Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Putting the TMI in absentminded

Month: January 2019

  • Gary Cheats

    No, he hasn’t cheated on me. I’m just referring to how he cheats on these games we’ve been playing. Since he bought me a new game for Christmas, and then I found him a game right after Christmas, we’ve been having to modify the “house rules” (“house cheat modes”) for two new games. These games…

  • Volatility

    I distinctly remember the 2008 crash, because it was my first year working at a financial firm. I remember the groan that went up after every closing bell when we – and we were just the support staff – realized how much the market fell. I was particularly excited by the prospect that they would…

  • Value Study

    So here’s the latest on my oil painting glazing project. This is for the still life of the napkin, teacups, and the cranberry glass bowl (it’s on its side leaning against the wall). All I’m doing right now is the value study, in which you paint a black and white version of your painting. I…

  • What Went Wrong With My Last Apple Pie

    Hestia, Greek goddess of the hearth, was chatting with her brother Hades. They could see me baking an apple pie in Missouri from their perch on Mount Olympus. “Jesus, I hate her,” Hestia sighed. “She’s so smug about her apple pie.” “Jesus?” Hades asked, “What does ‘Jesus’ mean?” “I don’t know. It’s some slang humans…

  • Golden Globes

    Outrage It seemed to me that the opening did not go over well. Granted, I had Gary’s commentary undercutting every joke. It seemed as if they made jokes and nobody laughed, then Sandra Oh got serious about diversity and one person guffawed. I watched it again later without Gary and it seemed to go well.…

  • New Game

    For Christmas, Gary and I bought each other board games. The latest edition of Arkham Horror has been out of the box for two days. Here is my review. I spent 90 minutes unpacking it, sorting, shuffling, organizing, learning fifteen different types of cards and boards and tokens, and I swear to you, building a…

  • 13 Days – Not Long Enough

    Usually at the end of thirteen days off, I am ready to return to the office. The last few days I’m just waiting it out, until I “get to” go to work. Boy, not this time. I had such a good time that it was a sad day when I put on the bra and…

  • Deer Season

    About five times this past week I have heard what I thought were fireworks in my neighborhood. “Weird,” I thought, “Maybe people stock up on the Fourth of July so they have something to fire off on every major holiday.” Then, I was about three miles east of my house when I heard either a…

  • Favo(u)rite Theater

    One nice thing about The Favourite is that it is showing at the snooty theater in the snooty shopping mall. Plaza Frontenac is anchored by the Saint Louis Saks Fifth Avenue on one end and the Neiman Marcus in the other, and between them you can find the movie theater. The theater has the resources…

  • Review: The Favourite

    At the end of The Favourite, Friend Anne turned to me and said something like, “A movie about three despicable people, and still at some point we rooted for them all.” And then we sat down outside the theater and did research, because we are nerdy girls and wanted to know immediately how much of…