b.rox

I don’t seem to have been writing much here lately, and I’m not sure why. It could be that mentally I’m on spring break, and so I have prepared this mix for your enjoyment. The University is actually on spring break this week, but poor slobs like me are working anyway. As one (faculty) friend [...]

Abstract abstract of an abstract by Kevin Dooley A dream I had over the weekend: It was back a couple years ago when we were in the process of hiring my boss. She’d just been offered the job here. In fact I think she’d accepted it, but hadn’t actually started yet. Then she got an [...]

Get ready for Easter with this special message about the true meaning of the holiday. Kinder des Osterhase by Editor B

Since I don’t seem to have anything interesting to say, I thought I’d just link to Oyster’s brilliant short essay on why we need to repeal that unfortunate recent legislation we’ve all heard so much about. I considered myself vaguely in favor of the new rules until I read this. Give it a look, it [...]

My old friend Erik B. wrote this fabulous sonnet about ROX and stuff. In Blooming Town a young man cast his fate A TV show he’d wring from force of will For lighting rigs and soundboards he’d not wait His friends and he demanded not a frill The substance of the thing, aye there’s the [...]

Dear Persephone, I’ve set it in my mind that I’d write you a letter every month for the first hundred months of your life. It amazes me to realize we’re a quarter of the way there already. You are now more or less capable of carrying on a conversation. This was brought home to me [...]

We decided to celebrate the vernal equinox by planting a tree. We just so happened to have a pomegranate tree which was a gift from M. Homan and family for Persephone’s second birthday. Of course, the vernal equinox is traditionally regarded as the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere. It’s a time of year [...]

Today I moderated a panel discussion titled “Web Logs and Scholarship.” I recorded the audio live, so here’s a slidecast of the entire thing.

My friend Brad W. once made an offhand remark in an online discussion that has been preying on me for years now. We were discussing early heavy metal, in particular Black Sabbath and Blue Öyster Cult, in particular a certain riff that shows up on both bands’ debut albums. Who was copying who, I wondered? [...]

Today’s the birthday of a very special woman in my life. I call her Mom. Over the years I’ve come to realize that I owe Mom for whatever sense I may have for the importance of ethics, morality and social justice. I don’t know if it was learned or simply inherited, but I’m pretty sure [...]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mythoto/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 As previously noted: I sprained my ankle a couple years ago. In December I broke a toe. Also, something seems to be wrong with my heel. This is all on the same foot, the left one. On Mardi Gras, a pit bull sunk his teeth into my calf. I can [...]

Folds seemed to be doing better immediately after her surgery. But a week or so later she took a turn for the worse. She was lethargic. Then she got more lethargic. She couldn’t make it to the litter box. She didn’t have the strength to eat. She could barely take a drink of water. She [...]

Next to Nothingness by Diane Yuri/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 It seems in our culture we are afraid of silence and emptiness. We fill our days with activities and rush about and chatter a lot, but underneath this superficial noise many of us feel somewhat hollow. If we pause we may get a glimpse of [...]

Audio slideshow from Urban Pathways to Livable Communities conference in New Orleans, February 25-26, 2010. A walk of the Lafitte Corridor hosted by Bart Everson of Friends of Lafitte Corridor and Daniel Samuels of the Lafitte Greenway Steering Advisory Committee.

Yesterday’s front page story really captured our attention. All credit to reporter Sarah Carr. I’d never heard of the school she focused on, but the parallels to Xy’s experience are striking. I’ve quoted the story at length below, interspersing some of my own thoughts where relevant. Early every morning, Akili Academy’s teachers gather for a [...]

I just wanted to take a quick minute to salute my parents. They just finished another week of volunteer work, helping to rebuild New Orleans. As per usual they stayed at Camp Restore and kept busy, but I did manage to visit with them a couple times. This time they brought some friends with them [...]

Who Dat ABC by Editor B

Our cat Folds is going under the knife today. I feel ambivalent about this. The idea of cat surgery seems sort of ridiculous to me. How did we get to this point? Folds was living in the shed behind our previous house when we purchased it in 2002. She moved into our house in 2003. [...]

An Experiment by Mohamed Musthafa / CC BY-ND 2.0 If there is, as you believe, a benevolent Creator who is all-knowing and all-powerful, then surely He wants me to be the best person I can be. Surely he wants me to be true to my heart and my reason. After all, if He exists, then [...]

This sculpture mysteriously appeared on the Lafitte Corridor last week, just in time for the Urban Pathways conference tour. I was surprised and touched. It’s worth nothing that Friends of Lafitte Corridor did not solicit or commission this sculpture, though in retrospect I’m pretty sure I know who made it. It is, quite simply, yet [...]