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I will attempt to add a line everyday accept Jewish Holidays until this story comes to an end. May G-D willing that be many, many…. lines to come

I was born in Plainview, NY to Seymour & Sylvia Weinfeld at Central General Hospital on 1/20/66.  Being the youngest not only of my inner family but all my cousins I guessed I gained fame from my first breath.

From what my father told me my traditional great grandfather and his family died in Poland as a result of horrible pogroms that occurred. While my grandfather barely escaped as a teenager entering a foreign land called the United States. He somehow made a life for himself in the factories and as a painter and married Fannie. They lived in Brooklyn, NY in poverty but didn’t feel it as the family was close. They had two children my father Seymour and his sister Sylvia who were brought up decades apart. They lived during the great depression and barely had food on the table. My father had great memories through it all of Coney Island, Chocolate Egg Creams and Stick Ball.

My mother’s family was brought up in the other side of town the Bronx. Her father owned a liquor store that was destroyed in a riot after Martin Luther King was assassinated.  I’m honestly not sure which grandfather this was since my grandmother was married twice yet they both kicked the bucket before I was born. My mother had a twin sister named Joyce and an older sister named Irene. My sister and her twin played tricks on dates as they would switch partners as they grew up. After the passing of my grandfather my grandmother was never alone as she always had another boyfriend including my favorite Barnet. He said he would put me on T.V. and he literally did right on top of the set.

My personal memories of my grandparents on my father’s side are extremely limited. My grandfather had six fingers on one had, was tough with my father and made Cherry soup as I was told since he died when I was three. He worked in a chemical plant which appeared to be the reason he developed  Cancer and died at a relatively young age. My grandmother is even more of a mystery as she died when my father was in his late teens from heart failure.

My father was discouraged to go to college so he could earn a living and started working with his uncle from the bottom up. He quickly moved up to due to his unbelievable work ethic. He got involved in children’s clothing with my Uncle Hal who was married to Aunt Sylvia. Things were going great with several stores opening until he found Uncle Hal was taking monies and spending them on the horses at the track.  My father had to immediately close his businesses and start over from scratch. Due to my father’s loyalty to family this story was not even told until my much later years. Dad got a brake from his father who put him in the painters business. From that he started a contracting business that grew leaps and bounds enough that I could finally come into this picture.

The early years were great with attention on the baby of the family but when the baby fat went away so did the attention. I had difficulty in my first years of school as I was put in a “special program” where labels were easily applied and left deeper marks then the years they were on.  I dribbled real good except this was not on the court being picked last on any athletic endeavor made me feel more left out then left in.

I allowed my creativity blow up as a child. This was a time when I developed my first Cartoon Concept “Kool &  The Gang” which was a group of “misfits” that used their unique disabilities for abilities to solve crime. In my youth I also would try and think of two unique business concepts everyday and put them in a notebook. Some were simple new flavors to old recipes while others were unique concepts unseen in the business world maybe for good reason. This included my favorite a band aid with ointment already on it. I used all my monies from my piggy bank and went to invention developer to make this concept a reality but when my father saw the cost I had spent for this project it was left back on my book. Later on Band-Aid developed this same product.

I don’t want you to believe my early years didn’t have there drama. I was cast as “Arnold Horshack” in my 2nd grade class production of Welcome Back Kotter and received many accolades although I think the other students were forced to write something. I also played Howard Cosell in another fine grammar school production. Drama occurred on the school bus as I refused to get up for the school bully and engaged in a fist to cut with lead to a bloody lip and a certain respect from said individual. I also had an operation on my neck to rumor a non-cancerous growth that honestly I forgot about my parents did not.

Some of the teachers in grammar school were less than professional but one taught me a lesson I never forgot. I was not the neatest person in the world and my 6th grade teacher made sure the whole class knew as he dumped my desk in front of everyone. I was forced to clean it up under their snickering eye. That lesson stayed with me as a way I dump my papers on the floor to clean up when things get “out of hand” luckily nobody else is laughing now.

I always wanted a dog to the point of walking my neighbors/cousins dog on a regular basis.  I even considered Susie a Shit Tzu to be my first dog even though I didn’t technical have her but on my twelfth birthday my greatest birthday present came my way a feisty little miniature poodle appropriately named Macho. Macho used to sneak away to his love up the street and even was tough enough to scare a sheep dog. He would get revenge almost every time you left by leaving a “present” when you returned and one you would want to return. Macho also got her neck stuck in a gate in which the fire department had to be called to be pulled out and was so tough some groomers were afraid to clean him. One time my brothers friend tried to show how dog parents pick up their dogs on Macho and this was a memory Macho never left go up. As soon as this friend showed up so did Macho’s teeth.

