Friends of Aesthetic Realism
       Countering the Lies
“It’s a lie, and not a well told one at that.
  It grins out like a copper dollar.”

                  —Abraham Lincoln

Statement by Gina Buffone, Construction Project Manager

I am an Italian American, proud to be studying to teach Aesthetic Realism. I can say, based on my experience studying in Aesthetic Realism classes, that the statement on Michael Bluejay’s web page, that “the overwhelming majority” of people who teach and study Aesthetic Realism are Jewish, is simply untrue and bizarre. Of course there are many people studying Aesthetic Realism whom I don’t know (I’m sure I know many more than Michael Bluejay does); but even if this statement were true, what significance does it serve? The persons I attend classes with are diverse and representative human beings, from different parts of the country and the world, from different walks of life and backgrounds. One of the reasons I love Aesthetic Realism is because it is completely democratic, non-prejudiced or biased in any way. If this were the worst lie on the Bluejay site it would just be silly, but the web page has ugly, hurtful lies from beginning to end; and I take personal offense at being accused of being a cult member. I hate it that a person who hasn’t been in an Aesthetic Realism class since the age of two considers himself an expert on the subject!

And in the second website, the accusations that Aesthetic Realism discourages bettering oneself in “non-Aesthetic Realism ways,” and is against ambition and accomplishments, are the farthest things from the truth. I have had the pleasure to study Aesthetic Realism for the past 17 years. Other than the classes I’ve taken over these years—which include poetry, acting, anthropology, the visual arts, music, and education—at the Aesthetic Realism Foundation, I’ve also taken classes in Italian at the New School, architecture at Pratt University, as well as cooking, drumming, and dance. Aesthetic Realism has expanded my mind—strengthening my previous loves for art and architecture, and widening my interest in the world as such.

I’m interested in things I never imagined I would be and am more interested now in what’s happening in the world and current events than I ever was—and that includes my wanting justice to come to other people. Since the age of 18, I wanted to join the Peace Corps and do some good in the world, but I never took the desire too far. This ambition of mine was encouraged and propelled into action as I learned that wanting to be fair to things and other people was not just altruistic, but the one way to take care of myself. I grew to have a passion against homelessness and now have a job that has been a dream of mine since college: working at a not-for-profit housing organization in behalf of justice to people. This is not to say, nor does Aesthetic Realism say in any way, that every person should have a job such as this, but for me, as an individual, it was a hope finally achieved.

Commenting on just one more of the ridiculous lies on the web: it is absurd to say that people who study Aesthetic Realism are watched—“check[ed] up” on “during work hours.” I am a single woman living alone and my workday is very busy. The only people who “check up” on me (if one chooses to call it that) are my work colleagues. Occasionally, I speak with family or friends during work hours, some of whom study Aesthetic Realism, some of whom don’t. It is usually to confirm or make plans, which I imagine most of America is in the habit of doing—how strange!!!

A person with a certain purpose can twist just about anything they wish and present it as sinister; but in this case, lying about a person and body of knowledge that has done nothing but benefit people’s lives in big and beautiful ways, including mine, is the most despicable thing I know.

With much more to say,

Gina Buffone

READ WHAT'S TRUE—
  • Read statements by many individual men and women
  • Reviews from the NY Times Book Review, Saturday Review, Library Journal, Harlem Times, Popular Photography, and more
  • The poetry by Eli Siegel, so greatly respected by William Carlos Williams and many others
  • Read lectures by Eli Siegel on subjects as diverse as literature, love, & economics
  • What is learned in classes taught by Ellen Reiss

  • A Little Anthology of Comments (Some Funny We Hope) on Further Misrepresentations.

    >> Continue

    "On the Pleasures and Advantages of Anonymity: An Ode"—
    >> Continue

    A Dramatic and Cautionary Tale about an Unknown and Very Unimportant Person

    There once was a young man of ancient Greece named Milos. And Milos knew Socrates. He did not like Socrates because the great man asked far too many questions.... >> Continue
    Statements by Friends of Aesthetic Realism

    Barbara Allen
    Frances Amello
    Jerry Amello
    Christopher Balchin
    Mara Bennici
    David Berger
    Alice Bernstein
    Rachel J. Bernstein
    Barbara Buehler
    Gina Buffone
    Beverly Sue Burk
    Maureen Butler
    Jeffrey Carduner
    Margot Carpenter
    Lori & Robert Colavito
    Albert Corvino
    Nicholas Corvino
    Henry D'Amico
    Matthew D’Amico
    Ernest DeFilippis
    Vincent DiPietro
    Carol Driscoll
    Donita Ellison
    Anne Fielding
    Lorraine Galkowski, RN
    Pamela Goren
    Edward Green
    Avi Gvili
    Ames Huntting
    Mark Lale
    Dale Laurin
    Rose Levy
    Timothy Lynch
    Lorraine Mahoney, RN
    Derek Mali
    Glenn Mariano
    Haroldo Mauro Jr.
    Joseph Meglino
    Pauline Meglino
    Allan Michael
    Marvin Mondlin
    Robert Murphy
    Michael J. Nadeau
    Meryl Nietsch-Cooperman
    Ruth Oron
    Arnold Perey, PhD
    Lauren Phillips
    Jack Plumstead
    Maria Plumstead
    Rosemary Plumstead
    Rev. Wayne Plumstead
    Marcia Rackow
    Zvia Ratz
    Ann Richards
    Anthony C. Romeo
    Leila Rosen
    Rhonda Rosenthal
    Sally Ross
    Claudia Senatore
    Sheldon Silverman
    Jeffrey Sosinsky, MD
    Barbara Spetly McClung
    Joseph Spetly
    Faith K. Stern
    John Stern
    Arlene Sulkis
    Devorah Tarrow
    Jaime R. Torres, DPM
    Dennis L. Tucker
    Francine Weber
    Steve Weiner
    Miriam Weiss
    Carrie Wilson

    Also see the Aesthetic Realism Online Library  the Aesthetic Realism Foundation  Terrain Gallery  What scholars, writers, artists & teachers are saying  the Aesthetic Realism Theatre Company  & Links

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