b.rox

After years of confusion, the HR department has finally changed my official job title from Multimedia Specialist to Multimedia Artist.

Elliott and Elizabeth had to put their old friend Slim to sleep Wednesday. He was almost 14.
Also on Wednesday my Aunt Suzanne passed away at St. Vincent‚Äôs hospital in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I’m not certain but I think it might have been a stroke. I don’t know her age, but I’m guessing she was around [...]

I didn’t think there were in any time-share condominiums in the Vieux Carre, but apparently I was wrong. I can thank my in-laws for hooking us up with a nice place at the corner of Bienville and Burgundy. I think it’s called the Chateau Orleans or somesuch. Doesn’t look like much from the outside, and [...]

Xy and I are taking a short (and much needed) vacation, just 36 hours at a top secret condo location in the Quarter. Oops, it’s already started, so I need to stop typing now.

This past weekend felt like a watershed for my neighborhood, but it also left me feeling overwhelmed.
Our Mid-City recovery planning meeting with Clifton James took place Saturday morning, and it was both uplifting and inspiring and surprising. We’d expected Clifton to make some sort of presentation. Instead, he pretty much turned it over to us, [...]

So we’d just gotten in the car with our friends Scott and Justine who are visiting from Bloomington. We hadn’t even left our block when Xy noticed smoke rising up from the porch of the house on the corner. Images of the many recent fires in New Orleans flashed through my mind as I jumped [...]

Los Angeles has them. Atlanta has them. Even Missoula, Montana has them.
I’m talking about Neighborhood Councils. In Atlanta they call ‘em Neighborhood Planning Units. I’m sure in other communities they go by other names, but the basic idea is the same:
Neighborhoods need control over the basic decisions that affect our lives.
If they can do it [...]

I’m going to be talking to Eric Asher on WIST AM 690 in just a couple minutes.

A few months ago I helped some students at Indiana University who were working on a short documentary titled “From New Orleans to the Midwest.” They got in touch with me through my video mentor and teacher Ron Osgood and asked if I could shoot some footage of New Orleans. So I shot some scenes [...]

A reader named Shana sent me the following query:

i’ve been reading your blog for awhile. i adore new orleans and about two weeks before katrina my husband and i decided to move down. katrina (and my grandma) put a damper on those plans. (we have however come down to volunteer a few times and plan [...]

We got an insurance payment for the flooded contents of our house months ago, but we can’t refurnish until the renovation is complete. So I’ve got some extra cash on hand, and I wasn’t sure what to do with it. I put it in a savings account for safekeeping, but I figured it might be [...]

We’re looking for dubs of certain early ROX episodes.

I’ve been thinking a lot about crime and violence lately, because it’s clear that it’s coming back to New Orleans. This point was made in dramatic fashion Saturday morning, when five teenage boys were murdered. The story is making international news but it’s indicative of a problem that’s been plaguing urban America for decades. It’s [...]

Last night I dreamt we entered one of the many vacant houses nearby and found Lucy just sitting there staring at us. Alas, in waking life she remains missing. We finally put up flyers and talked to neighbors today. Some guys who appear to be squatting on the 200 block of North Gayoso said they [...]

I finally got to see “This House Must Go,” the special that aired on The Learning Channel last week, thanks to the efforts of a friend who recorded it and rushed me a DVD.
The program itself was somewhat interesting, but of course I’m precoccupied with the segment featuring Xy and myself. I’m happy to report [...]

Add this to the list of “crazy things white people do”:
First, we collected our urine in a bucket.

Then Xy poured it into a spray bottle.

Then I sprayed it around the perimeter of our house.

Why? The vet recommended it as a way to help Lucy find her way home. We also made a bilingual flyer which [...]

We haven’t seen Lucy since Saturday afternoon. She was lying on the curb in front of our house, kind of a strange place for her to be hanging out, but when we pulled up in the car she got up and ran off in perfectly normal cat-like fashion.
But we haven’t seen her since, and here [...]

My parents are here for an absurdly short visit. Yesterday I gave them the Mandatory Misery Tour. First we drove to Lakeview. Then to Gentilly. Took a gander at a breach on the London Avenue Canal.

Then we headed down to the Lower Nine.

Wow. I’m still blown away every time I go there. It’s absolutely heartbreaking.
My [...]

After reading this, I think I’ll make my tea in the fridge.

At the Mid-City planning meeting this morning, somebody was asking about garbage collection and Shelley Midura was explaining the rules for separating household waste from storm renovation debris.
The questioner said, “If there are rules, publish the rules and we’ll follow them.”
Shelley said the City Council could publicize the rules in newspaper ads.
I injected, “Print them [...]