I have had one of the most interesting “sicknesses”. I’m not even sure I should call it that it’s called “Alice In Wonderland Syndrome”. In my young days upon going to bed things would suddenly appear closer then they really were to me creating a mushroom type experience without any drugs. Sometimes it was like a “bad trip” but often it was just plain fun. This hasn’t occurred in many years and sometimes I wish it would return for a night or two.

My faith journey has taken me down many different paths but started in one which was didn’t touch my soul in the way I wanted. I was brought up in a reform synagogue with the full choir, organ and boredom at least in my sleeping pattern. If I could have failed Hebrew School before my Bar Mitzvah I surely would have but the date was set even if I wasn’t.  My Bar Mitzvah was full of controversy as it almost didn’t take place. It was a dual Bar Mitzvah but when my father wanted me to wear a Tallis from Israel the President of the Synagogue refused to allow this to occur because my Bar Mitzvah partner didn’t have his own. The choir was the only place for extra Tallis but they weren’t giving them up and the Rabbi was avoiding the controversy. The service finally went on but with much angst and anger from my family members.

I enjoyed though my years in camp as I cross dressed before it was in style. I played Tennille when my best friend in camp Gary Rothchild played the Captain. I don’t know why I did it accept that I liked to sing.  I guess it also gave me the award of being “Naturally Hilarious” and in your pre-teens that was a big deal.

Camp Schodack taught me how not to drink. For the local bar didn’t care about ID’s and I didn’t care about what I would drink I combined a little of this and a little of that until I was fully toasted. When I awoke I had such a hangover that I stopped drinking for many, many years to come.

This was also the camp that had my first alteration with the law. My quote friend bought beers with a group of friends and when the police came around they all took off leaving me alone with the 6 pack. The police put me in the back of the car and the rest of the camp kids pushed the one who bought the liquor to join me in this scary escapade. The police got tired of him crying and yelled at him to stop. We were released without incident but got in trouble when returning to the camp.

I made my first short movie when I was at Camp Schodack. It was a “Friday the 13th” type horror film before there was such a series and was loads of fun to make. Yes, the quality is nothing to write home about but it had it’s moments especially when the flamboyant chef confessed to the crime.

I always wanted to work to have some independence and started as a paper boy for “Newsday”. One customer gave me a really lousy tip which was your basic income so on the last day of my route I gave them a lousy crumbled up newspaper. When I told them why they finally changed the policy too bad it came a bit too late.

I continued my search for independence and some self confidence with other part-time jobs. This including my stint at McDonalds where I failed miserable as I put in six nuggets in a five tray, couldn’t stop the ketchup from running all over the floor, had the shakes hit the ceiling instead of the cup and was made to pick up cigar rates outside. The funny thing is a barely got the job as the market was tight until I said “have a good day” to the manager. I quit when my brother and cousin laughed at me mopping the floors.  This was followed by a brief stint as a busboy at a local Kosher Deli which included my dad lambasting the manager for claiming my first day was training and that I didn’t deserve to be paid for this work. My first firing came from Shoprite where I was a cashier and any three mistakes over five dollars in either direction was an automatic dismissal. This was in the day when coupons needed to be put in by head, there was no scanning codes and change had to be counted by the cashier so I wasn’t as bad as I thought I was then.

In those days when you came home from school you’d put your books away and just leave the house till dinner time nobody worried about where you were going as long as you got back in time. I used to ride my bicycle endlessly which led to my first accident where I ran over my neighbors foot racing my bicycle down the block.

Politics has played a big role in my life from as far as I can remember. As a matter of fact I recall feeling sad even though everyone around me was elated as Richard Nixon resigned from office in 1974. I don’t actually know what caused that sadness maybe I was born to be a Republican. Yet I’m sorry to say my first role in politics was helping a local Democratic Representative Yevoli get elected. In the 1980’s I was a big Ronald Reagan friend which was the complete opposite of my Aunt Irene who thought he was going to get us in a Nuclear war. My father and Aunt got in such a tussle about this that he stormed out of the house. My involvement continued throughout my life but this will be told later in my story.

