Twenty-Five Random Things About Me

1. I gave over 200 hours of group tours as a volunteer at the The National Park Service’s Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace Museum in Manhattan; his call to embrace the “strenuous life” — a celebration of effort and industry — has become a guiding principle of my own life.
2. It took me just under 15 hours to complete my first Ironman triathlon in Lake Placid in 2014, the hilliest triathlon in the USA (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run).
3. But it took me years, and a lot of 5:00 AM wakeups, to get to the starting line, including one half ironman triathlon, two marathons, and 12 other shorter triathlons and half marathons.
4. I love team sports, and founded two co-ed soccer teams at work. My weekend team Real Hungover (pun on the pro team Real Madrid) is as close-knit today as we were seven years ago when I started it. Our recent winter and spring league championships raised money for a nonprofit microfinance organization Accion.
5. A life goal is to read a biography of every U.S. President. I still have 34 more to go. (I’ve been putting off reading Millard Fillmore.)
6. I devour podcasts and audio books. I listened to all seven books in of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation space opera series as I trained for the Ironman, completed an audiobook on the French Revolution while running the Paris marathon, and finished my latest Presidential biography on John Quincy Adams during my bicycle tour.
7. I am a huge fan of David Allen and GTD-based blogs/books (GTD = Getting Things Done).
8. I often ponder the coming zombie apocalypse (and I formed a business to sell “Get-Out-of-Dodge” go-bags, A Tuller Prepares, LLC, perhaps something I’ll bring back from the dead in business school).
9. I once camped by myself in Massachusetts with Emerson and Thoreau books. Instead of reading the great transcendentalists, I instead spent the entire night googling how to handle bear attacks.
10. I love making music/noise on my harmonica and telecaster guitar (the same combination as Bruce Springsteen).
11. I’ve submitted weekly to The New Yorker cartoon caption contest for over 5 years, with over 90 submissions. I haven’t won — yet. (Sigh. http://www.alexandertuller.com/sigh/)
12. In 2012 I drove across the country from NYC to Seattle to see if I could get an autograph from The Far Side comic creator Gary Larson.
13. This led me to start a comedy webcomic with my roommate, which has had over 1 million unique visitors.
14. I give pun names to all my technology based on Presidential names: John iPadams, Drive D. Eisenhower, GoProver Cleveland, etc.
15. I called my bicycle trip my “Cross-Country American History Bike Tour” because I pedaled to over 40 American history sites, including eight Presidents’ homes, before following Route 66 to the West Coast.
16. I followed the Grant vs. Lee duel on my bike through Richmond, Petersburg, Lee’s retreat, and the surrender at Appomattox, which became my favorite site because it represents grace in victory, dignity in defeat.
17. My younger brother and I have gone skydiving, dressed as storm troopers for the latest Star Wars movie, and in 2012 we traveled the Trans-Siberian Railroad from China through Mongolia and Russia to Moscow. I named the trip “The Brothers Tullermazov.”
18. I’m a hobbyist GoPro movie editor: there’s no better memory trigger to document life events! Jetpacking, Holidays with Family, Polar Bear Plunging for the past 5 years. Here’s my trip to the former Yugoslavia with my younger brother (I call it “Brogoslavia”): http://www.alexandertuller.com/international/
19. In 2015 I traveled in three continents, ten countries, and 17 states. My most-treasured experiences stemmed from the kindness of strangers during my bike trip, like sleeping on a bike shop floor in Pennsylvania, or in a church’s gymnasium in Kentucky.
20. I grew NYC’s smallest lawn on top of my 15th floor apartment air conditioner when working on the Miracle-Gro account. My neighbors joked I should keep the leaf blower noise down.
21. I’ve brewed my own beer and even made labels for my brand, “Amici Associates” beer.
22. My family spent summers at Block Island, Rhode Island, where I discovered a love for board games, sandcastles, hiking, and an appreciation for good times when they’re happening.
23. I like quotes because they inspire people. Ask me to do the Rocky quote.
24. I love “the quantified self” and habitually track my steps, weight, workouts, and sleep.
25. Finally, I’m proud of who I am — a positive, friendly, adventurous person. The world is an interesting place! The more you know, the more interesting it becomes.