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.
#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.
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.
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…
…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.
The very notion of conservativism is based on fear: fear of change, and the fear of death, and with that, the desire to stop evolution in its tracks. They want time to stand still for them, not realizing that there are generations that exist, and will exist far beyond their own lifetimes, that depend on evolution. Conservatives want to restore some imagined past glory, but stopping evolution means cutting off our future.
If your car is dark gray, and mostly covered in snow, congratulations! Your car is perfectly camouflaged for the environment you’re driving in, and could be nearly invisible to other drivers! Please turn on your lights. You’re not doing yourself any favors driving in stealth mode.
Conservatives want you to think socialism is evil, but they gladly accept that 90% of the people in America who own less than 50% of the resources, pay 98% of the taxes which pay for shareable resources such as infrastructure, defense, and civic services – which is, of course, socialism.
Can’t be down for too long; when the tide rises you end up underneath it if you’re not willing to stand tall before it reaches you.
And here you were
Laughing, and enjoying the day
Smiling, and whiling away
The summer breeze
With your sunburned knees
And me