Yesterday my husband and I went to the The Mellow Mushroom for pizza. It was an off hour, so we were able to sit in a rather secluded table away from the noisy families with kids and the groups of flirting high school students. During the course of conversation, my husband brings up Jonathan Goldsmith, the actor that plays the “The Most Interesting Man in the World“ in the popular Dos Equis commercials. He had read on Adweek.com that when Mr. Goldsmith auditioned for the role of The Most Interesting Man in the World, he did so barefoot.

“Out of the hundreds of actors who auditioned in cities countrywide to make a case for why they should play The Most Interesting Man in the World, only one took off a shoe and sock to audition barefoot. Why? He wanted to leave a lasting impression. That actor was 73-year-old Jonathan Goldsmith, who, in casting, had mentioned he lived on a boat in Beverly Hills (an impossible feat).“

This started a wonderful conversation about our own personal trivia list. If IMDb asked us for a personal list of trivia would we have anything interesting to tell them? It turns out we both had some pretty interesting line items. Here’s my top 15 in no particular order:

1. I once embalmed a body.

2. I’ve ridden a mechanical bull.

3. I was standing behind Oliver Stone when he was filming Al Pacino’s locker room speech in Any Given Sunday.

4. I wrote a complaint letter to President Jimmy Carter when I was little, asking him not to interrupt my favorite shows which at the time were Scooby Doo, The Love Boat and Fantasy Island. (Several weeks later, I got a package from The White House that included a nice note from the President’s secretary stating, “the President really enjoyed your letter“. As an adult, I have no doubt that he actually read that letter and found it amusing.)

5. I knew Humphrey Bogart’s mistress.

6. I once intentionally ate a bug.

7. I can’t whistle.

8. When I was about 10 years old and out to dinner with my parents, two NBC executives at a nearby table, overheard me saying that I thought Tom Brokaw was cute. They sent me a free dessert with a business card asking for my address so they could send me an autographed photo of him.

9. I’ve done the Can Can on stage.

10. I’m a certified canoeing instructor.

11. As a lifeguard, I once rescued a toddler that had fallen in the pool face down.

12. Halloween is my favorite holiday and Fall is my favorite season.

13. I was a Girl Scout leader.

14. My dog is named after Richard Dreyfuss‘ character in Jaws, Hooper.

15. I’m a horror movie buff.

My goal now is to have more and more interesting experiences so that I can grow my personal trivia list. Maybe one day I will become “The Most Interesting Woman in the World”. LOL