Aaron D. Neufeld- Blog #50

BLOG POST #50- Summer Plans

Ah, the final blog post. We’ve been together for so long. Finally we made it. Anyhow, with the semester ending, let’s focus on the summer beginning. Sunday, May 1^st, which is the Sunday right before the second to final week of classes, I will be working as a riding marshal on the Five Borough Bike Tour. This is a 42-mile bike tour through all five boroughs of New York. I am really excited for that. But I know I will be exhausted in school the rest of the week. But that is only the beginning of an awesome summer.

Over the summer I also plan to ride my bike over some bridges and take a nice ride from my home in Valley Stream, Nassau County, into Brooklyn. I want to also ride Long Beach to Point Lookout and even to Jones Beach! I am also planning something I am calling a ‘D2D’ ride. That stands for ‘Dusk 2 Dawn’ or ‘Dusk to Dawn’ ride. I will eat a nice dinner at home and then head out to a local park to watch the sunset. I’ll then continue riding my bike through the night with whichever friends will join me. It doesn’t need to be continuous non-stop riding. I’m sure we’ll take rest stops to hang out at 7-11, because as you now know, that’s what we Long Islanders do. But I will basically bike through the night until sunrise and will be at the beach for that to see it peak over the horizon. With the summer hours, sunset to sunrise should be only about eight hours, which isn’t insane riding at all. I’m excited.

I’ll also be interning at CBS News, if all checks out, this summer during the day. So I have my hands full. Media business during the day and biking all through the night. I’ve got no time to breathe and that’s just the way I like it. Anyway, these blogs have been a real blast, or a pain in the ass preventing me from enjoying my Spring break on the beach… not sure which one yet. Maybe both. Haha. It’s been real.

Aaron D. Neufeld- Blog #49

BLOG POST #49- Bike

I am a serious biker. I love biking. It’s my sport. I began really getting into biking when I was about fourteen. I was obese and wanted to lose weight. I rode my duel suspension mountain bike for at least three hours every day and after only three months, I lost sixty pounds during my senior year of high school just from the bike. It treated me well and the best part about it is that it was a seventy five dollar bike that I got at Toys R’ Us. And a Schwinn too. Very solid ride. It lasted me six long years of non stop riding but finally broke this past summer and I just bought a new bike.

Now since I am a real serious biker I purchased a four hundred dollar Trek hybrid bicycle. It’s been treating me very well. It is much faster than my previous bike and bigger too since my last bike was small as I bought it when I was only fourteen and I’ve grown since then. I bike it everywhere. I’ve already put close to one hundred miles on it and I’ve only had it since March.

Now however, I am looking to purchase even another bike. Now I want a road bike. Those are the really fast ones. The one I’m currently looking to purchase is one thousand dollars. Wow. That sounds insane to just say out loud. One thousand dollars for a bicycle. But I know it has great parts, great reviews and it’s a brand name. So I know it will be a bike that is well worth it and will last me a very long time. I plan to use it a lot this summer actually. I have big plans for biking this summer… let me share them with you.

Aaron D. Neufeld- Blog #48

BLOG POST #48- Sunset

The sun is setting in Miami as I finish up my blogs for the semester. I spent the entire day outside on the balcony on the fourteenth floor of my hotel watching the beach and the ocean and the bay on the other side of the building, but have not once left my room to go out to the beach. I’ve just been here blogging. I guess it is kind of cool up here though. Because I am watching a phenomenal sunset as I type. I tried taking some photos, but it doesn’t do this sunset justice and I rather not include a photo at all than to include on that doesn’t convey how awesome this really is.

People from the hotel next door and mine have all come out onto their balconies to see the sun go down. There are so many people out right now it is quite a sight. Not just the sunset but the people too. So many different types of people, different ages, different races, etc. Everyone is out here just enjoying the beauty of this sunset.

Some are watching the sun set while others are watching the reflection of the sun on the ocean as cruise ships head out to sea in a single file line. It’s really a pretty sight. But you have to be here to appreciate it. I’d say there are about fifty to sixty people outside right now, all in different rooms on different balconies. It’s too cool. I wish I could explain it any better but I can’t. Too bad you couldn’t be here to see it with your own eyes.

