Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Putting the TMI in absentminded

Month: January 2024

  • TWIL: Blond/e

    Thanks to the New York Times Spelling Bee game, this week I learned men are blond and women are blonde. On further research, your male friend is your confidant and your female friend is your confidante. I don’t count fiancé (masculine) and fiancée (feminine) because frankly you are just appropriating a French word and a…

  • Wedding Ring

    I took off my wedding ring at the beginning of the lockdown, because I had enough to worry about without the subliminal worry I would lose my ring. Now I find that I am called in to work, or need to visit the Department of Motor Vehicles, and I neglect to hunt down my ring…

  • Saint Louis Furniture

    Most people who grew up in Saint Louis know of Carol House Furniture. I know I bought my first couch there in the 1980s. And why did I choose that store? Because I had no GPS and no internet. I picked that store because I knew where it was (perched at the intersection of two…

  • Weekly Paint Progress: 1/18/2024

    This week the mandolin went from this: … to this. The representational part is almost done, just need the strings on the mandolin. The draped part needs to be looser and blurrier. The vase is still a little off. Overall I’m pleased so far.

  • Russian 2024

    It’s amazing how few words I remember of my Pandemic Russian. Nyet, of course, and the words for “excuse me” and “thanks” and “hello”. But the word I remember best is pronounced chelovek (человек), or “person”. I find that when I hear Russian on the television (most recently, Tetris and For All Mankind) I always…

  • Walnuts (Shakes fist in air)

    Gary has been eating this non-stop since last fall. He snacks on this all day. Except for the sunflower seeds. He stands against the sunflower seeds. He leaves those in the bag for me. And I did not avoid them, because I like sunflower seeds. And then he stood against the almonds, and I said…

  • Thespians

    I don’t remember my induction into my high school Thespian Society as much as my initiation. All the potential members were required to go to the local mall and proclaim the first half of the Thespian motto: “Act well thy part” to strangers. If one of them replied with the second half: “There all the…

  • TWIL: Hot Flashes

    Recently I read some speculation that climate change would also change human bodies in the long run. It made me realize how my attitude toward heat has changed now that I have been through menopause. I don’t complain about the local heat now that I’ve experienced hot flashes and have thus felt a heat that…

  • It’s Official (and concerning)

    Well, I am officially headed to the WashU loading docks in the event of my death. I didn’t have to do anything but fill out a form with two witnesses and now I have this snazzy laminated card. The front is legit. The back fills me with dread. See it? SEE IT? What do I…

  • For All M*A*S*Hkind

    The Apple TV series For All Mankind makes an excellent callback to 1970s M*A*S*H. Younger folks might be asking “Who is Tuttle,” yet my demographic knows. Excellent easter egg.