Over the last 6 months or so I’ve been mixing it up with the likes of Mr. David Harry AKA ‘TheGypsy’.  We’ve had some interesting conversations and more recently joined forces to combat the attack of the killer bounce rates.  But apparently camaraderie only goes so far; you see yesterday this fine chap from the great white north tagged me in a meme he got mixed up in. Following his post of 14 things you may not know, that might be interesting and definitely odd, he tagged me and a handful of other internet geeks to tackle the same task. Fortunately for us we were only tagged once and therefore only need to give 7 facts.

So here I am, about to regurgitate 7 things you probably didn’t know about me…

1.  In my lifetime I’ve only ever broken one thing in my body and it wasn’t even a bone.  In the 4th grade I took a line drive to the face while playing softball and broke my nose.  Jammed my nose clear up into my head, they said if it had been any worse it could have killed me.  Fortunately it didn’t and after some minor surgery they were able to tweak it back into place.

2.  It took me 9 years, 5 majors, and 4 schools to finally finish college.  I now have my associates degree in Graphics Design.  I was on my way to completing my BA in Visual Communication, but due to the birth of the twins and some hardships caused by the 14-16 hour days I decided it was best to stop at my AA.

3.  I spent five years of my working life at The House of Mouse, or as you probably know it The Disneyland Resort.  In 2001 I was hired on as a ride operator to help aid in the opening of Disney’s California Adventure.  For the next five years the Walt Disney Company would teach me a lot about what I know in regards to customer service and how going the extra mile for your customers really makes a HUGE difference.  During that five years I climbed the chain of command and gained a ton of attractions knowledge before leaving in 2006.  At the end of my career with the resort I could operate 8 attractions, train and  manage 6, and was lucky enough to do walkthroughs of Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion.

4.  This one ties in with the last one.  Because I did walkthroughs of both the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean I have some incredible pictures of both attractions, unlike anything the general public would get. Some pictures include Pirates of the Caribbean with no water in the flume, a pirate animatronic without its outer skin and clothing, and some shots from inside the ballroom of The Haunted Mansion.

5.  My body does not take well to the feeling of falling.  While most people probably feel some sort of panic or fear when riding on roller coasters, or rides with sudden drops my body has a very different way of reacting.  My body begins to shake uncontrollably.  While mentally I enjoy attractions like this, my body doesn’t do well with them at all.  Because of this I am usually the guy who will try anything once and depending on how my body reacts I might sit out from that point on.  Disney’s Tower of Terror or Knott’s Berry Farm’s Supreme Scream are two perfect examples of rides I went on once, but will probably never go on again.

6.  I was in a handful of bands during and after high school.  In high school I was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for an alt/grunge band Another Alternative and then after high school I continued the role of lead singer and guitarist in a couple of bands that were similar to the likes of Something Corporate without the piano.  An interesting tidbit on each.  My first band, Another Alternative, recorded our demo with Bob Moon who recorded albums for bands like MxPx and The OC Supertones.  In the later bands I was working with Chris Salomone the younger brother of James Salomone who at the time had just finished as the bassist for ska outfit Rx Bandits.

7.  I didn’t get into SEO…SEO got into me.  I had been building websites for a number of years and was aware of some of the basic principles of SEO, but had never really given SEO much thought in terms of an interest or a career.  It wasn’t until an employer promoted me to their website marketing division that I was thrown into the realm of SEO.  Once introduced I got the fever and have been sucking up everything SEO and internet marketing related that I can.  One sickness lead to another and I am now diving deeper into things like social media and SMM, though my love for SEO is very much still at the helm.

So there you have it 7 things about me you probably never knew and many of you probably never cared to know. But now that we’ve got that out of the way there is one thing that my fine gypsy friend has always emphasized and that’s pay it forward, so since he got me wrapped up in this mess I will do just that.  The following 7 souls have been tagged!

Audrey Seiberling
Anna Bourland
John Jones
Katherine Keller
Kristina Sanchez
Tamar Weinberg
Troy Ready