Blogging tags are always fun because they give bloggers a chance to share things we wouldn’t normally write about. The awesome Tom from The Doubting Thomas recently tagged me in the Behind the Blogger challenge.
Thanks for the tag, Tom! I’m happy to pick up the torch and pass it on to some of my favourite blogging friends.
About the Behind the Blogger challenge
Olivia Lucie Blake (another of my favourite bloggers) started the Behind the Blogger challenge earlier this month.
The rules of the challenge are simple. Share 4 facts about yourself that your readers wouldn’t know. Invite other bloggers to do the same.
4 facts about me
The rules might be simple but I’m usually a pretty open book so finding 4 facts that my readers wouldn’t know is more of a challenge. Here’s what I came up with:
What I wanted to be when I grew up
I remember playing things like store and school when I was small but I don’t recall having a specific ambition to be a teacher or work in a store.
In school, I excelled in languages. French and German were two of my best subjects in high school. At one time, I thought I wanted to be a translator. I’m so glad I didn’t pursue that because I think I would have been bored to death.
In my early twenties, I wanted to travel so I applied to work for Wardair as a flight attendant. After several interviews, I was so disappointed to find out I didn’t get the job. A few weeks after I got the dreaded rejection letter, Canadian Airlines bought Wardair. That explained that. Deciding it wasn’t meant to be, I found a different job. That’s where I met my husband. I suppose that was meant to be.
What I do know for sure is I never planned for a career in the benefits and retirement field. It’s funny how life turns out sometimes.
I used to be terrified of public speaking
During my career, I’ve done a lot of public speaking—first as a trainer, and lately at industry conferences. Early in my career, I was petrified at the thought of getting up and speaking in front of people.
How did I get over my fear? Practice! I forced myself out of my comfort zone and looked for opportunities to speak. Over time, it got easier.
The first concert I ever went to was Air Supply
As a huge fan of live music, I have been to a lot of concerts over the years. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that the first concert I ever went to was Air Supply. Yes, this rocker chick sat through a performance by a band best known for sappy ballads. I’ll even sheepishly admit I may have a couple of their albums in my record collection.
Here’s the ticket stub from that concert. It’s hard to believe that was 40 years ago. What’s even harder to believe is the tickets cost only $11.50.
I made up for my poor judgment with my second concert a few months later—Genesis at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto in December 1981. That’s definitely more my style.
My bucket list travel destination is Montreux, Switzerland
I don’t have a very long list of travel destinations that I dream of visiting, but Montreux, Switzerland is definitely on the list. Why Montreux? Well, as a big Queen fan, I’d love to make the pilgrimage to see the statue of Freddie Mercury on the shores of Lake Geneva. I have a small replica of the statue but I’d love to see the real thing.
Even more fun would be to attend Freddie’s birthday party in Montreux and hang out with other Queen fans for a few days.
Let’s keep in touch! Join my mailing list and I’ll email you when I add a new post.
Passing the torch
Thanks again for the tag, Tom. I’m passing the torch to six of my favourite blogging friends if they’d like to take part in the Behind the Blogger challenge.
Crispy Confessions
Even if I didn’t nominate you, feel free to write a post and join the fun. Or just share a random fact about you in the comments below.
Thank you so much for tagging me! Hopefully I’ll get around to doing this at some point (might be in January tho) 🙂
You’re welcome. No rush! Just keep it in mind when you need a blog post idea. 💚😀
I love that you still have that concert ticket! It’s kind of fun that your first concert is one you’re not so impressed with now. I’m like that with my first ever album. It was a John Cougar Mellencamp CD and I should have been way too young to know who he was haha. I don’t even know how I ended up wanting it. But it’s a story that’s brought some laughs through the years 🙂 Thanks for the tag!
I think the only reason I went to the Air Supply concert was because my friends were going. It’s fun to look back on the memories now, though. I love to look through my old concert ticket stubs. We saw some of the greats back in the day.
Thanks for picking up the torch Michelle – you strike me as an interesting individual with a lot of stories! I’m pleased to say that seeing The Who at Hyde Park was my first ever gig – with Roger Waters playing Dark Side of the Moon the following day! Quite a decent line up to tell the grandkids about (not that they’d be interested).
I sincerely hope you get to Switzerland soon!
LOL. It’s funny you say that about the stories. I was on a business trip with a younger colleague a few years ago. On the drive back from the airport, he told me I was very entertaining and he loved my stories. 😂
Ahhh..The Who at Hyde Park would have been fabulous. I finally saw The Who…or what’s left of them…in Toronto about five years ago. They still put on a great show for a bunch of old guys.
Thank you so much for nominating me. I’m going to need to have a good think…
You’re welcome. I look forward to reading your response!
I loved learning more about you, Michelle! 🙂 I was in Norway for an epic anniversary trip and it piqued my interest to visit all the Scandinavian and Nordic countries! My first concert was Korn.. Which if it knew me would be quite unbelievable lol Hehe
Thanks so much! I have never visited any of the Scandinavian or Nordic countries. I would love to get there one day. Another place I’d like to visit is Iceland. I’ve heard it’s beautiful.
Hmm. Korn? I didn’t have you down as a metalhead. But then Air Supply really isn’t my style either. 😂😂😂
Yea definitely wasn’t a metalhead, I dated someone who loved them lol Iceland was okay, we stopped in Iceland before heading to Norway.
The other night there was a Queen Family Sing-Along on TV and I thought of you. 😁
I like the story about not getting that job but then moving on to find your husband. I love how everything always ends up working out in the end.
I haven’t watched the Queen Family Sing-Along yet. We recorded it and will watch it when our daughter comes home for the Christmas holidays.
You’re right. We always need to remind ourselves that things work out the way they’re supposed to.
thank you for the nomination. I can’t believe that you still have your old ticket stub – and that it cost only $11.50. It cost at least double that in the 00s.
I kept all my old ticket stubs in a photo album. It’s fun to look back at them. I saw a lot of concerts back in the day for less than the price of a movie ticket these days.