the rix mix

Labels: motel hotel, New Jersey, postcard, Rahway NJ

For poets, an elaboration on something Picasso said:



It seems like every day I read a poem on Facebook that's "poetic" but it's only  a simple observation that should have stayed a simple observation. Transform or stop. Otherwise it's just fancy bulldoodle.

I recently read a small collection of poems by Adele Kenny, What Matters {pdf file], filled with trans-formative moments.  I've known Adele  for decades, but I kept her at a distance. I think I recognized a darkness in her similar to mine but which we handled in very different ways.    Adele was serious, orderly, responsible, had very cute, well-groomed, well-behaved Yorkshire Terriers, the  distinctive way she handled her environment.  She's also an expert in rare Staffordshire ceramics.  I was flippant, emotionally messy & guarded at the same time, improvisory, distracted, undisciplined, & if an expert in anything, it was rescuing scratchy, abused flea market records that I treated hardly any better than their original owners.  Adele's poem account of her childhood in a white, working class neighborhood of Rahway NJ, literally squeezed between chemical plants,  Route One, a railroad & a polluted river  was probably the most enjoyable poem I read last year, in a book I very much enjoyed reading all the way through.

Labels: New Jersey, poem, Rahway NJ, what I'm reading

The ivy-covered building on the left is my former residence. This is  more serious flooding than what wiped out Rahway Public Library a decade ago. Rahway has always been a flood-prone town. Historically, the worst flooding occurred in the downtown area where the river becomes a tidal estuary,  but a massive Army Corps of Engineers levee project largely alleviated that.  Now due to upriver development & increased runoff,  many of Rahway's residential streets go underwater & more homes are flooded.

Labels: Rahway NJ, weather

Irving Street yesterday in front of my former residence in Rahway NJ. My building is on the right,  surrounded by water, the branch of Rahway River  swiftly flowing  right to left between the buildings on the left & down to rejoin the river. Once the river comes over the bank on a street behind my old apt building & flows through St. Mark's RC Church parking lot,  what you see here occurs in under five minutes. (photo by Kimberlee Garland Cavarretta)
 River flooded twice during the ten years I resided there.  This photo doesn't quite capture it.

Labels: Rahway NJ, weather

Labels: New Jersey, postcard, Rahway NJ

Labels: motel hotel, New Jersey, postcard, Rahway NJ

Joe Renna & me crashing a dinner-party at a Rahway restaurant about ten years ago. It was a semi-formal affair, but we were bored & the bar had Killian's Irish Red on tap,  so we wandered over there.  What were they gonna do, throw the bums out? At the time, I was the only "artist" residing in Rahway's "Arts District."

Labels: photograph, Rahway NJ

I'm one of the people slapped back to reality by this growing environmental horror with no end in sight. When Obama opened up the East Coast south of Jersey to oil & gas exploration, I'd already become resigned that it was probably  unavoidable in the present political climate if America was seeking energy independence. We're not quitting our oil addiction anytime soon, & our dependence on the House of Saud & other awful regimes warps our foreign policy, & both China & India are competing now for the supply. Jerseyans tend to be rather naive about the sources of  the energy we use.  Taxes are high but our gasoline is always among the least expensive.   But this disaster is the result of one, only one, oil well owned by one oil company. It can happen anywhere there's an offshore well, & that it's a so far unique occurrence doesn't matter.  Neither BP nor our government was prepared for this. Surely, the worse case scenario of an out of control 5000 foot deep underwater well had been foreseen & either dismissed as unlikely, alarmist, or too expensive to prepare for, probably the latter. Yet, the possibility of failure, even inevitability, was present, just as it was & still is for the inadequate levees of New Orleans.

I'm not familiar with the natural wonders of the Gulf coast. I can, however, imagine 100 miles of Jersey's ocean coast blackened with oil, & floating barriers strung across all our inlets - indeed, across the mouths of the Hudson & Delaware Rivers. I've seen them put in place for small spills at marinas & barge docks. Our tidal wetlands reach deep into northern Jersey, the Hackensack meadowlands. In Rahway, a town no one now thinks of as a port city, I resided next to the upper reaches of a true tidal estuary, a river only about 20 feet wide at that point but which rose & fell on schedule twice a day, where thousands of eels were occasionally chased several miles upstream by schools of  striped bass migrating into Arthur Kill, the waterway between Jersey & Staten Island. A few hundred yards downriver were fat blue crabs you could see crawling around on the bottom when the water was flowing clear. Rahway is, in a very real sense, "down the shore." If the river were dredged as it used to be, the new luxury condos downtown could include slips for small boats. & all that could be coated with crude. Only a handful of people I knew in town, mostly those who surf fished on Jersey beaches & crabbed the bays, were accurate observers of the tidal part of Rahway River.