The cliches were well established in High school and I was clickless. Yes, I was on the Swim Team, Track Team (just wanted the credit) and wrestling but when you’re barely 125 pounds and with poor coordination you are not part of the athletes. Fashion, Star Wars and Pot were not my thing so this clicks were closed to me as well.

Once I got to my senior years things clicked a bit more for me. My grades were a solid B+ and my teacher wanted me for History honors but I’d rather get easier A+’s at that point. I went to the Prom with a young lady who I was dating but just before it began announced we would be going as “friends”. Another young lady who I never knew liked me said I asked her to the prom earlier which was totally fabricated although my friend Lorin believed it was true.

Senior year also had much drama as I made some big stupid moves. I ran for school President and promised to have a whaling party at my house if I won. Thank G-D I lost but I think some people voted more then once trying to get the whaling party. I did eventually have a party at my parents house when they were way. It wasn’t something from Animal House although one couple got in a fight and damaged my ceiling tile. I tried to replace it before my father came home but when it started raining the ceiling tile fell down. My father found out the truth and said one of the harshest things he’s ever said to me “I’m very disappointed in you.

My years of driving didn’t start at well. On the first day my friend told me there was plenty of room to park next to the other car that was until I heard a loud screech. Yes, day one ended in a fender bender. Me and my friend also did the stupidest thing we could have done with a car playing Starsky and Hutch on the grill. Thank G-D nobody got hurt because it could have been devastating. Adam Rabinowitz had this special talent to make me laugh at the most inappropriate time including drinking soda (fizzle in the nose) and cracking up at Senior Citizen as their dentures fell out of his mouth.

This was also the time that brought in me contact with a Machiavelli named Tom Stevens. I was interested in playing a bigger role in helping Ronald Reagan get re-elected and this “individual” said he knew all the key players as he appointed President of Students For Reagan at SUNY Albany. The college I was planning to attend.

During an orientation week at SUNY Albany my suitemates appeared a bit too wild as the party led me to pass out on the floor. I decided that since I barely got into the college that I shouldn’t room with these suitemates and secretly declined their offer. It was one of the stupidest mistakes of my college years as I later found out that they knew when to party and when to study. The suitemates I finally had when going to college were over the top obnoxious which lead to my nickname “Moose”. When I left the suite one of the suitemates who was serving beer to everyone suddenly asked for my ID. I showed him my ID by taking my friends beer at dumping it over his head.

The first script I wrote was “The Last Chance For Freedom in 1989. It is not my finest script but proved that I could write a cohesive story with well developed characters. At that time I was so proud to accomplish this work that I got it copywritten.

I was brought up as a two day a year Jew. Where we would go to Synagogue during the High Holidays and leave before it was over. The Synagogue I belonged to was “Temple Beth Elohim” was as reform as it good be with a Choir, Organ and a Rabbi who put me in sleep mode. If you could fail out of a Bar Mitzvah I would be on top of the list as I was completely bored out of my mind. The funny thing as it closer to my Bar Mitzvah this reform Synagogue made you be there almost six days a week.

I remember that on my Bar Mitzvah day that my father had a special a Tallit from Israel that he wanted me to wear. The Tallit is a “holy cloth” one wears around their shoulders when one becomes a Bar Mitzvah and continues thereafter. The rabbi thought it was fine but the President came down hard against since the person I was being Bar Mitzvah with Lee Eisner (think last name it’s been a while) didn’t have one. The whole “choir” had Tallit but the President wouldn’t allow them to transfer one to Lee. My Bar Mitzvah was delayed over half an hour during the going back and forth and my dad lost. Yet they lost as a members.

I traveled the world of Judaism and faith as a whole thereafter. As I went to every basic form of Judaism including Jewish Science.  I experimented with my faith even once opening up a Ouija board thank G-D it didn’t worked. Once I went to a reform shul in college and during the high holidays the Rabbi spoke about his “Pro-Choice” stands. When I told the Rabbi that I believed in a Pro Life stance instead and felt that his stance made me feel like I was out of the faith he basically said I was. Later on in life I met many people of the faith who shared my political views especially through the RJC (Republican Jewish Committee) but let’s just say before said time I was very lonely.

