The perfect soundtrack to accompany those times of epic failure in your life: http://www.sadtuba.com

For my latest project, I wanted to build something and stain it, rather than painting it like I have done for all my previous projects. I decided to build a standalone shelving unit to put into my closet and hold all my shoes. To make things interesting, I figured I'd also try to use biscuit joinery as much as possible, like I did with pocket-hole joinery on my last project (http://ericdennis.com/content/project-pottery-barn-inspired-bookcase).

I'm currently streaming an episode of Battlestar Galactica to my Wii from a home-built PC via Orb, over a network that I cabled myself. Am I a huge nerd? You decide.

As a father of two children, I have first-hand knowledge of how daunting it can be for first-time parents. If you have ever asked yourself why your kid didn't come with an instruction manual, then these tips should help you out:

http://www.ericdennis.com/content/baby-tips

My wife and I have been gradually renovating our house for a while now. One of our first large projects was to renovate the living room, and the fireplace was a key part of that renovation. The fireplace originally had a marble surround, and an ornate hood mounted over it. The marble was very nice, but not really our style, and the hood definitely had to go. Read on for the full project writeup.

My first standalone furniture project is nearly complete! The piece is a painted bookcase, designed to match my daughter's Pottery Barn bedroom set. Keep reading for a full writeup of the project, plus lots of pictures.

Have you ever noticed that music doesn't seem to be as aurally interesting these days? Turns out it's probably due to engineering tricks designed to artificially pump up the loudness. So if you're one of those people who thinks that new music sounds terrible, this article means that you are probably right:
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17777619/the_death_of_high_fidelity

I have been doing more and more woodworking ever since we moved into our new house. It started with me installing trim everywhere: crown molding, baseboards, chair rails, door and window casings, etc. But as my skills and confidence grow (and as my wife has discovered that the stuff I build looks good), I've been doing some more ambitious projects, like renovating our fireplace and installing wall frames.

A friend turned me on to this band recently, and their most recent CD, Fear of a Blank Planet, is one of the best albums I've listened to in a long time. Pick it up if you get a chance.