You’ve come to Blog.AlanBleiweiss.com –
the official personal blog for Alan Bleiweiss
who alan blewieiss
what my personal diatribe blog
where on the world wide web of course
when ever it’s in me to vent
why because I need all the outlets I can get
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Bleiweiss Name Origin
While there are many people with the last name Bleiweiss, many of those are apparently not related to me. How is that possible you ask? Good Question.
When my grandfather arrived in this country, he came via Ellis Island at the turn of the last century (uh for all you millennial people, that means around 1900 or so, not the millennium of Y2K fame – duh).
When he was led up to the entry desk, and the man behind the desk asked what is your name, my grandfather told him. He spoke using his native language, either Russian or perhaps Yiddish, I’m not sure.
This Is Your Name In America
In either case, the guy said “this is your name in America” and that’s how the Bleiweiss name became associated with my family. It’s that person’s interpretation of hearing my grandfather’s heavily accented foreign pronunciation of our real family name.
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A Bleiweiss By Any Other Name
Since my grandfather had many brothers and sisters, some of whom came over at different times during that era, it’s no surprise that I have relatives who I know to in fact, be real blood relatives, who spell their last name differently. Even though we’re from the same lineage. Don’t you love the melting pot?
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How To Pronounce The Name Bleiweiss
- Bleiweiss - as in Bly-Weiss (for some reason, nobody has a problem pronouncing that second part, but even though the first part has the same pronunciation rules, a lot of people stumble on it. Go figure. – Oh- don’t freak out if you forget. Even Don Lemon from CNN on live television, in prime time, got it wrong. Stumbled right through it on the air. Oh well. (Shout out to @DonLemoncnn)
- Alan - I really don’t mind someone who first meets me just calling me by my first name. Really.
- Sir. No, actually, please never call me sir. Really.
- As the old joke goes, whatever you do, don’t call me late for dinner.
- And never call me Bleiweiss – only two person in the world can do that and get away with it.
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Shout out to TK Cutie & Scrabble Dawn – now the rest of you know the one person who can call me Bleiweiss
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Alan Allen or Al
Here again there are many ways of spelling a name that otherwise seems to sound the same, at least in some cases. Alan and Allen are, to most ears, the same name, yet clearly they’re spelled differently, and if you use that good old egalitarian charm in how you speak what you see, you’ll thus note Al*an and Al*len are really very different indeed.
Of course, all of us Alans and Allens can, if we choose to, share the shortened version of Al. Personally, though I prefer otherwise – unless you’re one of only three people in the world, (and I’ll never tell you who they are), always call me Alan if you wish to say my name. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
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Shout out to Jesse – okay so now everyone knows one of the three people who have permission (inherent in the fact that this is how she has sometimes called me, and she’s just too precious to argue the point with).
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Ankles and Poppies
Only two people on earth can call me Ankle Alan. I changed diapers for both of them. And only one can call me Poppie Alan. Too bad for the rest of you – those experiences are locked in my heart and you can’t have the key.
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Google Search For Alan Bleiweiss
There are a number of people with the name Alan Bleiweiss out in the world, many of whom you will find on the Internet. Most of them are not, however, people involved with Internet technology since 1995 like I am. And as a result, much of what you find out there through a Google search will, in fact, be about me. But don’t be fooled.
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Google Results Not Related to This Alan Bleiweiss:
- I was never in a Mission Impossible television show
- I do not have a doctorate degree of any type, nor have I ever performed surgery on anyone/thing other than computers, and other inanimate objects of my choosing. (Although I’ve been referred to as “the General”, and Mr. Bee, the Answer Man, and the SEO guru, though everything I’ve learned, has come from others before me).
- I’ve never been a spokesman for any hospital
- I’ve never been a director of any kind at Saint Louis University
- My first name is Alan, not Rafael, though a very select few people are entitled to call me Rafael, but you’ll never know why will you?
- I never went to nor had any dealings with Cooper City High School
- I am not married to a Russian Bride nor have I ever flown to Russia to meet one
- I’ve never lived in Hollywood Florida
- I’ve never owned a sign company called “Signs Now”
- I’ve never met any woman named Harriet in my entire life, let alone married her
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Shout out to Scooter and Adria – now the rest of you know the two people who are allowed to call me Rafael. But only they know why.
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Some true facts about This Alan Bleiweiss:
- At the time of this writing, 19 of the first 20 results at Google really are all about ME. I like it that way – it’s as it should be when all is right in the world.
