As I'm sure you can tell from the second half of East3rd, v2.0, my enthusiasm for trekking around the city taking photos has definitely been waning a bit. Posts have become few and far-between, and the quality has taken a nosedive. Maybe it was the lousy spring of nonstop rain here in Boston, maybe I'm running out of ideas-- or maybe I'm just in a rut.

As my appetite for photography has tapered, my interest in creative writing has surged. I had started a project around three months ago called Two Reviews. The idea was to create a web site for music reviews and have a team of writers with varied musical tastes. For each album on the site, there would be a review written by an author who is a fan of the band, and one written by an author who isn't. That way, the reader would be presented with both sides of the story.

I had System Of A Down to partially thank for that idea. Whenever a record is released to universal critical acclaim (which doesn't happen too often), I simply go out and buy it, no matter what the genre or band is. Curiosity gets the best of me. Now I'm not a big fan of all the yelling and screaming and hardcore metal, but when System Of A Down's Mezmerize was released to such glowing reviews, I had to give it a try. As it turns out, System Of A Down is a fantastic group of musicians. They're incredibly proficient, their songs are decent, and their arrangements are solid. The problem is, I just can't stand listening to it. I would have loved to have come across a review that said "look... these guys are good, but don't kid yourself... if you don't like aggressive metal songs performed by a bunch of dudes who obviously have serious issues controlling their temper, you're probably not going to dig this.

Sadly enough, Two Reviews failed before it really ever got off the ground. But, I really got a kick out of writing music reviews! The seed was planted, and the blog is born.

So what can you expect here? For now, the site is divided into three parts: music, photography, and life. So you can expect plenty of album and concert reviews, journal-type entries (like this one) and I promise to keep the photos coming. And for all of my photoblogging friends, if you miss the old format, don't fret! Just click on the "Photos" link at the top, and you can safely ignore all non-photography-related content.

Let me know what you think!