Hi! My name is Jon Faustman. I'm a front-end web developer currently living in Manhattan – no, not that one. I love turning beautiful mockups into functional websites using semantic web standards. I also really enjoy sarcasam and kittens. Not enough? Find out more.
Fact one: I like music, a lot. Fact two: I have not been to nearly enough concerts in my lifetime. (I still refuse to count several of the ones I’ve seen at local venues, such as Wild West Fest.) Maybe it’s just me, but fact one and fact two don’t seem to go together very well—it’s time to rectify that.
I can safely say that I’ve been to more concerts this year than ever before, and it’s a trend that I would like to continue. My recent concert summary:
…continue Brand new eyesToday is the start of what promises to be a very good weekend. Beginning tonight I will be taking a motorcycle basic rider course. It’s something that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, but decided it was time when, co-worker & friend, Dan Warner decided he was going to take it. Dan’s wife, Mervi, will also be taking the class, so I’m pretty sure we will make up half of the class, which is good should something embarrassing happen.
Tomorrow afternoon I will be joining some of my friends at Wilson Lake. Going to the lake is usually good times, especially since we will have two boats out there. However, I’m not really an outdoorsy person, and especially dislike sleeping outside. So, I’m not really looking forward to getting less sleep than I already do. But the prospect of good friends, cool water, beer and possibly a few girls makes it something to look forward to. Unfortunately, fireworks are usually not permitted at the lake, so I won’t be buying or watching too many fireworks on July 4.
Culminating the weekend is something I’ve very excited about – a No Doubt concert with opening act Paramore. I’ve been a fan of No Doubt since Adam had me listen to Tragic Kingdom in the 8th grade. I’m also a big fan of Paramore, so I’m definitely pumped to see both of them together. For some odd reason I’ve never really been to a concert (not counting lame Wild West Fest and the like), so this will truly be my first concert experience. It should be good times listening to two great bands with one of my best friends.
…continue No Doubt, it’s my birthdayThis is the point where I’d have to tell a few people in person to hush, because I’m not talking about my social status, I’m talking about weight loss.
First, let me say that I don’t think I’m fat, or obese (technically my BMI calculation puts me at “overweight”) – I think that I’m out of shape. Well, I know that I’m out of shape—both in terms of cardio and physique.
…continue I am the biggest loserSometimes when I travel, I absolutely devour books. When I went to Germany I couldn’t put down Ender’s Game. In the Philippines I read Harry Potter six and seven.
With an impending 26 hours worth of travel time, I needed to pick up more reading material. Since I knew I wanted to read the Twilight series next, I picked up Twilight in Manila, but knew it wouldn’t be enough after buying it. Since we’d have a short layover in the Tokyo Narita airport, I decided I would pick up New Moon so I could get through part of the series, but came across a book that I had forgot I wanted to read—The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists. (I also came across some hardcore pr0n, but that’s another story entirely.)
After awkwardly paying for my two new books (the Japanese sales girl didn’t speak any English apparently), I sat down and started devouring The Game. This isn’t so much as a review of the book, but a look into some of the truths in the book. This brief review I wrote begins five of these truths:
…continue Truth about the gameThere are many words to describe my recent trip to the Philippines – wonderful, exciting, educational, tiring and eye-opening are just a few that come to mind immediately. There are so many people that helped this trip come to fruition and I would just like to thank a few. (Really, I would like to thank everybody, but that would be entirely too long.)
This trip would obviously not be possible without Rotary International—it is their program, and they sponsor the entire thing. Therefore, I owe one of the biggest thank you’s to Rotary International. First, thank you for having such a wonderful program, and allowing me to be a part of it. Second, thank you for sponsoring myself and my team to make such a trip possible. Although some things might be cheaper in the Philippines, traveling there is not one of them.
Even within Rotary there are so many different entities and people to thank, hopefully I won’t forget any.
…continue Maraming salamat po!