Going Green

No, I didn't buy a Toyota Prius Hybrid and slap a "John Kerry 2004" sticker on the back. Nor did I stop showering and purchase a Che Guevarra t-shirt.

No, I haven't become a "true Seattlite" yet.

But I did get a chance to explore some of the abundant natural beauty that the Northwest has to offer. With the weather finally suitable for outdoor activities, Jessica and I, along with the Welch's, ventured on an afternoon hike up Rattlesnake Mountain just 20 minutes out of Bellevue.

May this be the first of many outdoor excursions this upcoming summer season.

Hoop Dreams

I never thought this day would come, but it has. I feel a horrible sense of guilt for it, which you may feel free to use against me as necessary.

With the recent sun beginning to peak it's head through the Seattle clouds, this past weekend Jessica and I set out to buy some recreational gear. With only a bocce ball set to our name in the category of sports equipment, we decided it was time to invest in some new gear.

There's a nice little park about a block from our condo that we often visit on warmer days, and this park is equipped with a small basketball court (think Washington Park basketball court, but substitute the homeless guys for Microsoft nerds). There's not much of a lawn for other activities, so the b-ball court naturally becomes the focus of the park.

That's when I did it.

The first piece of sporting equipment purchased by the Aaron and Jessica Faber household was a basketball. We own no soccer ball. Just a basketball.

Ashamed? Partially. I did have fun beating Jessica in a free throw competition on Saturday. Yet I still feel a strong sense of guilt, as if I betrayed something or someone so close to me.

I blame Jim Brinks. And his boss.

Too poor to work

Weird, right?

With not a whole lot of success on the job front thus far in Seattle, I decided to respond to an ad on Craigslist this morning wanting participants for a focus group. The posting was essentially looking for local consumers to take part in a marketing, apparently for coffee companies. It requires 2 1/2 hours of your time for just one morning, during which you sample different coffees and give your feedback on them. The pay is $80 cash per person.

Sweet, right?

$80 for a morning of drinking free coffee and talking about it. Bring Jessica along and that's $160. Let's go with this.

I called the agency, located just a few minutes from our place, and spoke with a nice, middle-aged man. He explained that he just needed to ask me a few questions first to make sure I was eligible to participate in the survey. After lying about not having any friends or family in the marketing industry (my new brother-in-law is in the marketing department at Microsoft), he gave a few words of approval and said he had just one more question.

Easy, right?

"What's your average yearly income, sir?" Crap. Uhh, none, that's why I want to participate in your survey. Having no current income, I threw out an arbitrary figure: "$35,000."

Should be safe, right?

"Hmmm, that's going to be a problem," the guy said. "We're looking for participants in a higher income bracket." End of conversation.

I should have known better than to respond to an ad that says "Coffee Drinkers Needed" in Seattle.

It's time

for a new blog entry. We finally got internet hooked up in our condo (yeah, it's a condo, not an apartment. Would Michael Scott rent an apartment?), so I figured this was the best avenue to share some pictures of the new place.

We now live in Bellevue, Washington, on the east side of the city of Seattle. For those of you who care, we live across the street from the Microsoft "campus," as it is known around here. We live in a cozy little place, about 800 square feet, in a woodsy, cabinsy complex.

I'm thinking about what else to write, but I made a personal vow about 10 minutes ago to never complain about the weather here. I always find it funny how people move to an area that has cold winters or hot summers, then complain about it twice a week for as long as they stay there. Not me. I love the weather here, and I always will.

For those interested, here are a few pictures of our apartment. Pictures from our dinner date with Bill & Melinda Gates coming soon.

Bigger Battles

I came across another ludicrous piece of news this afternoon while reading about the recent election in the Netherlands:

The last line of the article states:

In a first for Europe, the Party for Animals was forecast Wednesday to win at least two seats. The animal rights' party wants to curb inhumane practices in industrial farming.

I think Holland has bigger battles to fight than animal cruelty.

Try...Islam?

A Stroke of Genius

Two San Franciscans have brought me back into the blogging world. How can one pass up blogging about a story like this?


The Global Orgasm for Peace was conceived by Donna Sheehan, 76, and Paul Reffell, 55, whose immodest goal is for everyone in the world to have an orgasm Dec. 22 while focusing on world peace.

The couple have studied evolutionary psychology and believe that war is mainly an outgrowth of men trying to impress potential mates, a case of "my missile is bigger than your missile," as Reffell put it.


Look out, folks, this is going to be big.

Bye Bye Bye

I totally didn't see this coming...