Aaron D. Neufeld- Blog #47

BLOG POST #47- My Brother’s Candy Addiction

My brother used to have a serious candy addiction. He’s had more cavities than he can remember and besides having so many teeth filled, he’s even had multiple teeth pulled. Eight teeth at one time too! He used to eat candy as an appetizer, side dish and dessert with every meal of the day. Funnily enough, he was able to stay thin.

In the past year however, he decided to focus on fixing up his mouth and his health and instead opted for dried fruit. While at first this seemed like a great idea, we aren’t loving it so much. Sure it’s much healthier and our house is filled with it, but there is something he didn’t realize when making the jump from sour sticks and airheads to dried guava and dried strawberries. Dried fruit is super expensive!

He is really draining my parents with the money he sucks out of their wallets just for his snack addiction. But then again my brother was always a selfish one who worried more about stuff for himself than showing any regard for my parents’ earned cash. I just hope he can find a happy medium so that he doesn’t make them bankrupt off fruit.

Aaron D. Neufeld- Blog #46

BLOG POST #46- Disconnect

During my freshman year of college I took a course, Journalism 101, in which we were tasked with disconnecting from the digital world for 24 hours. No news, no Internet, no television etc. We had to completely disconnect from the world, and live like Amish people basically, for a simple 24 hours. The task was hard enough for most people. Then we had to see how disconnected for a mere 24 hours effected us. It was quite the experiment.

The only thing is that I had an unfair advantage, but it really made me think about it. I am an orthodox Jew, so I observe a 25 hour Sabbath every week from Friday evening until Saturday night. So I was going to participate in the experiment no matter what. But it made me think more about the effects of disconnecting every week and they are more major than you’d expect. After just one day, you have no idea what is going on in the world. You are behind on everything.

I even noticed now that after my Sabbath ends and I go on facebook for the first time on Saturday night, the first fifteen minutes is spent reading the backlog of my newsfeed. All the information that I’d missed in those 25 hours offline. I spend the next few minutes on CNN.com and AIM.com gathering any major news stories I may have missed while I’d been offline. It’s interesting. You should try it.

Aaron D. Neufeld- Blog #45

BLOG POST #45- Moving On

I have a passion for writing and television and therefore I look deeply at a quote from the television series, LOST. At the series’ conclusion, Jack Shephard speaks to his father, Christian Shephard, after the two have both passed away. His dad tells him that everyone dies sometime but that you move on with the people that meant the most to you in your lifetime. You need those people to remember the life you had, and to let go of it and move on. But where are they moving on to?

I think about my friend Jacob Greenberg who passed away when we were fourteen, but how his life has inspired and changed me forever, and for the better. Jacob has helped shape who I am today. One of the most important times of my life so far, is the time during which Jacob helped shape me. That’s why I’m here. I couldn’t have done this alone. I needed him.

Jacob’s life and friendship, and even his death, has helped me to remember what is important in life and what really matters. I remember him always and I am reminded of who I am because of him. But I am not moving on without him. I’m moving on with him. So… where are we going? Let’s go find out.

Aaron D. Neufeld- Blog #44

BLOG POST #44- David’s Death

Here is a story about my first cousin, David. David was a genius. A truly incredibly bright person. He had two younger siblings; a brother and a sister. His younger brother found a girl who he loved and then got married to her. It was a traditional wedding. Everyone was very happy for him. Except for David. David was jealous. So David decided he needed to get even.

David took a trip to the Philippines and came back with a wife. He didn’t know the girl. He just wanted to prove to everyone that he too, could be wed. Nobody thought he couldn’t but he always felt that he needed to prove himself. His wife was a Pilipino woman, unfamiliar with American culture. Nobody was comfortable with her and she was uncomfortable with us. And we all knew the shtick of these women who get married and act almost as slaves to their husbands. They stick around until they can get their citizenship after seven years. We all knew that after seven years, she would divorce him, once she could legally stay in the country. David was also a drug abuser so we feared if she left him after seven years, he may overdose.

