Who is This Paul Riley?

I'm Paul Riley, and I have a lot of opinions about Ghostbusters.

This website was originally launched in January 2017 as an idealistic act of building community. It lay dormant for years until 2019, when I used it to host a modern blog. Then in 2024, I began major renovations. I'm still in the process of creating a habitable space, but I'm glad that you're visiting. Maybe you can help me out?

I'm interested in merging the two versions of the Internet that I love: the barebones aesthetic of the late '90s with the convenience and multiple media formats of the modern era. The best of both worlds. What can I say, you can take a boy out of the Geocities, but you can't take the Geocities out of the boy.

I have a compulsion to identify myself in relation to other people and things. Maybe it's something I should investigate and explore. Is it the best way of moving through the world? But for now, it's part of my identity. So what are the things that matter most to me?

Well, the places I've called home. I grew up in Wilmington, Delaware (a friend once critiqued my identifcation with a city where I didn't live as where I'm from, but considering that I went to high school in Wilmington, I feel confident in saying that I grew up there). I went to Elmira College, where I studied English Literature (among other majors) and worked with WECW, the campus radio station. I lived in Newmarket and Manchester, New Hampshire; I currently live in Lowell, Massachusetts. I love towns whose glory days are simultaneously in the past and future.

What matters most in this locales? The soundtrack playing as I move through these spaces. My favorite band is Barenaked Ladies (although I wouldn't count any of their post-Page work to be BNL); my favorite solo artist is Pete Yorn. Other favorites include They Might Be Giants, Bruce Springsteen, Jimmy Eat World, blink-182. Trout Fishing in America and "Weird Al" Yankovic are foundational artists whose work I'm returning to as I reflect on my development.

Kurt Vonnegut, Russell Banks (Rule of the Bone may be my favorite book of all time), non-fiction writers.

Intellectuals: James Baldwin, Ralph Waldo Emerson

Walt Disney World is my favorite place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. I'd rather live anywhere else, but can only visit. Such is the fate for a corporal form like myself. Generally, I enjoy exploring cities. I spent my bachelor party in Detroit, MI and my brother's in Richmond, VA. I'd like to see them again at a cooler time of year.

Other things that I enjoy: Tastykakes, Wawa, Pat's Pizza, understanding Catholicism, Lowell, MA and the sadness of people who see their lives as already over.

I'm fixing to write more about all of these things and more. I hope you'll visit often.