Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Putting the TMI in absentminded

Month: December 2019

  • The Novel: Chapter 13

    Well … okay, I guess this did advance the plot. Hero Joe is being set up for murder, but he has no weapon, so this chapter gets a gun in his hands. The only thing is, I don’t buy it. The sheriff has the DTs and doesn’t trust himself with his gun, so he gives…

  • First Christmas Propaganda For Children

    I was with friends, and we were talking about Christmas Songs of Our Youth, and I mentioned “the one with Santa running into the Iron Curtain.” No one else remembered it, but I certainly did. I set off to do some research. First, it wasn’t a song, it was a spoken word performance by Red…

  • Weekly Paint Progress: 12/19

    I am cheating on this one. I’ve taken a photo of the still life: … and used Photoshop to slice it up by primary colors to guide what color I glaze, and how much. (Of course, I’m not making the vase on the right that dull color that blends in to the background.) Since I’m…

  • The Return of GlamourSkunk

    Remember GlamourSkunk? She visited the raccoon feeding station last year (when we had the color cameras that routinely died three times a year). Well, perhaps she felt the new stable black and white infrared cameras didn’t do her justice, because we never saw her again after her one visit. Last week she returned. The image…

  • Art Is Open To Interpretation, I Guess

    So, this was the end result of the teacups. It has its flaws, but I still I went ahead and framed it and told Gary we were giving it to his parents. This is how he hung it up over at their house. I’m sure if I had opted for a standard still life, with…

  • The Novel: Chapter 12

    Oh, hallelujah, at long last something happens in Chapter 12. Chapter 1 established that Our Hero Joe is looking to save Aggie Lawless. And now in chapter 12, the two actually have a conversation, and then there’s a riveting bar fight between Joe, Aggie, and the villain Silvertop. On top of all that, at the…

  • Egg Foo Young

    We were ordering Chinese food when Friend 3 said, “I like Egg Foo Young.” “Good God,” I thought, “I love Egg Foo Young. I haven’t had it in twenty years. How is this possible?” For the last twenty years I have gone to Chinese restaurants, scanned every single menu item (except for chop suey and…

  • The Novel: Chapter 11

    This chapter was actually pretty sweet, given it was just about two drunks sitting around drinking and talking about drinking. It really could stand on its own as a short story. I read it, of course, as Jerry’s explanation for why he drank. Fear, it seems, fear that becomes overwhelming when one is sober. (I…

  • Ring Trigger

    Lately I have felt quite put-upon and under-appreciated, and sulky, and pissy. On the pissiest, sulkiest day at work I was in the lunch checkout and the cashier said to a woman in line: “What a pretty ring.” “Thanks,” she said, “I just bought it.” My head snapped up. “Well, now I have to see…

  • Weekly Paint Progress: 12/12

    This week the dog painting went from this: to this: This is the reality, which I have been trying to ignore: I think I undid everything I liked about last week’s version. Still, now there’s a cast shadow behind the dog that I don’t hate. I have to say, I have had enough with sitting…