Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Putting the TMI in absentminded

Month: May 2025

  • Gary, the squirrel, and the bird

    Earlier this week I was plugging away at work and heard Gary bellow, “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?” No one else was in the house, so I assumed something was “wrong” with me, and stomped out to do battle. “What is your problem?” I demanded. “THIS SQUIRREL JUST BIT ONE OF OUR BIRDS!” “No,” I…

  • Bear season begins!

    Hot Bear Summer has begun again, as it always does. 2024’s Bear of the Year arrived in June just 10 miles away, and now this year’s bear is in House Springs, 37 miles away. It did seem like they were getting closer and closer, but I think 37 miles is too far away to try…

  • Hugs

    I’m not a big hugger. I don’t like hugging women; I like hugging men even less. Most people know this. That is to say, most women know this. Just last week, I was solicited for a hug by a very sweet guy friend. I thought about negotiating a side-hug, but he asked so pleasantly I…

  • TWIL: Something dreadful about Britain

    Anglophile? Pet lover? Don’t follow this link to read about the British Pet Massacre.

  • Storm damage

    Yesterday was the first time I remember a tornado hitting St. Louis proper. At last count four people have died. Houses collapsed, cars flipped over. This time the bad weather also hit landmarks in Forest Park. It took out the stage they use for Shakespeare in the Park. A huge tree is blocking the Big…

  • Don’t livestream bad wearher

    So all weather here travels west to east. And say you live west, and a co-worker lives east. Here are some things to keep in mind for future weather events: If you are working at home and the co-worker at the office a few miles to the east, do not bother to advise co-worker that…

  • Weekly Paint Progress: 5/15/2025

    Well, I did like the guidance from the watercolor book mixed with the decisions made switching the medium from watercolor to oil, so I’m going to try another painting from the “How to Watercolor” book. It’s remarkable to me that this painting was done with watercolors. Walter Foster is pretty stingy with the guidance on…

  • More time spent outside the house

    Well, opera season begins in about a week, with Die Fledermaus, the first opera I saw with Mom …. … and I should just leave that sentence right there. It isn’t honest, though. It makes it sound as if Mom and I went swanning to the opera every week, when actually, it’s more accurate to…

  • Teeth

    My teeth have always been dim, but I haven’t especially cared. However, the older you get the dimmer your teeth become, and the thinner your hair gets, and if you didn’t start out blessed in those categories to begin with, well, it can get disheartening. Since I’m already committing appearance fraud with the wigs now,…

  • Relationship

    I was talking to a group of people, and one asked how Gary was feeling. I answered, “This morning he said he felt okay. I told him that was the first positive thing he’d said about his health in a year and a half.” The questioner asked if my intent was to make sure Gary…