b.rox

Xy doesn’t always get into holiday traditions, so I was surprised when she brought home four pumpkins last week. She attached notes to three of them saying they were from “the Great Pumpkin” and had me deliver them to three young neighbor kids. Those pumpkins have since been successfully carved into jack-o’-lanterns.
Last night I [...]

Have I mentioned Lamar? He’s Justin’s younger brother. He’s about 13 but you might guess he’s ten. A sweet kid, but I worry about him.
He reminds me of myself at his age, kind of quiet and a little bit shy. I was very quiet and painfully shy.
I found refuge in books, and I’ve tried to [...]

I guess today’s a good day to make the official announcement.
Xy’s pregnant. She’s almost into the second trimester.
Word sure has gotten around since I made the unofficial non-announcement. People are constantly asking me, “How’s Xy?”
So I will attempt to answer.
Xy’s doing fine. The intense nausea of the first few weeks was pretty bad. It seems [...]

I remember when I was a child I loved fireworks. This seems to be a universal trait among children. But as an adult I’ve come to realize I just don’t give a damn about fireworks. Pretty colors, boom boom, yawn. I wonder why kids like fireworks so much, and why I feel so disconnected from [...]

Today is the longest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere. It’s also the shortest day on the other side of the equator. For this reason some people favor calling it the Northern Solstice or the June Solstice. After all, it’s not summer in the southern half of the world.
Every year I learn a [...]

Is it possible for one day of festivity to change everything?
I woke up Mardi Gras morning wondering if I had a friend left in the world.
Turns out I’ve got hundreds.

If not thousands.

We saw many old friends. We met many new friends. Some were almost a little too friendly, like the guy who grabbed [...]

For the last 364 days, life here may have sucked for most of us, but on this one day (at least) there’s no place I’d rather be than New Orleans. We got up early, we had a good breakfast, we’re rocking out, we’re getting into costume, we’re hitting the streets. Happy Mardi Gras.

Just a few days before my father’s operation, two of my closest friends received news that their own fathers were coming, abruptly, to the end of life. Michael went to Nebraska to be with his father. He passed away yesterday. My other friend’s father has stomach cancer and I gather the prognosis is not good. [...]

Xy and I went to see the Knights of Chaos last night. Schroeder’s posted a couple of pictures. It was a good satirical parade that made fun of all our so-called leaders.
Last year, I wasn’t really feeling the Carnival spirit until I saw Chaos and Muses.
This year, not so much.
For one thing, it was really [...]

My dad recently discovered he had prostate cancer. It was “low grade” and slow-growing. More men die with this sort of thing than of it. Among his choices: watch and wait, or get radiation treatment, or just cut the whole thing out. He chose the latter, and on Monday afternoon, he had his prostate removed. [...]

If I’d tried to post yesterday, It would have looked something like this:
Worst. Hangover. Ever. Can’t. Barely. Type.
This one took me by surprise. I correlate hangovers with drinking too much, plain and simple. But this time around, I wasn’t really that drunk. Not so’s anyone would notice. I might have expected a mild headache, but [...]

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 Coquille [...]

Xy flew up to Indiana to visit her family. I stayed here in New Orleans because, frankly, I had enough of Indiana during my evacuation to last me a while. I think this is the first Thanksgiving Xy and I haven’t spent together in thirteen years or so. Nevertheless it was a festive holiday. I [...]

Now more than ever, it’s time to remember that the Fourth of July is International Flag-Burning Day. To celebrate, I’m posting this fantastic anthem (mp3) by New Orleans’ own Troublemakers. It is truly one of my favorite songs ever.
A lot of Americans get whipped up about the notion of anyone “desecrating” the American flag. [...]

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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 [...]

Today is National Dam Safety Awareness Day.
Sadly, there is no National Levee Safety Awareness Day.
Dammit.

When you’re in a big robe, it’s much easier to pee if you’re not wearing underwear.

Unfortunately I was wearing underwear, and yes, I kept ‘em on all day. Must be my Midwestern Lutheran upbringing.
The major parades? Zulu? Rex? Missed ‘em entirely. We started in the Bywater eaaarly in the morning, made our way up through [...]

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 [...]