Unlike after Katrina, I feel strangely cool toward Louisianians themselves. They sold out so long ago to the politicians who sold out to Big Oil, & have been so ruinous to their own coastal environment,  so distrustful of federal government, that one wonders why they're shocked. Gov. Bobby Jindal's calling in NFL champs New Orleans Saints to "save the coast" at the same time he's condemning Obama's prudent six-month moratorium on new drilling,  suggesting that oil companies will abandon the State in that brief period &  new regulations (which he might oppose anyway) could be written & instituted before there's a full understanding of  what went wrong & how it can be prevented in the future. Someone ought to show the guy a complete map of the Gulf of Mexico. Louisiana is a state that gets far more federal tax dollars back than it contributes. Like Alaska.

Labels: in the news, jersey shore, Rahway NJ

Jeff Jotz turns 40 today. Happy Birthday, Jeff.

I "met" Jeff on, or shortly after, January 8,1993. I know this by looking up the release date for the Elvis Presley Commemorative stamp.

On my weekly WFMU radio show, I was chatting about an Elvis impersonator I'd seen performing in the lobby of the Rahway NJ Post Office. I was pleased with the act, & hoped the post office would feature live entertainment on a regular basis related to commemorative stamps, or just to amuse patrons.

When I went to music, the phone rang. Most of my callers either complained that I talked too much or requested I play music completely different than what they were hearing. But this caller wanted only to converse with the DJ. He resided in Rahway, & he also had seen & enjoyed the Elvis impersonator. His name was Jeff Jotz, & he was the editor of & did half the reporting for The Rahway Progress, a weekly. He did not identify himself as a liberal, a Democrat, a competitive swimmer, or a Notre Dame alum. I found these out later. I also found out later he had a great girlfriend who read poetry.

During our chat, which went on for awhile, I boldly asked if he could use any original writing for his paper, on topics like, say, Elvis impersonators at the post office. He almost jumped through the phone. Filling space in a newspaper for a town with some very slow news weeks was a constant challenge, & he suggested I write something, send it along, & if it had possibilities he'd let me know. I did, although it was several months before I got around to it, & he printed it. Jeff wisely left that underpaid job shortly thereafter. His girlfriend (now wife) also moved into my apt building. I loved Liz immediately.

Jeff is in a rarefied group of "coulda been WFMU DJs." There are probably a smaller number of these than of actual WFMU DJs. They're people who went through all or part of the audition process, even did some shows, but for various reasons couldn't stick around, most commonly due to the inflexible hours of day jobs that prevented them taking a regular entry level late night or morning show before WFMU had the options of pre-recorded Internet-only shows & podcasts. These people are always distinguished by the range & peculiarities of their musical tastes. But the shared characteristic of WFMU DJs isn't what we like, or that what we like may seem strange to some, but that we are confidently, completely unapologetic about it. It's a test one must, & unselfconsciously, pass to become a WFMU DJ. Jeff passed it. Notre Dame didn't prepare Jeff for it, but growing up in Jersey helped.

Labels: New Jersey, Rahway NJ, WFMU

Pleasant surprise, young co-worker from the office at Pearl Arts & Crafts store popped out of nowhere & found me on Facebook. To show I remembered her, I posted this snapshot from Rahway River Park, which she had liked so much she took it away from me & tacked it up by her desk.
***
That was long ago in technology years, toward the end of Clinton era, when some of younger employees left their PCs online all night to download a single rock song, then still a novel way to get music, dial up was common & broadband prohibitively expensive for many. This photo was cheaply processed by Kodak to print & floppy disk, a nice convenience despite the lower picture quality, it's always been in the pc photo folder. What we have now are impressive but recognizable improvements on what existed then, we're not much surprised by anything. But the Internet sits smack in the middle of the 90's, a geek topic at the start of the decade, revolutionary at the end.
***
I was at least one layer of clothing short of comfort outside when the wind kicked up tonight.

Labels: photograph, Rahway NJ

700 Chrysler & 1,100 GM dealerships. Maybe a few less after court battles & tradeoffs. Maybe we could have seen this coming 20 years ago. We knew there were too many, the companies were bloated at the retail end. It was a mystery to me how so many managed to stay profitable.

The internet was undermining them anyway. A saavy buyer can go to a dealer, find a new model in stock, do some online research, jiggle the figures on rebates & extras. come up with a firm quote, e mail it to the dealer: "This is what I'll pay, here or at some other dealer." Smaller dealers encourage it because it helps them compete with the giant competitors out on the highway. But the smaller dealers don't offer free sushi & jacuzzis while your oil is being changed. 90% of what a new car salesperson does can be replaced by computer kiosk in the showroom.

