Ever since I started blogging, I’ve often tried to share some non-financial information about me so that my readers can get to know the real person behind this blog. For my website, I have my standard bio at the end of each post, the about us page and the blogs page to tell people about me. However, those are the boring standard stuff that every blogger has and I wanted to do something fun and personal. There are quite a bit of stuff that I wanted to share, but I have been struggling to find a suitable concept to present it.
A couple of weeks ago, I came across a very unique “25 things for my 25th birthday” post from Erik at The Mastermind Within. I love the concept and I thought the post was personal, unique and fun. Since my birthday occurs in the same month as his and it was yesterday, I want to borrow this concept and share a laugh or two with my readers. Erik, I hope that you don’t mind that I use a similar concept for this post. Below is a little bit of info about Leo T. Ly that most people don’t know and you won’t see anywhere else. That’s right, exclusive info that you can’t find even on my social media profiles such as Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus. I hope that you find it interesting and fun to learn a thing or two about the author of this blog.
1) Yesterday, I celebrated my 25th birthday for the fifteenth time. Did you know that I stopped aging after 25? I borrowed this idea from a famous singer in Hong Kong named Alan Tam.
2) I was never taught how to ride a bike. I was able to ride my mom’s bike at the age of seven on my first try. Just put your feet on the pedal and try not to fall.
3) When I was in grade school, my dream was to become a Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher because I had pretty good control of the ball when I pitched. That dream never realized as I never gotten the opportunity to play any organized baseball.
4) When I was in high school, my dream was to become an actor in Hollywood. I killed that dream after constantly hearing of divorce stories of Hollywood stars. Or maybe no one found me attractive – except for my wife.
5) When I was in university, my dream was to be my own boss and own a successful restaurant business. I decided that it’s better to do something else after learning that 60% of restaurants failed within the first three years of operation. These are terrible odds.
6) My dream retirement is to live on a waterfront property with lots of fish. I want to catch my dinner in the lake and grow my own produce in the garden.
7) My favourite pet is a dog. I’ve owned more than five dogs at various times in my life. My current dog’s name is Maxx. He’s a cross between and Jack Russell Terrier and a Chihuahua
8) I taught my dog, Maxx how to speak… in dog language. He barks when I say “Maxx speak.”
9) I am a terrible liar, so I choose to be blunt, straightforward and honest most of the time. However, you shouldn’t be putting too much trust in the things that I say as “everything that I said could be a lie.”
10) When growing up, my idol was Bruce Lee. I was an undersized kid and got picked on a lot when I was in school. I had always imagined myself as Bruce Lee and was able to defend myself whenever I was picked on, instead of getting my butt kicked.
11) I had been drunk only once in my life. Maybe twice, but I don’t remember.
12) One summer, when another kid at the school yard asked me what my name was so that he knows what to call me when we play baseball together. I told him that “my name is Leo.” From then on, I became known as Leo T. Ly
13) My favorite Ninja Turtle is Raphael, but I named myself after Leonardo. I thought Leo was a cooler name to go by.
14) I have a very high level of self-confidence and I believe that I can accomplish any goals that I set for myself. Some people may associate this behaviour with being egotistic, arrogant or snobbish. What other people think of me doesn’t bother me as my motto is: “if you don’t believe in yourself, then no one will believe in you.” Never stop believing in yourself. “If you think you can, then YOU definitely can.”
15) My astrology sign is Leo. When I wash a freshman in university, I was placed in a group with Leo (the lion) as the mascot. Is it a coincidence that I named myself Leo?
16) I am Chinese. I was born in Vietnam. I immigrated to Canada and became a Canadian. I aspire to retire in Hawaii as an American.
17) I planted 2 cherries, 2 apples, and 2 Asian pears trees in my backyard. With only six trees, I have two varieties of cherries, six varieties of apples and four varieties of Asian pears. Did I mention that I also planted blueberries and strawberries?
18) I never attended grade four. I started school in Vietnam and never finished grade three. Once I arrived in Canada, I attended grade five and on.
19) I have a winning record against Las Vegas. On my first trip to Vegas for my friend’s bachelor party three years ago, I won enough money to pay for my trip and came home with extra money in my pocket. 1 for Leo, 0 for Vegas.
20) I love to watch NFL football. My favorite player is the one and only Payton Manning. I wrote a guest post on Mustard Seed Money titled, Achieving Financial Freedom Is Like Building Your Superbowl Winning Team It also, pains me to correctly predicted that the Patriot won Super Bowl 52 because I am not a Patriot fan.
21) When I was born, my birthday was recorded in the lunar calendar, which calculates dates according to the rotation of the moon around the Earth. However, the modern world uses the solar calendar, which calculates the rotation of the Earth around the sun. So when I obtained my id, the lunar calendar date was recorded without making the adjustments. Hence, this birthday is not really in June, but it’s in July. Are you confused yet? Me too.
