I was just tagged by Vicky Sedgwick and JoNelle Gardner in the meme going around the education blog circles called “Seven Things.”  Here are the rules:

• Link your original tagger(s), and list these rules on your blog.
• Share seven facts about yourself in the post – some random, some weird.
• Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
• Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs and/or Twitter and/or Plurk.

So here are my 7 Things You Might Not Know About Me…

1. I am the third of four children. I was always the “peacemaker” in our family growing up, constantly resolving/mediating disputes among my siblings. My astrological sign is Leo.
2. I worked for 17+ years in the business world before walking away (a year after 9/11) to pursue my dream of teaching as a second career, taking a $65,000 pay cut in the process. I currently work (at least) three jobs to make up the difference and ensure that my wife Mary can remain a full-time mom.
3. I have two business degrees, a B.S. in Marketing from West Chester University (1985) [a fine teaching school, go figure] and an M.B.A. in Finance from Drexel University (1991). I am teaching today thanks to New Jersey’s Alternate Route non-traditional teacher preparation program, which I found excellent.
4. In 1999, I completed a 100-mile charity bike ride (not a race) in exactly five hours. (The “five hour century” is a landmark of sorts for recreational/amateur cyclists.) The furthest I ever rode in one day was 127 miles (7h 17m, 17.4 mph average speed) in 2000. I have not ridden seriously (on a regular basis, for significant distances) since then.
5. Upon seeing my 4th grade school photo, a modeling agency contacted my parents, offering a potential gig. They of course declined, effectively ending my modeling career before it started. (I would have done the same thing as a parent.)
6. We have eight computers in our home. Five belong to me: an XPS 630 desktop, a Macbook Pro, an Asus Eee 1000H, a Thinkpad T23, and a Dimension 8300 in my basement workshop. (The latter two are used for my home PC repair business.) My daughters each have their own Dell desktop PCs and my oldest daughter Jamie also has a Macbook Pro.
7. I created my first web presence in 1996, back when they were called “vanity sites.” By then I had already been online for many years and was active in dial-up BBS international QWK-based echomail networks like ILink and RIME. For a time, I was the host/moderator of bicycling forums on each network, developing friendships I still have today.

There, that wasn’t too painful. I am tagging: Patricia Donaghy, Jennifer Newman, Amanda Marrinan, Fred Delventhal, Edwin Wargo, Dean Groom, and Peggy Sheehy. Please do NOT feel OBLIGATED to participate – only do so if you WANT TO. No guilt if you decline, please!

-kj-