Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Putting the TMI in absentminded

Author: Ellen S______

  • This is where a review of Choir!Choir!Choir! should be

    But it is not. I just couldn’t do it. I love the group, I’m sure all the people who were there loved it, but the venue was just too sketchy. I was wavering until we were headed home from the opera and took a back road into a very sketchy area and come to find…

  • Weekly Paint Progress: 2/26/2026

    So this is the previous… This is the progress … And this is the goal. I’m glad I noticed it needed a yellow glaze. I still need the petals in the bottom left, some details on the birds, and maybe a petal here or there and It’s actually done.

  • Floater

    It’s been a month since this dust bunny cobweb floater showed up in my right eye. After my first visit to the ophthalmologist (a month ago) I was told to take it easy (for a month) and come back (in a month). In four days the flashing was gone, so I thought in another week…

  • Rewriting the Novel: Self-sabotage

    I have not touched the novel since November 2024. If you had asked me in the past few months why I wasn’t working on it I would have said that there was an entire chapter that was only five words long and I didn’t have the heart to gin up an entire chapter. Spoiler: If…

  • Review: Taskmaster

    Friend Anne recommended a British show: Taskmaster. Anne is my symphony and opera-going friend, so I was surprised when the first episode involved vomiting. I was not interested after that point. The premise is that a very tall snarky man invents tasks that the season’s panel of comedians must perform. Afterward they are judged, often…

  • TWIL: Sitophobia

    It sounds like the fear of sitting, doesn’t it? But no, sitophobia or cibophobia is the fear of the pains that eating might cause. Pains like nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and one might imagine, fear of an oozing red rash. I don’t know if Gary has sitophobia. He discovered the term when he found himself…

  • Opera at the symphony: The Magic Flute

    Magic Flute at the symphony was delightful. First, I wasn’t expecting the conductor to have a role. Just so surprising to have him peek over his shoulder, then turn around and address the audience about the nonsense happening on stage. Second, the Queen of the Night aria was remarkable (which it is meant to be,…

  • Are work phones still a thing?

    The boss asked what I thought was an odd question: “How do I contact someone when all I know is their telephone extension?” I answered that she should dial 1, area code, first three digits of the main number, followed by the extension. ”No,“ a co-worker said, “That won’t work.” This co-worker is my age.…

  • Weekly Paint Progress: 2/19/2026

    So this is the previous… This is the progress … And this is the goal. Well, the white blotch on the front center looks more and more like bird poop. Also I might have to just go to square one on the bottom left corner.

  • Mom Revelations: Teeth

    Mom and I both were cursed with pointy protruding canines. Mom chose to have hers pulled and capped. When she aged, and her teeth dimmed, the caps did not, which was a little unfortunate but not a big deal. I always, always assumed she changed her teeth after the divorce to improve her appearance, in…