Ari: What was the neighborhood like when you were a kid?
JB: The neighborhood wasn’t that different when I was a kid. Some of the older businesses and restaurants have closed like the Kenwood Deli but we have new ones like The Kenwood. I had friends from school that lived in the neighborhood, and I had friends who lived outside the neighborhood too who would attend afterschool activities. There always felt like there were a lot of kids.
Ari: What did you do before cell phones and internet?
JB: When I was a kid, I had to memorize all my friends phone numbers and schedules so that I could call their house or go to their house to communicate and play with them. I still remember two of my best friend’s home phone numbers by heart.
Ari: Where was your favorite place to ride your bike when you were a kid?
JB: My favorite place to ride my bike in 5th or 6th grade was through the neighborhood to Cedar Trails — I had a friend who lived over there.
Ari: What is your happiest neighborhood memory?
JB: My happiest neighborhood memory was biking to and from Kenwood School when I had reached an age of independence. I was proud I could get myself to school, and I didn’t have to ride the bus anymore.
Ari: Describe your 9-year-old self in 3 words.
JB: Curious, confident and cute.
Ari: When you were nine, what did you want to be when you grew up?
JB: When I grew up, I wanted to be a football player or an FBI agent.
Ari: What is different about growing up today than when you were a kid?
JB: When we were kids we did not have as many options. For example:
- TV you just had to watch whatever was on;
- Movies you had to buy from a store or rent from a video rental store;
- Music had to listen to on the radio or buy tapes and later CDs to listen at home. The Lowry restaurant used to be a record store called Tidal Wave. Another example is that kids can now watch shows and movies in the car — we didn’t have the option to do that, we would just look out the car window and imagine or daydream. Your generation has access to so much more information from internet access, like YouTube. We got majority of our information from books.
Ari: Have you ever dived off the Lake of the Isles bridge into the water to swim?
JB: Skip that question, it is incriminating — I plead the 5th.
Ari: Did you have a favorite teacher at Kenwood Elementary? Why?
JB: My 4th grade teacher Miss Ryan because she was a younger teacher and she apparently lived next to Christian Laettner, who at the time, was a star Timberwolves player. Everyone thought she was cool.
Ari: So, you wanted to be cool too?
Interesting…
Ari: What were some of your hobbies when you were a kid?
JB: Basketball, baseball, soccer and boy scouts.
Ari: What was your favorite dinner when you were a kid?
JB: My favorite dinner when I was a kid was chicken wings from Shorty and Wags with rice.
Ari: What kind of mischievous activities were you known for in your family?
JB: I was notoriously known for hiding TV remotes from others when there was something on TV that I wanted to watch. Then I would forget where I hid it and then people would get upset, they couldn’t find their remote after I left.
Ari: Did you have a favorite book when you were a kid?
JB: I loved the Family Circus comic books by Bil Keane — they were my absolute favorite.
Ari: Best advice your dad ever gave you?
JB: Know thyself, and nothing in excess.
Ari: Repeat that- What do you mean by that?
JB: That is something for you to interpret later.
Ari: What is one thing being a parent has taught you?
JB: Kids are always listening.
Ari: What smells transport you to your childhood?
JB: The smell of fresh cut grass, the smell of the garage and the smell of Sebastian Joe’s remind me of my childhood.
Ari: Tell me about a time when you were a kid and you had to tell a friend no.
JB: Anytime my friends wanted me to come out and play at dinner time or when the streetlights were on. We weren’t allowed to be out once the streetlights came on.
Ari: Did you have a neighborhood secret hideout?
JB: Yes! We had a few secret hideouts we made. The first was in an alleyway behind my house between two large bushes; it was a fort. The second one was at Kenwood Park in the wooded area. Sometimes we would return the following day and there would be adult-sized shirts and empty beer bottles in our fort leftover from someone who stayed there through the night.
Ari: Favorite childhood movie?
JB: Anything staring Steven Segal and anything with Will Smith in it.
Ari: Thank you for your interview.
JB: Thank you for thanking me, it was a pleasure to be here.
