I actually can’t believe it. I’m writing a second blog post on a personal website. *very Mark Hoppus voice* I guess this is growing up! Let’s see what I’ve gotten into throughout the past month or so.

Writing

I made my long-awaited (by me) return to the pages of McSweeney’s Internet Tendency! The idea and article came to me in a hazy 6am vision, and I’m very happy I dragged myself out of bed and wrote it before 8am. It was posted exactly one week later. Check it out here: Would You Like to Set Google Chrome as Your Default Browser, or Would You Prefer Centuries of Untold Pain and Torment?.

Over on The Hard Times, I did another ranking of a band’s discography- this time for sludge metal titans Mastodon. I also celebrated the 19th birthday of a landmark album, and penned an ode to all those graduation from high school this summer.

Coding

I’m currently on the job hunt, so I’ve been learning and relearning some very cool things. This has involved refreshing my memory of coding in Java, gaining a greater understanding of MongoDB, and launching into an entirely new realm for me: embedded programming.

I’ve always wondered how code works at all on devices without an operation system; I’m learning that embeded programming puts you much, much closer to the bare metal of a device than web development. This Texas Instruments MS430 LaunchPad seems to be a popular choice for getting familiar. Arduino is another platform I’m intrigued by. It’s also been fun to look at C and C++ for the first time in… years.

---

Tune in next month to see if I go for the threepeat.