(You've Got) Personality
January 23, 2008
More Information than you ever wanted to know about Brian Block, Realtor
Recently, with the release of the hit movie "The Bucket List", I've been reading more and more about these lists and have read those of other people who have posted them online. I haven't yet seen the movie, but from watching the trailer and reading some reviews, I get the gist. Basically, a bucket list of Things You Want to Do Before You Die. Everyone should have one of these. I'm still young (34) and hopefully have a very long life ahead of me. However, I wrote down an extensive list several years back. I have it hanging next to my desk and computer so I can look at it everyday. These are the reasons that I work -- so that I can achieve my life goals and aspirations.
Additionally, I took it one step further and created another list.
I call it "100 Interesting, Exciting and Fun Things That You May Not Have Known About Brian." This list serves as a repository for those interesting experiences that I've had that make me who I am today. One of my greatest feelings of accomplishment comes when I'm able to transfer something from the bucket list over to this list. This list also serves as a great icebreaker with new clients and acquaintances. It's a fast and easy way to get to know a little bit about me beyond the formal resume.
Try it yourself. After all (You've Got) Personality (click to listen to this classic song)
I learn a lot about my clients when I work with them and thought that my clients and people who are deciding about whether they want to work with me for their real estate needs in Northern Virginia and D.C. would like to learn a bit more about me.
Here then are a selection of my already completed Bucket List items (if there's a link that means you can learn more about that particular item in one of my previous blog posts):
1. Been catapulted off of the U.S.S. Enterprise Aircraft Carrier
2. Swam in the Dead Sea
3. Visited the War Room at the Pentagon
4. Flew in a KC-135 and refueled F-4 fighter jets in the air
5. Saw Margaret Thatcher speak
6. Met Henry Kissinger – got his autograph
7. Met Alexander Haig – got his autograph
8. Worked for and played softball with William Weld, former governor of Massachusetts.
9. Had a bachelor party in Las Vegas (no pictures)
10. Stayed in the lavish Garrick Club in London
11. Performed an Argentine Tango at the U.S. Department of State
12. Met Arsenio Hall before he was really famous
13. Sat in the studio audience of David Letterman show twice.
14. Bet on the horses at Del Mar racetrack
15. Gone whale watching
16. Gone deep sea fishing
17. Did a stage dive at a P. Funk concert (broke my thumb)
18. Had dinner with the former Ambassador of Pakistan
19. Participated in a lawsuit against the U.S. government which resulted in a $134 million judgment
20. Ran down the steps of the Eiffel Tower
21. Saw the Rolling Stones in concert in Paris (my first concert experience)
22. Have seen Ivan Lendl, Andre Agassi, Gabriela Sabatini, Martina Navratilova, Mats Wilander, play tennis
23. Participated in watergun battle on the Potomac River
24. Like Rocky Balboa, ran up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum
25. Biked over 50 miles in one day
26. Gone to Disneyworld and Disneyland
28. Proposed to my wife at sunset on the beach of Curacao
29. Went snorkeling and saw a shipwreck
30. Played a ghost in a movie spoof of Scooby Doo – though the film was never finished or released
31. Met internationally acclaimed conductor Zeuben Mehta and got his autograph
32. Gone to a Yankees/Orioles playoff game at Camden Yards
33. Won $650 on a slot machine
34. Won $1000 playing craps
35. Marched in the Cherry Blossom Parade as a clown
36. Biked around Block Island, Rhode Island
37. Met and ate dinner with the entire starting lineup of the 1991 Boston Celtics
38. Saw the Tall Ships
39. Visited the U.S. Dance Hall of Fame
40. Toured the U.S. Tennis Hall of Fame
41. Went to the grisly Museum of Death
42. Partied on South Beach, Miami
43. Saw David Copperfield perform
44. Been on the top of the Empire State Building
45. Biked across the Golden Gate Bridge
46. Prepared a delicious Gazpacho soup
47. Visited the Grand Canyon
48. Saw Mount Rushmore
49. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt at Yellowstone National Park
50. Hiked the Grand Tetons
51. Tried to avert the gaze of Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris
52. Drove a child up to the Shriner’s Hospital in Philadelphia
53. Took an all-day massage class
54. Was a vice-president of an internet auction company
55. Gone canoeing on the Charles River
56. Saw Forever Tango on Broadway and the Warner Theater
57. Hiked around Montmorency Falls (higher than Niagara Falls)
58. Spelunked through Luray Caverns
59. Owned a parakeet
60. Rode a camel
61. Went skiing for the first time on a 14,000 foot peak in Colorado
62. Was on an airplane about to take off and witnessed a passenger having a heart attack
63. Passed the Virginia Bar Exam on first attempt
64. Gambled on a Riverboat casino in Kansas City
65. Danced in a Hollywood nightclub to the admiring gaze of Jack Nicholson (really!!)
66. Met the entire cast of Cheers and went to the finale party in Boston
67. Rode on a traditional London red double-decker bus
68. Worked as pollster on election night
69. Gone skinny-dipping
70. Attended services at the oldest synagogue in the Western Hemisphere
71. Toured a WWII submarine
72. Went to Plymouth Rock
73. Got 4 out of 6 numbers in lottery (measly $100)
74. State finalist for Veteran’s of Foreign War “Voice of Democracy” radio script contest
75. Had a meeting in a U.S. Congressman’s office
76. Been entertained by bellydancing during a Moroccan feast (numerous times)
77. Almost perfect score on Math SAT (one damn question wrong!!)
78. Seen live performances by World Champion ballroom dancers
79. Grew a goatee (very temporary)
80. Planted a tree in Israel
81. Saw Halley’s Comet
82. Learned how to juggle
83. Ran in the Race for the Cure (almost every year)
84. Visited the Hershey Chocolate Factory
85. Toured a WonderBread Factory
86. Played chess with a master-ranked chess player
87. Took Kung Fu classes
88. Placed a personal note to God in the Western Wall in Jerusalem
89. Took violin lessons with a Boston Symphony Orchestra violinist
90. Former Member of Mensa
91. Interviewed a client in his jail cell
92. Modeled in several fashion shows
93. Captain of high school tennis team
94. Visited Alcatraz (not as a prisoner)
95. Qualified as a Marksman First Class with rifle-shooting
96. Had my shirt ripped off by a drag queen during performance in the middle of a crowded restaurant
97. Seen Rocky Horror Picture Show multiple times in the theater
98. Have donated over a gallon of blood to the American Red Cross
99. Saw the Olympic Torch pass by in Arlington
100. Ran the Marine Corps Marathon – All 26.2 Miles!!
101. Attended Presidential Inauguration
102. Been in the same room with the President of the United States at Inaugural Ball
103. Served as Worshipful Master of Masonic Lodge
103. Went parasailing
104. Went jet-skiing
105. Rode an elephant in Thailand
106. Learned how to skeet shoot
107. Study Krav Maga martial arts
108. Ran a marathon
109. Flew in open air cockpit WW-I plane and did aerobatic maneuvers
110. Study Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
There's plenty more to go and I look forward to adding to this list every year.
Now, you know a lot more about me. Your turn.
What have you done? What do you want to do?
Do you have personality?