A trip down inauguration row was something I’ll never forget. I went on an Inauguration Internship just as Ronald Reagan was being inaugurated for the 2nd time and even though we couldn’t actually go to inauguration because it was too cold I went to the party and saw Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan dance in front of me. I also met young people my age from all around the country including a young lady from Alabama who “inaugurated me” and another young lady who brought me such happiness by being with and sadness as she told me she had Cancer.

The first girl I dated (when I was a boy) was Karen and I think I was maybe 10 years old. All I remember is she had some type of scar over her eye but otherwise beautiful for a  10 year old boy. I know that because I had a major crying episode where one can’t breathe when she broke up with me. This was in a summer camp where most of my relations before high school would occur including Sabrina an Iranian Jewish young lady who I dated for eternity or almost the entire summer camp season. The truth is I dated very frequently with people from every continent in the world as this was a way to travel the world without leaving home. I even dated a young lady who didn’t speak English but knew how to kiss.  Most relationships ended quickly as I was careless with numbers and this was before cell phones kept your recent call.  Later on the relationship developed passed the bases and pain was added to my batters plate.

One young lady I dated was a beautiful woman from Guinea who came up with the best excuse to stop dating me she already was engaged. I think this was something her family had pre-arranged as she later said that we should go out again.

During the 200 celebration of “The Statue Of Liberty” I thought the fireworks were occurring in my heart. I met a young lady from Bellevue, Nebraska named “Lori Jobes” who had just came into NYC as part of a marching band to celebrate the festivities and she appeared to fit all my criteria (at the time) for what I wanted in a woman. Beautiful, innocent, sweet, talented but youth has its naivety which later would be revealed. I dreamed it could be more then a trip to NY and it appeared to be so when we stayed in touch and she sent me a beautiful valentines gift. I decided to fly to Nebraska to see her and decide where this would go. It was a wonderful trip but in the end I left it to her contact me.  Which became a story that ended before the flight even took off.

One of my most interesting trips was becoming a cowboy in Wyoming for a week. I lived the life all the way to bringing the cattle to the rodeo and truly took in the experience of the open land.  The beauty of a lightning strike in such a vast open land made me feel a  touch closer to  G-D’s amazing plan.

My college years started with the change in legal alcohol consumption from 18 t0 21 and my mother thought that was unfair. She convinced me to change my driver’s license so my age was changed. The police officer who stopped me for a minor infraction didn’t take light to this change as he had me arrested for a crime. My Uncle Manny helped me get the right lawyer to make it a traffic ticket and the days of changing my age came quickly to an end.

I and my friends decided to take a trip to Vermont though were the drinking age was still 18. Unfortunately on the day of this trip there was a blizzard and what was an hour trip lasted a whole lot longer by the time we got to the bar it was closed. I left the bar but forgot to put on my lights. Which led me to be stopped by a police officer who thought I might be drinking. They even gave me a breathe analyzer test which came back negative as did this trip.

College taught me that dropping a class was harder then it appeared. I was doing poorly in trigonometry and assumed I dropped the class when I handed in some papers that just happened to be the wrong ones. I pleaded with my professor and he eventually allowed me to do so. It’s funny though because when I took the same class at Bryant University I was a  straight A student. Teachers really make the difference.

I never thought certain classes in college would turn out the way they did. For example I loved marketing and aced all the exams but my professor made the study as boring as a text book. On the other hand learning about “rocks” rolled my world as my geology teacher took us to other planets and lead my mind on a completely different journey. This also occurred with World Religion especially when I visited the professor’s office and felt I was entering a new spiritual journey. There were classes I slept through but aced the exams and one’s I was fully awake for and nearly failed.

My journey as President For Students For Reagan taught me a great deal about politics. One, never book a large room when you’re not sure how many people will attend the 2nd meeting. The first meetings are always big in politics and members drop off precipitously. Second, of all people who get involved in politics can do it for all the wrong reasons as power is the ingredient many strive for. I noticed this as soon as the competition with College Republicans who didn’t want to work together even in an extremely liberal college. Finally, bureaucracy and BS can destroy all motivation. I became so disenchanted with politics in Albany that I said I wouldn’t get involved again.

