Tag: Buffalo

Pride - And my Views in Buffalo Rising

Weigh-In Wednesday – Walking The Line

Posted on by Paul In The Buff

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. 

Screen Capture from the movie Breathe

Weigh-In Wednesday – Staying Steady

Posted on by Paul In The Buff

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

Posted on by Paul In The Buff

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: Still Recovering

Posted on by Paul In The Buff

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…

More Movie Fun

Posted on by Paul In The Buff

Check this out! Last September I got to be an extra in a Lifetime movie named Staged Killer –  these movies are either Merry Christmas or Murder Characters. There’s no in between. But even as an extra I got some quality face-time with the camera. Enough that I’m even in the trailer six times!  Two are pretty obvious. See if you can find the others.  Heck, let’s make it a contest! Find me, and list the times I’m on screen, I’ll figure out a cool prize for the person who gives me the right answer first!

Weigh-In Wednesday – End of February

Posted on by Paul In The Buff

I just found out that you can help support my favorite charity by logging into your Amazon Prime account at https://smile.amazon.com and signing up to support “Queen City Pitties” Animal Rescue. Once you sign up, start your Amazon shopping experience at Smile.Amazon and .5% of your purchases will be donated to QCP!

Weigh-In Wednesday – Going to Heck

Posted on by Paul In The Buff

…in western cultures particularly, we have this perspective on monetary wealth, and prestige where we place those with money, and titles as being, in our minds, as more important. Hence, the wealthy can easily be forgiven in society for their transgressions. Catholic priests aren’t prosecuted for molesting children, because they hold some mystical prestige on our society’s mind, so they just get “relocated” while the church covers up  their transgressions. 

Weigh-In Wednesday – Still Haven’t Weighed In

Posted on by Paul In The Buff

I tried to watch the Snoozerbowl. It didn’t hold my interest. The halftime show was flat, and not compelling. Not sure who watches anything for the “commercials.” Do you also not skip the ads on YouTube? You’re strange.

Weigh-In Wednesday – Burnout Is So Lit

Posted on by Paul In The Buff

The inherent truth behind this statement is a spirit crushing reflection on our society. We praise those who work themselves to death. We don’t take our vacation days, or call-in sick, and have water-cooler conversations about how much PTO we’ve accumulated as if it were a badge of honor. We hand out awards for perfect attendance, but don’t recognize how showing up while sick isn’t productive, or may have had even more significant negative impacts to productivity because you shared what was making you ill. We brag about making it to work through that horrendous blizzard, scoff at those who played it safe, and stayed home, and then pity the ones who die in their car because they tried, and didn’t make it.

Weigh-In Wednesday – January 2, 2019

Posted on by Paul In The Buff

In all I see this as a disastrous change for the city. Those who live in the city, it doesn’t impact nearly as much as the population who doesn’t live in the city. With a city center of about 350,000 people, and a surrounding population closer to 700,000, it’s an imbalance that this policy doesn’t solve, or even address, but assured, a tremendous amount of the revenues generated by businesses in Buffalo come from suburban residents, and much of it after 5:00PM.