5 things you did not know about Mike Cherim
Well, Joe Dolson tagged me and now I must spill my guts — 5 feet worth anyway. I am supposed to share with you five things you probably don’t know about me. And based on the good stuff Joe offered, I’m not supposed to share just any old crap, but to provide some good stuff as well. I don’t know how good this will be, but here goes.
- I was smart in school and could do well with tests, but my grades were lousy. I was bored, didn’t care, and never did any homework. I preferred to party. In 1978, at the beginning of my junior year, I was expelled from high school permanently when I was caught smoking dope in the girls’ bathroom with some friends (they were girls). I quickly got my GED or high school equivalency certificate and started my adult life a year early as a result.
- I joined the USAF and enrolled in the Community College of the Air Force. In doing so I was able to take free CLEP tests. I aced several of the tests: technical writing, English, biology and natural sciences but never bothered getting a degree. All I need is one math course but I don’t like math. I do well and have never been compelled to reach for that piece of paper.
- I’ve been to every state in the United States except Oregon and Washington state. I have actually lived in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Florida, California, Utah, Colorado, Texas, and Mississippi. I have have visited Germany, Mexico, and Canada, and actually lived in Japan and Italy.
- I knelt before two people as they shared a needle in Padova (Padua) Italy. They injected each other’s blood rinsing the heroin from the syringe. I was stunned. Next to me a friend was snorting heroin and asked me if I wanted to try it. I asked what it’d do to me. He told me that as a first-timer I’d probably puke. I told him no thanks. That was a close call. Had I made a different decision I might not be here today.
- When I was eleven I threw a rock way up in a tree hoping to scare a squirrel. I hit the squirrel broadside and knocked him out of the tree. He was hurt but took off. I felt so guilty I cried. I have a great deal of respect for animals. I will never forget how I felt.
Well, that wasn’t so bad. Now I’m supposed to tag five people in meme fashion taking Joe’s lead. I guess I need to tag people who actively blog and so I hereby tag Roger Johansson, Karl Dawson, Todd Sieling, Dan Champion, and just because I’m curious, Jeffrey Zeldman. Narrowing this down to five people was next to impossible, I’d like to add about 50 more but I tried to at least mix it up a bit.
John Faulds responds:
Posted: December 17th, 2006 at 4:49 am →
Lucky you didn’t take that needle cos you can bet that squirrel would’ve been right there when you reached your lowest point to throw an acorn at you!
David Zemens responds:
Posted: December 17th, 2006 at 12:14 pm →
You are pretty brave for sharing your “near miss” story. No question that you would not be here today had you chosen that route…
Adam responds:
Posted: December 17th, 2006 at 12:45 pm →
Wow . . . You think you know the guy that creates your images. Thanks for sharing. Certainly is an interesting idea whoever started this.
Mike Cherim responds:
Posted: December 17th, 2006 at 1:45 pm →
Gee, I hope you guys don’t think less of me now.
Mike Cherim responds:
Posted: December 17th, 2006 at 7:00 pm →
Here’s a little bit of an update. Karl’s thinking on it, Dan’s done it, and I didn’t know it, but Todd had already been tagged and did his. Whoops.
Adam responds:
Posted: December 17th, 2006 at 7:29 pm →
Nah . . . O, and by the way. Nice “winter” theme.
Mike Cherim responds:
Posted: December 17th, 2006 at 8:36 pm →
Thanks Adam. I can’t be to blame for my past anyway. I was a 60s kid… the times made me do it
Mike Cherim responds:
Posted: December 18th, 2006 at 10:12 am →
Yeah, the pressure was too much, Karl did it.
Joe Dolson responds:
Posted: December 18th, 2006 at 11:51 am →
Interesting! Yeah, I didn’t share the checkered past…just the socially embarassing
. This is definitely a very interesting meme. The internet is a vast community of people who, for a large part, have never met each other - many of these little tidbits are the kinds of thing which might be shared at a dinner party (after a couple of bottles of wine…), late in the evening.
I guess this is our substitute for a dinner party, until we can actually meet!
Mike Cherim responds:
Posted: December 18th, 2006 at 12:16 pm →
It’s a very cool meme, Joe, which is why I decided to play, and you’re right… it’d take a couple bottles of wine after a party for some of this to come out. I’m not proud of my high school experiences or anything, if I could do it over I’d probably tell those girls that we should go out in the woods and not smoke the bathroom, but after reading about your goth past I realized it’s not about revealing accomplishments. I love the honesty in this.
Dennis responds:
Posted: January 3rd, 2007 at 12:54 pm →
Wow, that was a powerful blog entry. Why are most geniuses rebels?
Poor squirrel…I had a similar experience with a friend, BB gun, and a bird…
Mike Cherim responds:
Posted: January 3rd, 2007 at 2:24 pm →
Thanks for that Dennis. It means a lot.
After reading some of the others’ 5-things bios, I feel a bit of shame almost. I was a 60s and 70s street smart wild-child that lived on the edge and partied like there was no tomorrow. I traveled the world and read a lot so I gained intelligence and a certain understanding of things by those methods, but I don’t think I lived up to my potential (though my IQ is just shy of genius — 159 if I recall). I have run a successful company going on 16 years now, been married for twenty years, and I tend to do exceptionally well at whatever I do and whatever I’ve done, but my dad has his masters in education, I have an uncle who’s an expert with electron scanning microscopes, I have another who writes chemistry books to keep those who teach post-graduate studies up to speed, and I have a cousin who’s a financial whiz. Compared to them I am the blacksheep of the family. Who knows what I could have done had I actually applied myself to one thing, not wasted my high school years, and did the formal college thing.
But, I cannot change what I have done. I may experience a degraded health as I get older, and I may have a few regrets (I do if I think about it too much). But then again I have seen and done things that many people will never, ever experience. It’s a trade-off I suppose.