b.rox

Dear Persephone, You are four years old today. So: Happy Birthday! But also: Happy Mardi Gras! The last time Mardi Gras fell on the 21st of February was in 1950, which was not only before you were born but well before I was born. These dates will line up again in eleven years, for your [...]

Here I am on my 20th birthday, with my mother and sister. My hair was thicker then. That was 25 years ago today. For as long as I can remember, I’ve contemplated my mortality on an almost daily basis, yet I’ve often behaved as if I think I’m immortal. I’ve frequently envisioned myself as an [...]

Martin Luther King, Jr., was not born on the 17th of January — but I was. MLK was born of the 15th. So was Drew Brees. Unlike Drew and I, the celebration of MLK’s birthday floats around. That’s how you can tell he reached a slightly higher level than most mortals. In fact he’s the [...]

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’s shaping up as something of a tradition in its own right. My birthday has an overt tendency to suck. A quick recap may be in order. 42: “Guess who forgot? That’s right. Xy.” 41: “I’ve got no festivity in my life whatsoever. Xy didn’t even say ‘Happy Birthday’ this morning, and she has report [...]

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 [...]

Holy frijoles, my dad is 75 years old today. What kind of gift could I possibly give the man who gave me half his genes? It will come as no surprise that I decided to make him a mix. This is a bunch of music that was either recorded in 1934, composed or published in [...]

Parties are strange affairs. People gathering together for no other purpose than to celebrate life and enjoy each other’s company. What an ephemeral proposition! And also how wonderful. It’s almost enough to make one suspect that gross material possessions are not the most important things in life. Hmm. We had a great party here yesterday. [...]

Xy’s 40th birthday present finally arrived.

Forty tracks to rock her fortieth birthday (which is today): (Starts off mellow and ramps up. Contains plenty of my favorite songs by Xy’s favorite bands, and cover versions of her favorite songs, as well as a few topical selections. And buried deep in there is a bit of standup by Patton Oswalt that is [...]

Today’s my mom’s 70th birthday. I usually call her on the telephone but I can’t because right now she’s in Cambodia, part of a short-term mission team with the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. I’m somewhat envious, but hopeful that when I’m 70 I will have the means and health to visit faraway places. Many [...]

I wanted to record my thoughts on being 40 years of age, but I frittered away the year. Now I’ve only got a few hours left. There’s not much to say, except that physically I feel pretty much the same as I did at 30. The long slow inevitable decline may have already begun, but [...]

Today is Xy’s birthday. She wanted a Kurt Cobain lunch box (I am not making this up) so I went to FunRock’N on Magazine where said item had been spotted. After a comedy of errors (including being turned away from the store in error) I ascertained that they did not have the lunch box anymore. [...]

A friend of mine celebrated her first birthday today. (Yes, I’m also friends with her mother, but after watching the girl bury her face in cake I feel a special bond.) What was really amazing to me was how many people showed up for the event with kids the same age in tow. There must [...]

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 [...]

The neighbors across the street had a birthday party for their three-year old daughter yesterday. It brought a touch of color and festivity to our neighborhood which remains about 75% uninhabited. We gave the little girl a fiver. Later in the day they sent over some plates full of good home-cooked food: pork chops, jambalaya, [...]

Today (Thursday) is Paul Gailiunas’s birthday. Even though he’s far from New Orleans he is not far from our thoughts. Some friends will be gathering at the Mother-in-Law Lounge tonight to visit and put together a package to send to Paul. Come by at 7 p.m. if you’d like to join us. PS: I was [...]

Like it or not — and I don’t like it, not one bit — I seem to have become some kind of spokesperson on the subject of violent crime. I didn’t ask for this, I don’t relish it, and I’m not prepared for it. Indeed the very prospect makes my stomach churn. Violent crime is [...]

On this day in 1967, Evelyn Nesbit died. Also, I was born.

Today is not only the four month anniversary of Katrina’s landfall. More importantly, it is Xy’s birthday. We celebrated by dining at La Crépe Nanou. Our friend David took us out there about a year ago, and Xy promptly designated it as her favorite restaurant, mainly for their namesake dessert. We had a good meal, [...]