It's a beautiful day in Scranton...

Yes, it's true. Just when I thought the gray freezing cold days would never end, Scranton has the nerve to bust out with all the flowers and green grass a Marylander could hope for. Even better -- NEPA boasts some seriously beautiful, cloudless days in the warm months while most Marylanders are living in a suffocating sauna-like hellhole made of bricks. So yeah, let's just say that now it's 70 degrees (it can't last, can it?) I'm not hatin on my new home so much. Here's some other nice things going on this spring -- my husband has landed a drummer spot in a very good and active band in town. This is incredible news for me because it will: 1) get him to stop hating my guts for moving him here, away from all his Baltimore band buddies; 2) keeps him busy as hell with practicing and playing shows, again, good for stopping the hate, 3) give me something to do on the weekends, not to mention having an excuse to attend all-ages shows without the embarrassment of just being an old-lady fan (or, on my good days, "sexy grandma"); and 4) give both of us an opportunity to meet some insanely nice and funny locals that we can relate to. And I'll just say having hung out only a few times with his bandmates, these are some seriously "good folk." So even though this town is suffocatingly tiny compared to what I'm used to, I do appreciate the fact that Scranton peeps are excited to be seeing some new faces in town -- I'm even trying to make that face less dour (god forbid I start making the infamous Dunmore "frown smile"). Oh yeah, and did I mention that this band plays out of town a lot? More chances to waste money in cities I can't afford (see previous blog). Anyhow, that's it for now. Hubby's band plays a ton this weekend so I've got to go press my fancy jeans in anticipation.

Philadelphia or Scranton?

I just got back from a weekend in Philadelphia today. One way to survive living in a new, unfamiliar city is to regularly leave that city for more familiar ones. This is something that I have done on a regular basis since moving to Scranton and is probably the reason I know so few people in the town I live in. It's actually a somewhat bad idea, considering that the cities I spend most of my tourist dollars in are New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore -- all cities that have a relatively mild climate in comparison to NEPA (you mean there are leaves on the trees here already?? come on!) and excellent opportunities for wasting money and time. I guess that's not a bad thing in and of itself, but it makes you terribly angry that your own town doesn't have these things. Now, I don't want to be a sad Scranton transplant to bitch and moan about how much better it is "back in the big city", but damn, it just is. I guess this is the impetus for this blog in general, which is to get over all the cognitive dissonance I have over leaving Baltimore (I've been calling it my "mourning period" -- or perhaps I should say I sat shiva for at least six months -- I know, I know -- I'm the worst Jew ever for not doing it for at least a year). Anyhow, perhaps I should take a moment to make a short list on the good things I've found since moving to Scranton:

1) I have a very large yard and windows in EVERY room in my house. It's my country house! However, I still live about 10 blocks from downtown Scranton.

2) I got to get rid of the club on my car. "Crime" is not much of a problem in Scranton. Some people here make mention of a Scranton "crime problem" and I think it's really cute when they do.

3) I don't usually experience traffic. However, when you live in Baltimore City, you pretty much avoid it as long as you are not tricked into leaving the city or going to the suburbs.

4) I seem like a tough girl because I lived for a long time "where they make the Wire". No one in Baltimore gives you props for that -- mostly they want to know if you've had a gun pulled on you; then you get props. The answer for me is "no".

5) Scranton people are super, duper excited about their art/music/dj/restaurant projects here. I feel ashamed for being such a cynical, jaded jerk when I'm around these people. Since Baltimore became the new Williamsburg it was very easy to not be involved in getting anything interesting off the ground. Being over 30 makes you super lazy about these things (for so many reasons), however, Scrantonians of all ages are busy making their city more interesting for themselves and for whomever wishes to join in. That aspect of life here actually impresses me and I hope that I don't come off as some grandma raining on their parade.

Well, that's not a long list but that's all I got for now. Philadelphia was fun, fun, fun but I don't live there and don't know if I'll ever. Oh yeah, and it made me even more confused about who to vote for in the Pennsylvania primary election. It was Obama country! I guess I'll be blogging about that next...after April 22.

Welcome to The Scrizzy

I am not a "blogger" by trade nor am I that interested in reading blogs. That is, until I moved to a city where there is very little information on what to do with one's spare time or how to meet up with other like-minded folk. Even before my husband and I moved to Scranton in July of 2007, I spent a lot of time searching on the internet for ANY information on the town, including neighborhoods to live in, restaurants to eat at, and how to survive in what can seem like a very closed town to newcomers. Scranton hasn't quite caught on to the "live and work in the city" campaigns of other big rust-belt cities, and it has been a continuing frustration to find out information as simple as a trustworthy restaurant review. One of the first restaurant reviews I read in a not-to-be-mentioned weekly rag actually used the phrase "icky roe" to review the food in a sushi restaurant. Sigh.

Scranton hasn't exactly welcomed us with open arms and relentless excitement that she just gained two very reluctant Baltimore transplants. However, this blog will be a way for me to share information on Scranton's (and NEPA) cultural and university events, restaurants, and shopping, not to mention a great outlet for general musings on how I am acculturating to my new city. I know that most of what I may put on here is already common knowledge to Scrantonians, however, there really is no reliable place to find out about some of these "hidden gems" outside of the word of mouth. And trust me, when you don't know many people in town, the word of mouth system is extremely limiting. So, for what it's worth: The Scrizzy.