Don’t follow a recipe, something sounds good and I wing it.

Excited (?)

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/excited

There are numerous synonyms for excited and I have been pondering every possible permutation of the word trying to answer the question posted today. I can honestly say that I haven’t felt at all that particular emotion, if that’s what excitement is, in a very long time. So long in fact that it is hard for me to even remember ever being excited.

The truth is that something that most of us may have felt excitement or elation for in the past may now be a sour memory. I am sure we all have our own personal examples. So, I can’t sincerely answer the question… can say that I am not depressed, no need to worry about that. Do I need counseling, well probably.  

At this moment in time, I am in the words of ‘Pink Floyd’ Comfortably Numb.  

Song by Pink Floyd

Hello? (Hello? Hello? Hello?)

Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me
Is there anyone home?
Come on now
I hear you’re feeling down
Well I can ease your pain
Get you on your feet again
Relax
I’ll need some information first
Just the basic facts
Can you show me where it hurts?

There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship smoke on the horizon
You are only coming through in waves
Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re saying
When I was a child I had a fever
My hands felt just like two balloons
Now I’ve got that feeling once again
I can’t explain you would not understand
This is not how I am
I have become comfortably numb

I have become comfortably numb

Okay (okay, okay, okay)
Just a little pinprick
There’ll be no more, ah
But you may feel a little sick
Can you stand up?
I do believe it’s working, good
That’ll keep you going through the show
Come on it’s time to go

There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship, smoke on the horizon
You are only coming through in waves
Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re saying
When I was a child
I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown
The dream is gone
I have become comfortably numb

Hope I didn’t bum anyone out.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

The euphoric vison of the perfect future utopia I am afraid to say is not something that I can envision. The dystopian hellscape of Mad Max or Blade Runner I don’t see either but the path that humanity is on the dystopian predictions are a more likely scenario if we don’t collectively come to our senses.

The ideal city of the future would be one of abundance not scarcity, homelessness would not be a problem because instead of destroying previously used centers of commerce, i.e. shopping malls, would be converted into low cost if not free housing for those in need. These converted malls would provide shelter and the innumerable restaurants that discard food everyday would provide that, what was to be discarded, food to these centers that already have a food court because that was something that the mall already had.

There would still be Capitalism but those that have would not have millions of times more than every other citizen. There are currently countries that mandate that the CEO of a corporation can only make a certain percentage greater than the median salary in the company. For instance, if the median employee of a corporation makes $100k annually the CEO can’t be paid more than $1 million dollars annually… that is one thousand times the amount of others in the company. Yes, that still makes the COE rich. Currently there are a handful of people on the planet that control 75% or more of the monetary wealth worldwide, that is obscene considering the number living in abject poverty.

There will never be the perfect city of the future we can strive for better and there has to be equity of everyone. I get it this a dream that many have had, Martin Luther King Jr., Gandi, John Lennon… hopefully one day we will wake up and make it a reality.

Imagine (John Lennon)

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky

Imagine all the people
Livin’ for today
Ah

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too

Imagine all the people
Livin’ life in peace
You

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

Thanks again for suffering through my rant.  

Dwain means “dark” or “swarthy,” and is an alternative version of Duane and Dwayne, with Duane originally being an Irish surname. This boy’s name comes from the Irish word dubh, which means “black.” With Dwain, you can pay homage to any Irish heritage with a name that feels both familiar as well as unusual.

Yes, I have heard the joke Dwain the bathtub I’m Drowning… Ha Ha

The Anglo-Saxon name Northey comes from the family having resided in the north, or were people who lived to the north of a main settlement. Northey is a local surname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames. There are a variety of types of local surnames, some of which include: topographic surnames, which could be given to a person who lived beside any physical feature, such as a hill, stream, church or type of tree.

Early Origins of the Northey family

The surname Northey was first found in Sussex where they held a family seat from early times and their first records appeared on the census rolls taken by the ancient Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.

What motivates you?

That’s an open ended question. I read motivational books, currently 5am Club, and am part of a book club that talks about the current motivational book we are all reading. Mostly I am driving by the things that we are all driven by, paying the bills, keeping a roof over my head, keeping my 18 year old in line and motivated to get his life on the right track.

It’s all a game and focusing on getting through today and not stressing over what happened yesterday or what might happen tomorrow is all we can do.

What are your top ten favorite movies?

This again feels like a password fishing exercise…. So I choosing not to go into it.

What do you enjoy most about writing?

I enjoy writing because it gives license to the screaming voices in my head. There are times that I hear something that is just so insanely ridiculous that I just have to start typing and to argue every angle just to prove to myself that I am not stupid or insane.

What do you love about where you live?

Winter… the summers are brutal here in Phoenix but from September till May you couldn’t ask for better weather. Big plus is I haven’t had to shovel my car out in 13 years😊

I would have to say that self reliance is the positive attribute I feel most often. I learned 10 years ago that I can only rely on myself.

How do you plan your goals?

I generally don’t have many aspirational goal, try to live my life without that added stress.