I continued to work during my college years. Including a stint as a salesperson for a local sweatshirt company where I’d get teams and clubs to imprint their names on merchandise. I also worked at “Thom MCcan as a salesperson trying to convince others to buy extras with the shoes like shoe polish, shoe trees etc, etc. From Thom McCan I learned about upfront marketing bringing items closer to the customer’s eyes. Finally, I worked at a lumberyard near Bryant University in where everything went smoothly until my parents showed up with their Mercedes Benz. Suddenly, I was fired for “writing sloppy”. I was beside myself because this was my writing from day one and wondered if there was an alternate motive. Not to fear though the lumberyard went out of business in the following year.

I thought that would be the case then Amy Carter was invited to speak at Bryant University. This was during the battle to fund the Contras fighting the Communist dictatorship in Nicaragua or my generation’s cold war. I took on the former president’s daughter and when my “liberal professor” saw my passion he decided against his own beliefs to support the founding of “The Young Republican Club of Bryant College”.  My professor honestly just wanted to see some type of political spirit in the College instead of just money talk.  I became the founder and President of this Club and also started my column in the school newspaper. Yet my pro-life in one of my pieces led me to my first death threat. I continued to write maybe out of passion or stupidity you be the judge.

Bryant College was where I got to shine. I found a good group of friends although my roommate suffered from mental health issues. He would become more and more intense over small matters until one time he exploded and made our suite look the same. He left college as he sought professional help. It wasn’t my first bout with friends, family and associates that dealt with this issue just the one that appeared closest to my life in the early years.

I graduated Bryant College as a Cum Laude with a major in Management and a minor in Entrepreneurial Management.  I knew the one thing I didn’t want to do was get in my “family business” but prove to myself my self-worth so I started Buddy Building Products By BW”. This was a sales representative company for J. Alperin Co. Inc. in which I would have to find and develop my leads and customers. In those days there was no internet just a Yellow Pages and I hunted like a fox to find them and develop many clients. I snuck into hospitals and hotels without appointments whenever they were on my “route” and even accidentally opened a door to a medical class where a dead body was present. It was a time when I developed my sales techniques and even some confidence.

My love of music took me to a variety of concerts.  The first concert I saw was the Jackson 5 with my parents at a little hall called the Westbury Musical Hall who knew how far the Jackson name would go after that?  I saw Styx, Van Halen, Loverboy, Rick Springfield, Reo Speedwagon, Eddie Money Cheap Trick and this was just in my early twenties and many others my mind doesn’t allow me to remember.

I remember going to see Bon Jovi with some friends and one of his brothers. It was such a great time that ended in tragedy as my friend’s brother died in a car accident the next day. The father was so strong during this difficult time and even left me with a comment about faith that holds true to me even today. He said G-D wanted me to be Catholic so that’s who I am and G-D wants you to be Jewish so that’s who you should be.

At Bryant College, my social life continued to develop. I learned to party with some good friends and met a variety of young ladies. Me and my friends would compete with who could pick up who and I won with a beautiful young lady who loved wearing leather skirts. We went out for several months and I took her to a big gala wear my fashion advice was less than par as I told her it was okay to wear a formal gown while everyone else wore cocktail dresses.

A sudden tragedy changed my family’s dynamics. My aunt driving home from seeing her mother my grandmother had a massive heart attack at the age of approximately 56 years old. My family waited for hours to find out what had occurred when she was traveling such a short distance from my grandmother. This left the impression on me that life is short, you should always return phone calls and you never know when it will be your time to return home.

Buddy Building Products by BW was becoming a successful operation but as time went on I realized I had to spend less time on the road and more time making sure items were ordered, delivered and paid for. This required me to work more at my family business to the point where I only went at once a week. Working at the family business became more of a necessity and Buddy Building Products by BW closed within 2 years of it’s founding as practicality took over again.

My political life became a roller coaster which almost ended it. Tom Stevens had put me as Vice President of The New York Young Republican Club as soon as I left College since he was in charge of the “nominating committee”. This was when we as Young Republicans got to all the big events including a dinner for George H Bush at the Waldorf Astoria for free (because the seats didn’t sell out) while others dished out over $500 a seat. Tom Stevens admitted to me that he followed Machieveli’s theory of politics and when I was selected to become the next President I soon discovered how far it would go.  On the night I was too be “inaugurated” in this position I was told Tom Stevens was sexually abusing some young members of our club.  The day of the meeting I made moves to have him dismissed from the nominating committee. He reacted angrily as he tried to stop this action.  I thought this would be the last I would hear from this “individual” until his uncle claws of vengeance came to light. I was at a street fair making a speech for the Young Republican Club and was considering running for office and thought maybe I should dismiss my pro-life policy to get elected when two officers approached.  They said I was going to be arrested I asked that it been done on a private street and they agreed to do so. When I entered the car in handcuffs Tom Stevens was in the front seat with the police. I was set to be booked for a completely false crime that took my innocence and almost life away.  My friend Kevin Hanratty went on a search to find my parents who were at a party when this occurred. The first lawyer they hired told me the penalty for the crime I didn’t commit and it was longer than the years I was alive.