22) My first job, I made 5 bucks per hour delivering flyers door to door in the grueling summer heat for a take out restaurant. That experience made me realize that I need to find better ways to make money and have my money work harder than me.
23) In 2016, my last dollar earned was being taxed at a rate of 43.41%. However, after some tax planning, deductions and claims, I paid an overall tax rate of only 13.0% based on my gross income. Best of all, I got a big fat refund check after filing my taxes. I know that some of you would say that I gave the government a free loan. However, some of the actions that I took to minimize my taxes have to be done on an ongoing basis and it’s difficult for me to lower the tax withholding ahead fo time. As long as I have more money in my pocket, a short-term loan to the government is not an issue.
24) I once gave my phone number to a girl in high school in the form of algebra equations. I still haven’t solved the mystery of why I never received a call from her.
25) My favorite summer treat is a banana flavour popsicle. I believe that a really smart girl stole my heart when she offered me half of her banana flavour popsicle years ago. I can’t believe that I got picked up and fell for half of a popsicle. I need higher standards.
26) Bonus. Originally, I was about to end at 25, but I just remember that I am obsessed with the number 26. So I added one to make it 26. Why is 26 my favourite number? I was born on the 26th day on sun calendar. Now you know.
I hope that you enjoyed this post and got to know the real Leo T. Ly behind this blog a little better. It’s not one of the most original posts, I must admit, but I had a lot of fun with sharing some of my personal information with you. If anyone has any questions that he/she is dying to ask me, you can ask it in the comment. Don’t be shy.
About Leo
Really cool. Thanks for sharing.
I also have a winning record against Vegas :-). I’ve only been once and the vast majority of my gambling was betting on baseball games and then playing 25 cent video poker at the bar to get free drinks while I watched my games. I won just enough to cover my spending on the trip.
@Matt, nothing beats free beer, watching the game and having more money in your pocket after the game is done. If we stay away from sin city, I think we will definitely keep our perfect streak alive.
Never been one to like gambling, but that sounds like a sweet plan!
I read this through too fast at first. I was thinking “wow, I’m almost twice as old as him!”… but no, I’m only 7 years older. 🙂 Fun to see these personal details. Thanks for sharing.
@Brad, 32 is that that old. It’ll be fun if you actually write a similar post saying that you will turn 32 for the sixteenth time next year.
@Leo, an interesting 26. On points 14 & 16 respectively – absolutely nothing wrong with being vainglorious, it can turn people off to the point that ‘they won’t trust you’, but who cares about other people say or think about folks that are success driven, no matter who or what gets in their way. On point 16, do tell us how is it possible in your case for a Canadian citizen to live in the US as an American citizen
@John, the self-confident thing is just something within me. I only use it to help me be better at what I do as I have seen too many capable people with the intelligent to do something, but has no courage to act. As for retiring as an American, I don’t think it’s that hard. My sister went to the states quite a few years back and now she’s living in America. There are also dual citizenship. All else fails, I can always be a snowbird and fly south for a couple of months during the winter.
Quite a few fun personal facts- very interesting!. My daughter taught herself how to ride a bike too. The difference in calendars is interesting for birthdays. I totally don’t get how they figure that out! It was fun to get to know you.
@Laurie, if there are people who are able to calculate how long it takes the earth to orbit around the sun, I don’t think it’s that hard to calculate the difference between two calendars. I am just glad that I found out what my birthdays were for both calendars.
You stopped aging at 25? Now that is funny. Age never bothered me. Quite a few fun personal facts here!
@Heather, age never bothered me either. I just like to make fun of the original guy who claimed to stop aging after 25.
Nice Leo. The more you know. Never been to Vegas might go this year. Only been drunk once or twice? Gotta switch from Coors light!
@PassiveCanadianIncome, Vegas is definitely a fun place to go. You’ve got to go to sin city at least once in your life. You are also a mind reader. I often drink Coors light. Recently, I am more into Ricard’s Red now.
It’s a really nice tag! It is always great to find out about fellow bloggers and read on their lives! Always so inspiring! Thanks for sharing this with us! xx corinne
@Corinne, Thanks for dropping by. Glad to hear that you liked this post.
I had a good laugh about your age! lol Thanks for sharing these informations!
@Christine, I am twenty five this year, and will remain twenty five for the rest of my life. Glad that you had a good laugh. We can’t be too serious all the time.
Happy Birthday !!Love these I am twenety five too and I think im gonna do this on my blog too !!
@Jay, this idea is not mine, so you are welcome to do a similar post if you wish. A shout out should go to Erik at The mastermind within for this original post.
