people have read my story since 8/4/99.
Last updated: 8-31-99
Why hasn't this been continued in so long?
More pictures being added as time goes on...
NOTE: This, to the best of my knowledge, covers the EVENTS that have shaped me the most. I don't cover everything here; I can't possibly remember everything, and if this were too long, nobody would read it. So if you think something was left out and you'd like to see it added, e-mail me, and I'll either add it, or tell you why it's not in there. Remember: this is about EVENTS, not PEOPLE, so please don't be disappointed if you weren't mentioned.
My name is Aaron Joseph Teplitsky, and this is a brief account of my life
story.
I am 19 (and a half) years old; I was born on November 15th, 1979 at Putnam Hospital
Center and have lived my whole life to this very day in the relatively
small surburban town of Mahopac, New York, with an exception I will
mention later.
I don't remember much about my early childhood, but I remember a few
things here and there, like being so attached to my mother that if she
went to the garage to get something, I had to go with her, and also being
obsessed with TV game shows, which I still enjoy today. I was so obsessed with the game shows at one point that I spent hours upon hours pretending that I was a game show host, recording on my tape recorder... even imitating the roar of the audience. (Well, what's a game show without an audience?)
As a young child I didn't like change. I fell into a routine of sorts, and didn't want to leave. My strong attachment to my mother was only one example of this. Another pretty good example was my eating habit... note that I say "habit," and not "habits." There was a time (my parents estimate that it was possibly as long as two years!) when I ate the same three meals everyday: breakfast was Farina (Cream of Wheat), lunch was sliced American cheese and sliced apple, dinner was scrambled eggs. That was it. Then when I began eating meat, hot dogs were as far as I would go...
I also
remember attending Noah's Ark Nursery School on Route 6N, which to the
best of my knowledge still exists today. From there I best remember (this
shouldn't come as a surprise) watching a primitive computer load "Big
Bird's Special Delivery," one of the very first computer games I ever
played. I remember it taking so long by today's standards; I think it was
something like 30 seconds or a minute. It was also around this time that,
sadly, I found myself having to use glasses. I was fairly young for someone who needed glasses; I couldn't have been older than four or five. To this day my vision is
pretty bad, and the largest reason why is because I'm constantly staring at
close, static objects way too much (predominantly computer and TV
screens). The fact that my parents' vision isn't the best didn't help either,
so I found myself very nearsighted very quickly. Oh well.
Lakeview Elementary School, front view (taken from http://www2.lhric.org/mcsd/)
I next attended Lakeview Elementary School, from 1st grade up to 5th.
This period of my life was pretty interesting for quite a few reasons, not
all of them necessarily good. Academically, I did well -- perhaps a bit too
well, and so I thought of myself as a genius. My glasses and this attitude
quickly led to others' thinking of me as a "nerd," something that continued
up through the end of middle school (although that comes later). But that's
not a rare thing: thousands of kids are picked on for being "nerds." I was
often targeted for a more unique reason, one that I'll readily talk about
now but one that I was embarrassed about for many years.
My fascination with computers and video games had fully taken root by
that point in my life, and I discovered that I had a good ear for music.
Even now I can memorize songs off the radio and in these games even after
hearing them only a few times. But back then I didn't stop at memorizing
them; I played them back, not using a sound processor or music synthesizer but my voice and
mouth instead. After the word spread, other kids would come to me with
requests, like "do Super Mario Bros.," and I would honor them.
Additionally, I would often pretend to be playing these games with my
hands. For example, I would play "Duck Hunt," flapping my hands around as
if they were ducks, for other people to shoot. Needless to say, I was
pretty popular back then, and not the "cool" kind of popular, either. The odd part was that I didn't even realize that the others around me were laughing at me, and not with me.
