Tagged by Travis and Alex. . . 8 Random Facts

I've been tagged by kindred spirits Travis Sinquefield at Disorganizational Behavior and Alex Kjerulf, The Chief Happiness Officer . Travis is always exploring why people and organizations act they way they do. I'll bet he's even exploring why people agree to share 8 random things about themselves. And Alex is, well, always happy! So I'm not going to be the one to put a frown on his face.

First, the Rules:

1) Post these rules before you give your facts

2) List 8 random facts about yourself

3) At the end of your post, choose (tag) 8 people and list their names, linking to them

4) Leave a comment on their blog, letting them know they've been tagged

OK: 8 Random Things About Me

1. I am a card-carrying member of the Saudi Arabian social security system, thanks to a two-year residency there during a consulting contract. I'm watching the Dollar/Riyal exchange rate closely.

2. My mother's family was one of the original 12 families who settled the "Germantown" section of Philadelphia in 1683. They were Quakers escaping religious persecution and had teamed up with William Penn who sailed from England shortly before they left Krefeld, Germany. One of their first actions was to mount opposition against slavery. The protest banners they made can still be seen at the German Society on Spring Garden Street.

3. My first love has always been music and entertaining. I began singing street corner doo-wop in the Philadelphia area in 1962. Here's a sample from a compilation CD titled The Sounds of Philly: dukesofdoowop.mp3

4. Consistent with #3:  For those of you who are still Twisting, I was at Chubby Checker's wedding. We were just at a 90th birthday party for the pastor who performed the ceremony. Chubby still looks great, still performs well, and continues to be a genuinely terrific guy.

5. One of my more recent musical joys is leading worship at a large congregation and ministering and doing concerts with our traveling quartet at other churches.

6. My wife has a dual Ph.D: Business Administration and Counseling

She gets to say:

"Your financials tell me you're going out of business.

How do you feel about that?"

7. I was a child geek before the word was invented. In two years I'll become a member of the ham radio "Half Century Wireless Club." The wireless is Morse Code--not Nokia.

8. During a speaking tour of South Africa, I made 59 speeches in 63 days. The only standing ovation was after I fainted in the midst of one and then got up again. I'm now thinking about fainting at all speaking engagements and workshops.

A lot of my "regular reads" have already been tagged, so I won't get to 8. But I'm betting these will each be interesting. "You're it!":

• Executive Coach Kent Blumberg

• The guy with thoughts about his leadership journey: Billy Smith at Organic Leadership

• Jim Stroup, whose well thought-out articles are "must" reading at Managing Leadership

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Comments

[Alexander Kjerulf]

That's hilarious, Steve - especially #6 :o)

I hope the Riyal keeps picking up. The dollar isn't doing too well, anyway...

[Steve Roesler]

Glad you liked it, Alex. Thanks for thinking of me with the invitation.

[Richard Phillips]

I host a 33 year old doowop show here in Connecticut. We are on the internet at wnhu.net Tuesdays 6pm to 8pm and I see you sang in a doowop group can you send me more information at my email address which is bestdjservice@aol.com Take care for now and as always dip da dip and rama lama ding your life away! Yours, Rockin' Richard