Tag: positivity

New Year, New World

We all thought that 2016 was the worst year on record (and I would definitely venture to say that music-wise, it was a pretty bad year considering how many great artists we lost – Pop star deaths in 2016), but 2017 saw that disaster and raised it to extreme levels. Seriously. Is it safe to say that 2018 will be… Read more →

Sociology, Libraries, and Life

In 2009, I made the decision to return to school and obtain a second Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. This time I would apply myself. I would study and try my best not to procrastinate. I would work as a volunteer and devote myself to causes within the major. I would work on a research project and continue on… Read more →

Priorities

It is a new year and, as so many others do during the month of January, I am assessing my life and habits and looking toward making changes. These changes will not come in the form of resolutions. We all know what happens when we make those. No, instead, I will be making long term changes over the course of… Read more →

Trying New Things aka Letting Go of the Past to Create a Better Future

Throughout my life I have been skeptical of pretty much everything.  I have been highly attracted to the mystical and spiritual side of life, but I have never fully bought into any of it. Each time I go to the bookstore, I end up in one of three sections; Sociology, Cultural Studies, or New Age/Spirituality. Self improvement has been something… Read more →

Looking Inward

This is the year of 40. Although it does not happen until nearly the end, it is colouring all my decisions. It sounds like a sad occasion, but it is not. 40 has given me a clarity I did not realize I could have. My experiences leading up to this milestone birthday are helping me make key decisions for life… Read more →

Happiness

This week, at the office, we had a gentleman from the Wellness Institute of Greater Buffalo come in to do a seminar on happiness in the workplace and the home. It was slightly dry, at times, but still motivational. The thing that struck me the most was that the answer to almost any question about happiness is positivity. If you… Read more →

Find Your Calling

For 24 years, I have worked in customer service, in one capacity or another. With that many years under my belt, I can say that I have become pretty damn good at it. I am excellent at smiling through the bullshit of unreasonable requests. I am a master of making the people on the other side of the counter or… Read more →

Finally

Five years. That is how long it has been since GBSB officially closed its doors. Even though First Niagara took over the GBSB customers, the culture and time of GBSB was over. Since February 2008, many things have changed in my life. Looking back now, I can see that I have been stuck in a haze that I have been… Read more →

De-cluttering

In an attempt to simplify my life, I have decided to better organize my surroundings. This begins at home, with my apartment. The writer and I have quite a bit of stuff from 11 years of living in the same place. When we moved back to Buffalo, from Rochester, we had few items that we brought along, but over the… Read more →

Positivity

It is the last day of 2012. The year has had great ups and downs for the writer and me, but we have persevered. Now that we are at the end, it is good to look back, reflect on the previous experiences, and move on. The moving on part is the thing that I most look forward to. Taking stock… Read more →

The Internet and Procrastination

I start off on a good note. Looking things up. Reading articles. Doing schoolwork. And then, all of a sudden, something happens. Like a shiny coin in the corner of a webpage, I see a link that takes me away from my original thought. I follow this link and begin reading other articles. Eventually, an hour later, I realize that… Read more →

Singing as Therapy

Back in the day, when I was in college the first time, I used to be able to work two part time jobs while I was studying. This was partly due to the major that I had chosen. See, even though I loved school, I didn’t really care about going to college. My mother was on my case about it… Read more →

May Holidays and Changes

This week has been crazy. I began a new job and it has been somewhat overwhelming. I love it, but it is taking me some time to get up to speed. Anyone that knows me knows that I am not good with change or being behind the eight ball. I like to know everything about what I am doing and… Read more →

Archiving

I was able to recover the old rise up buffalo posts this past week, through a tiresome and timely retrieval process (thanks to the wayback machine) and I am hoping to get the best of the best up on the current version as soon as possible. This week is my vacation, so my hope is that I can get rise… Read more →

Is This A Dream?

Sometimes I wonder if my current state is merely a dream and that someday soon I will wake up to a different reality. I will still have the same apartment and the same significant other, but I will be doing something else (something better and more important) with my life. On that day I will rise in the morning, be… Read more →

The Return

The journal has gone through some changes, yet again.  In the midst of moving servers, all our posts, catgegories, comments, pages and users have vanished.  This is a new beginning (hopefully the last one.)  We will be moving into the future with a clean slate, which may be useful.  We shall see.  Please bear with us as we start a… Read more →