- I really did catch a fish off the pier in Mattittuck using only some string and a bent Volkswagen key – and that was one of the most magical weekends of my life.
- I really did attend the Golden Summernight Fest in Germany in the early 80’s and saw bands including Blue Oyster Cult, 38 Special, Foreigner, Kansas, and a number of others in an open-air stadium all in one day. I also attended a number of other concerts in that time period back in Germany, however the Golden Summernight Fest is the only one to which I have been previously associated on the web, as relates to the fact that I shared about enjoying seeing Blue Oyster Cult there.
- I do maintain a presence at LinkedIn, Twitter, my SEO company web site, on my Search Marketing Answers blog, here, FaceBook, and MySpace.*
- I have been known to meditate for up to an hour at a time. In the middle of Union Square Park in Manhattan.
- And I can guide you through one in the same setting, even if you’ve never meditated before.
- As a kid I walked the entire Atlantic City Boardwalk. By myself. Before there were casinos (Hey, I was a kid so it was a really long walk and an adventure) Shout out to my cousins in A.C.!
- I used to be a rabid New York Islanders fan. My brother and I watched them through four Stanley cups. Mike Bossy is my hockey hero. Al Arbour is the greatest hockey coach who has ever lived. 22, 19, 27, 19, 31 and 5 are the most cherished numbers in hockey history.
- I’m no longer an Islanders fan because over the years ownership changed hands and every time ownership trashed them worse than before. Now they’re a basement team and I no longer tolerate watching hours of negative energy ooze into my life. So screw them. And the Charles Wang they rode in on. Go Sharks!
- Wayne Gretzky may be called The Legend, and The Greatest. Too bad. He was a freak of nature who I respect for having gifts. Yet a freak of nature is a freak of nature. Go Bossy!
- I really did write a hockey statistics program using an Atari 64, a cassette tape recorder and a black and white TV. In Basic. 9 years before I even knew what a computer was. 10 go to 20.
- Hey Hal! – He Shoots, He scores!
- Life was a beach to me decades before it was to a dumb bumper sticker.
- I really did invent a head-mounted flashlight long before they sold them for big bucks at REI.
- Most of my inspiration for being an entrepreneur came from my Uncle Marty, and my Grandfather the painter.
- I love California and the call of the palm trees, yet I’ve got Long Island and Brooklyn New Yorker blood in my veins so my brutal honesty may be more than you can handle. If you earn my respect I will always do my best to treat you right. Yet if you cross my belief about fair and compassionate you’ll probably regret doing so. Oh well.
- I really can disintegrate clouds if the mood strikes me. A great teacher taught me how.
- In a conspiracy with that teacher, I ate so much marzipan once that I couldn’t eat it for a month.
- I choose to believe in conscious faith and all the magic that entails. False Evidence Appearing Real no longer turns me on.
- Suits are for monkeys (why else would they be called monkey suits?
- I learned the concept of recession-proof business from my Grandfather the butcher
- I was one of the co-creators for a the mock Monkey Jet Airlines. Shout out to FroxyMamma!
- Chocolate Fish make a great cafe snack.
- I really have driven across the United States seven times.
- I really did invent the first ever, full featured, automated web site building and content management system. It went by the names Magic Site Buider (stolen by cyber squatters) and First Avenue Software.
- So far, the men in the white coats haven’t come to take me a way. Though Me and my bro used to have a different take on that.
- I’m far from perfect. I’m working on it. What about you?
- I really was online with Compuserve as far back as 1989.
- I really did create a Real Estate BBS on the FidoNet in 1994. Shout out to Mike and Kim F. for giving me that opportunity. And to Chris, a BBS sysop from Felton, for showing me the Internet that day in January 1995.
- I really did create the first ever, full listing, database driven real estate web site in California, for Thunderbird Real Estate.
- I’m probably the only person on earth who has ever owned a company that employed a Chief Lesbian Officer.
(*My FaceBook and MySpace pages are for my personal friendships so please don’t ask).
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On a final note
There’s a really NASTY rumour going around that I can be known in some circles as Cali4nia Al.
They’re all true.
I know.
I started them.
For a reason.
And if you’re polite, that one I might explain.
But I doubt it.
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If I offended anyone in writing this blog, and you’re right now complaining about it, thanks for sharing. Call your sponsor. And if you don’t know what one of those is, ask someone.
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