What caused this strange behavior? Possibly just my own strange (unique?) mind,
but two factors that might have contributed to this were ADD (Attention
Deficit Disorder), and Tourette Syndrome, two nice little things I was
diagnosed with around that time. I particularly remember repeatedly
looking behind me at the Texas Instruments computer screen in second
grade -- even if I knew nobody was using it -- when I should have been
paying attention to the teacher, and the difficulty I had avoiding that
behavior. And Tourette Syndrome causes "tics," or involuntarily
movements, so there were periods of weeks or months when I would shrug
my shoulders, make funny noises or even whisper "excuse me" repeatedly
for what seemed like no reason at all. Regardless, this syndrome affected
me much less than many others who suffered from it, and after taking
medication for a few years, it rarely shows itself anymore. I occasionally
still have some "tics," but they usually only involve subtle mouth movements, and only surface when I'm nervous,
alone or not thinking of anything in particular.
I did have some friends during my elementary school days. They numbered very few, but the ones I had were true friends at the time. My best friend was David Shah, someone I had met early on, and we spent a lot of time together... until he moved away, towards the end of my time at Lakeview. We kept in touch for a while and then I stopped sending letters. It's something I haven't forgiven myself for.
In 1990 I graduated to Mahopac Middle School. I remember thinking how
huge the school was at the time I started attending it, for something like
900 students attended with me at the time, as compared to approximately a third of that back at Lakeview. It was around this time that I
realized I was being made fun of for my "video game noises," and that I
wasn't "cool" because of them... how did it take that long for it to dawn on
me?! Unfortunately, the requests and teasing didn't go away and I was
still made fun of for most of my days at the school. I had good
relationships with the principal and assistant principal, who I would run
to for help (perhaps a bit too often) when I was picked on. This got better
when I was in eighth grade though, because all the older people had left.
My obsession with running in the school hallways also began here, because
there were so many long, narrow ones :) Academically I still did quite
well here. My grades averaged above 90 throughout the three years I spent there.
During seventh grade I had my first taste of a crush. The girl's name was
Brea, and I don't know what my reasoning was back then, but I was
somehow attracted. When my classmates found out, it was a reason to
laugh, but I was actually pretty embarrassed. She was going out with this
guy named Joe at the time and I thought he was a real buttnut (he was one
of my "bullies" at the time). Many days went by when he and his buddy Vito used to block my way through the halls, yell at me, and generally make me want to be in a position far away from the one I was in. Anyhow, towards the end of the year, I think my
crush just sort of faded away; I guess it wasn't real. Interesting notes:
Joe committed suicide one night during my junior year of high school -- which shook
me up because I knew him personally -- and Brea is nowhere to be found in
my high school yearbook.
This is where this madness all began...
On another note, it was around this time (eighth grade) that I was heavily into The Legend of Zelda, the old 8-bit NES game. At one point, I was so bored with myself (I had too much freetime, people said to me) that I began a new game, held down the turbo A-button on my Advantage joystick, and flailed the stick like crazy until I let go of the button and the name of my character was "yyr57695." Look how far away the "5" is from the "y"! This must have been a sign, I thought, or at least something incredibly important. So I held on to it. It's the name I go by on the Internet, now, and it's been my AOL screen name for over five years. Sad, huh? :)
Mahopac High School, a portion of the front (taken from The MHS Home Page)
Fast forward to 1993: then came Mahopac High School and my freshman
year. I remember thinking how huge the school was at the time I started
attending it... now, doesn't that sound familiar? I met a lot of new people
that year, for many reasons. Some of the bullies who I hadn't seen in a
year came back to haunt me; I took classes like Biology Honors where I
was seated aside sophomores; and I joined what would later become two
of the most important things to me ever: the Mahopac Drama Company,
then referred to as the Mahopac Players, and Chieftain, the Mahopac High
School newspaper.
I was pretty depressed that year. I didn't have many friends; my best bud
Andy was moving to Pennsylvania and was the third friend I was losing to
a moving van. Additionally, I saw boy-girl relationships blossom all
around me for the first time and was naturally upset, because I had never
felt anything like them before. And I was still teased about my
"impressionistic" past, even after all this time had passed. I didn't do so well academically that year either, at least compared
to how I did in middle school. One example: a test in a Design and Drawing class I had NO interest in whatsoever contained a page asking for the dimensions of an object... and there were a lot of dimensions. Alan, a classmate I'd known for a while, and I were both clueless, as we had no interest in studying the answers that had been given to us. So we entered more interesting dimensions than the correct ones: things like E=mc squared, 42 liters, 6 kilograms, "I plead the fifth," and so forth. I failed that test, I think.
