Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Putting the TMI in absentminded

Month: February 2018

  • Big Vacation: The Takeaway

    For both of us, the big Rock Boat/New Orleans vacation awakened the part of our brain that says, “I could do that at home.” For example, Gary ate some cruise ship Indian food that wasn’t unpleasantly spicy. He thought he might try his hand at making Indian food at home. We bought the spices and…

  • Big Vacation: Mardi Gras Really Gets Going

    After the clerk remarked on how it might “start to get a little crazy this afternoon,” we decided to make a special visit to Bourbon proper. One corner of Bourbon was under our balcony and it hadn’t been busy at all. Yes. Things had picked up one block away. I had expected to see girls…

  • Big Vacation: The Parades in NOLA

    I didn’t know about Mardi Gras parades before we went to Mardi Gras. For example, I didn’t know they have parades two weeks before Fat Tuesday. Here are some other things I didn’t know: 1) A Mardi Gras parade is sponsored by a social club called a Krewe. We don’t have Krewes in St. Louis,…

  • Big Vacation: Music on the Boat

    One appeal of the Rock Boat is the intimacy you feel with the artists. I had many chances to be a giggling fan-girl to the musicians, but at least once I chose to be a gracious fan-lady instead. One evening I’d been watching a Cowboy Mouth concert on the pool deck, but Gary wanted to…

  • Big Vacation: The Food Part 2: Food in NOLA

    Everything we ate in New Orleans was the best, each in its own way. (And was appropriately … mobile, in case you were wondering.) The Most Color Coordinated: When we ate at the hotel buffet, I noticed my root vegetables were Yukon Gold potatoes, trendy purple potatoes, and green peppers – or purple, green and…

  • Big Vacation: The Food Part 1: Food on the Boat

    Boats are interesting, with the constant motion of the ocean. In my body the motion of the ocean is countered by the stillness … of … well, of the lower intestinal tract. I am usually quite comfortable when things shut down in Bowelville, even if it’s a week. But usually when nothing is moving down…

  • Big Vacation

    Ten years at TeddyJ has earned me four weeks of vacation, starting in January. I didn’t even wait a full month before I embarked on a two-week visit: one week on the Rock Boat and the next in New Orleans for the start of the Mardi Gras. (Sorry to disappoint, but I didn’t visit Antarctica,…