b.rox

For some mysterious reason that I can’t explain, I felt compelled to do a Web search on the word “trinary” this morning, and discovered this recent research which indicates that the human brain computes in trinary, not binary. The story appears to have been published a mere twenty days ago. What are the chances?

I scored 100.5º F on the thermometer Friday night. That seems to have been the worst of it. Xy made some awesome chicken soup, and my fever broke that night. Saturday I felt better, but by no means well. A dose of Maximum Strength Thera-Flu helped me sleep both nights, and I took some Mucinex [...]

I’m rooting for Grokster, of course, in the case being argued at Ye Olde Supreme Court today. I mention this mainly because I make use of the peer-to-peer Gnutella network for a “substantial noninfringing use” — namely, to distribute ROX videos. I keep Acquistion running most of the time on my home computer. But I [...]

Since Holy Thursday and Good Friday are staff holidays at the University, I decided to take Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as vacation days and make a week of it. I figured I’d use the time to wrap up production of ROX #91. Plus Xy & I planned a brief, one-night excursion to the Gulf Coast, [...]

I went to see an eye doctor this afternoon. I wasn’t having any particular problems, but it’s been four of five years since my last exam, so I went out of general principle. I made an appoinment at Canal Vision, a place that is around the corner from where we live. From the outside, it [...]

Today there was a march in New Orleans as part of the global day of protest against the war in Iraq. It’s been two years since the United States invaded. Over 1,500 US soldiers are dead and countless civilians — maybe as many as 100,000. It’s time for this madness to end. So we marched [...]

Xy & I inherited the Seddelmeyer family farmhouse in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We promptly moved in. It was huge, much bigger than I remembered, covering acres. We bedded down in a small room early in the evening, but I was restless, and soon we ventured forth to explore the house. From a window I saw [...]

Xy and I were captured by radical Islamic terrorists and held in a large empty cloak room. We were there for hours and hours. We bickered. I was scared. It was very cold. We had a yellow sleeping bag, which we wrapped around ourselves to keep warm. I remember thinking that if our captors chose [...]

I had some electrical work done on our house today. I hired a friend, Mike Kaplan, to do the work. He in turn employs two guys named Josh, both of whom play in a local band, and one of whom is also a friend of mine. They spent the day here, and installed two new [...]

News Flash: A scientific study indicates that malt liquor is the drink of choice for homeless and jobless people. Who knew? On a related note, I had my first non-alcoholic visit to a bar last night when Xy and I went to Tyler’s for oysters and beer. I had an O’Doul’s. What the hell, I [...]

David Brooks has written a fine and funny commentary on the spirit of New Orleans. Now we lead lives in which everything is a pallid parody of itself: fat-free yogurt, salt-free pretzels, milk-free milk… But at least we have New Orleans. Actually, he writes not so much about the city itself as what New Orleans [...]

I had a new experience today: I went to a parade in New Orleans and I didn’t have anything to drink. I thought that might make a difference; I thought maybe I would be more bored or feel more awkward. But it didn’t seem to make any difference at all, and I was just as [...]

I’ve always been under the impression that Lent lasted exactly 40 days. Looking at the calendar the other day, I noticed the count from Ash Wednesday to Easter was more like 46. Turns out that Sundays in Lent don’t count. There are exactly 40 non-Sundays in there. Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection, so [...]

This is kind of gross, so don’t read just before dinner. This morning I entered the men’s room near my office to find the toilet was backed up. I flushed it and it started overflowing. So I asked Michelle to call maintenance, and then headed downstairs to use the men’s room on the fourth floor. [...]

Geraldine’s car was found, somewhere in the Quarter. It was banged up and the radio was stolen… again. Actually I got the news last night when Donika (Geraldine’s granddaughter) called. We were already in bed, so we let the answering machine pick it up. Donika promptly hung up and called again, got the answering achine, [...]

Our neighbor Geraldine’s car was stolen last night — again. She suspects the people in the blue house two over from us. Everybody says they’re drug dealers, and Geraldine says she’s about ready to call the police on them, “selling drugs right out of the house like that.” Last time Geraldine’s car was stolen, Xy [...]

I met Sunfrog and Viva, two members of the editorial collective for the Fifth Estate, which is the longest-running radical publication in the country. They were in New Orleans as part of their “Revolution Everywhere” tour, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the magazine. I read the last four issues of the Fifth Estate after participating [...]

Alone in a dark room with just a mattress on the floor and a pay phone on the wall. I’m making a call. I’m scared . I’m trying to speak into the receiver. I’m trying to say a PIN number — 5397 — but I’m literally paralyzed with fear, so terrified that I can’t even [...]

SFGate has an interview with Rik Myslewski, and it’s not about MacAddict — it’s about his own personal brand of atheism.

So yesterday a homeless man from Austin had his case against the state of Texas heard before the Supreme Court, and yet none of my friends from Austin have supplied any details, juicy or otherwise. I think this is an important case. It could have far-reaching implications vis-a-vis the separation of church and state. I’m [...]