Blog Tag – 5 things you don’t know about me

My super-connected friend Dave McClure tagged me — “The basic idea of this game is to tell people 5 things about yourself that they didn’t likely know, then tag 5 other people (or in this case, 5 bloggers) and see how far the meme progresses.”

Ok then, here you go.

5 Things You Didn’t Know About Me

  1. I was incredibly shy as a child. I was so shy, I was scared to perform with other classmates. One day, when I was about seven, I proudly told my mother that I had joined the dance class and every day from then on, I would show her what I learned. She was very pleased that her shy child had emerged from her shell. When she came in to speak to the teachers on Parent-Teacher day, she discovered that I did not actually participate in the class, but instead peeked at the students from outside the door. All of the teacher’s pleading could not get me to actually dance, but by clinging to the door frame and observing the entire class, I was learning just fine by watching!
  2. I sent my first email in 1993 using CompuServe. The only way to connect was to a dialup number in the UK. Because an international call was so expensive, I’d write all my emails, dial up, send and receive and then disconnect immediately. The process usually lasted about a minute and a half, at most once a week.
  3. I have a black belt in Karate (Shito-Ryu) and won a national championship in 1994 in India.
  4. I almost died in 1997. I was in Singapore and had an infection that affected my kidneys. I had a 105 temperature, and at the time, I thought I was drifting off to sleep as people spoke to me, but I was going in and out of consciousness. I was taken to hospital in an ambulance. When I got there, the doctor said I had to go on intravenous antibiotics immediately. Being afraid of needles, I said I’d prefer not to. His pithy reply “Intravenous antibiotics now or you will die” pretty much cured me of my fear of needles.
  5. I cry at movies. I even cry when watching some ads. Kind of ridiculous, but there it is.

My turn, my turn, my turn (this is the best part) — I tag:

Can’t wait to hear your stuff!