Her laughter is my best medicine....
Category: Blog
Weigh-In Wednesday – Stunning Websites without Stunning Images
I saw an add for Wix. Wix annoys me. They promote their services as “do it yourself for free,” and try to convince people they can just build a wow-factor website in under 15 minutes at no cost.
Eight days later, most users have an incomplete website that looks like a 5th grader built it in 1998 using Microsoft Frontpage and Paint, and on this monstrosity there’s a Wix advertisement in just about every corner that pops up whenever your mouse cursor gets within 30 pixels of it.
Weigh-In Wednesday – Something Missing
#PHOTOGRPAHYWITHOUTLIMITS
I came up with that tag a number of years ago in a way to express that I’m kind of a go-anywhere, do-anything for a good shot kind of photographer. Obviously, I have limits, but they’re usually based more on how can I get the shot AND keep my camera safe? Because if I can’t retrieve the shot, then it’s not worth the shot.
At the start, someone believed it was in response to a threat lodged by a former colleague that I would never take photos at an event in WNY again. That was a silly threat, with no chance of being enacted, so I wasn’t really worried. Since then I have photographed countless events. I can try to count them. Shall we?
World’s Largest Disco, multiple times. Witches Ball, every year. Pride Parade, on behalf of 2 different organizations. Cupid Undies Run. Carley’s Club fundraiser. St. Paddy’s Day Parades. Not to mention dozens of Yelp community events, Buffalo Without Borders, and thanks to my relationship, First Night, Steam Punk Fest, and a dozen other events she has performed at.
Weigh-In Wednesday – All This, and More
For those who need to hear it – the nicest people generally get a lot more hardship thrown into their lives. It is one of the things that makes them the nicest people.
They know what it’s like to struggle. They’ve fought battles, and those battles have built their uncompromising character. They have empathy for the struggles of others because they’ve struggled, and don’t want to see others struggling. They have big hearts, and tend to be extremely generous because in the end everything they’ve fought through teaches them the most important things aren’t money, or material possessions, but love, and seeing those they love live fulfilling lives. They understand true morality isn’t found in a book of fables, but in the way you treat someone who can do nothing for you in return.
This concluded my text based, non graphical internet inspirational meme.
Weigh-In Wednesday – Walking The Line
No, the Red Party isn’t our local communists. Let’s be honest, most communists are only called communists because that’s how the conservative right wants to define anyone with socially altruistic ideals, and demonize them for it. This Red Party is about raising funds for local organizations that provide services to underrepresented populations in Buffalo, specifically women in situations that may prevent them from being able to afford, or procure sanitary products when necessary. This is actually a major problem for many populations, whether the women are members of refugee groups that make it to America with little more than the clothes on their back, homeless women trying to get by, or women escaping domestic violence relying on the help of others to figure out where to go next.
It is a serious social issue, and for women in these situations, it is a matter of healthcare, and dignity.
Weigh-In Wednesday – Staying Steady
I feel more empathy for the families of our fallen. No one has a child with the hopes that they lose that child at a young age in a meaningless war. I spent more time on Memorial day remembering war is something we should have evolved away from eons ago, but resource ownership still dominates our societies, and the common people are the pawns of the wealthy. We still allow ideologies to control our societies, instead of focusing on what is best for humanity, and our planet. Oh yeah, and it’s all pretty meaningless if we destroy the livability of our planet, yet a lot of you keep voting for war-mongering, religion-bent, science-denying sociopaths based on stupid ideological platforms. That is a war that will eventually kill more people than you can even consider…
Maybe the best way to remember those who sacrificed their lives for our “nation” would be to learn the lessons we should have learned from those wars in the first place, and work at making our nation a better place, instead of what we’re doing now… otherwise, what did they sacrifice for?
Shaving a Bit Close to the Bone
When you’re at that age, so few people have the ability communicate such complex feelings; the dark, and dismal thoughts that you know won’t result in understanding, but a trip to the doctor, or worse. People only hear what they want to hear. You’re supposed to do what you’re told. You don’t often get options, and these days, what you get are a diagnosis, a label, and drugs. We understand more but everything is a diagnosis, and the end goal is to make everyone a “productive member of society” rather than a healthy person, who is right with him or herself. Suicide prevention is so often pasting a list of phone numbers on social media, when what people really need is empathy, listening, better healthcare, a hopeful future, love, and to know that they are important enough to others to get their time, their patience, and their best efforts at understanding each other. We’re told to take better care of ourselves: get a gym membership, eat healthier, drink 64-ounces of water every day! But no where in our society do we get told, you’re emotionally exhausted? Take a day off and nap, read a book, and talk to your friends – it’s ok! Feeling like you’re going to have a mental breakdown? Take time for yourself, and do something enjoyable. Focus on you, and what you need, not your job, or kids, or bills… it’s ok!
Weigh-In Wednesday – Banning the Bans
Religions just need to piss off from this planet entirely. I really don’t care what loopy fables you want to believe, what invisible being you want to worship, or what book you read it all from. You’re delusional. Delusions shouldn’t influence legislation, or even society. They should be treated like a disease, and eradicated as quickly as possible for the over-all health of our society.
We don’t need abortion bans. We need delusional thinking bans.
Weigh-In Wednesday: Conversational Reality
An Over Enthusiastic Personal Trainer at the gym approaches intent on selling services…
PT: Hey, having a good workout?
Me: Yeah, it’s going well.
PT: I see you in here a few times a week.
Me: I did buy a membership. I think I’m supposed to use it….
Weigh-In Wednesday: Still Recovering
It’s the end of an era. I bought that house in 2008 (the process started in the autumn of 2007) , and moved in shortly thereafter. It was a house, a meeting place, a home, an office, and a photography studio. With my technology business, we helped dozens of local businesses on their path to success, and modernization. We worked multi-million dollar projects for an international medical manufacturer, hosted technician training for their contractors, developed wireless network assessment calibration , and reporting techniques, and policies, software R&D for their products, and customer support, all while implementing their solutions at hundreds of hospitals across North America, and Australia. I hosted monthly networking meetings for over four years to bring Buffalo businesses, entrepreneurs, and clients together. I designed creative photography concepts, and hosted collaborative photography sessions involving photographers, models, and other artists. That house saw fund raisers that raised thousands for organizations like the SPCA, Family Justice Center, and Buffalo Animal Shelter. I hosted marketing events for Xerox, and other local businesses. It saw mimosa Sundays, and New Year’s Day gatherings for friends. It hosted meetings for 48-Hour Film projects, and outdoor movie nights on the back deck. I raised chickens, and gardens, and provided a place for my kids to explore, be artistic, play games, and have fun. It gave a home to friends who needed a place to land, and most recently, Rika, who also needed a place to land. It experienced joy, and happiness. It experienced sorrow, and heartbreak…