so here we are...

On Monday, I will be leaving New Jersey and starting a new chapter of my life in Chicago. I'll be going to graduate school there for biomedical visualization (which is a fancy way of saying "medical illustration," which is, y'know, drawing kidneys and stuff). I will be ceasing my daily photo activities. You will, however, still be able to find me on Snapshot Optimism, an occasional photoblog that I'll be keeping up, as well as JosyDoodle, where I'll show off my kidney drawings and stuff.

I am prone to enthusiastically starting projects, followed by enthusiastically forgetting about them two or six weeks later. But here, I wanted to prove that I could keep the ball rolling on something (that wasn't immediately crucial to my life, like work or school). With the exception of a few short out-of-town excursions, I've posted every single day since December 14, 2006--which, including today, makes a total of 606 posts on MCDP and 475 here on OTDP (which only started 4/30/07). I've loved it, I've hated it, I've been super-involved, and I've cared less, but I did it. I think I've accomplished what I set out to do here; I can only hope you've enjoyed the ride and maybe even learned something about Monmouth County, NJ. :)

Tomorrow will be my last (and 607th/476th) post.

I'll miss these blogs.

doomed

OMG ALIENS ARE COMING TO PROBE ME!!!

...Either that or it's the underside of a Belmar streetlight.

gull 2

This is not the first gull-on-a-lamppost that I've photographed... but at least the lamppost is prettier this time.

boardwalkin' and streetlampin'

(Click on any photo to view it larger.)

This past weekend, I took a walk/jog/leisurely photographic tour down part of the Jersey shore boardwalk, from south Asbury Park to north Belmar. It's about 2.7 miles, and I set foot in 5 different towns. (Shewd observers will note that I have no photograph of the fifth town, Bradley Beach, which is located right between Ocean Grove and Avon-by-the-Sea. Guess what? Its street lights look exactly like Ocean Grove's. The only thing different is the fancy red brick/stone boardwalk.)

The POINT here is to show the different streetlights you'd see as you cross from town to town. I just think it's kind of interesting. Oh- and if you want to know what town you're looking at, just hover your cursor over each photo. The title will tell you where you are.

These photographs, all of which look north, were taken between 9:23AM and 9:57AM; here is the route I took. (Unfortunately, if you click on that link, it will only appear as the furthest zoom possible ["Oh look, it's AN ENTIRE WORLD MAP"], so you need to drag the +/- slider up to about 4-5 notches from the top [as zoomed-in as possible].)

snow!

This is the reason that everything-- "everything" being Monmouth University classes after 6:00 and my band rehearsal-- was cancelled this evening.

No, New Jersey isn't totally unfamiliar with dealing with snow. But this is the first "real" snow we've had all winter, so we need to shake the rust out of the salt machines and snowplows.

(Those of you who've had 4 feet of snow in your area and object to me calling this a "real" snow... I'm sorry. I feel for you. Move to New Jersey.)

lights

I know this image is a little abstract for this sort of photoblog, but it's kind of pretty, isn't it?

tagalong

Behind Monmouth Mall, near Lord & Taylor.

globes

One of the boardwalk streetlights of Avon-by-the-Sea. The neat thing about driving down Ocean Avenue (which runs right next to the boardwalk) is that each seaside town has its own unique streetlights... it's a fun way to tell what town you're in.

by night

Abandoned parking lot at the Cedar Drive School in Colts Neck.

It's a little eerie--before Daylight Savings, you couldn't FIND a place to park at 6:45, 'cos there was a soccer game (or something) going on. People had to park illegally or circle the lot until someone finally left.

gull

Walking through the parking lot, some squawking caught my ear.

black friday

After a delightfully warm Thanksgiving, America now gets to celebrate BLACK FRIDAY (which is absolutely nothing like Good Friday. I always get 'em confused).

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is an INSANE shopping day. Some stores open at 4:00AM; the rest open at 5 or 6:00 at the latest--and people are actually THERE at that time before dawn! There are sales. There is traffic. People go absolutely CRAZY to get bargains on their Christmas shopping.

Personally, I try to stay off the streets (and away from malls!) as much as possible.

rainlight 2

The boardwalk isn't always warm and sunny.

beach

A blustery day at Ocean Grove.

(It's actually been clear for the past few days, so take this approximation of the weather with a grain of salt.)

(The squiggles on the right are kites.)

(35mm)

jughandles (or: jersey shore culture, part 2)

Jersey traffic is INSANE.

There are two reasons for this.

First of all, New Jersey is one of the primary homes to a traffic phenomenon known as the jughandle. (They may call these "cloverleaf" intersections elsewhere, but we Jerseyans know better.) Because traffic engineers sometimes choose to utilize jughandles and sometimes DON'T, our traffic patterns make no sense. Take this particular intersection at Rt-35(N-S) and Deal Rd(E-W), for example.



1. Traffic heading west can make a normal left or right turn at the traffic light from the corresponding lane. (Fig. 1)

2. Traffic heading east* must keep right, go THROUGH the intersection, and take a jughandle (bottom right circle-thing) in order to make a left; to make a right, it's necessary to take the exit from the right lane (bottom left diagonal road) BEFORE the intersection and merge onto the south (downward) road. (Fig. 2)

3. Traffic heading north must take the one-way quadrant ramp (I'm making up names here, but it's the bottom right diagonal road) from the right lane before the intersection NO MATTER WHICH WAY IT'S TURNING. The vehicle simply makes its left or right* turn a hundred feet east of the main intersection. (Fig. 3)

4. Traffic heading south must keep right, go THROUGH the intersection, and take a jughandle (bottom left circle-thing) in order to make a left*; to turn right, traffic can make a normal right turn (though not on red, a rule which does NOT apply to the west-bound normal right turns). (Fig. 4)


Note: in all figures, red = right turn, blue = left turn.
Fig. 1: Fig. 2:

Fig. 3: Fig. 4:

Locals are in the know about all these ridiculous patterns. So the second reason for crazy Jersey traffic is because the Bennies can't figure any of it out and SCREW EVERYTHING UP.



* If you're heading east and you think you've maneuvered past the intersection without a problem... a couple hundred feet down the road at the next light, the right lane suddenly turns into a right-turn-only lane without any warning, which leads to a whole 'nother set of traffic problems.

rainlight

I love this phenomenon. I didn't capture it very well, but I love it.


(Cross-posted to MCDP)