The Adventures of Lorie and Brian Groth

Our loft is now on the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and on our real estate agent’s (Rick Miner) site:
http://www.duckin.com/listings/401_9thave.php 

The Veer Lofts Penthouse in South Lake Union is going on the market for $649,500 on July 6^th, 2010! This is a one-of-a-kind penthouse with unobstructed views of Seattle, the Space Needle, and Queen Anne Hill.

The Loft (photos and videos)

• South, West and North facing 2-story windows for all-day sunlight
• 18-foot wood ceilings with large, timbered beams
• Two south-facing decks with full city views
• Huge private (almost 350sq feet) West & North-facing terrace with views of the Space Needle and Queen Anne Hill
• Concrete floors
• Private, but loft-open bedroom
• Custom cabinetry
• Upgraded fixtures, lights, laundry
• Custom California closet installation
• 1.5 bath, with plumbing for an additional tub/shower
• 2 underground secured parking spaces
• Extra-large secured underground storage unit
• Rick Miner, our realtor has put together a very cool video of the loft too.
• Click here for all of the photos

The Neighborhood

• Walkscore of 97 – “Walkers Paradise”
• 1 block to the Seattle Streetcar
• 2 blocks to Amazon’s new headquarters
• 2 blocks to Microsoft’s Westlake office
• 3 blocks to Whole Foods
• 3 blocks to the new South Lake Union Park

The Building

• Leed Silver-Certified building
• For additional building details, see the Vulcan Real Estate website @ www.veerlofts.org

If you would like to schedule a viewing or for more information, please contact Rick Miner @ 206 940-1180 or www.duckin.com

Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We woke up this morning and noticed people running on highway 99 instead of the usual traffic, so Milo and I naturally had to check it out. Turns out it was the Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle Marathon, that apparently at least 27,000 knew about it – just not us. Since I’ve never wanted to walk along the always-busy highway 99, this was a good chance since the road was closed for the marathon. We walked along side the runners up to Fremont, then down to the waterfront (at almost the same speed as some of the runners). The runners went through the 99 tunnel that goes under part of Seattle, but Milo and I walked above it. The part of the map shown here is where we walked for 2 or 3 hours, which is only part of the full course.

It was fun to have people cheering the runners on and to hear 5 or 6 different bands that were set up and playing at different points on the course. Here’s some links to the latest news of the marathon if your interested.

I have now entered a new era…. personalized radio on my phone steamed over the air (thankfully I have an all-you-can-eat data plan)

I was recently at the Mashable Media Summit 2010 conference in New York where I was given a free Motorola Backflip, which is based on Google’s Android operating system for phones. I don’t like the keyboard and the camera is very slow, but there are a bunch of fun applications I can run on the phone. Also, my old Windows Mobile 6.1 phone has sorta died, so I’m trying to get the most from the Backflip. One of the fun applications is the Pandora music player. I setup a station based on Gnarles Barkeley so it automatically finds music like that (Zune, iPod, Spotify, Last.FM all have similar features). It’s geeky, but fun. Pictured here is my phone with a song from Oasis playing.  

I am waiting for Microsoft to ship Windows Phone 7 so I can get a phone with Zune on it. I’ll be able to do the same cool thing as I do with Pandora, but more. Plus I can load it up with all of the music I own too. Until then

I love walking around cities to see how they tick and to just see the sights as a tourist. This week, while staying at the W Hotel on Lexington in New York and walking to the Microsoft office I get to walk past the Waldorf Astoria hotel, the Sacks Fifth Avenue store, the Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall. But just as interesting are the mess of people and taxis all buzzing around dodging each other. It’s certainly more vibrant (or at least busy) than Seattle, but not as clean. There’s always something new to see though.

Milo Turns 5 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Not only is this rainy 3-day weekend the Folk Life Festival in Seattle, but it is also Milo’s 5th birthday (May 30). To celebrate, I’ve walked him through Folk Life every day (see the drool in one of the photos) and he’s eaten lots of bones and treats. Lorie and I also went to the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum where a neighbor of ours is a docent; that’s where we had our photos taken in a photo booth. We also dragged Keith and Lisl through the rain at Folk Life since Lisl had never been to it, but due to the crowds and drizzle, we escaped and had pizza. No, Milo didn’t get any pizza.

When walking through the SeaTac airport tonight, I heard “hey, Brian”. It was Audrey and Gil. They were waiting for a flight to Europe, which sounds much more exciting than my trip to California for the WebGuild Social Media Strategies conference. I used to carry around a fortune from a Chinese cookie that said something like “meeting an old friend in a foreign land is as nice as a fresh Spring rain” … or something like that. We had a nice visit before I headed off to my gate and it made my evening much more interesting.