b.rox

And in a wild and sudden dance
We mocked at Time and Fate and Chance
– William Butler Yeats, The Wanderings of Oisin

When I moved to New Orleans back in 1999 I didn’t really know what to expect. Certainly I didn’t anticipate that at age 32 I’d discover a whole new holiday. And not just a new holiday, but an entire holiday season.
I’m talking about Carnival, of course, and Mardi Gras, and it’s not really new at [...]

Last night I tended bar at a party for about 20 minutes, having been conscripted by the host. I thought that was noteworthy since I’ve produced a television series, ostensibly about mixed drinks, for over a dozen years now, but I’ve never tended bar before.
It was fun. And not nearly as hard as Bartender J [...]

We woke up this morning to the sound of major demolition. Sure enough, they’re tearing down Physicians Hospital, just like we heard they would.
I don’t mourn the passage of these buildings too much. They were in pretty sad shape pre-Katrina, abandoned for years. I’m not sure if they were salvageable.
My boss and I came by [...]

BBC Radio Five asked me to record a segment for a show they’re doing next Monday, I think. I don’t know if they’ll use it, but you can listen for yourself now [mp3 audio, about 5MB].

PJ’s back, just for a couple days. He played at the Neutral Ground last night. And since I had a tape recorder, you can experience Birmingham and Rainy Little Day vicariously.

If you’re from New Orleans, or if you care about the city, I wouldn’t advise you to watch this allegedly funny video. No, it’s not funny. It’s just plain hateful. If you watch it, it’s going to make you angry. So don’t.

A mysterious construction project is underway on Bienville between Salcedo and Lopez, a block from our house. A neighbor told me they’re building 30 homes which will be sold for $125K each. I thought that was interesting, so I went over Sunday and asked about it. I didn’t much care for the reception I got: [...]

I learned a few days ago that our neighbor Dan died back in October. I don’t know where or how, but we certainly miss him. He will never cut our little patch of grass or fix our door again. Rest in peace, Dan.
Update: Shortly after posting this, I learned that MaP??’s mother died just a [...]

I missed Barkus, but our friends were there. Good show, y’all.

Some while back I signed up with the Preservation Resource Center to have our house inspected by an expert. Today, it happened. I was visited by an architect and an engineer, Remi and Bill, volunteers from San Francisco. They were quite taken with our house, but more importantly they didn’t see any major problem arising [...]

Famous at last: I was interviewed for Open Source, a public radio program that culls stories from the internet.

Xy got punched in the stomach today by a third-grader. She confiscated a basketball from him; he was playing instead of getting in line for the bus. She’s fine. He’s expelled. Same kid that took a crap in the stairwell last month.
Oh yeah. The schools are in great shape.

Yesterday a bunch of teachers from Xy’s school gathered at the Dry Dock in Algiers Point for snacks and drinks. So after work, I rode my bike down Canal Street, took the ferry across the river, and joined them.
It was fun to hang for a bit with some less-than-sober schoolteachers. Sadly, they seemed to be [...]

Last night Todd Price came by and we paid a visit to my Hoosier Mexican neighbors. Todd is the only person writing for the local alt-weekly who also speaks Spanish, and he’s researching a potential story. At the neighbor’s house there were a bunch of people gathered around the TV watching Univision, mostly sitting on [...]

She can kick my ass in Scrabble.
She shares my enthusiasm for good food.
She’s cheap. I mean thrifty.
I shouldn’t mention reason #4. I do have a few shreds of propriety left. Plus, it’s illegal in this state.
Come to think of it, I can’t mention reason #5 either. Illegal almost everywhere.
She’s prone to extreme silliness.
She’s honest and [...]

I was wondering how long it would be before someone proposed this:
The time has come to blockade the Mississippi.
It might sound crazy, but as frustrated as people are down here, it wouldn’t surprise me at all.

Our friend Andrea visited us this weekend. It was a bittersweet visit.
Sweet, because it’s always sweet to catch up with close friends.
Bitter, because Andrea and her husband PJ are former New Orleanians who have made the difficult decision not to return. They’re starting over in Indianapolis, or elsewhere, but not here. It is a loss [...]

Your email:   Subscribe Unsubscribe  

A few days ago, as I was riding home from work, a strange feeling came over me, like déjà vu. After a moment, I realized what I was feeling was a sense of normalcy. The debris had just been cleared from that block of Jeff Davis, and there were no blue tarps in evidence, and [...]