This was a time when I was at my lowest. I spent over 30 hours in prison thinking about suicide for I felt I lost the most important part of my life my integrity. Luckily the other prisoners helped me regain some strength to continue. The first lawyer my parents hired sure didn’t do that as he spoke about the penalty for a crime I didn’t commit. The 2nd lawyer Bachman helped me though as he said I was the most innocent defender he ever came across.

My parents raised the bail money and as soon as I got owed I vowed to proof my innocence and seek revenge. Tom Stevens was over six foot tall and I was five foot six yet he told the police that I put a knife to his neck and performed sodomy on him. It was a trick even a circus performing couldn’t do. Furthermore, he produced a knife with my initials on it which he said I used in the crime. What kind of idiot would take a knife with his initials on it to commit a crime. The lawyer was able to show the place he said it occurred was closed, that I had an alibi, showed the results of a lie detector test but the final straw to my dismissal came from Tom Steven’s own mouth. He told the prosecutor attorney that he would drop the charges if I returned some files he had when he was in the Young Republican Club.  The charges were dismissed before there was even a grand jury. Keep in mine this was the same Da that brought false charges those in the Central Park Rape case so it wasn’t as easy as it seemed.  When I went to the police station to ask that Tom Stevens be arrested for bringing false charges against me they intimidated me not to do so as I believe they felt threatened this would make “them look bad”. I brought a civil case against him and won 5,000,000 dollars yet collected a 100 dollars or so and an apology as he pled poverty. My rage continued until I accepted the biblical story of Joseph in my life.  I decided it was best for me to forgive Tom Stevens as a person although never actually forgive/forget the crime he committed against me. That wasn’t the end of the story though.   They write it better than me https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/06/nyregion/young-republican-arrested-in murder-scheme.html . In reality two FBI authorities came into my place of business and told me I should law low as I had a death threat. Me, my wife and son hid at a loved ones house for a day until Tom Stevens was arrested. Later on the charges were dropped against Tom Stevens as they determined he was entrapped by a former Vice President of the YR’s. I believe it was Grant Esposito. Of course I had no knowledge this was occurring and was another reason I decided politics was truly a dirty and sometimes even disgusting game.

After taking a 2 day film class taught by Dov Simmons who taught at NYU and UCLA that it was my time to make a film based on one of my scripts. At first I thought I’d make a horror film but after reviewing the complications in doing this project I settled on a family feature called “All Screwed Up”.  The first objective was to find a competent director who could work within my limited budget. I had scheduled interviews all day long and in the end only two potential directors showed up. Which proofs half the battle is just being there. Neil Stephens hired the crew and the process of building “All Screwed Up” from scratch had begun.

Preproduction was a grueling process.   We worked tirelessly perfecting the script, finding locations, setting up residence for crew and cast etc,etc and…. etc. If you don’t believe in G-D before preproduction you will believe during production. For all the little things that somehow pull apart and suddenly come together occur. Including an electrical storm that shut off our power only to be restored a moment later.  We almost had a strike at the set when I offered to have some White Castle for a 2nd day which I still ate and enjoyed before my Kosher days. Tension was high with cast and  crew as we tried to push the hours past the breaking point as we wanted to complete the project within the time and budget we had scheduled.  Our team even worked a 25 hour shift to complete the opening scene which was less then 5 minutes.

Yet the real problems occurred in post production. First my Producer got in a minor fender bender as he brought the rented truck  My Director had hired an animator to create the “Elephant Beetle” but he couldn’t even produce a drawing so I had to fire him and his runner up. I was lost without a clue until I tried to start a film festival in Rockland County which introduced me to a Herb Misery who knew of a talented animator. This let to an awesome Music Supervisor who put in a eclectic range of music which caused a major conflict with my Director who only wanted Classical music. Conflicts between me and the director increased as his edited of the project was moving way past deadlines. He finally set an email to the entire cast and crew claiming I fired him. I received many angry responses from the cast and crew. I called a meeting with the Producer and Director and had the great compromise where some classical music was left in the film and other music as well.  We had an awesome red carpet event.