It wasn't until the second half of the year that I joined the Mahopac Drama Company, and met a bunch of theatre people. (I could say an odd bunch of freaks, but the description "theatre people" is more than appropriate.) It wasn't long until I was part of the group myself. My first role: Prince Jokesalot, a jester in "The Prince Quest," an original play about a princess who went looking for Mr. Right. Prince Jokesalot was somewhere in between Mr. Wrong and Mr. What The *Hell* Were You Thinking?
Sophomore year brought new friends and a new director to the Drama
Company (one that I didn't like very much), and I acted in two shows, even playing my first lead role! It also brought my first taste of a
computer programming course, which I aced with flying colors. (To
balance that was English 10H. I found out that year that English wasn't my
strong point...along with overall academia, I guess... Sophomore year was my weakest in terms of grades.) But the most important thing it brought me was my first and only
real crush. I'm not embarrassed to talk about it any more. I won't mention
a name, although some of you probably know who it was. I met her during "Finders Creepers," the first show we did that year... one of our director's numerous "Mystery-Comedies." Did they work? Sometimes. This one did. Some did NOT.
I considered myself a loser, having been 14 or 15 already and not even coming close to even a potential relationship. So what, you may ask? I guess what really affected me was seeing so many around me in relationships of their own... and some of them were even younger than I was (and I'm among the youngest in my academic level). As a result, I was very depressed by the end of that year, and I guess that's one reason
why it started. But if you've ever loved someone or had a crush of your
own, you could probably understand me when I say that she seemed
"magical." The way she walked, spoke... everything just attracted me. Others may have caught on to this... another girl in "Finders Creepers" approached me just weeks into the show, asking, "Aaron? Are you hitting on her?" It
wasn't that apparent to me, though, until later... after the dream.
A scene from NiGHTS into Dreams, by Sega, and the closest existing image to the landscape I saw in "the dream"
That summer -- the summer in between my sophomore and junior years --
I was vacationing with my family in Massachusetts and some other place
that doesn't come to mind. During one night there, I had the strangest
dream that I've ever experienced to date. Let me explain: I suddenly was a
knight in an underground cavern, defeating thieves to recover a crystal. I
brought the crystal to a nearby palace, and there, seated on a crystal
throne, was she. She was one of the seven Eternals (feel free to laugh,
this is pretty ridiculous), one of which was destined to rule the world.
After the cataclysm (that I don't know about), the world was divided into
seven pieces and seven crystals were formed, each given to one Eternal, a
girl of destiny. These Eternals would go to war over the crystals and the
one who eventually possessed all seven would become the ruler of all. I
was a knight for my Eternal, and after many long battles we had all of the
crystals and lived happily ever... well, you get the idea.
The most vivid moment of the dream was definitely the part where I entered the throne room of the crystal palace. I remember the size of the throne, the Eternal seated upon it, the seemingly stagnant but surprisingly fresh and chilly air that filled the room and made my skin tingle. And then there was the music I heard in the room. Go ahead and laugh... it's Vega's stage in Street Fighter II. Maybe the fact that there was a SFII machine in the hotel had something to do with it... Anyway, I thought it was appropriate. But why not judge for yourself?
A character from an advertisement for Lunar: Eternal Blue, an old Sega CD role-playing game, and an almost-exact replica of the Eternal I saw in "the dream," with the exception of the face
That dream must have really warped me, because for the majority of my
junior year, my life more or less revolved around her. I would even adjust
the route I took to my next class just to pass her in the hallway, sneaking
a look at her schedule in the guidance office to be sure of which route she
might take. By the end of the year, it got really bad, so much so that she
noticed and referred me to Mrs. Kenney, a school counselor who normally
dealt with matters relating to alcohol or suicide. This came after I had
actually told her about the dream, less the fact that she was the main
focus.
Mrs. Kenney advised me to simply tell her how I felt, because if I didn't,
my depression would never end. So one afternoon I nervously did. She
seemed to have seen it coming. Our relationship for the last few weeks
turned from friendly to really rocky, and she was going out with someone
at the time. Finally, the day before my pre-calculus final, the end came.
