25 Things About Me
25 Things About Me – “you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask…”
I got tagged to do this by the Alex Jeffreys coaching students community, specifically by Julie Newman one of the most creative bloggers I know. So here goes…
5 Things Personal
I was born and raised in Germany (which makes English not my native language)
I grew up near Cologne, Germany
I met my wife, Nancy, who is from La Jolla, CA, in Salzburg, Austria at a “Sound of Music” dinner show that was put on for American and Japanese tourists (she was a singer, I played the piano)
We migrated to Los Angeles in 1996
We have 7 children, 4 girls and 3 boys (current ages 13 to almost 1)
5 Things Interests and Likes
I like to travel to Umbria, Tuscany and Greece (but haven’t for the past 15 years…)
I love music, especially Beethoven’s 8th Symphony, and Brahm’s Double Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra, and Glen Gould’s way of playing Bach
[Afterthought: Come to think of it, pretty much ALL 8th Symphonies are quite extraordinary and most enjoyable (Bruckner, Mahler, Shostakovitch...
]
I like to try something new (every day)
I like to lead and teach, especially groups of young musicians
I like good conversations and visits with friends
5 Things Professional/Career
I have a fairly large list of film and TV credits as music editor, orchestrator and score conductor
I am a “church musician”, and have played the organ almost every Sunday for the past 27 years with very few interruptions
I have been on the Internet since 1994. My first “commercial” domain was audiohost.com which I envisioned to be a hosting service to make it easy for people to add audio to their web sites (talk about cutting edge back then…)
I have been a real estate investor since 2002 – ups and downs included (CaWholesaleDeals.com)
I have been an information marketer since 2007
5 Things Ambivalent and Dislikes
I don’t like negative people who are always looking for reasons why something won’t work
I really don’t like the ups and downs of testing, rejection and mediocrity in marketing. I’ve coined the phrase “Success looks different from the inside than from the outside.”
I like technology, but dislike having to learn something new all the time just for staying on top of things.
I don’t like to do things on my own – but it’s hard for me to consistently step out of my personality to seek help, collaboration and partnerships.
I find most “25 Things About Me” from other people a lot more interesting than my own
5 Random Things
I used to run a couple of my own radio shows in a local radio station in Bavaria (“Radio Untersberg”), and did some cutting edge stuff there, like interview abused teenagers and run their voice through a special effect device for identity protection, having indy bands play live in the tiny studio, or airing a fairly long interview in English (with German translation of course) with Jim Dine about his “Untersberg” paintings when they were exhibited in Salzburg…
I like my son’s (Lukas) videos on youtube -
I really enjoy that I can be around my kids and family most of the time, and work out of my home office. It’s f
antastic and a true blessing to see them grow and develop.
I can be persistent and stubborn (2 sides of the same coin to me), but at times persistence competes with eagerness to explore new things.
I enjoy being Catholic (although I didn’t grow up that way), and recently started to go to daily Mass (but I need a nap on Saturday afternoon to make up for that…
Filed under: Personal • mentor
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!


Hi Tom,
Very nice list. I really like the way you broke it up into five different parts…very original!
Cheers,
Rod
Rod Macbeth´s last blog ..25 Things You Don’t Know About Me…And May Not Want To
Awesome post Tom, thanks for sharing more about yourself personally. I appreciate connecting here
Nicholas
http://www.AuthorityNetworker.com
Nicholas Klein´s last blog ..Can You Really Build Your Downline Fast and Absolutely FREE… On 100% Autopilot?
Thank you for visiting my blog today. I enjoyed reading a bit about you in this post. Congrats on 7 blessings from God!
Vanessa/Peetred´s last blog ..Waiting for Results – The Best is Yet to Come
Hi Tom,
I came over to see what your 25 things are – and WOW! I cannot think of even trying to share so many things about my life.
Then again, I just need to sit down and think about it, and it should come easily to be open and honest. So – Thank you for opening yet another avenue for me to follow on my blog. See – I am already thinking of doing my 25 things on the About Me page of my blog.
See you around!
Heine
Heine´s last blog ..In search of S O T O F O T
Hi Thomas,
I see your persistence has paid off … 7 Children!
Listening to Brahms now … excellent!
I always want to go to Cologne when I lived in Mainz years ago but just settled for discovering Rhine Wine
Always nice to see a happy family!
I’ll stop by later and checkout your post,
~ Julie
Julie Newman´s last blog ..What is a Ping?
Hi Thomas,
I see from Michael Bush’s blog that you live in Pasadena, I grew up in Monrovia.
I like the way you did your list too. I also like Beethoven, and a lot of classical music. Also love organ music, especially old hymns.
You have done a great job on yoour blog.
Gene
Gene´s last blog ..I have taken up the Challenge
Hello, I found your weblog in a new directory of blogs. I dont know how your weblog came up. Your weblog looks great. Have a good day.