Yet this wasn’t the end of the battle for “All Screwed Up” as distribution was another headache to battle.  The Agent who represented the film got us into the 1st annual Friar’s Film Festival which was awesome but forget to push our film when it was at the hottest point. Chyna Layne, the star of “All Screwed Up” was climbing the ladder as her latest project “Precious” was nominated for an Oscar at a time when they truly mattered yet to our agent didn’t have the time for us. It was therefore time for his dismissal and I started looking for new representation.  This  occurred during our next appearance at a festival “The International Family Film Festival”. The theater was empty for my screening as I knew know one in California except for me, my daughter and a person who I invited in the last minute, Mathius.  Mathius not only enjoyed the film but understood what I was trying to accomplish on a deeper level. He immediately became my agent and worked to make a deal with Indican Pictures for distribution . I settled with a lawyer to represent me who was very reasonable until I found out he thought we were a Disney film and charged me for every minute along the way. He was let go for a more expensive lawyer who came out to be less expensive because of his kindness and professionalism. Indican got “All Screwed Up” on Netflix and Redbox but this was before Netflix was even a neighborhood name.

My experiences at J. Alperin Co. Inc are filled with enough information that they could be there own book so I’ll just touch on some of the most memorable for good, bad or just plain weird. For example I once came to the store with the side wall completely down. We discovered this occurred because a prostitute was not being paid for her services in a car and in return had the vehicle smashed in the side of the car. One day I came in to discover our keyboards were attacked by alien forces or Mickey and his friends.

Some of the craziest events happened while coming or leaving my place of business. Yes, I drove through a hurricane and many a blizzard to get there and/or try to return home. One particular blizzard scared the hell out of me as I couldn’t see any road signs or any lines between the lanes. I was just to determined or stupid that I had to get to work to proof something.  I worked throughout Covid finding “supplies” that the world said they needed when few could as I utilized any source anywhere to make this happen. I even went to drop off a bid on the same day my son was born. Our place was right around the corner of  a major protest led by “Reverend” Al Sharpton literally when an officer put a suspect in a choke hold and he died  .

I was robbed at gun point during my stay at J. Alperin but that was before the great chase. Me and my father were driving to the bank when suddenly we were stopped because an individual claimed I had a flat tire. I got out of the car to take a look and this individual grabbed my wood briefcase containing our days deposit.  We ran after the suspect but when he pulled out a gun decided he could keep the money. The police did a Bronx check of the crime scene which meant they closed the book of this investigation before it was even open.

There were two times in my life that I can recall seriously wanted to kill another human being. One was Tom Stevens (see above) and the 2nd was my father’s accountant. This accountant was treated like part of the family as he was invited to many family events yet he not only stole money from my father but could have him locked up for his crime. My father gave him money directly for taxes and he used it for unscrupulously means. This was only discovered after the IRS sent a notice that are payments weren’t made for a considerable amount of time. We had to hire a special accountant and lawyer to help deal with this situation. When my father had a meeting with us and this low life I saw his age change before my eyes. If he had commanded me to take this accountant out his book would have been closed forever.

My obsession with work took a physical mark on my body. I had to get a bid notarized by the bank and when they started to give me a hard time because of red tape I took it out on my wood briefcase. My hand was severely cut but I thought a band aid or five would do the trick. This was until later in the day when a police officer recommended that my next stop be the hospital. I think I made it the stop after instead. I received several stitches at the hospital but not before my work hours were done.

Politics was also something I held and continue to hold a deep passion for. I remember driving back and forth to Pennsylvania day after day to help with the Republican Convention. I also went to a $5000.00  businessman fundraiser for George W. Bush just once to say I was there but don’t worry I got back from a free weekend put on by the tea party. I not only got a free flight, hotel and training by a Presidential speech writer but met well know politicians first hand that would made the $5000.00 previous expense a bargain. Sometimes good things are actually free.