We're seeing the end of an era that actually ended long ago. We have reason to feel sad. But neither we nor the dealers have much reason to be surprised. It hurts that West End Chrysler ( locally known as West End Garage, the official name), landmark family-owned dealer in Rahway NJ, is on the hit list. West End has been in business since 1914. They were selling cars when Rahway was still building horse carriages & shipping them out on barges from docks downtown. Even now, old timers in Rahway wouldn't think of buying a new Chrysler anywhere else. It's a quaint place - looks like a large garage. Small showroom, lot, & service area. I'd love to buy a Sebring Convertible GTC there. They'd probably throw me a party when I picked it up, with a Letter of Commendation from the Mayor & City Council. If West End could survive WWI, The Great Depression, WWII, & the 1970's, & could project making it through this troubled time, you'd think Chrysler would not only let the business stay in business, but proudly hold it up as living history & an example of corporate continuity.

Labels: Rahway NJ

I guess the mystery of the nurse I met at the supermarket Wednesday will remain unsolved. At the time, she asked how to get in touch, I fumbled in my wallet & gave her my card. All the cards have my e mail address & blog url, some have my phone number on them, some do not. That one did, because she left a message on my machine with a cell phone number, a wrong number, which wasn't deliberate because she didn't need to a leave message at all. I'm curious. I wanted to ask her to explain how she knew me. I was expecting she would have only a very vague recollection, & quickly cut to the likely real reason for the call, maybe inviting me to a local evangelical church. It's often enough that, when people are friendly to me.

I'm two persons. There's the solitary, mindin'-my-own-business person, a fairly familiar figure at the 7-11, & at the branch library & stores in downtown Elmora; & there's the internet person. It's very difficult to get the internet person into the picture. Even my art teacher never came here, although I told him many times that he'd find photos, poems, & my amateur attempts at graphic design. I was astonished when another student in the art class looked around my web pages. But she was by far the best artist in the class; the Chair of the Kean University arts dept was trying to get her to enroll there when she finished community college. The internet makes me complicated. In my physical world, I'm accustomed to not revealing much about myself. When I lived in Rahway, at least I could walk over to the art gallery, & the director & I, if he had some free time, might walk down to Mr. Apple Pie restaurant, drink coffee, chat about paintings & jazz, & not have to explain ourselves to each other, & if the Mayor happened to see us through the window, he'd at least think, "There's the artists from the Arts District."

Labels: Elizabeth NJ, Rahway NJ

In the morning the crumbs were gone,
a dozen birds chirping in the tree
by the parking lot, a woman
yelling at her child to get ready
for school,
.................one truck after another
rattling as it hit the pothole
on the bridge, a beach towel
crumpled on the fire escape -
it had been there all winter.

A daffodil leaning in a plastic cup
on the kitchen table, plucked from
a patch of dirt by a fire hydrant
the night before.

Labels: poem, Rahway NJ

A memorial service was held yesterday for one of Rahway's most highly regarded & remarkable residents, Jane Case Weaver, Janie, as some called her.

She was on her bicycle Sept. 11, going to get her hair cut, when she suffered a massive heart attack, and despite efforts to revive her at the intersection of West Scott and St. Georges avenues, she died, according to her daughter, Christina Weaver. Jane Weaver was 78.

Jane was the daughter of former NJ Senator Clifford Case, or as I consider him, "The last good Republican," another legendary Rahwayan. Jane Case Weaver was an enlightened, free-spirited soul, fought against the de facto segregation in Rahway when other white residents preferred to ignore it. When I moved to Rahway, I first encountered Jane riding her bicycle & wondered who she was. I was introduced to her & she never forgot my name. She will be mourned & missed.

Jane is peeking out second from left behind her father, next to husband Bill in this photo from Election Night 1960, Jane's daughter, Christina, lower right. (click to enlarge). That was my first campaign. My dad, a repug committeeman, had me delivering flyers around his district, preferable to the option of household chores.

Labels: obituary, Rahway NJ

Labels: New Jersey, postcard, Rahway NJ

Every year in New Jersey, a killer named Robert Zarinsky comes up for parole. He's in prison for murdering a teenage girl back in 1969. Well, murderers serve their time & go free. Except police all around Jersey have long been convinced that Zarinsky is a serial killer. They just haven't been able to put another murder on him. The killings happened long ago. They thought they had Zarinsky for shooting Rahway police officer Charles Bernoskie in 1958. Officer Bernoskie's death was still an open wound in Rahway when I moved there in 1990, a tragedy the police & the city were never going to forget. The case cracked in 1999 & they brought Zarinsky to trial in 2001, figuring on welding the prison doors shut on him. But after all those years, the prosecution's case had a little too much air in it. Bad news. Rahway police were certain they had their killer, & still are, so it's an open book but at least there was some emotional closure. The officer's widow won a civil suit against Zarinsky, then had to give the money back. It pissed everybody off. Zarinsky's prison hobby is studying law books. Reputedly, he's a good student. Bernoskie died in the line of duty, responding to the report of a burglary. That's the risk cops take every day. They carry guns. Bernoskie got to use his, & his aim, as it turned out, was true.

