I‘ve been tagged and I’ve decided to have a little fun with it.
A “meme” is something that spreads quickly from one person to another across the net… with this one, the idea is to share 6 random things people wouldn’t know about me unless they were nosey (or caring) enough to ask. Which Joseph Ferrara over at Sellsius was 
Now, I’ve lead a decently colorful life so you’re about to learn about some of that… but one of these “facts” is actually false. Do you know which one?
6 Random Things You Wouldn’t Know About Me Unless You Asked
1. “Like Cane in Kung-Fu”
I spent five years of my life hopping from tree stump to tree stump, carrying pails of water and running barefoot up gravel mountains. I punched, kicked, and threw people too.
Yeah, I lived with the master of a martial art and did nothing but train for five years. Besides the martial arts I also learned brush calligraphy, cooking, and reflexology.
2. “A day in the Army is like a day on the farm.”
I grew up in a military school. I eventually graduated a captain of a company of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders (school ranged from 2nd through 8th grades).
And no… I didn’t go there because I was a bad kid I actually loved the experience.
I’ll admit that transitioning from an all male military school to a public high school was not easy.
3. “The area is secure. Bring him in.”
One of the most “enlightening” jobs I had was as a bodyguard to a major political lobbyist.
It wasn’t uncommon for us to receive death threats, followed by unknown vehicles, and have the offices broken into and ransacked a few times.
Probably the most emotionally fatiguing job I’ve had, that’s for sure.
4. “I fought the law and the law won.”
I was playing around over in Europe and while in Cologne, Germany got mugged. Actually, I taught the mugger the “error of his ways” but the cops decided to not see things my way. I was forcibly kicked out of town.
But, I still had my wallet
5. “I know talent… and you’re not it.”
This, I can’t believe I’m letting out of the bag but… I’d asked my mom for drum lessons as a kid. Instead, she got me the accordion.
Nuff said. Please refer to #1.
6. “Dance, bunnies, dance!”
I was 19 at the time I held down a job as a DJ at a roller rink. The owner of the rink was some bigshot in town… owned one of the pro sports teams in the area.
I received a call early one Saturday morning asking if I would come in for a special private session… to spin some tracks for a Playboy Bunny photoshoot. Ummm… yeah!
I was later fired from the same job.
There’s your “6 Random Things You Wouldn’t Know About Me Unless You Asked.” Which one is false?
Now, to properly pass it on:
Jeff “BawldGuy” Brown – master of things investory
Jason Sandquist – Twin Cities punk
Kelley Koehler – ya need to see her in the cape
Mike Lefebvre – uncommon agent and video-phile
Brad Nix – a true professional and maverick
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m guessing #3… actually none of these sound true. NONE of these…..
Sounds like you need to get off the couch more and do something with your life….
I’m gonna guess the Playboy bunny one. Or number 1, because of all the tres stumps n such.
#6 – Every 19 year old male’s dream…
Nice theme BTW…
Did the firing have anything REMOTELY to do with the Playboy photo shoot? I know, I know…refer to #1…
@Jay Thompson – hey jay… thanks, glad ya like the theme. i know you’ve seen me poking around inside the Thesis support forums as i was putting this one together.
as for which Random Fact is false… well, i’ll let a few others make their guesses before the big reveal
I say #4 is false…I’ve lived in Germany and one thing you don’t do is mess with the Polizei…they kick ass and take names if you’re still breathing…
#1 is the false story. Great visual, but totally fictitious.
Is part of the game to include a fake one? Damn, my life might look pretty boring up against yours, Sensei. Can I create 5 false ones and one true one?
#6 is false because I had that gig
Thanks for sharing Sensei.
#3 is false.
I played this game a while back, but with different rules: http://bradnix.com/meme-this/
I just may play along again and go with the 6 facts/1 false (nice mix up).
thanks for playing, folks! now it’s time for the big reveal:
the false Random Fact is…. #4
the only foreign places i’ve been to is mexico and korea. never been to germany but, like @The Harriman Team said, i can imagine the cops there are hard-asses.
Woo-hoo!!! What do we win? An all-expenses paid trip to Germany? A new BMW? Gas for my car for a year?? [No, Grasshopper...you have won immunity from my Flying Fist of Death. Now go write "I will not bother Sensei Mark any more" 1000 times in calligraphy, before I finish my Playboy photo shoot. Insolent pup...]
@The Harriman Team – a BMW? i don’t think those germans would allow that. however, you can expect everyone’s favorite – a large vat of sauerkraut to be delivered to your door (playboy bunnies not included)
You had me fooled, Mark. This was a cool way to execute the game, because not knowing which one was false made me subscribe and come back.
@Tinu – i thought it was a pretty clever idea, too. but, i can’t take the credit… i was chatting with lani of agentgenius who gave me the idea. props go to her. but, thanks for subscribing and i’m looking forward to more of your comments
now for the marketing insight…
there’s something called the zeigarnik effect which is when people have a need for closure or completion. our minds simply do not like incomplete stories. think of the tv cliffhanger before every commercial that keeps you around to see what happens next.
the most blatant place for bloggers to leverage the zeigarnik effect is in writing teasers for their blog posts. the teasers appear on the front page, teasing the reader to make the click to get the complete story.
Sauerkraut…(sigh)…ok, I guess it’ll go great with the 100 cases of kielbasa I won from Hillshire Farms in their “1001 Things To Do With Frozen Kielbasa” essay contest…anybody got any Grey Poopon??
Darn it! I wish I would’ve read this earlier! I KNEW the answer! Sharing an office with you for 1 1/2 years, I learned alot
Fun game, Sensei of Marketing!
@Jacki Semerau – yeah, but you would have spoiled the game from the get-go with your wiley insight. besides, i don’t think The Harriman Team will share their sauerkraut prize with you
I didn’t know there was a false statement imposed in the article. So when I read about the Germany thing, I thought “He went to Seattle for graduation. How did he end up in Germany?” Knowing my son, I never doubted the part about him getting in trouble.
@Mark’s Mom – yeah, Seattle. that’s where we went.
seriously, how weird is it when mom doesn’t chime in for any of the other content on the site but as soon as i reveal signs where i may have caused trouble *poof* she’s there
It’s like Mom’s can SMELL trouble where their kids are concerned! And no, we won’t be sharing the sauerkraut…we have a lot of kielbasa to go through…still waiting on the Grey Poopon, though…
@Mark Eckenrode – Yeah I’ve got a book describing that effect, I’ve been using it for years when I first started writing articles – didn’t know it had a name back then. You can go back as far as ‘04 to find me using what I thought of then as the “cliff hanger” effect.
I’m enjoying your blog greatly and will be around quite frequently as well as commenting.
I will guess #4 just because I know nothing can go wrong with that one. Sounds like a punk rock lifestyle you have lived so far.
BTW I still have to get mine done
#4 isn’t Cologne Germany like the Castro district of Deutcheland? If you said 4 guys with lederhosen capri pants jumped out of a rainbow painted volkswagon, wrestled you into the vehicle and forced you to eat their bratwust I may have fallen for it…
@Ben Nicolas – not to self: include more bratwurst in next “story”