Santa Rosa, CA. ~ How much control do we have over ourselves when it comes to the body needing rest? I pretty much have control over whatever I want to do and mostly over my body...except when it comes to sleep. Sleep comes to me whether I want it or not. Late in the afternoon for example, and sometimes in the morning.

   I love to relax, and I’m pretty good at it. But every once in a while I find myself falling into a dream while relaxing outside sitting in one of our upright lounge chairs.

This is just a regular seat...and only semi-comfortable. It happens when I’m all done concentrating after a day creating a new paper or completing numerous projects. It’s been happening since I’ve skipped my daily afternoon nap. In the past, I tried to take...READ interactive online!

Santa Rosa, CA. ~ While designing an ad for my friends Natalie & Vinnie, owners of Russian River Brewing Company, I got this crazy humorous idea to use one of the stone heads on Easter Island, a Chilean island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean. My Idea was to have fun with an Easter theme of some kind, but it was a bit out there! We didn’t use the ad, but had a lot of fun creating it!

It actually inspired me to draw a picture for the cover this year. I normally do an April Fools joke of some kind for the cover. What is fascinating about Easter Island are the proverbial 50-ton stone heads scattered on the island. To me it’s humorous! Easter Island is located on a remote volcanic island in Polynesia. There are over 900 of these...Read more here

Growing Up with the World’s Only All Positive Paper!

Santa Rosa, CA. ~ Some people have told me that they’ve traveled all over the world and have never read or seen a paper filled with only good news and completely fun content. I’m sure there are others.There has to be, right? But uniquely, there is no paper exactly like mine(ours). I personally invented UT out of neccessity for purposes of sanity...and I saw all the good in our communities!

   Recently it dawned on me the paper has had a truly positive effect on Sonoma County and beyond. I realized that there are some younger individuals that have grown up reading the paper. Some have just graduated from high school! But that’s not all. In addition to that, their parents have read the paper, cherishing the positive side…Read the whole Paper Here!

Santa Rosa, CA. ~ Probably  some of on the finest publishers I ever worked for before I became a publisher myself were; Rollie Atkinson (Sonoma West Times & News, Healdsburg Tribune, Windsor Times, Cloverdale Reveille & Discoveries Magazine) and John Boland (Sonoma County Independent...Now the Bohemian 1993-1996) & John Burns of the Argus Courier(He was publisher of Sebastopol Times & News back in the 80’s when he hired me).

  I honor them because, if it had not been for their mentoring, guidence and patience with my efforts to bring them advertising to support the publishing of their papers, I believe I would not have the kind of knowledge I have today to do what I do.   Starting with the furthest back was John Burns with the Sebastopol Times & News. I met John when I was a budding cartoonist and I liked him immediately. He had a great sense of humor and also was very......MORE

Santa Rosa, CA. ~ In early 2017 I had the honor of speaking to a retired audience of over 125 retired senior citizens out in Oakmont at the Berger Center. I wrote about it a month later. At the time of my speech, one gentleman stood up during question time and said my information incorrect because on the cover of the paper it says ‘SINCE 1998’. I mentioned to them I actually started in 1997, which I did. Like any good idea, it takes planning. But not always do I plan everything out. In 1997, I went with my gut. I wanted to see if my idea would work, so that I could spend my time and money in Sonoma County where I grew up, publishing only good news. It was a….More Here...

Santa Rosa, CA. ~ At my house, when it comes to cooking, I am given the honorable title of, “CHEF PAUL”. I love to cook! I love the days of preparation and the seven minutes it takes to consume a delicious gourmet feast. The smiles and compliments make it all worth it! I cook in my down time(and I mean, down time in a positive way). And it is also mostly my  ‘UP’ time. I find great pleasure in successfully designing a meal not to be forgotten.

