All posts by Daniel Neumann

Love is an Electrified Wire

Love is an electrified wire.

It shocks you and energizes you.

It lights homes, but also brings you pain.

To love someone is to strip naked,

Be at the mercy of heat or cold.

Your nerves will feel bare and excited,

Yet find supreme comfort in her arms.

Love is an intriguing desire.

It wholly alters your point of view.

It’s holy, yet messes with your brain.

You can never put back on the lid.

You wouldn’t trade it for all the gold.

Paradise is to feel united.

And will this set off any alarms?

We trade the tears for each precious kiss.

Love is an electrified wire.

And we’re all just dying to plug in.

B Street Subs Review

B Street Subs Review

Today I decided to grab a sub dinner at a local sub shop and pizzeria on Baltimore Street, named aptly, “B Street Subs.” Parking was a bit cramped and limiting, being confined to a strip rear to the building in an alley. I quickly got the impression that many people enjoy B Street by delivery and sometimes pickup. Regardless, I had time to kill in the area and decided to eat on location.

When I arrived, a man in the kitchen came to greet me. He was friendly and patient as I checked out the menu and slowly made my choices. I couldn’t pass up their main claim-to-fame, the Cheesesteak hoagie (along with a 20oz bottle of Dr. Pepper). The menu breaks down your choices into 5 or so steps so you can customize your hero. I placed my order around 4:20pm.

I asked the man if they had a public restroom I could use. He said yes and then verbally directed me there. The bathroom was well-kept. It’s a single room with a lock. There was plenty of hand soap and even the obligatory sign explaining to employees how thoroughly they must wash their hands.

After taking care of that business, I picked one of the many empty tables to sit. This place was not crowded. Nobody, besides staff and the occasional customer for pick-up, was there at all. B-Street Subs is an excellent candidate for a place to hang out or meet. I will note, however, that there is no free wifi.

The interior looked interesting and inspired. Stylized skateboards adorned the walls as punk music (like Nirvana), on 105.7 the X, played over the speakers. I could tell that the business wanted to appeal to a younger, more angsty crowd. The lighting was great and the architecture seemed rustic with a modern finish. There were plenty of ceiling fans to cool down customers and staff alike during the summer.

While I waited for my food, the same man that greeted me and took my order asked me if I wanted a cup of ice for the bottle of soda I purchased. I gladly accepted and he promptly brought it out to me. The ice chunks were uncommonly large and novel. I also thought it was excellent customer service to offer without prompting.

About 12 minutes from ordering, my cheesesteak sub was delivered to my table from the same man, who asked, “Does it look good?” I answered, “Looks great!” and I wasn’t lying or just being polite. Take a look at the picture below.

My cheesesteak from B Street Subs

Even better than the appearance, the lettuce tasted fresh, the banana peppers were tart, the bread not too thick yet not too soggy, the mayonnaise and cheese levels appropriate, and—most importantly—the beef was thinly sliced and well-seasoned. It was a fine cheesesteak sub. Being 8 inches, it was a little more food than I needed.

When I got up to leave, the same man told me not to worry about throwing out the remainders of my dinner and implored me to have a great day. The customer service was beyond expectations. The food was tasty and reasonably priced. I left the establishment feeling like I had a worth-while dining experience from a local food venue. 5 out of 5 stars.

Mere Roar: First Album

These songs were created by four amateur/aspiring musicians who are all friends. Some of the song lyrics were written by me (Daniel J. Neumann) and other words were completely improvised. It was all recorded in one jam session. Mere Roar is a #TrashFolk improv studio jam group. Members are Daniel J. Neumann, Christine E. Neumann, Rachel G., and Ben Solus (aka J.C.). For more information, click the playlist below and enjoy.


https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7J-nhiK35XmSAs3e_nwewQtPCjiHkuTD


Review of Oakhurst Beverage

Review of Oakhurst Beverage

It occurred to me today that I’ve been going to Oakhurst Beverage for years now and I never considered writing a review. That changes today. The staff at Oakhurst Beverage are probably the nicest and most helpful people that I regularly do business with. They remember who you are, what you’ve chosen before, and you get the impression that they legitimately want to help you select beer. And speaking of selections, they consistently have something you won’t find at the Giant or other beer distributors—whether that be an obscure craft brew or an import from Germany. They’re passionate about what they sell and have a knowledge-base rivaling the forums you could sort through on Google trying to find what you need.

There’s been times I’d come into the Oakhurst Beverage and one of the staff would stop me and ask me how my day was going. This never felt like an automatic greeting, but a real question. I’d tell them a short answer and they’d ask if they could help me find anything. Somedays I wanted to try something different. I would tell them I was looking for a stout, or this level of ABV, or this measure of drinkability, give them a general feel for the beer I was going for based on other beers I’ve tried and didn’t want this time. It almost seemed unfair to ask the vague and/or convoluted questions I asked, yet their answers were always beyond my expectations. Because of Oakhurst Beverage, I’ve expanded what I’ve been able to try in the beer world.

Beyond the great customer support and selection, the store is never too crowded. The beers are placed in a layout that makes sense and easily navigable. The create your own six-pack aisle is always novel. And perhaps most importantly to anyone reading this: Their prices are great.

I’m giving Oakhurst Beverage a five out of five stars. I always leave with a smile on my face.