One of the first purchases I made as a young adult was a gun but on more then one time these purchasers  put me on a black list. When NY passed a law forcing gun owners who owned a AR15 to be registered I followed the law and saw my name listed in the local paper.  My worst experience was when I had purchased a gun and really wasn’t prepared as I went to my local range with my daughter. I thought the gun was empty yet one shot remained and hit the floor of the place. They rightful through me out of the place and required me to take lessons.  I did but they still left a mark on my name. The place went out of business and I developed better skills and equipment at Davies Sporting goods where my laser scope and safety insured that I only hit things on the target.

My Plymouth Turismo 2.2 was about that rating in a 4 scale. This was my first car and when I put on the air conditioning only dirt came out. It got you from here to there but often with many unnecessary stops along the way. This car helped my social life though as I packed a whole bunch of lady friends into it to go to the local Taco Bell.

The last person I dated before meeting my wife was Eileen Weiss. We met at a bar in NYC where my friend had also appeared lucky. Eileen Weiss was more sophisticated then I was at the time and was truly outgoing.  My father even said he thought I was her rebound guy.  I never found out what caused her to break up with me but maybe she just picked up another ball instead.

In the summer of 1993 little did I know one Jewish Singles Weekend would change my life forever. I wasn’t planning to go on this trip to the Pines but my mother’s persuasion and curiosity got the best of me. This weekend introduced me to many a catch but one woman with bold eyes caught my attention. She went to all the activities I wanted to go to and appeared to be someone who was easy to get along with time would tell a bit of a different story. We exchanged numbers and I was going to call her later in the week but she took the initiative. My future wife fullfeed many of my superficial objectives. She was and still is beautiful, she went to all the events I wanted to go to and even her parents were Republicans.  Later on the relationship appeared more difficult then I anticipated. She would get really angry about “small events” but the next day it appeared to be over. This appeared to happen at a rapid basis the closer we become. After dating her for six months she revealed that she had type 1 diabetes not to observant of me as I couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t have dessert whenever we went out. I initially contributed the mood swings to this condition and tried to let things be.

I was ready to put an end to the emotional roller coaster when I found out that Myles was in the oven. I proposed to my wife and set a wedding date before the arrival. Our wedding was a historical event in NYC as a monsoon of a blizzard hit in the month of May with 18 inches of snow. This was an event that caused half my guest to cancel and even caused a temporary black out. We still managed to have an amazing wedding with the guests that somehow made it.

Myles was predicted to be a girl by all my family experts so when the doctor showed he  was a boy tears ran down my eyes. He just barely made his briss though as he started life suffering from jaundice and was put in an incubator.

My 2nd child Eliana was born three years later. My wife wanted to have a natural child birth and was born with BPD where here lungs weren’t fully developed. She was immediately put in an incubator and get there for over a week.  When she was allowed to return home her immune system was so weak that I had to stay out of the house with my elderly dog Macho who could bring infection. I stayed in my parents house.

During this time period my first dog “Macho” was alive but barely. He was blind, had no teeth and unbeknownst to me was suffering from seizures.  I tried what I could to save his life but one last seizure took his life away even after I was ready to take him to a brain specialist.

We had several individuals help with my children but many didn’t a poor job. One allowed the bath to overflow while the other allowed my three year old son walk across a NYC street. We also had a nanny who was recommended by loved ones and who spent most of the time talking to herself. The problem as she was speaking to herself my four year old son left the house and walked across a major street. It was a battle between the loved ones since they knew her so long but that was one firing that I committed to no matter what.

I tried my best to be the father who gave their children a diverse amount of activities as they grew up that in many cases I did not participate in. My son was involved in the cub scout, pee wee football which I was an assistant coach, Karate. My daughter on the other hand took soccer, karate and dance. It was a hectic schedule bringing them around as any parent of today’s times know. I also had them attend regular Friday night services in our local synagogue for as long as I could drag them there.

My blog started on a whim when a website designer for my business suggested I create it because of all my ideas and thoughts. As soon as it was implemented the blog became my obsession were I’d write anything and I mean “anything” that came to my mind. As I became more traditional I took off for Jewish Holidays and lowered the count to two thoughts a day on most occasions. My ideas on the blog later became a bigger part of the creative endeavors I pursue today.

Miracles do happen as witnessed when my two year old daughter was missing. I had looked all over the house to find her to no avail. I got down on my knees by the dining room table and prayed for an answer when I looked up I found my little daughter sleeping crunched up on a dining room chair. How G-D opens ones eyes when they are in thou direction is truly remarkable.

Miracles do happen again as witnessed with a car down the wrong hill.