b.rox

Mike came by yesterday and did some electrical work on our house. We’ve been waiting for so long I’ve lost track. He finally hooked up the whole house fan that Mark installed in Mid-July. Unfortunately it’s blowing the wrong way. Mike was supposed to return with a crew today to address the 101 small tasks [...]

While our public officials were ringing bells and laying wreaths yesterday, hundreds of people were marching in San Jose. They were commemorating Katrina just like we were doing here, but they were also calling for a Gulf Coast Civic Works Project. They want something like the WPA, putting Gulf Coast residents to work rebuilding the [...]

So where are we in the recovery of New Orleans, two years after the great disaster? It’s been slow going, that’s for sure. I expected that. It’s killing people in less fortunate circumstances, but personally I can survive the slow pace of recovery — as long as I can see some progress being made. But [...]

Just scouring back through old files, I found this e-mail sent from a friend in Florida on the Saturday evening before Katrina. To read it now sends a chill down my spine, and takes me back to that night two years ago. From: leviolberton Subject: Yo Hurricane Host Date: August 27, 2005 10:21:01 PM CDT [...]

School started last week, and the campus is once again swarming with students. I’m always glad to see them, but now more than ever. The re-opening of the universities in January of 2006 was the single most positive moment in the recovery of New Orleans. Unfortunately we haven’t had many other moments like that since. [...]

My picture of Folds was lolcatted by someone I don’t even know. Originally uploaded by blackheartedwolf2000. The internet is a funny place. Update: As of February, 2012, the lolcat photo seems to have disappeared from the internet. I guess I should have saved a copy. I can’t even remember the allegedly humorous caption. Oh well.

Rising Tide 2 was a rousing success. I was invigorated and inspired. As Dangerblond says: It got a little bit bigger and, according to the attendees, better this year, but the conference retained the feeling of a conversation among intelligent friends. …and I wholeheartedly agree. There was a party Friday night at Buffa’s, where videos [...]

I noticed this sign on a house around the corner. “For rent — Section 8/FEMA only.” That seems discriminatory. Is this legal?

Fiore skewers Nagin.

Yesterday morning, between the hours of 9:00 AM and noon, someone came into our backyard and took a crap. Yup. The mysterious intruder moved a plank of wood and a cat dish into strategic position and took a big old dump. Then, apparently, he or she wiped his or her ass with some torn up [...]

I got news yesterday that Jeff Hamlin has passed on. Jeff was not too much older than me. He was an entrepreneur who helped start Pizza Express in Bloomington, Indiana. Throughout the calendar year of 1996 he helped us try to figure out a business plan for ROX. We did not succeed, but it sure [...]

Thanks to the City Council’s amendment last week, the City of New Orleans’ list of “Imminent Health Threat Demolition Properties” has been posted online. Neighborhood groups should look at this closely — it appears to be slightly out of date, with some removed houses still on the list. Some mistakes are also still on the [...]

Francis Pop’s third birthday is approaching. My friend Andrea Christie is putting together a special gift called the Francis Pop Story Box. So, if you have any special memories of Helen Hill you’d like to share with her son, please check it out.

Somehow when I wasn’t looking, this blog made it to the rank of Crawly Amphibian in TTLB Ecosystem. Thanks for all the links, folks. I’m sure I got a (totally unexpected) boost from being listed amongst the 2K Bloggers. However, I note I’m still far behind Library Chronicles. Is there no justice?

Never thought I’d see the day where I’m paying $15/month for recycling service. But the folks at Phoenix Recycling say that if more people sign up they’ll lower the price. Today was our first day with the service, and they performed as advertised. Don’t forget you get a $1 discount if you’re a member of [...]

I will be speaking at Rising Tide II conference this Saturday. I’m on a panel called “Making Civic Sexy,” which is a great title I wish I’d come up with myself. I’ve suggested that the panelists wear lingerie, but I don’t think that’s actually going to happen. Of course there will be a cluster of [...]

We saw the final showing of The Lieutenant of Inishmore at Southern Rep. It was a strange play: very funny and very violent. Some people actually walked out during the penultimate scene, which was bloody enough in its own right. The final scene was completely over-the-top. Still I’d recommend it to anyone who isn’t too [...]

The 23rd story about out renovation appears in today’s Times-Picayune.

I didn’t know Nia Robertson. And now I never will. Nia was killed at Pal’s Lounge Wednesday night. I first heard about it through Think New Orleans and Metroblogging. Then the story was on the front page of today’s paper. It’s a sad fact that violent crimes and murders happen on an almost daily basis [...]

I wasn’t going to make any mention of Hurricane Dean until such a time as New Orleans is in the National Hurricane Center’s five-day forecast cone — which I hope won’t happen. But now Dean is bearing down on the Lesser Antilles, and is already affecting the lives of some people I’ve come to know [...]