BREAKING: Snowflake Witches to Curse Trump June 21st

 

As if the media firestorm, illegal leaking, and judicial defiance was not enough to plague a President’s first 6 months in office, Never-Trump witches are attempting to curse Donald J. Trump “to fail utterly” in his capacity of President of the United States on June 21st. And this will be the sixth time.

The so-called “binding of Donald Trump and all those who abet him,” first-appeared on Michael Hughes’s blog on February 20th, 2017. It encourages magical practitioners to petition “spirits of water, earth, air, and fire… [and] demons of the infernal realms” to bind both the President and all people who helped him become President (i.e., nearly half the nation that voted for him… and perhaps those who didn’t vote or voted third party).

The ritual dates are midnight eastern standard time on February 24th, March 26th, April 24th, May 23rd, and so on for every waning crescent moon until the President resigns or is impeached. It is stated on the “Bind Trump” Facebook page that the June 21st ritual date is the most important because it coincides with the Summer Solstice.

Aaiyyan Aaiyyanists shared a link to the group in order to invocate demons to bind Trump. (Invocation means calling inside yourself, which is equivalent to demonic possession, according to Occultists).

Aaiyyan Aaiyyanists shared a link to the Trump Binding group in order to call demons within.

 

Mathew Gault, of The Medium, ran the bizarre story, advocating for its widespread execution. From there, ExtraNewsFeed, Elle, the Boston Globe, and many other outlets disseminated this treasonous call to mystical arms. Hughes provided an email address, [email protected], for all media inquiries.

“This I consider to be primarily a self-defense measure,” Hughes told the New York Daily News. “So many of us are just overwhelmed with the assaults on civil liberties, immigrants, the environment … this felt like a way to reclaim our power and say, ‘We have power over you. You don’t have power over us’.”

Not all magicians agree that this is harmless flailing or righteous action from a disappointed segment of the electorate, however. David Griffin, Rosicrucian Imperator of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn Alpha et Omega, has called the ritual both “black magick” and a “curse.” On his Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn Blog, Griffin said, “As an American, I do not take kindly to a gang of Crypto-Nazi thugs pretending to be ‘progressive’ witches launching a magical war on the American people and the lawfully elected President of the republic.” The esoteric organization vows to counter-act the binding attempts.

The Golden Dawn and allied magical organizations are not the only folks spiritually opposing this lunacy. On Twitter, Kevin Ambrose, of the Christian Nationalist Alliance, called on Christians to pray protection over our President during these rituals.

The collective left’s meltdown over losing the 2016 election has manifested itself in some strange delusions: sexism, the Comey investigation, Russian hacking, and so on, never realizing that Trump won because Hillary Clinton was a broken candidate, known to be corrupt, and Donald Trump offered a viable vision of restoring the American Dream. And now, in an ultimate feat of insanity, the Left resorts to calling on demons and cursing Americans to get their way. It must have not dawned on these witches that, if Donald Trump resigns, is impeached, or is killed, then Pence would become the acting President.

Emotions Cemented in Time

Daniel J. Neumann

Professor Yonker (Senior Seminar)

May 8th, 2012

Final Paper

 

Emotions Cemented in Time

We have micro worlds within us;

Our whole world is but a pixel;

Our perception changes our scale,

Like a cloud whirling with color—

Spiraling upwards by our sight.

To exist in the full moment,

We must be aware of our selves.                                       —Daniel J. Neumann

 

It may not be common to bookend an essay with poetry, but I’m not striving to do something common; I’m striving to do something obvious (yet hidden). I want to look at a horrible conflict between people by examining the people as people. Further, I intend to look at them for what they are: poems writing poetry. This being a product of post-modernism, and loosely derived from Foucault’s New Historicism, I’ll be implementing a deictic analysis. This basically means I’ll try to connect with the person writing the letter by adding my own meaning into his words. I hope that this method will improve empathy and a deeper understanding of war. For the sole purpose of relation and engagement, I’ll impose a level of interpretative flexibility in order to infer emotions and abstract ideas (codes). By the nature of emotions, sometimes they’re recorded less directly in a letter by means of framing or an altered state of awareness. Word choice is indicative of this.

Continue reading Emotions Cemented in Time

Trump Letter 1

Dear President Trump,

 

I have a Membership Certificate on my wall in front of me, in my bedroom, for being on your “Board of Directors” from the election. I’ve personally sent you some of my hard-earned money from my modest pay. I dedicated time and energy into ensuring your election, and my state elected you by a mere 40,000 votes (I live in Pa). I’m proud of being part of this movement.

I’m respectfully asking you to consider asking the Corp of Engineers to reroute the Dakota Access Pipeline so it can’t contaminate water. This would make many people happy. You’ve said that you consider yourself an Environmentalist, and Al Gore walked away from your meeting feeling hopeful. I don’t believe that you’re controlled by the Energy Cartel. You want these pipelines to bring back jobs. I think I understand where you’re coming from. What I ask is that you show the world you are what we both know you are: Not just another Republican or Democrat or Career Politician. You somehow beat this colossal, stale, corrupt system. You care about people like me. Please, be our President and help the people control our government again.

I’m also a huge gun rights advocate, so I’d appreciate National Reciprocity and even a relook at the NFA.

 

Regards and best wishes,

 

Daniel J. Neumann

 

P.S.

 

Together, we will Make America Great Again.
Together, we will Make America Great Again.