Well, this meme must have gotten far enough down the blog hole to reach me through a number of different people (Jim, Jay, Dan).

So here are five things you probably don’t know about me (but depending on who you are you might know, considering I don’t really know who you are)

• My junior year in high school (1996) I scored a job at the local comic shop by promising I could figure out how to build them a web site. I learned HTML from a manual that came with my modem and cranked out their site. The site never really took off, but I started doing web sites for companies my dad worked with and eventually started my first company (New Release Web Design) before getting out of high school.
• I don’t have a degree. This seems to be a pretty frequent item to show up in this meme. I went to Middle Tennessee State University for a semester and did pretty good before taking a job at Dell when they opened up a facility in Nashville. I would love to go back but I think I would focus more on English than Comp Sci or Business.
• When I was growing up in Maryland my Dad worked for the federal government in drug prevention. This meant when they needed someone to present “Just Say No” pledges to Nancy Reagan I was selected. It was cool to go to the White House, get a tour, and then hang out in the Rose Garden. I also got invited back to welcome Mrs. Reagan back to the White House after her surgery (where I saw the president but didn’t get to meet him)
• Three years ago this May I married my wife at Dalhousie Castle in Scotland. Dalhousie is a 14th century castle that has been turned into an incredible hotel. We then took our honeymoon traveling around Scotland including the Highlands and Skye.
• I recently lost over 50 pounds through diet, exercise, and some friendly competition. I bet my brother-in-law that I could lose more weight than he could before Christmas (the one before last). The deal was that whoever lost had to buy the other an Xbox 360 for Christmas. I won, but because I am a softy, I bought him an Xbox 360 too.

I tag Dave Donaldson, Nino, Michael Wood, Ben Carey, and Brad

-James