fear of a blank website.

10 posts in a month. I think I’m doing ok with the updates so far. I just don’t want this thing to fall to oblivion like my previous sites did. At the same time, I’d like the content to be somewhat more interesting to people other than myself. We’ll see if I can accomplish that lofty goal.

Well. This is just a quick update to say that I just picked Porcupine Tree’s new album Fear of a Blank Planet. I wasn’t even aware they had a new album out until last week or so. It’s been a while since I was a *rabid fan* like during college. On my first listen, it’s pretty straight-up metal, or at least a pseudo-proggy metal that reminds me a lot of Tool. Dark, heavy, melodic, with occasional bursts of psychadelic textures. We’ll see if I like it after a few more listens. It doesn’t exactly jive with my Mogwai records at the moment, but open mind, Derrick, open mind.

This weekend I’ll be hanging out with coworkers and venturing out to Carroll Gardens for a “house-cooling” party. I always have an image of Clinton Avenue being covered in shrubs and plants when I hear the name “Carroll Gardens.” Another journey over the Pulaski Bridge. Maybe some worthwhile stories and/or photos will ensue from said adventures.

Oh, and a quick shout-out to Mike Neder, whom I just talked to tonight for the first time in a long while. He helped me get started on the whole website design thing by offering me web hosting on his own servers when he was first starting out on his own, too. Over the years my sites changed and updates became less frequent, but he was always really generous with his hosting, and that helped me learn pretty much all I know about website development. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to test your site changes live without worrying about bandwidth charges. Thanks, Mike!

Another quick epicurial shout-out to Anytime, a nice little restaurant in Williamsburg with a grunge-chic vibe and some of the best tater tots this side of Napoleon Dynamite. I ate what the Israeli owners call an “Anytime Burger,” which is a grilled lamb patty on a toasted soft pita with hummus, with a side of salad and the aforementioned tots (or onion rings, or fries, if you don’t appreciate your taters in crunchy nugget form). They also have a $1 PBR/well drink special every night between 5:30 and 8pm. Too bad they struck Heineken from that list, or they would be a weekly destination for me.

Until next update,

-D