That left all the other unsolved murders. Defenseless young women.

Robert Zarinsky, a convicted murderer suspected in a string of unsolved killings, has been charged in the 1968 death of a Keansburg girl, according to the victim's sister.

Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis A. Valentin will announce later today that Zarinsky will be charged in the death of 13-year-old Jane Durrua, according to her sister, Joan Conway. She said authorities told her today of the charges.

"I've been waiting for this day for so many years. I have always believed it was Zarinsky," Conway said.
***
Jane Durrua was sexually assaulted and bludgeoned to death on her way home from school in November of 1968. Her killing was one of several cold cases reopened after Zarinsky was charged with Bernoskie's murder.

Labels: in the news, Rahway NJ

Labels: growing up, postcard, Rahway NJ

A funeral mass was held today for Mrs. Irene Dolinich. Mrs. D had a heart of inexhaustable kindness & charity. My sincerest condolences to her family, who best know her great soul.

Lovely eulogy in Star-Ledger by Sharon Adarlo.

Labels: Rahway NJ

Labels: nature, Rahway NJ

Amazingly, the fine for my 4 year old parking ticket was just about what I thought it should be, $76. It's unfair, really, that it got my license suspended & I still have more hoops to jump through. I also found a nifty baseball cap for a dollar at the rummage shop. But it was an enlightening visit to Rahway NJ in other ways. If you don't know Rahway, this probably won't mean anything. If you do, you'll know of what I am speaking.

Downtown Rahway is in the most awful shape it has ever been in my experience with it, which goes back over thirty years. I know enough of the story not to assign blame for the condition of the place when in fact there many specific somebodies one could blame & also nobody to blame. The current condition is perhaps temporary. Not so with what has irrecoverably changed.

Through decades of various states of struggle & even semi-decrepitude, downtown Rahway always retained a unique charm & attractiveness that was of the place, built into it. One could look at a photo of downtown Rahway from 100 years ago & feel at home in that picture. But to see it now is to know those qualities are forever gone & to realize that downtown Rahway will henceforth be ugly, in the sense that most Jersey downtowns are ugly, no matter what comes of it in the economic sense.

It is easy to live in Rahway & enjoy residing there without paying any attention to the downtown shopping district, which takes up only a fraction of the city's area. One might go downtown for the library, or to take care of a city hall matter, or use the post office, or see the Christmas Tree lighting, or catch a train at one end, or maybe go to the theater at the other end, & avoid it altogether the rest of the time. For a few years I lived about a 1/2 mile from downtown, worked in Woodbridge, & rarely ventured into the city center. When I moved to the edge of the downtown it became my neighborhood for a decade, I had a much closer relationship with it & saw the various social, economic & political energies that were at work & often competing with each other. None of the possibilities I expected actually happened. Downtown Rahway always seemed on the tipping point of some transformation that never occurred. What was occurring through market forces in the single home residential areas just didn't generate anything comparable downtown. This is very sad, because the downtown was reaching for something else for a long time. I have a pretty strong opinion on why this something else failed to happen, although the exact reasons elude me. It was a series of choices, events, business moves, risks & failures, even a fire or two, that slowly added up to the current desolation. On one hand, patience justifiably ran out among many business & property owners. On the other hand, there was not quite enough patience where it would have been beneficial to step back & resist tampering.

Ugliness alone has never dissuaded me from residing anywhere - for a start, New Jersey is generally unattractive; nearly all the good scenery is either blemished beyond repair or inaccessible on a daily basis. I lived in Linden for 12 years & I consider that entire city to be unredeemingly ugly, yet my street was somehow both pleasant & convenient. I lived in Butler & New Brunswick in the 70s, spent a lot of time in Atlantic City in the 60s, they were all ugly. My current address is ugly but if I walk two blocks I'm on a street I find quite appealing. In fact, the newer cul-de-sac suburbs spread out over former cow pastures & pinelands so highly desired by the middle-class are so ugly that I would never buy a home on them if I had the money to do so. I'd rather have a prefab tin box on a treeless street two blocks from the ocean. Anyway, most people who know of Rahway will always associate Rahway with a prison that's actually across the border in an ugly section of Woodbridge called Avenel. I'm more inclined to think of the two interesting rivers that run through it & meet where the tide stops, & I would recommend the city now for it's other virtues. But it has lost its truly original & historically pleasing downtown.

Labels: Rahway NJ