Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Putting the TMI in absentminded

Month: January 2020

  • You

    I’ve been binge-watching the TV series You. It has a nice gimmick: the lead’s breathless inner monologue. More specifically, hours of the lead actor narrating and gushing about his love interest. “I am begging you to to love me, love me, because you are the ideal of all women, I can’t survive without you” and…

  • Weekly Paint Progress 1/30

    On to the dual projects. I’m starting with the easy one: and – not counting tracing – after 90 minutes I’m this far: Here’s the tricky one: … and that is a nightmare. It’s much larger, so tracing was not an option. I tried to do a value study and eventually wiped most of down…

  • Getting In Between

    Dave’s been in two hospitals in Albuquerque for his bile duct problem: the first was Presbyterian (where they tried unsuccessfully to place a stent) and the second was the University of New Mexico hospital, which is evidently the best place to be for bile duct problems. In the first hospital, his doctor came in the…

  • Hand

    Yesterday we went to the moves and saw The Turning. (Ah, yesterday, when I didn’t know how completely they could destroy Henry James.) During the opening credits Gary snuggled a little closer to me. I felt something touch my shoulder, and I glanced over, and saw this: He had smuggled our fake dead hand into…

  • Touchy Subjects

    My brother is very sick. I’ve been cautious discussing it, because my brother is … problematic, and my family is: very frank very dark very pro-hospice … and when we use terms like “circling the drain” and “visiting the ice floe” it sounds harsh. Even though it helps us with the hard conversations, it sounds…

  • Head Shape

    My brother sent me a photo a few days ago, and I noticed that the shape of his head is unusual. It’s like Spongebob wearing a yarmulke. I immediately felt my head and realized I have the same shape. So, there go any plans to shave my head and go about like Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna…

  • How I Sound

    I dearly wish I could speak the way I write. Were you to have a conversation with me you’d be taken aback by how I sound. This struck me today when, in conversation, I said: “Sgunna beyah bad winner.” As I walked away I beat my self up about these specific phrases, in order. “Gunna?…

  • Academy Awards Rundown

    For the first time ever I have seen all the Best Picture nominees before the Academy Awards. (Turns out you can see a lot of first-run movies if you don’t spend money on vacation. (I just worked it out: a couple could see two full-price movies a week.)) Here’s my nominee list sorted from best…

  • Weekly Paint Progress: 1/23

    This week the vases finished up, going from this: to this: from originally this: I am just stopping on this misguided mess, for a few months at least – if not forever. I swear next week I’m starting on dual projects (I know, I’ve said that before), plus one of them will be large.

  • Review: Joker

    Gary loved this movie. I acknowledge it was much better than I anticipated. I might have enjoyed it as much as Gary did if I did not have: Mental illness in my family, and One of the “certain neurological conditions” mentioned as an explanation for Joker’s laugh. Still, even though the film hit too close…