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Back to gerritt.net A EULOGY FOR D103 August 30, 2005. 9:05 PM In what many see as the height of his web journal career, the more famous of the Brothers Lang is calling it quits. Daryl, publisher and editor in chief of D103.com, made the announcement today that he will retire from daily blogging to turn his attention towards a new job and new priorities. The editors of gerritt.net send deepest regrets at the loss of one of the classiest and most readable daily blogs ever created, but look forward with fond hopes for whatever crazy hobby is next on the list. Daryl’s Homepage, as D103.com was called at its inception, was cutting edge in the new world of the internet in 1997. Tackling tough HTML coding, integrating pictures and text, and writing his way onto the Penn State Daily Collegian website, Daryl found above all that his skills were challenged but not conquered. His first postings to his online journal were in July of 2001, before any of us had ever heard the word blog. He called it his "welcome message," a space atop Daryl’s Homepage where he could write a few sentences once a week to help others stay in touch from a distance. He wrote his thoughts and feelings of September 11, 2001 from a lousy newspaper job in Carlisle, PA, and by March of 2002 he was updating daily. About every other entry says something about how bored he is, but livened up when the Daryl’s Homepage headquarters moved to Brooklyn, NY on September 7, 2002. In March 2004, the blog moved into D103.com status, changing names but not faces. His readership has soared to more than 100 different readers per day, over five times the gerritt.net daily average. His web page, as well as his writing, has inspired dozens of copycat blogs, including this one, and created a network of friends and connections that span the globe, all staying in touch through a daily click and an occasional comment. The most important thing a blogger can do is to stay away from writing about people, negative emotions, and work. Daryl has done it every day for over four years, giving us news and personal updates without delving into crybaby conflicts or boring gossip. There are the times when readers disagree with Daryl’s writing, but that is the nature of writing a personal journal. Mostly, however, D103.com has been a look into the life and times of someone we love. Today we read his last daily entry, a final farewell to the blog we’ve known these past four years. There will still be the website: daryllang.com, with regular travel journals and pictures, but no more daily updates. Daryl, we thank you for all the great entries over the years, but know your retirement from blogging is well-founded. Many of us barely have time to read your blog each day, let alone write our own. It is amazing that you've lasted this long, I hope you find a great way to spend your newfound free time. For the rest of you faithful readers of gerritt.net, take a moment out of your day to head over to d103.com and post your goodbye comments on Daryl’s final entry. -G * Email Gerritt iContact August 27, 2005. 9:55 AM With a little help from Pop and Grandmommy, I finally bit the bullet and bought an iPod. Being a bit pressed for space in my houseboat, I went with the iPod Mini, six gigabite. I loaded up iTunes and imported my entire music collection into the library, and set about populating the new iPod with my favorite six gigs of music. According to iTunes, six gigs is roughly a third of my 5025 songs. Now its time to decide who makes the cut. Anything labeled "live- unreleased": cut. Anything I purchased or downloaded in the last year: loaded. Anything with less than 128-kbps bit rate: cut. Any song over fifteen minutes long: cut. Any song by the Muppets: loaded. Any song by Disney: cut. And so on until I realize what a waste of time this is. I think I'll just go day by day and upload what I feel like listening to on that particular morning. I got it to work in my car, too, so I'll have a lot of fun stuff to listen to on my commute. New toys are fun! -G * Email Gerritt FLOORED August 20, 2005. 2:25 PM The hardest part of doing home repairs is taking the first step and getting motivated. My houseboat is a much the same way: very few things need to get done right away, and it is increasingly hard to get going on something that can just wait. Yesterday I jumped that boundary and got right into it. I tore out a bunch of old cabinetry that had been built in to the boat, another step towards creating a liveable space in the cutty cabin below decks. Demolition is, of course, the easiest and most fun type of home renovation. And it always gives me a good feeling of accomplishment to look at the huge bare spot I just created on my wall. After the demo was done I had enough motivation to buy the plywood floorboards that will go in place of the cabinets, and to create some new squeakless support beams for the stairs. A few more odd jobs this morning, and installing the new floors, and I've got a darn good project done in just two mornings. I'm a regular Bob Vila! -G * Email Gerritt UP ON THE ROOF August 14, 2005. 9:45 AM I never get sick. But when I do, oh it hits me hard. I guess it saves up to make me feel miserable for one week a year or something. Who gets sick in the middle of August anyway? Add this absurd heat and humidity and I could whine all day. Instead, I found my way around the heat as well as I could, and found some creative ways to do so. My mom and Garry came to town yesterday before heading back to Colorado for the winter. They stayed at the L'Enfant Plaza hotel, complete with a rooftop pool, where we swam away the hottest part of the day. Another key is to duck into one of the free Smithsonian museums, always nicely air conditioned, to hide from the hot sun. The evenings are great down on the boat, with a warm breeze off the water and no sun it is a great place to hang out. I just don't recommend it during the day. -G * Email Gerritt BUZZ OFF August 10, 2005. 2:25 PM I left work early today feeling sick, so I took the opportunity to drive past the spot DC has chosen for its new baseball stadium. Not far from my marina, on the other side of the McNair War College sits a neighborhood rivaled in beauty only by its name: Buzzard Point. Buzzard Point is the armpit of Anacostia, home to taxicab body repair shops, construction equipment rentals, and a company that seems to make concrete out of old concrete. The planners for the stadium propose that all these eyesores be tossed out to make room for the stadium and a new commercial strip of restaurants and clubs along Half Street. ("1/2" St. is between First St. and S Capitol St. SW.) Driving south along Half St from M St you find a nice neighborhood of row houses for a few blocks, then a giant pile of scrap metal behind a locked fence, a lot full of wrecked cabs poking out into the street, some small warehouses, an even more giant pile of old concrete being shoveled into a towering machine, a shady looking nightclub called "The Lime", and finally the road ends at the river, with the big shiny Coast Guard Headquarters building looming nearby. Following V St and Water St along the Anacostia is another fancy new federal office building, a pile of dirt labeled "MD Rock Industries", and the DC Heliport. There are also two rather nice marinas near the Coast Guard building that are owned by the National Park Service, so if you want to be able to walk to your boat from the stadium in 2008, now would be the time to get a slip at the James Creek Marina. There are three problems I foresee with this site. One: the owners of these properties are getting a lousy deal, even if they are "eyesores". Two: just like the football stadium in DC, there is no metro stop close enough to it and traffic will be terrible. Three: there is no owner for the team, so the city is funding most of the stadium from public money. Bah! The Nationals, however, have proven so far that they don't need a fancy new stadium or a new owner to feel at home, right now they're closing the gap on first place in the National League wild card, and hanging tight with second place in the NL East. Not bad for a team that used to be the Expos. -G * Email Gerritt THE GEORGETOWN August 3, 2005. 10:25 PM Photograph from July 30, 2005 
-G * Email Gerritt |