Seven years passed and David was shocked when his wife told him she didn’t love him anymore. She divorced him. David overdosed not even two months later. It was expected but it was horribly depressing even then. Parents burying a child. Grandparents burying a grandchild. It was awful. It was an expected death, but then again, when is death ever really expected?

Aaron D. Neufeld- Blog #43

BLOG POST #43- Cutters and Self Inflictors

I have friends who cut themselves. I’ll never understand them. They come from troubled homes sometimes. Some of them are adopted. But I still will never see a good reason for them to cut themselves. There are so many other outlets than for someone to cut themselves. And people don’t realize that they have friends who care about them who they can use to vent to instead of taking it out on themselves by cutting. It’s dangerous and not smart.

I’m surprised that at this stage, people still continue to harm themselves instead of seeking other ways to help themselves. Why cut yourself, or take up smoking cigarettes, or drinking, when everyone knows these things are incredibly unhealthy and can kill you? Try talking to someone or partaking in other activities that can make you feel better without putting yourself in danger.

I think that these are easy ways out and the people that do them are weak. They aren’t in tune with their emotions and underrate other people who can help them in a myriad of different ways. It is important for awareness to be spread so that these people know that they have places to turn to. Because instead of always turning to others, they most often turn on themselves.

Aaron D. Neufeld- Blog #42

BLOG POST #42- The Ironic Suicide of Zev

Back in the summer between 7^th and 8^th grade I went on a travel camp program that traveled up and down the East coast of the United States. It was a lot of fun but there was this kid Zev who was always getting into trouble. He was a mischievous one. He was always cursing and walking away from the group. Anything to be bad and difficult.

In one of the hotels that we stayed at, late at night after we were all supposed to be in our rooms, he decided to sneak away and try out the roof of the hotel. Of course opening the door to the roof set the building’s alarms off and the hotel security saw him on the cameras and told the group leader. Zev was almost kicked out of camp for disobeying orders and being so careless to do something so dangerous as to go onto the roof of a hotel at night without telling anyone where he was going.

Not even three years later, Zev became heavily involved with drugs. He was removed from regular high school and enrolled into a special program for troubled teens called Priority One. I would see him occasionally but we lost touch after he joined the program. The program didn’t help him either. I would always see him smoking cigarettes around the neighborhood. One weekend, Zev got himself stoned at home alone. He jumped off his roof and died on impact. Ironic death. I knew him best for getting in trouble for dangerously going onto a roof. Now I know him best for his death from jumping off one.

Aaron D. Neufeld- Blog #41

BLOG POST #41- Getting Out of Pink Collar Work

Today’s world is full of pink collar jobs. Especially for high school and college students. Even for recent college graduates! Jobs like working at Home Dept, CVS, or a barista at Starbucks, will always be there because they are society’s consumer demands jobs. These jobs will always be needed. But within them, there is no room for advancement. You don’t go anywhere. You won’t. Ever.

While during school it is ok to have a pink-collar job, it is very important to get yourself out of one as soon as possible. I could have taken a job at a local deli as a waiter with very flexible hours, easy work and good pay. I wouldn’t lose any money on transportation either. But I decided against it. Instead I worked my connections and got myself a job at a law firm on Wall Street in Manhattan. The commute in and out of the city takes about 1/4^th of my daily paycheck, but it’s worth it.

Why? Because I know I can advance here. I can grow within the law firm, perhaps even becoming an attorney if I so desired. I am forming connections there who could help me out later in life too. Each of the people at the firm have a history and a future doing things bigger and better than serving coffee at Starbucks. Plus, on a resume, it shows commitment to commuting, and working my ass of as opposed to grabbing any job I could get to make some extra cash on the side. I am sacrificing now for benefits later.

Aaron D. Neufeld- Blog #40

BLOG POST #40- Love Letters

Would I appreciate a love letter? Absolutely. Heck, I’ll take any letter in fact! In today’s world, everything is digital. Communication is completely different than anything it used to be. Back in the day, when you wanted to get in touch with somebody, you actually had to show an effort. Whether it be family, friends, or even a lover, one had to handwrite a letter and travel whether by horse, by car or by foot to have that brought to the desired person. Even more recently, you could simply write a letter and place it in the mailbox for the postman to take and send out on your behalf.

