Dogma of Dan

Hello,

I’m on a roll this week!

All day I’ve been thinking about the friends and family that I don’t get to speak to on a regular basis. The fault is all mine, and I take full responsibility for it. Many times I fall victim to the saying, “life gets in the way,” but it does not aver to my satisfaction. It’s easy to convince myself I don’t have the time to regularly reach out but that’s not the truth. I have plenty of in-between time to do so but habitually choose to remain in solitude. I haven’t been able to fully understand why seclusion is such a prevalent personality trait of mine, but I am ardently working on modifying it, to metamorphose into the person I want to be.

Frequently, I wonder about who my family members and friends are on the inside. Who are they really and can they ever honestly lay it all on the line with me? What are their hobbies, likes, dislikes, and favorite memories? Things of that nature. Basically, I wonder every day about their individual life stories and how they became who they are today. Don’t you ever just look at someone and have a moment of realization that parts of their back story are a complete mystery? I do. I commonly look into the eyes of my loved ones and ponder their inner emotional mechanics. What makes them, them? What experiences have manufactured their physical and mental manifestations?

This leads me to the purpose of today’s post. I will be imparting important knowledge about Dan to you. Just in case you are ever as curious about me as I am about you. I am sorry I don’t reach out to any of you as much as I should. Please understand that I love you all and despite my personal dilemmas, I do wish for your lives to be absolutely exquisite.

Let’s begin with my favorite color – Copper Orange. Reminiscent of rust. I adore this color because it reminds me of fall. The lingering aroma of dead leaves, crisp rainwater, and the temperate nipping of gelid breeze.

My lucky number – Eleven. This number has consistently materialized in my day-to-day life. Every time it appears, I’m on the watch for upcoming opportunities!

My hobbies – I spend most of my free time oil painting, listening to music, reading books, watching horror movies, occasionally playing video games, and spending time with my parents and dogs. They are a HUGE part of my life. Also, That’s Mind has pleasantly been keeping me on my toes these past few weeks! It’s been wonderful having a place to express myself.

My top eleven books –

• The Stranger by Albert Camus
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris
• Room at the top by John Braine
• No country for old men by Cormac McCarthy
• Rasputin: faith, power, and the twilight of the Romanovs by Douglas Smith
• A happy death by Albert Camus
• The Tibetan Book of the Dead as translated by Robert A.F. Thurman
• Letters from a Stoic by Lucius Annaeus Seneca
• Essays and Aphorisms by Arthur Schopenhauer
• Notes from underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky

My favorite artists –

• Francis Bacon
• Francisco Goya
• Tehching Hsieh
• David Choe
• Olivier de Sagazan

My top eleven favorite songs –

• Sonny by Doosu
• Moorestown by Sun Kil Moon
• Blue Orchids by Sun Kil Moon
• Bay of Skulls by Sun Kil Moon
• Two Cent Rose by Doosu
• She Walks the River by Hess
• Favorite Color by Hess
• Lazarus by The Aleph
• Life Between by Burden Brothers
• Peace Child by Course of Empire
• Agoraphobia by Deerhunter

My top five horror movies –

• Creep 2
• Suspiria (2018 version)
• Hereditary
• Enter the Void
• Climax

My professional background –

• Project Manager
• Assistant Branch Manager
• Credit Analyst

My academic background – Yes, I have spent six years in college at this point, and am still choosing to return. By the time it’s all said and done I’ll have nine years of collegiate experience under my belt. Am I a little embarrassed by this? Yes. But nevertheless, it’s my path. I’ve had a very unconventional life journey so far. So if anyone reading this ever has any questions about college, I’m the person to ask. 🙂

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Management
• Master’s degree in Business Administration with a focus in Finance

Present goals – I have returned to College in pursuit of a Chemical Engineering degree. It will be my main focus for the next three years. Throughout my professional career, I have come to realize that I have a very abstract way of thinking. I typically don’t follow the path of peers and often maintain a unique perspective on any subject I approach. As I’m sure you can imagine, this hasn’t always bode well for me and common professions. And it’s not that I purposely try to be abstruse. I genuinely cannot restrain it. This is a personal trait that I’d like to place special emphasis on for the sake of you getting more familiar with me. Oftentimes I can be perceived as “weird” or not in the loop with reality, but just know that it is my personality to be contemplative about EVERYTHING. I routinely fiddle around with a fidget cube because it helps keep my thoughts from cranial lift-off. I’m serious. I will make it my mission to explore every possible angle of the most obscure topics you could ever imagine. And I do it just to satisfy the nuisance of my neuroticism. If you ask me a question, prepare for me to spend at least one full day plotting out my response! In conclusion, this is why I’ve chosen to pursue a STEM degree. I believe I can make a real difference in this life! Maybe I’ll discover a new vaccine or catapult mankind into an untrodden passage of chemical ingenuity! Who knows? But one thing is for certain. I will do it for all of you. I love life and all who share their experiences with me.

My favorite food and dessert – Hands down this has been the easiest question for me to answer. My mother’s Sunday meatloaf and a special chocolate chip cookie she makes every year for my birthday. No one on this planet will ever convince me otherwise. It’s the one thing not up for debate with me.

My ALL-TIME favorite memory – It’s funny because I just recently discussed this with my father. It was the first time I had ever seen snow. I think I was around the age of four and my dad had just picked me up from pre-school. I was so enamored with how white everything was. I remember thinking at the time, “this must be what heaven looks like.” From school, we went to a nearby Walmart and my dad let me pick out a pair of gloves and a beanie. After that, we made the routine stroll to the toy aisle. (My grandmother loves to bring up how I would say I only wanted to look at the toys, not buy anything. And soon after I would try my hardest to convince them to buy me multiple toys. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t) (Wink Wink ;)) Well, on this particular day, my Pop bought me a blue Tododile pokemon toy that had a water gun feature built into it. I loved that thing so much. Once I was all set, we went home and had the best time of my life. We made my first snowman. My first snow angel. Had my first snowball fight. And most of all, we shared a time that no child could ever forget. How ironic that frost can now bring me such warmth.

I’d say that’s a good look into who Dan is. I haven’t covered everything about myself but I’m sure you’ll learn more about me as I continue to post here. And of course, feel free to ask any appropriate questions you may have.

Thank you for sharing a bit of your time with me. It means a lot. I hope you have an outstanding life.

Dan

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