b.rox

I wanted to write something cheerful for the end of the year. I certainly didn’t want to cite another story from the newspaper about killing in my neighborhood. But I can’t help it. The details surrounding this incident are just too compelling. A little background: La Finca is a restaurant/bar that used to be on [...]

What with all the foofaraw trying to get back on the internet and dealing with spambots and the parental visitation and bloody murder and the holidays and so forth, I almost forgot to mention some good news: We had much of our house rewired earlier this month. Now we have power in the ceiling, meaning [...]

In the paper today: Prominent musician killed while his family watched Dinerral Shavers, 25, died from a gunshot to the back of his head at about 5:30 p.m. while behind the wheel of his black Chevrolet Malibu in the 2200 block of Dumaine Street, police said… Although critically wounded, Shavers continued driving four blocks up [...]

A pair of photos by yours truly are featured on the op-ed page of the Times-Picayune today. The pictures depict a before and after scene on Bienville — a house, and then an empty lot where the house used to be. This is part of a series of “visual commentaries” that the T-P has been [...]

I shaved my head seven months ago: And then I shaved my beard into a goatee, and of course most of the time I still wear my hornrim glasses, which gets me back to looking like this icon of myself that I created in 1995 or so: And so I braced myself for the inevitable [...]

My parents came to New Orleans Monday, but I didn’t see them for a while. They spent the week at Camp Restore, helping to gut homes in New Orleans East. Finally they came over to our place on Friday. Today we went to the Barataria Preserve at Jean Lafitte for a hike of the Bayou [...]

I just learned that tomorrow will be my co-worker Althea’s last day here at the University. Althea has been with the University for many years. I believe she started working as an administrative assistant in English. I knew her because she was working a computer lab manager for my unit when I was hired back [...]

After a week of delays and two whole days wasted on tech support calls, I was finally online. I was ready to write a damning invective criticizing Apple and an encomium praising the Computer Shoppe. I pointed my browser to my blog, when what to my wondering eyes should appear but a notice: Your account [...]

When last we left our story, we were at something of an impasse. I couldn’t connect my trusty iMac to the internet. Cox said it was Apple’s problem. Apple said it was a conflict with Cox’s modem. At Todd Kleinke’s excellent recommendation, I took my poor little iMac to the University Saturday morning and plugged [...]

I seem to have been consigned to the deepest circle of Internet Hell. Pity me. Actually, I am typing this post in my own home. I’ve got internet on a computer here for the first time in over 15 months. And yet I’m not happy. And therein lies a convoluted tale of woe.

Locals may want to note that tomorrow (Thursday, December 14) is the final day for public comment on the latest round of proposed FEMA demolitions. Nothing less is at stake here than the unique urban fabric of some of New Orleans’ historic neighborhoods. You can read more on the MCNO website, where you’ll find links [...]

Xy and I went to see Left Behind Wednesday night. Despite the title, it’s not based on the popular Christian fiction series. Rather, it’s a serious documentary about a serious subject: the abject failure of public education in New Orleans.

The table in my database which stores comments on this weblog has become corrupt twice over the last week; I’ve repaired it (again) so here’s hoping it holds.

Why is Captain Picard of the Starship Enterprise talking about my mother?

I heard a thump on the porch and went out to see the newspaper had been delivered. Ordinary enough, you say, but here’s the rub: It’s Sunday’s paper being delivered at 5 PM Saturday afternoon. I opened it up, relishing the notion of reading tomorrow’s news, but was disappointed to discover sections A, B & [...]

The electricians got started on our house yesterday. We didn’t even know they’d been there until we realized we had no juice in our bedroom. (A common problem for old married couples, or so I’ve heard. Rim shot.) I had to break out the oil lamp for the evening — just like old times. As [...]

Here’s a short video I shot and edited featuring three sixth graders at the school where Xy teaches. Problem Solving on Vimeo The girls are Kamaria, Tekiesaine & Destiny. They’re singing lyrics of their own, inspired by Xy’s “life skills” lesson, to the tune of “Show Stopper” by Danity Kane. We’re also sending this video [...]

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I bought a bunch of these from Classic Accents. They’re old-style push-button switches, which our house has still has in a few places. We’re expecting that some of the old switches won’t survive the rewiring of our house, so we’ll have some replacements on hand. Mostly, though, these will serve to restore push-button functionality to [...]

One year ago today, we moved back into our home. I’ve been thinking about that time quite a bit recently, in part because I’m trying to reconstruct a bit of narrative ROX #95, but also just because. I think last December was probably the strangest month of my life. Living without electricity, with no neighbors [...]

Xy picked up this bust at a yard sale around the corner a couple years ago. Recently one of our feline boarders knocked it off the shelf, and it broke into three easy pieces. We were surprised to find Greek newspaper inside the neck. Did it come all the way from Greece? Don’t know. But [...]