That girl has no idea what she is missing if you gave her your number in the form of an equation. Either she’s bad at math which may have been an automatic disqualifer or she doesn’t have a good sense of humor. Either way I think it’s incredibly creative and something I wish I had thought of. Definitely jealous 🙂
@MSM, If I had to guess, I would say that math was not her favourite subject. She was in my French class. I am not sure if people would like to use this method to pickup girls as my success rate was not that stellar. Ironically, a girl was trying to pick me up when I was driving a car to a high school in my university days.
Hi Leo, I love this post! It’s great to know more about you and your personal info! Maybe I should borrow this idea and do a post like this too. If I do, I will credit your blog 🙂
@Milton, I think that personal posts like this is definitely fun to write. Feel free to write a similar post.
lol, this made me laugh out loud and commiserate too! I am going to be celebrating my 25th birthday for the 15th time next February too! And I am not a good liar also. And I do love a banana Popsicle. It was great reading and learning more about you.
@Akamatra, life is so stressful nowadays, I sometimes feels that I forgot how to have fun. I am glad that you got a good laugh with this post. Are you sure that banana Popsicle is your favourite and it’s not chocolate fudge?
So cool to read more about you! Beautiful to know who’s behind a blog for the readers!
@Agentszerozerosetter, all the credit needs to go to Erik at The mastermind within for this original post. I had such a great time reading his post that it inspired me to write a similar post.
Now you must share the secret to how you managed to stop aging! A belated happy birthday to you.
@Samantha, thanks for the birthday wish. The secret to staying young is to be happy, and laugh often. Be grateful for the things that you have and to treasure the great people around you.
This is both hysterical and insightful. Thank you for the laugh and the inspiration!
@Erin, another thing about me is that I like to joke around and have a good laugh or two with people around me. Even if the laugh is at my expense.
This was great, some of these made me laugh. I love how you opened up and wanted to share. This is a really great idea for readers.
@Sondra, I feel that I can be an open book to anyone. I can share any of my personal information with anyone. If I can make people laugh, it’s a bonus.
Such a fun post. It is always lovely to learn a little bit about the person behind the blog.
@FashionMommy, thanks for dropping by and glad that you had fun with this post.
Aww I’m sad you chose not to go into the restaurant buisness… 60% may fail, but that’s 40% that succeed! And yea I wouldn’t have ever solved the algebra either! haha
@Leah, there is a second part to this statistics. Of the 40% that survived, half of those are barely getting by or breaking even after five years. So, if you tally it up, it means 80% of the restaurant either make no money or lose money. It was quite difficult for me to not pursue this dream, but sometimes you have to take the route that gives you more chance to succeed.
Happy Birthday greetings sent early to You! I’m glad to read a bit more about you and your personal reinvented narrative. Lol! 😂 So, your real name is not Leo? Hmmm. ❤
@Elizabeth, thanks for the birthday wish. My updated name is actually Leo T. Ly as seen in my government issue id. My birth name became my middle name after I became known as Leo.
These are such cool facts! Always nice to learn backstories on fellow bloggers! If I were you, I would’ve went with Ralph instead of Leo haha (He is my fav to)!
@Jessica, it was quite difficult to choose Leo over Ralph. To think of it, I liked all four of the Ninja Turtles as I think I exhibit a bit of each of their personalities.
Leo – the leadership quality
Michelangelo – the goofiness
Donatello – the creativeness
Raphael – the no nonsense guy
Very cool about the algebra equation phone number. Although I might have a guess why you didn’t get the phone call. I did write poems in the yearbook of everyone one year. I figured it was a good way to get remembered.
@David, I think that writing a poem would have be a better idea. However, and “ESL” poem may not have sounded very romantic if I had wrote it. I was still in ESL when I was in junior high.
Hahahaha I loved this post. Thanks for the shoutout Leo 🙂
My favorite… 24) I once gave my phone number to a girl in high school in the form of algebra equations. I still haven’t solved the mystery of why I never received a call from her.
@Erik, you inspired this post. I really liked your post and it strike a note in my head that I gotta do one post like this. If you are trying to pick up a girl in the future, I would suggest something else rather than an algebra equation.
Thank you for putting yourself out like this, it is such a fun post. I smiled through it.
@Mary, thank you for dropping by and I am glad that I put a smile on your face.
Hi Leo! Pleasure to meet you. Cool post. Bruce Lee was a favorite of mine too but, because I had a crush on him. Oh, and I too love Raphael from the ninja turtles. You’re lucky with the bike. it took me a while to learn. I had training wheels and everything.
What does it feel like to be perpetually 25? You’ve had many dreams! I hope now you’re living your best one. I think #9 is definitely a good thing.