Assignment notebooks were only provided by the school for the first 2
years, and I had grown accustomed to them, so I continued by printing my
own "homework sheets," complete with my own background pictures and
the "quote of the week." Some of these quotes were good, but many were
depressing and a large amount dealt with the crush itself.
Here's the first homework sheet I printed for my senior year -- the layout for my junior year sheets was a bit different but the idea was the same
I remember that day well; I was in the computer room when she came in
and, after exchanging a few words with me about how her current
boyfriend wouldn't be of interest for too much longer, she opened my
semi-famous blue folder, started going through my homework sheets and
read every quote that seemed to pertain to her. Her selections were
disturbingly accurate. I thought I was going to die, right then and there -- I
remember being incredibly nervous and embarrassed even though there
was practically nobody else in the room. After that and a few more
words, she unofficially booted me out of her life, at least for then.
My study for the pre-calc final went to hell because of this and I didn't do
well on it, but after that I wasn't upset and the crush disappeared; I think
I was more relieved than anything else. It was over, she no longer seemed
to exist and that was all that mattered. I finished my finals and got ready
for a lonely summer.
Over that summer, in August I think, I went to Pennsylvania to visit my friend Andy, the third of my friends to move away (although I'm not letting myself lose touch this time) and received word there that she had
called. I wondered why, and then when I got home and nervously called her back, we
had a friendly chat as if nothing had ever happened. Now she's a close friend of mine!
I adopted a new mindset after this was all over and done. I wasn't going to go looking for someone... I felt that would just lead me to more disappointment. I decided to sit back, relax, and stay happy instead, and to see what happened. That began my senior year of high school. I was taking a full
schedule and was meeting many new friends.
I was elected President of the Drama Company that year... and even though I had no real power to do anything, I enjoyed being the figurehead quite a lot! I acted in two shows, both "mystery-comedies." In the first, "The Very Great Grandson of Sherlock Holmes," I acted as a butler. The show came out really well, and one of the crazy people in it, an odd little freshman named Vicki, even inspired the twisted "Eat Bread And Die." (See Studio 133 if you're interested...) The second show, "Much Ado About Murder," went... interestingly. The first show turned out a disaster, so I called an emergency rehearsal at my house the following afternoon. We managed to give the second performance using "cheat sheets" I'd printed out -- they were taped all over the stage -- and we actually did well!
I was also Layout Editor of the Chieftain newspaper. Our office, a converted bathroom, was where I spent many an afternoon that year with the two other major editors, painstakingly laying out the paper. We had a lot of fun, and started some penguin obsession somehow... okay, maybe it was just this photo that did it. Don't ask...
I was happier that year
and it made a huge difference. I did better in my classes than I had ever
done in previous years and I
started many relationships that I don't think I could live without now. This was undoubtedly the best year of my
high school career, and I was one of the only ones actually crying on graduation day. As everyone else hurled their caps into the air, I stood there clutching mine, unable to let go of it.
A picture of the Library Tower, the tallest building on SUNY's Binghamton University campus, and a usual candidate for promo pictures (taken from www.binghamton.edu)
I moved on to the State University of New York at Binghamton and began my life there in O'Connor Hall, room 133, as a member of the CoRE Special Interest Housing Module. In short: two floors of computer freaks like myself. We live together, yell at each other together, kill each other in games together, go out and waste time together... ahhh. That's the life. I seriously can't even consider living anywhere else on that campus... or off it, for that matter (at least while attending the school, don't get crazy ideas).
One major aspect of CoRE life I'm proud of is The Pseudopod, a small computer room that we operate. Each member serves one hour a week in there, and the room is open to anybody. We offer word processing, e-mail and Web service, MS Office and other assorted stuff. Another is Maximum Overkill, an event we've held several times during which we turn the Lecture Hall building into a networked pit of 3-D PC shoot 'em up chaos. Lots of fun. :)
During my first semester I took Modern World History, Calculus 1, Intro to Programming and Narrative, an english course. I had earned a good enough grade to skip calculus on an Advanced Placement exam the year before, but I figured, "Easy A." Right? The History and English courses were not things I'd ordinarily go for, but they'd satisfy General Education requirements, required of every student. I thought I'd hate English, in particular...
