James Downing MeMe’d me. This is now my second MeMe! I’ve already discussed how I ride elephants, jet off of aircraft carriers, dance the Argentine Tango, am trained to kill, and know the secret handshake. If you haven’t read about these exciting adventures, please read my first MeMe post: Who?? MeME!
Here’s 5 more things about me that you probably didn’t know:
- JE VOUS AIME PARIS!
I went to Paris for a month at the end of my junior year in high school as part of a student exchange program with my French class. We hosted a Parisian student in Boston for a month during the school year and then our class went over there in June. I toured Paris, Versailles, the Loire Valley castles, and Normandy.
The highlight of the trip: Patrick, the French student with whom I lived bought tickets to The Rolling Stones concert in Paris. We went together with a few of his French buddies to the show – this was my first rock concert ever! Rolling Stones in Paris – doesn’t get much better than that! It was a scorching hot June afternoon in a Paris soccer stadium. We had general admission tickets and were 30 feet back from the stage – front and center. When Mick Jagger finished singing “Start Me Up” he announced “Paris, Je Vous Aime.” A Parisian man who had rolled and was smoking a joint created from his concert ticket declared his undying love for the Stones shouting back in accented English “Mick Jagger – I Love You!”
2. SYLVESTER STALLONE WOULD BE PROUD
Sylvester Stallone is known for his beefed up physique, grunting, and endless sequels. But more importantly, he is forever known as Rocky. Especially around Philly. Well, I went to college in Philadelphia, at the University of Pennsylvania. In order to counteract Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night keg parties, I found it necessary to do a lot of running and other exercise.
My friend Ray and I decided that we would build up to the run, but that eventually we would like to emulate Rocky by running up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. The first time we turned the corner onto Benjamin Franklin Boulevard and saw the Museum in the near distance, it was such a rush – we could almost hear the Rocky theme blaring over the street noise as we sprinted towards the steps and then climbed them in leaping strides. Once we hit the summit, in true Rocky fashion, we yelled out “Adrian!!” Future climbs while fun were never as satisfying as that first time.
I still enjoy running and in 2004 completed my first Marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon.
3. HOT! HOT! HOT! YES, IT'S THE DESERT!
Talk about roadside kitsch – I saw the World’s Largest Thermometer in Baker, California (134 feet tall). On an extremely HOT and lonely drive across the desert from Los Angeles to Las Vegas on Memorial Day weekend of 2000, there is not much to see and only two small towns in the middle of the Mojave Desert– Barstow and Baker (old mining towns). Baker is home to the World’s Largest Thermometer where the temperature that day must have been pushing 120.
I was in L.A. for two weeks on business and flew my wife (girlfriend at the time) out to Vegas for the weekend so we could meet up and have some fun. Out of 6 trips I’ve made to Vegas, that was the first and only time, I’ve been there with Deborah. We saw some shows, ate some great meals – the experience is a little different when you are there with the guys for a bachelor party (or 3).
4. I Won the Lottery!
Why am I still in real estate or working at all, you might ask? Well, because I only matched 4 out of 6 numbers and won a measly $100. I still buy a ticket from time to time when the jackpot gets really high and spend the entire week fantasizing about what I’ll do with my future fortune. Ever notice how some people purchase lottery tickets only when the prize is over $100 million – as if $20 million wouldn’t set you up for life?
5. One Damn Question Wrong
One Damn Question Wrong on the Math SAT and I ended up with a 780. I’ve always had a proclivity towards mathematics (SEE Math? When Will I Ever Use This?: A Realtor's Guide) and when I scored a perfect 800 on the PSAT, I even bet a high school friend that I’d repeat that performance on the real thing. (I was a bit cocky about my math skills, having been on the math team in high school). I lost 5 bucks on that one.
OK, I know what you are thinking – my wife always likes to say that I was such a nerd that I was captain of the math team – but we didn’t have captains, I was just a member. I was captain of the tennis team, however.
Okay, am I revealing too much? – I was not your football/baseball/basketball high school jock – I was tennis team captain and on the math team. Yeah, but now I am a lawyer and Realtor and some of those jocks are “petroleum exchange engineer” (i.e. gas station attendants).
That's all for this time. Intrigued? Want to learn more about me, please read my first MeMe: Who?? MeME!
O.K., MEME TAGS go out to:
Charles McDonald – who is right behind me in points in Virginia
Bill Gassett – a fellow Red Sox fan
And how about
Josh Lazaro – a new agent in Louisiana with a keen sense of humor
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My family lives in Philly, and yes, once up the steps, it loses a lot!