Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Putting the TMI in absentminded

Author: Ellen S______

  • Symphony

    There were four pieces presented at the symphony Friday, and all the composers spoke to the audience, except Beethoven, because he is [SPOILER] dead. I think the two composers both used the word “Motif” and pronounced it closer to “motive” than “moh-teef.” This has shaken me to my core. Have I been saying it incorrectly…

  • Health Summer 2026

    We cut my MS medication in half a few months ago because my immune system was plummeting. It held steady at 0.20 for … what … almost 20 years on the immunosuppressants? And then 0.18, 0.16 … and you can’t have that. So with that medication tweak, the house of cards started slipping and an…

  • Weekly Paint Progress: 3/26/2026

    So this is the previous … This is the progress … And this is the goal. Things got too dark, so I need to take it back to light in spots.

  • Washer Dryer deflection

    Our twenty-year-old washer works fine. Our twenty-year-old dryer works fine. They don’t work perfectly: the washer makes noise and the dryer will not dry if you have a towel in it. Gary has decided we need a new washer and a new dryer. He did the research, analyzed, measured, compared, asked me if I wanted…

  • What qualifies as an argument

    A Vignette. I had a lovely time watching Bugonia with Gary. Afterward, he said: ”Emma Stone lost a lot of weight for that movie.” I said, “Really? She looks the same as always.” ”Oh no. When she went to the award shows people were shocked at how thin she was.” Then, contemptuously, “Can’t you tell?”…

  • Mom’s letters: the summary

    It’s remarkable to me how consumed I have been by Mom’s letters. It’s helped me plot the jumble of my childhood. I know the date Jerry broke his collarbone and made us touch his scalp stitches. (Same day Mom flew me to Saint Louis.) But then why was David in the car with us? (Because…

  • TWIL: Britain celebrated Mother’s Day last week

    Britain’s version of Mother’s Day was on March 15, just a week ago. My British podcasts made reference to the past holiday and I freaked out. I learn this every few years. No matter that it’s been almost 20 years since Mom died, I still panic in March if I think I’ve missed Mother’s Day.…

  • Still chipping away at the diversions

    I’m also still chipping away at the broken links, and I found myself fixing a link on post shown below in some fancy intra-blog link style that you may never see again. No idea how that happened. The post from 2010 is similar to the AFI best movies posts, in which I beat myself up…

  • The state of Gary on this, the day of his birth

    Seventy-two years old, and forty years married. I’ve always thought year four was the worst year of marriage. Is year forty ten times worse? Kinda. Yeah, kinda is. I’ve always known that one of our hurdles is how we deal with illness. He’s a baby, expects to be spoiled; I was raised by stoics, expect…

  • Weekly Paint Progress: 3/19/2026

    So this is where I left off … I liked this one. Looks flat though. Hope I don’t futz it up.