    One of my first jobs was working in a restaurant in Sebastopol, California, as a dishwasher. Within months I was allowed to bus tables and was known as the ‘tornado’. Not only could I do all the dishes for the restaurant that sat nearly 70-80 people, I found time to clear tables for the next....More (read the whole paper here)

Santa Rosa, CA. ~ I’m not sure where to start...but here goes. I’m deeply saddened and affected for all of those people I personally know as well as those I’ve never met who have had to go through the major challenge that had moved through our Northern California communities in early October. In fact, there is really nothing I can say, except that not a couple of hours after it all began I heard a frantic pounding at my door around 4 am alerting my family to what was transpiring. I'm already thankful and proud of my community but this brought that proudness up a hundredfold.   Everyone on my street was out, helping others to alert them to a catastrophe unfolding to the north of us, less than three miles away. In almost total darkness a sky as red as a sunset and sounds of explosions and more. I wasn’t even sure what I was witnessing...then neighbors explained. I was shocked and stunned to be honest...and I was afraid.

   I am so thankful I was alerted and that people helped everyone immediately...not even 5 hours into the disaster and my neighbors from India went and bought over 100 pizzas to bring to Elsie Allen High School, one of the many shelters…More

Santa Rosa, CA. ~ Did anyone see where the year has gone...by chance? I’ve been searching incessantly for the entire month of September. Well, just before I began the October issue of this paper, I found it! Eureka!

   Who invented time? Wikipedia says, “A large variety of devices have been invented to measure time. The study of these devices is called horology. An Egyptian device that dates to c.1500 BC, similar in shape to a bent T-square, measured the passage of time from the shadow cast by its crossbar on a nonlinear rule.” Excuse me?

   I personally have a T-square at home and it measures in inches. I’ve looked for ‘time’ on it, but to no avail. But, it is interesting, when I use it to measure things...I look up and 10 minutes has gone by! Yep, that’s where it goes. In fact, I saw time fly by the other day as I cleaned the house and vacuumed and washed the dishes and finished working on my kitchen. In fact, days went by and then into weeks.

   The reason I’m....More

Santa Rosa, CA. ~ When you see this circle with the DL, it means that there’s a direct link to the story and or contact information when you read the paper online with your computer or ‘smart’ tablet.

   It’s funny because although I use technology for running my paper, I generally still like to read stuff printed on real paper. I like the feel, the ability to set it down and pick it up without having to charge it! My wife gave me a Barnes and Noble  ‘Nook’ device that’s pretty cool, but a paper novel is novel in itself these days!

    In the next couple of months we are publishing a series of Fall & Holiday Guides that have so much to offer! As usual I will also publish for free, any FREE event you or someone you know is having. You may have a 10-word headline max, and up to 50 words maximum. I normally charge $65 for this, but as a gift back to all of our readers I will offer this gift, one per person, as a thank you!.The only rule is: It must be a free event!     Being a publisher of an all positive paper has many wonderful
attributes. Most of the time this paper runs like a finely tuned machine. Sometimes people will call to...Read More

There was a full team on the field at AT&T Park recently with nine kids from under served neighborhoods across the Santa Rosa region, who got a once in a lifetime chance to play in the big leagues with the San Francisco Giants.  This special occasion on the AT&T ball field was made possible through a program called “Kids Take the Field” with Bank of America and Valley of the Moon Children’s Foundation – an organization that helps create a safe haven for children in need by providing support and educational services. Giants players like Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik joined the junior league players, who received autographed baseballs as well as tickets to attend future......More Here!

Santa Rosa, CA. ~
After 19 years of publishing the Upbeat Times, I have to admit that I’ve found quite a few good usages  for the paper other than reading. Each month, I’m lucky if I get 10-100 returns/left-over copies(and sometimes a few more if they are buried by other local papers, which happens often) from over 1000 distribution locations here in Sonoma County. But, when I do get the returns, I know they go to a good place for sure. One of them is Mel’s Fish & Chips on Hopper Ave in Santa Rosa. Each month we bring a box or more and they use the paper to keep the fish and chips very hot!

   The other day, in my harried state, I left a few  ‘New’ bundles near the back tire of my car. I was going to put them in my trunk later in the morning for restock purposes. Of course I forgot about them. So, when it...More