from these same motivations, obviously, but I think it's less universal and often rooted in personal relationships (the stereotype of the obsessive wife with the emotionally distant husband, for example), whereas every gay knows what it means to be hated for who you are.
Except for the cars and telephone wires, it was easy to imagine that we has been transported back in time.
I tried not to photograph the cars, however.
We walked to the beach, where Ocean Grovers were relaxing in the sun on what was a clear and unusually warm day for the end of November.
A seagull was perched on a lamppost with a glass fixture that looked very old, or at least was a very good reproduction. Stephen and I had bought very similar fixtures from an antique store a few years ago.
On the way back from the beach we passed more restored houses. It seems strange that anyone in favor of higher real-estate values would be opposed to gay marriage, since the two always go hand-in-hand. Recently I read a study showing how those cities with the highest numbers of openly gay people also had maintained the highest real-estate values over the last fifty years. (Actually I made up this study, but I'm sure it's true.) Basically, if you're a town/city/village in the economic doldrums, you should basically be rolling out the red carpet for the gays.
Ocean Grove also has the best curbs I've ever seen.
Many of the trees still had their leaves, which were glowing red in the late-afternoon sun.
The sun was replaced by the twin orbs of the oncoming headlights.
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11/27/2011
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Music: Death Culture at Sea and Saturnine
Listen or download songs and records from my indie-rock past with Saturnine here and Death Culture at Sea here.
Music Video: Remembrance of Things Past
Watch the rock opera Remembrance of Things Past written and performed by Saturnine and Frances Gibson, starring Bennett Madison and Sheila McClear.
Video: The Chaos Detective
The Chaos Detective is a series about a man searching for 'identity' as he completes assignments from a mysterious organization. Watch the first episode (five parts) on YouTube.
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