b.rox

The Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) guarantees we can take twelve weeks off from work to have a baby or care for a sick relative, and that our job will still be there when we come back. It does not, of course, guarantee pay during such a leave. That’s a benefit, and different employers [...]

I overheard Xy talking on the phone, commiserating with a co-worker about a frustrating staff meeting:
I felt like giving birth right there and telling her, “Eat my placenta, bitch!”
Ah, the joys of being a public school teacher.

I cajoled Xy into attending our local meeting of the School Facilities Master Plan for Orleans Parish on Tuesday night.
It reminded me of the infamous “Summer of Planning.” Specifically it reminded me of the America Speaks sessions which I never attended (having already been burned out by the Lambert process) but which I read about [...]

Here’s another brain teaser: If I’d left for work ten minutes later this morning, I would have arrived ten minutes earlier. How can this be?

Last night Xy and I took one of her students out to dinner at Venezia’s. We had pasta and pizza and then got desert at Angelo Brocato’s. After that we went to see The Golden Compass at the Prytania.
Caitlyn is very quiet and serious, one of Xy’s smartest students. In fact, Xy’s says Caitlyn is [...]

We’re having a holiday open house at the office today, and we all brought cookies and other sweets. I thought it would be fun and unique to bring brandy balls. So I made them last night and brought them in this morning, and placed them on the table with a sign.

But Boss Lady’s husband (Elliott, [...]

I found a tiny gecko today on the fifth floor near the freight elevator. At least I think it’s a gecko. I almost stepped on him. Bending down I discovered he was incredibly cute, so I scooped him up in my empty coffee mug and took him back to my office.

I thought he would become [...]

Before the panel, Chris and Sandy and Alan and Ted and I were sitting together, having breakfast and chatting.
Chris asked each of us for a tidbit of personal info he could use in the introductions. I told him I put the first TV series on the internet. Alan considered for a moment and finally said, [...]

Last week I moderated a blogger panel. I was disappointed with the low attendance, but at certain times of the semester it’s hard to get faculty to turn out. However, I was very pleased with the actual content — the bloggers were articulate and thoughtful and passionate. It was a great discussion. A big thank [...]

It’s been a couple weeks since I participated in a panel sponsored by Xavier University’s Communications Department. It was titled “Media, Communication and Community: Private and Public Interests in Rebuilding New Orleans.” On the panel with me was Sakura Kone of Common Ground; Jarvis DeBerry of the Times Picayune; Rebecca Snedeker, the filmmaker who made [...]

Olivia brought this thing into the office last week. Press the button and it comes to life and recites a variety of different spooky-humorous messages.
Update: I assumed this item would be put in storage once Hallowe’en had passed. But Olivia tells me that “since our boss is a psychologist” she plans to leave it in [...]

We’ve just had E.M.A.N.S. boxes installed all across the campus, including here in our office. The acronym stands for “Emergency Mass Alert Notification System,” and it’s designed to let people note about emergency situations, like if there was madman roaming around with a gun. It’s a fairly discrete system, designed to avoid mass panics. It’s [...]

I participated today in a panel discussion at Loyola, sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists. Kind of funny, given that I am not a professional journalist. The topic: “Online User Comments and its impact on news coverage, news Web sites and freedom of speech.” My fellow participants were all involved in one way or [...]

Today is DJ’s birthday.

But today is also the first day of school for most of the Recovery School District. And DJ is a teacher in one of those schools. So, as you can imagine, he’s not partying today. He’s working hard for little pay and little respect, doing a job that everyone agrees is incredibly [...]

MaPó called me Saturday afternoon to tell me John Scott had passed on. I never met the great sculptor, despite his close association with the University’s art department, and now I never will.
His works live on, though: down by the river, over on St. Bernard Avenue and right in the middle of the University’s main [...]

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.
The last [...]

If you’ve got the skillz, the University is hiring a web developer. I will offer friendly harassment to anyone who takes this job.

The Office of Technology Administration at Xavier University of Louisiana is seeking a Web Developer who will be responsible for implementing and maintaining Web and Internet/Intranet applications for the University. The web developer’s [...]

I was not very enthused about presenting at the MERLOT International Conference. I submitted a proposal out of a vague sense of duty, of professional obligation. I put off preparing until the last possible moment. Then I found a slide show I’d assembled for ED-MEDIA 2003, on the exact same topic. I threw in a [...]

I’m attending the 2007 MERLOT International Conference, right here in New Orleans.

Hard to believe, but today is the first day of school for the Algiers Charters.

I always feel a great deal of pride when I see Xy off on the first day of school.