However, in the past few years, technology has completely changed all of that. No matter how distant or how intimate and personal a relationship may be, technology has taken away from the personal. One can send an e-mail, and instant message or a facebook wall post to a person they met just once, the same way they can send an e-mail, instant message or a facebook wall post to your lover. It is impersonal and cuts back on all the unnecessary. Technology allows us to get directly to the point.

I don’t think we need to be so blunt. I much appreciate hand-written letters, from family, friends, lovers, whoever! Seeing someone’s handwriting and holding the same paper that they touched gives such a personal feeling, as short as the message may be. Handwritten letters mean you care and you are making an effort. They are something you can hold on to and look back on forever. I personally wrote a letter and received letters to a few friends to read over this Spring break. Just for fun. Because it’s nice to have that connection.

Aaron D. Neufeld- Blog #39

BLOG POST #39- Ageism

I’m not a fan of ageism. It’s the same as racism, just much less recognized. This act of prejudice or discrimination on the basis of a person’s age is insane. If a person has the right qualities for a particular task, or job, then that person should be hired. This is the same case that was made years ago when it came to hiring African American people. We’ve come far from that and we even now have a Black president of the United States. Clearly, blacks can perform duties just as well as whites. So why must we discriminate against age?

Ageism is terrible on two levels. The first is how it hurts young people. For example, myself. I can be very qualified to perform a task but because certain employers may feel that because I lack the experience in the field and because I am still in college, they will choose someone else who is older than me, who has been around the block, so to speak. However, this older person may be extremely less qualified but just because he or she is older, they’ll have the advantage.

Yet Ageism also impacts those who are older. It effected my dad. My dad worked in foreign currency in banking. The economy tanked, banks merged, and thousands of jobs were lost. My dad’s position was eliminated completely so he lost his job. Moving forward he tried to get jobs in other banks or similar industries. But my dad is fifty-five years old. Even though he knows the field like the back of his hand and has dozens of years of experience, Ageism prevents him from getting a job. Businesses assume that they need to pay older people higher salaries and prefer to save money by hiring younger. It sucks because Ageism probably greatly influences the amount of unemployment currently in our country.

Aaron D. Neufeld- Blog #38

BLOG POST #38- From the Balcony

I’m in Miami for spring break but I have yet to step foot on the beach. For the past few days that I’ve been down here I’ve been so close yet so far from enjoying myself. I am sitting on my balcony watching the ocean and the people enjoying themselves in the sun. Yet I have the shade here as I watch from afar. Why don’t I go? Because of SCHOOL. What else is new?

Starting spring break, I had a total of fifty-four pages worth of homework and reports to do! I’ve been working my ass off and at this point, as I write this blog, I have about thirty pages worth of material left to complete. By the end of the day I want to have just about sixteen pages left. I will kick myself if I cannot finish my work and enjoy the Miami weather at all. Why is there suddenly so much work? I haven’t let it creep up on me either! I am a diligent student and I am on top of my studies! I’ve just been bombarded with an insane amount of work right now in the final stretch of the semester.

It’s pretty sad seeing these specs of people enjoying themselves as they have a catch or go for a swim in the ocean. And here I am on the 14^th floor of my hotel staring out, but locked away, by my own hand, or the hand of The Man, the school, the institution that is trying to keep me down. It’s almost as if it wants me to fail. But I won’t let him. I will stay in this room and finish this work and enjoy myself. And reap the benefits.

aaron D. Neufeld- Blog #37

BLOG POST #37- Fake Nutrition

Stony Brook has recently become very health conscious apparently. They want students to eat healthy. Avoid the Freshman 15. There are various ways to eat healthy on campus! BULL. SHIT. The food in college is crap. It’s made with crap. It’s sold for crap prices. It’s overall crap. And you know what? If they weren’t so fucking stupid about it, I’d even let them pretend that they were concerned for our health and eating healthy. But they are morons!

