b.rox

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 it [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

It’s not quite official. Xy made the first cut and has been going to practice sessions. The rules are strict and harsh — you have to pass through many circles of hell before you can be considered a Big Easy Roller Girl. And it will be even longer before she sees any action in a [...]

Here I am just hanging out with my favorite college president, Dr. Norman Francis.
Actually this photo was taken by Irving Johnson at a banquet where I was recognized for ten years of service here at the University.
I first realized Dr. Francis would be an inspirational figure to work for back in 1999, when I tuned [...]

Our first plan was to reprise last year’s costumes which we didn’t really get to employ last year. But then it became clear that this Mardi Gras would be unseasonably cool, and perhaps downright cold. Costuming as Olympian deities seemed like it would be uncomfortable, and so I scrambled at the last possible minute to [...]

One last thing…

Greenwood, circa 1983: After I moved downstairs into what was previously my father’s study, I set up this bulletin board over my bed.

A content analysis will reveal something of my interests as a high school student: Tolkien, D&D, science, religion, theater.
And here’s the same bulletin board with another couple years’ accretions. Increased emphasis on music [...]

Just when I thought the whole sequence of events couldn’t get any stranger, in the midst of unpacking I was summoned via text message to Ashley’s grave where I partook in a bizarre quasi-religious sports ritual.

It was funny but also deadly serious. And it struck me:
It’s not just a game.
Meanwhile, up north, Aunt Karen [...]

The fumigation we’d originally planned for early December has finally been accomplished, and I must say despite the hassle that it’s better to complete than to abort.
All living things have to be removed from the house prior to fumigation, and relocated elsewhere for approximately 48 hours. (Actually that’s not true; indeed, the whole point of [...]

Yesterday afternoon I stopped by the playground on the Jeff Davis neutral ground with my daughter. We approached Serpent Mound at the same time as a trio of kids in elementary school uniforms.
I noticed the youngest child, a girl with a withered arm, was crying. I asked if she was OK. One of the other [...]

Dear Persephone,
You are twenty-three months old today.
Recently your have begun formulating simple sentences, and in the last month I’ve noticed you have begun to issue commands. When you’re seated at the breakfast table, waiting for me to join you, you’ll point to my seat and say “Sit, Dada!” You’ll hand me a book and say [...]

There was a little frost outside this morning, but our cold snap seems to be coming to an end. The morning bike ride was chilly but not bone-chilling. It looks as though we won’t see freezing temperatures for the rest of the week. Hopefully the rest of the season! Personally I’d be happy if I [...]

Thanks to my old school chum Aaron V. for sending me this scan. He retrieved this flyer near Ballantine Hall on Sept. 28, 1989.

Keep Our Campus Beautiful — Keep Bart Clothed
I don’t actually recall ever seeing this flyer before. It’s hilarious.
PS: If you wanna understand the context for this flyer, please read the full story.

By strange coincidence, I found myself watching The Big Chill Friday night. It’s one of those super-famous movies that I’ve just somehow never seen.
Alas, when the flick was over and I turned in for the evening, I neglected to leave a trickle of water running, as I’d done Thursday night. This, despite the fact I [...]

I’m still trying to catch up to the present.
We celebrated Xy’s birthday last Tuesday. Since she was feeling sick and I was run ragged it was a pretty lame birthday, but of course she’s used to such disappointments, as are all children of late December. I tried to recontextualize the Escape as Xy’s birthday present, [...]

It has just been brought to my attention that Ulysses Press has canceled publication of LOLcats: Teh Most Funyest, Cutest Internet Kittehs.
That’s a shame because they were going to use my photo of Milo (may he rest in peace) in the book.

The worst part is now I’ll never know what clever caption they had [...]

I wasn’t feeling quite right. When Xy offered to take our daughter with her on a shopping expedition I assented. It was just starting to rain so I urged her to drive carefully. Off she went.
We’d heard the weather reports the night before talking about a possibly severe “rain event” but I thought that was [...]

Imagine my surprise when I discovered my nursery school photo is being used by Cory Frickin’ Doctorow for an article on Boing Boing.

The subject? Counter-terrorism, natch.

England’s West Midlands counter-terrorism unit is putting nursery schools on notice to check out their four-year-olds to make sure that they’re not being “brainwashed” into “Islamic extremism.”

It should be noted [...]

A photo I took in 2005 was recently used to spur a collaborative writing assignment.

I have no idea where the class was even located. I only found this through Flickr’s referrer logs. The students used EtherPad to collaborate, allowing me to see the final product.
Here are their instructions.

As a group pick one image from [...]