Category Archives: commentary

ERIE, PA.

civic commentary, classical music, commentary, dance, drama, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Erie, PA is an anomaly. You should visit.

Located in the northwest corner of the Commonwealth, well away from the rest of the populace, we are a perfect hub between Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo.

And, when I say “perfect”, I mean it.

We are a vacation destination. We have incredible beauty of nature, here. Our Presque Isle peninsula has eleven public beaches, with walking and biking trails, lagoons for canoes and paddleboats, a campground, warblers, coyote, fox, owl……and, on the lakefront, (“Bayfront”) at the foot of the central artery, its magnificent view blocked by a huge hotel and convention center and not nearly enough of anything else except two restaurants and a tower, there are, nevertheless: sailboat races.

We have the magnificent Erie Art Museum, the leader for Gallery Night at least twice per year for all 14 art galleries to strut their stuff. We have 5 dramatic theater companies (just saw AUGUST: Osage County, and ALL MY SONS, just three blocks from my house – both Broadway quality), 20 dance studios, 2 professional symphony orchestras (Erie Phil/Erie Chamber), the best a cappella choir on the east coast (Erie Renaissance Singers – go listen, at YouTube), and even film societies. Even live poetry readings! The best Jazz anywhere, endless rock bands. A casino and racetrack. An indoor water slide paradise. A huge amusement park. And, hundreds of restaurants, many of them privately owned featuring master chefs.

Yet, we are a distressed city. Go figure.

28% poverty rate. Among 100,000 total population, 4700 vacant housing units, 1900 abandoned (data revealed at a development symposium, attended last evening.) We used to be a thriving manufacturing center; yet, General Electric is dumping jobs like waste and the paper mill has long been gone, leaving behind toxic nickel plating and bronzing, and tool and die, and now three plastics plants likely pouring their poisons into the air and water (thankfully, not near me).

I have an air cleaner, and a filter on my heating system, and a radon mitigation sub slab system, and I never drink or cook with the tap water because we have as much lead (and, toluene) as Flint, MI.

But – we can buy the sweetest spring water. In 32 count bottles, it comes from NY state, sold at the local Tops market. And, everything we ever need is within a ten minute drive, or a twenty minute WALK. I’m serious.

So, if you are a visionary, come.

If you are a city planner, come.

If you are an environmentalist, come.

If you are an investor, please come.

Yes. Come visit.

We need you.

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© Ruth Ann Scanzillo     10/13/16

littlebarefeetblog.com

Cyber “School”.

arts education, civic commentary, commentary, Deep Questions, Uncategorized

Today is Monday.

For a majority of Americans, this particular Monday used to be called a holiday.

Yes; Columbus Day. Banks were closed. Post Offices were, too. And, all public school students and teachers had the day off.

Given any number of geo-social arguments that have ensued in the past couple decades, Christopher Columbus has become relegated to a lesser ran hero of American history.

Meantime, let’s ask a more important question: How many students will be going to school, today, and how many will be staying home….for school?

The first cyber school students I met were from the Southwest. Their parents had moved to the area to study osteopathic medicine at the local college. Brother and sister, they were the most outstanding students in their entire class of music students, singing in the mixed chorus, playing in the ensemble, and acting in the school drama production. They only attended public school for these sessions, because cyber education offered them no interactive, musically creative experiences.

Many friends of mine from childhood, women, mothers all, have chosen to home school their children. I trust each and every one of them to both follow their manual instructions to the letter, and complete all the requirements with implicit honesty. And, that is neither a pandering nor condescending statement.

But, what of the loopholes in these fledgling systems, designed to break public education and feed those whose first motive is protection of their children from the evils of “bad teachers” and “bad neighborhoods”?

How many, parents or children, have figured out how to game them?

I wonder.

Christopher Columbus, explorer, trader. He didn’t get here first, but he ended up with the largest chunk of historical credit, to date.

Here’s hoping we don’t lose yet another chunk of our history to educational fraud.

Happy Columbus Day.

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© Ruth Ann Scanzillo   10/10/16    All rights reserved.  Thank you.

littlebarefeetblog.com

SOCIAL MEDIA: It Was Supposed To Be A Party.

brain research, commentary, dance, drama, human behavior, humor, musicians, performance, photos, prose, psychology, social commentary, sociology, Uncategorized, , , , , ,

 

Dear Social Media:

[The ones who haven’t hidden my posts.]

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It’s been 7 years. Is this the itch?

Here’s what I think of our relationship. (Like a good therapy patient, I’ve made two lists): Good Stuff and Not So Good Stuff.

Good Stuff:

  • Re-acquaintance with old friends, remote family, DNA determined ancestors, and former students;

  • New friends, some special and close;

  • Community Bulletin Board announcements, including:

          a.) “In a ‘relationship'”; b.) marriages, c.) births; d.) pet acquisitions; e.) deaths;

  • Photos and video of fine art, music, dance, soccer goals, and drama;

  • Promotion of performance based events;

Not So Good Stuff:

  • False picture of the social landscape in the real world;

  • Subconscious drive to “keep up with the Jones’s”;

  • Political proselytizing, not always fact-based;

  • Passive-aggressive verbal warfare;

  • Flat out braggadocio;

Consequently, each of us has unwittingly submitted to a cinematic characterization of ourselves that distorts public perception.

The Introvert, Extrovert and Ambivert: It’s a @#$% Party!

Introverts rarely post; they read, and draw conclusions. Extroverts enter one liners, then leave the house to actually go and be with their people. Ambiverts, caught between creating in print and communicating with intent, post excessively – leaving themselves wide open to extrapolation and interpolation, only to wonder why cliques shun them in public.

The Interpretation

We have come to interpret reactions to our persona on social media with far too much of the alternate angst, delusion, and regret. The Blocking Feature has been deadly, cutting off all hope of public reconciliation; it’s as if that 3 foot barrier in three dimensions has taken on an anti-gravity shield, distinct from any currently being employed by the alien civilization presently closest in proximity (sic) to earth.

And — how many of us knew it was just a @#$% party!?

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© Ruth Ann Scanzillo  9/30/16    – All rights those of the author. Thanks!

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