The healthier the food, the more expensive it is. My am I paying close to five dollars for a tiny tin of sliced strawberries that I can finish in two bites? Am I paying for the service of them slicing the strawberries for me? Honestly, it’s absurd! So while a tiny tin of strawberries and a bottle of water will cost be around eight dollars after tax, if I buy two slices of pizza, it comes with a fountain soda as a special for only five dollars! The same goes for burritos! Only five dollars! The fattening food in large portions is still cheaper than healthy food in tiny portions.

But that’s not even where they are blatantly lying about their concern for our health. I laugh when I see a salad with tuna, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and other vegetables at a calorie count of 340 calories. Then I pick up tuna alone, with nothing else, but the same size as the tuna that is included in the salad and this calorie count is 420 calories. How can something with less food be more calories?! It doesn’t make sense! And then they sell these whoopee pies. Four of them come in a tin and it says serving size is one tin. The calorie count is 1920 calories. How can anything on this planet that is 1920 calories be ONE serving? That’s BULLSHIT!

Aaron D. Neufeld- Blog #36

BLOG POST #36- Student Debt

There is massive student debt sweeping the nation. Student debt today is over $1,000,000,000,000! That’s ONE TRILLION dollars! The average student has between $26,000 and $30,000 of debt by the time he or she is out of college. These prices are insane. People will need to work the rest of their lives in order to pay off their debt in loans. And for many people, they refuse to get to that point. For many, they are now choosing schools based on the tuition and the mindset of not wanting to be in debt once they are out of school.

My own brother had a difficult time deciding which college he would attend because of this. He ultimately decided he’d take the hit and he chose to attend Maryland University. But then there is one of his close friends, a family friend too, who would have loved to attend Maryland University with my brother but is not. And I feel terribly for this kid because his older brother by only a few years attended Maryland University, leaving the family in debt. Now that it’s his turn to go to college, the family is still in debt and can’t afford to hurt themselves further financially by sending another child to Maryland. Even if his grades are good enough, his family didn’t let him apply because he had no shot of attending. Instead he is going to enroll locally at Queens College.

And that is just a middle of the road case. But some people out there are even mortgaging their homes due to student debt. This country has some serious issues when people risk being homeless just so that they can attend school. Something needs to be done to fix this absurdity, and soon. Otherwise everyone will lose money and this country will collapse.

Aaron D. Neufeld- Blog #35

BLOG POST #35- The Future of Us

Not only are television and movies On-Demand a big deal and a big issue for the industries, but those aren’t the only On-Demand things. Music is now On-Demand as well. Music is at your fingertips with iTunes or other online sources—even illegal ones! Nobody owns CDs anymore. Everything is digital. And what about books? Remember taking trips to the bookstore in the early morning hours before a super popular book title was to be released? (Hello, Harry Potter people!) Well no more! Forget staking out the book stores with your wands and capes and painted on scars for the newest Potter book. Now you can get the book instantly on your e-reader or Kindle!

And that’s not all! There is no longer a need to leave your house! All shopping from bicycles to clothing to sporting tickets, is available online! Order clothes online and they’ll be shipped to your home address. Even restaurants allow you to place your order online and it will be delivered to your door! Everything is on-demand!

What does this mean for the future? Well I have heard about the future of refrigerators. That’s right. Talk of mini screens on refrigerator doors that will allow you to place orders for what’s missing, such as a milk carton or orange juice. Then you park your ass on the couch and wait for the same-day delivery. There will be no need to ever leave the house again. Everything will be on-demand directly from your fingertips to your front door!

Aaron D. Neufeld- Blog #34

BLOG POST #34- Life at your Fingertips

Is “On-Demand” television and movies a good thing or is it alienating social life? Are Tivo and DVRs really helping people? With digital recorders as well at on-demand videos, there is no longer a reason to leave the home to go to the movies. People can stay at home and simply watch everything recorded on their giant HD televisions or buy on-demand films that have just been released, just two or three months after they hit theaters.

Why spend money on gas, food, and movie theater tickets, totaling upwards of twenty dollars, when your friends can come over to your house, eat your food and watch an HD quality film, for free! The downsides are few, if any, and the benefits are endless. You can pause for bathroom breaks, you can talk to your friends without being shushed, you can eat endlessly any food you want, as loudly as you want, and best yet, you can watch any movie you want. Kids under the age of 17? Rated R movies on demand and you won’t get carded!

