Meme: n. A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another.
That's what this blog post is about. I'm repeating a cultural practice that came to me from my friend Tawny Press. Tawny is the Vice President of Design and Development at the education company Innoventions. She's a friend I met through Twitter and have since also met in person during a recent live meetup in Irvine, CA.
The rules for these things are pretty simple in case you want to start your own meme:
- Create a blog post with a link to the person(s) who tagged you.
- List these rules in your post.
- Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
- Identify seven of your friends or contacts whom you will "tag" to be part of this meme. At the end of your post, list their names and the links to their blogs.
- Let the friends whom you tagged, know that they've been tagged.
As a result of Tawny's participation, you and I now know a little more about her.
And now with my participation, you will probably know a little more (maybe too much) info about me that you wouldn't otherwise have known from just looking at my About page or my LinkedIn profile.
Seven Things You May Not Know About Mel Aclaro
1. I hate certain kinds of spiders. Namely the kinds with eight legs. And especially the big hairy ones that jump and skitter real fast when you try to trap 'em in a glass. (But the "Daddy Long Legs" are okay.)2. I hate email chain letters and don't participate in them. But memes are somehow different and therefore okay. My wife challenged me on that one and asked what I think makes a meme different from a chain letter. Basically, I think it comes down to persistence and relationship sharing. You see, memes are more persistent than email chain letters. When when you pass along an email chain, it's gone. But a meme hangs around. It stays on my blog and those of my friends. Also, memes serve as a path for others who visit to get to know me and my friends, and their friends' friends...
3. Though I now belong to two very jealous cats, I occasionally--yet secretly--miss my buddy "Pudgy." This guy was a little Lhasa Ahpso who was with me all through college, saw me through my Navy career, a war (the first Persian Gulf war) and a whole 'nother post-Navy career. He was a good friend who stayed with me for 18 years until he finally passed on a few years ago in favor of an eternity peeing on trees and bushes in another far away place. That little "gray muzzle" will be missed.
4. Beef sukiyaki is my favored "carbo load" meal the day before a marathon race. Just the right mix of salt, protein and carbs for a long, boring, persistently pounding, seemingly never ending road trip.
5. I'm among the slowest marathon runners in my running group. (Sssshhh. They all think I was running Half-marathons that whole time!)
6. I once ordered pizza at a Saudi air base from a military airplane on my way to a war in the Persian Gulf. It's true! Ask me about it sometime. Basically, it spoke of a honed warrior sense, with up-to-the-minute military intelligence, a functioning HF radio, the experience to know which HF radio frequencies to tap into, a willing aircrew (great guys, they'd follow me into battle, er, pizza anytime) and a hungry stomach to match my aircrew's cojones. :)
7. I'm forbidden from having opinions before 9:00 a.m. local time. I am known for being somewhat opinionated and firm in my belief that nobody tells me what or how to think...uh, until my wife got tired of my early morning "newspaper and coffee rants" and sanctioned me from ever expressing opinions until the more godly hours of the morning.
Do me a favor, if you learned a bit of something about me that perhaps resonates with you in some way, please don't leave me hanging. Let me know about it--and a bit about you--in the comments.
In the meantime, who are the seven other lucky ones I'm tagging to carry on the tradition? Here they are below. Please take a moment to check out their web site. They're really cool folks, and I hope they'll become your contacts, as well:
- Liz Bittar, consultant, facilitator, training design, Liz Bittar Associates
- Thomas J Hall, Real Estate Consultant and author of "It Ain't All Big Hair and Cadillacs"
- Ron Ragsag, a cool guy who LOVES Christian rock
- Christine Wade, owner, eRealtyAssistance.com
- Robyn Hardy, Real Estate Technology Strategist, Coach, Speaker, Avalar Realty
- Stefan Swanepoel, CEO, RealtyU, author of Real Estate Top Trends 2009
- Allen A. Wright, author of the 40 Year Old MBA Blog.
Are you a fellow "Tweep"? Follow me on Twitter (@melaclaro).
Or, connect with me on LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/melaclaro.
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