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January 5, 2007

5 Things you may not know about me

I was tagged this week by Pete Prodoehl to do a 5 things post (started by Jeff Pulver), so here we go — 5 things you may not know about me:

1. When I was in college, I met Tom Baker, the 4th Dr. Who, at the public TV station where I worked as a student designer. I met Tom at the elevator, so a fellow student and I talked with him on the ride down and got signed photos to boot. Tom never offered a word about himself, instead, he asked us, 2 lowly student workers, about our goals and dreams. I've always thought Tom Baker's attitude toward us was classy and to be emulated.

2. I tease my wife Gail with the Barry Manilow hit Copacabana. I quietly hum the tune, until the song turns into a songvirus in her head. in 1998, Gail and I were visiting with a friend in Stockholm, Sweden. We sat in a square of Gamla Stan (Old Town), having a coffee, when an American High School band came walking through the square, playing Copacabana. Gail accused me of paying the band to play the song, but it really was a complete, but very funny coincidence. "Her name was Lola..."

3. I invited one of my best friends, Andy Bauer, to our wedding in 1999. I also invited Andy to stay in my flat for 2 weeks prior to experience Milwaukee, and we had a great time hanging out together. The unusual part is I'd never met Andy in person — of course we had written each other via email and chatted on the phone for 5 years, so we already know each other well, but never in person. I love the Internet for opportunities like this.

4. I was the proud owner of a dark green, 1968 Volkswagen Beetle. After being front-ended while sitting at a stoplight on the East Side of Milwaukee, I painted the crushed and re-formed hood with the grinning jaws of a WWII Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter plane. It was amazing how quickly cars got out of my way after that.

5. I know various greetings and phrases in 10 foreign languages: German, Dutch, Korean, Japanese, French, Thai, Swedish, Spanish, Hebrew and Russian. Since I can pronounce languages pretty well, I often surprise native speakers by speaking these phrases accurately, with no accent. Ahn-nyung-ha-se-yo!

The Next 5 Victims
While picking 5 people to do their own 5 things strikes me as a bit chain-letter-esque, I'll honor the request, and pick out 5 friends to do the same:

Joe Phillips, Steve Rohde, Michael Ashby, Davy McDonald and Daniel Schutzsmith.

January 5, 2007 8:10 AM | Blogging | add to del.icio.us