And on-demand films and television are only the beginning… On-demand is just the latest and greatest technological feat. It will expand to other media ventures and from there it will even expand to non-media related areas. How else could On-Demand possibly work?

Aaron D. Neufeld- Blog #33

BLOG POST #33- War; Phase 2

Not everyone could be as lucky as my uncle was though. A friend of mine from high school went to study abroad in Israel for two years. During his second year overseas, he enlisted in the Israeli military. He received intense physical training. His life changed. He was no longer just a student studying abroad. He was seriously training. He was becoming a solider. And in Israel, soldiers fight. There are few who sit behind a computer.

He soon found himself moving up. He was no longer allowed to contact his friends or family outside of the military freely. His Internet access and phone access became extremely limited and he was confined to focusing on the military and not connecting with the outside world. When I was able to hear from him, I heard it was tough. He said he liked it, but I could hear he was stressed. He asked friends to send him any small gifts that they could to remind him of home. It was taking a toll. He learned to use various weapons and patrolled streets. He’d even seen combat a few times. When asked about it, it wasn’t something he liked to talk about for very long.

His time in the military is almost up now, but it’s been almost three years since he joined. He should be returning to the United States this summer, but I know he is a changed man. It is weird to lose a friend even though he isn’t gone. But the solider returning to the United States this summer is not the same student and friend who went to study abroad three years ago.

Aaron D. Neufeld- Blog #32

BLOG POST #32- War: Phase 1

My uncle was drafted into the military when he was only just a teenager. I have many friends who have horror stories about family members who were drafted then too. Some of my friends’ family members were permanently crippled from fighting on the front lines and seeing combat. One of my friends’ uncles is blind in one eye from seeing battle. It’s terrible to hear these stories. It scares me into worrying about a modern day draft as well.

Some stories I hear are a bit better. Epic hero stories in which relatives of my friends’ saved a village and thwarted the enemy. Nobody is injured seriously and the good guys save lives and leave as heroes. Yet even so, in the process of winning, these heroes lost friends in battle. It is here where I bring back my uncle who was drafted. I have no amazing stories to tell about him in the military. He was actually put on duty on a military base in the United States where he was responsible for technical duties and monitoring transmissions. He never saw battle or even was tasked with anything too important that saved lives. He had a pretty mundane existence in the military.

However, although my uncle was no hero, I am not ashamed. I can’t say I’m in the least bit upset either. I am glad and think he was incredibly lucky to have been assigned the tasks that he was. He never had to make life or death decisions. He never had to see any friends die or get injured. He never had to see anyone die. Not even the enemy. Those things scare people for life. My uncle was lucky to be able to serve his country within the safe confines of our borders.

Aaron D. Neufeld- Blog #31

BLOG POST #31- The Basement

We’ve talked a lot about how Long Island kids like to hang out in each other’s basements. Well, it’s true. We do. And we’re proud of it! Haha. Some of my best memories with friends happened in their basements. And don’t get the wrong idea. This doesn’t mean anything sexual… although there may have been that too. But with not many places to go in the suburbs, basements worked just fine. Big screen TVs, ping pong tables, pool tables, and the all too comfortable couches are what filled these rooms. But more importantly was not what filled the rooms, but who.

Take all of that and bring in your best friends, and that’s the stuff of memories. A bunch of friends laying on top of each other on one small couch. Arms and legs tangled together. Nothing sexual. Just friends being awesome friends. Being so comfortable with each other that we could sit there for hours and hours, just talking. Something so simple as a bunch of friends in a basement together talking, and you could have the best day ever. So don’t bash the basements because they are the stuff of memories!

Last year one of my friends basements got flooded during heavy showers. The carpet and furniture had to be removed and the entire basement redone. It pained us all to see the basement go. Because it wasn’t just the blue walls, the old couches and the carpet that went away. It took part of us with it. Amazing times we had drowned along with the basement that day. Now we all look back on photos we took together in that basement and we miss those times dearly. We smile. We laugh. We remember. The basement is nothing to laugh at. The basement is our youth. Our memories. Our lives.