I wound up doing really miserably in calc (C-) because the teacher liked to give miserably difficult tests, and I dropped history because... well, I found out I didn't have the mind for it when I got my first test back and there was a big D written on it... and I had tried. On the other hand, I actually loved Narrative, because the instructor was amazing (and funny) and the books he chose were actually interesting. I did well in the programming course (as I'd expected) and wound up with a decent average.
In terms of activities, I found myself caught up in pipe dream, the twice-weekly "free word on campus," as a copy editor, a job I'd have for three semesters... but I found myself content socializing with the many people around the building. In particular I was closest to my roommate Felix (my sparring partner in many of my favorite games, most of which he was good at), and my buddies Chris (my awesome neighbor for 2 years) and Adam (my programming partner and all around friend).
Second semester brought a few changes... but I wound up dropping a course again. In fact, it was something I would do for all four semesters I've spent there so far. Maybe it's just that we have half the semester to decide whether or not to drop. I don't know... but on a lighter note, I acted in the Thin Ice Production Company's performance of "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead." My role was tiny and I was a bit disappointed, but the experience reminded me of the high school days. I just couldn't believe how time-consuming it seemed here.
After an uneventful summer (working at Caldor, a discount department-style store not unlike a small Wal-Mart, wasn't the most exciting thing in the world), I returned for my second year and met an incredible bunch of people new to O'Connor Hall... it'll be hard for next year's bunch to top them. These people were part of the reason my year ended up the way it did. But more about that a bit later...
I took an odd schedule my third semester. The presence of Creative Writing 140 there came as a surprise to some (not my roommate that year, Michael, who was double-majoring in Computer Science and Creative Writing). But I don't regret taking it; it was the most valuable course I took both years. It opened my mind and lightened my mood. Maybe a little too much...
My formal activities didn't change much but I made an activity out of Aladdin's Castle, the local arcade, going there every Saturday with my buddy Phil, then eating at the pizza place next door. This hobby became somewhat expensive but I didn't mind (yet).
By far my most eventful semester was my fourth. It was then that I stopped being a copy editor, and more or less let my formal activities completely disappear. Not too many little things happened that semester... it was just the big ones.
Academically, I died. I decided that hanging out with the people in the building was a better way to spend time than schoolwork. The end result: I dropped one class (as usual)... and failed two others. It's a damn good thing I transferred 18 credits in with me from high school, because if I hadn't, there'd have been no way I could have graduated in even five years.
I also found myself running out of money. This was partially due to the fact that I was going to spend $500 on a summer course (Calculus 2, which I had dropped second semester, AND third). But by the last two months of the semester, I found myself selling video game stuff on eBay just to have spending money... and even then I finished the year about $500 in debt.
But the most interesting event that took place last semester happened on the night of March third. There was a knock on my door, and as I turned around I saw Heather and Abbie. Heather's a friendly, perky character who can put a smile on anyone's face; Abbie's intelligent, sarcastic but honest. I had met both these familiar residents of the Chem-Free floor the semester before and I enjoyed spending time with them, but I hadn't noticed the fact that Abbie had lately enjoyed spending more time with me. One example that should have hit me like a brick to the head: she stood watching as I played all the way through the arcade shooter Time Crisis II in one credit, Let me be the first to tell you that the game is a lot of fun to play... but it's rather boring to watch.
Abbie asked me if I wanted to take a walk around the Brain, the main road that surrounds most of the campus facilities. I said sure, why not, and we bid Heather good-bye and left.
We weren't halfway around when she told me that she was falling in love with me.
I didn't know what to think... I was shocked. I had always been pessimistic about my chances with finding someone who'd be attracted to me. So then I had a wonderful significant other. I couldn't stop thinking about her (often shivering when I did), and I savored every moment we spent together. The relationship has since ended... but I guess that's the way of the world. Still, I think I came away with something good.
And that brings me to... well, now. Now I'm back at school for the Fall '99 semester. I have begun my academic redemption, earning an A in Calculus 2 at community college over the summer. My next job is to buckle down and do something here. Wish me luck...
I hope you enjoyed this autobiography of sorts. Why isn't it finished?
