TheQueen's Profile

Rewriting the Novel: Complicated Plots

I like a good twisty well-woven plot. I recently watched a film noir movie, The Crooked Web, which was all plot, with all the twists I could ask for. And it was awful. [SPOILERS] There’s a Restaurant Guy, a Plucky... Continue reading

Posted 7 hours ago at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

1

Room Temp Meds

When I started the Mayzent a year ago, I remember I was instructed to refrigerate it until I opened it, which seemed odd, given those instructions are the opposite of every other thing you put in your refrigerator. We don’t... Continue reading

Posted yesterday at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

1

Not the Point

I have posted often about how impressed I am with hotels that take the end of the toilet paper and fold it into a point. I recently became aware that there is a toilet paper with wavy perforations: It would... Continue reading

Posted 2 days ago at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

0

Spatchcocked Chicken

I have a copy of Salt Fat Acid Heat, and all I have ever made from it is the Spatchcocked Chicken. So, foodie friends, when you spatchcock a chicken, does your spouse or partner do an impression of a spatchcocked... Continue reading

Posted 3 days ago at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

0

Review: The Little Foxes

Two things struck me about the Bette Davis classic The Little Foxes. There were no foxes. I knew I had watched the movie a long time ago, and I especially remembered the staircase scene. But I was confused seeing it... Continue reading

Posted 4 days ago at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

0

Rewriting the Novel: Weirdness

When I was painting the birdbath I kept thinking, “These are the craziest colors. I am so far afield. These colors are way too bright, too exaggerated.” And then come to find out, they weren’t too strange. That’s how I... Continue reading

Posted 5 days ago at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

2

Weekly Paint Progress: 7/29

Done with the bird baths. This was last week: Here is this week: This is the original: I finally like it. The slant of the light in the morning is all off, and I never felt like I was getting... Continue reading

Posted 6 days ago at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

0

Who Am I to Criticize

I recently watched the Covid news, and of course, condemned the legions of unmasked virus-deniers who live in the southwest corner of my state. Right after that I took a hot shower, which my first neurologist told me I should... Continue reading

Posted 7 days ago at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

9

Cleveland Indians

How was this ever okay? The term Indian became controversial in my adult life, somehow — I mean, we knew we didn’t live in India — but the grinning mascot could not ever have been okay. Could it? I like... Continue reading

Posted Jul 27, 2021 at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

2

Olympics

I must have been partially asleep during the Olympic opening ceremonies. I “remember” these things, and yet they can’t be real: The announcer said that the Winter Olympics are in “just a few months” and I thought, “The Winter Olympics... Continue reading

Posted Jul 25, 2021 at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

0

Overbought

I personally don’t like to eat the same thing two days in a row, but Gary delights in it. Given that Mr. S___ will eat no meat, and his wife will eat no carbs, we share no meals. I’m back... Continue reading

Posted Jul 24, 2021 at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

0

Foot Update

I spent two weeks with a swollen red foot, after I traumatized it with Mom’s sundial, before I made a doctor’s appointment. I just kept waiting for it to stop being red swollen and painful, and I didn’t, so clearly... Continue reading

Posted Jul 24, 2021 at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

0

Rewriting the Novel: Slow but Steady

This week I made up pages of predictable garbage, but I did it consistently. The words were still slow. Saturday: 1 hour = 1.5 pages Sunday: 15 minutes = one sentence (Literally, this sentence: “I wondered if the stove was... Continue reading

Posted Jul 23, 2021 at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

0

Weekly Paint Progress: 7/22

This week the morning went from this: … to this: The noon version went from this: … to this: The evening went from this: … to this: One more swing and they’ll be done. Continue reading

Posted Jul 22, 2021 at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

6

Apologies Robert Browning

Grow old along with me? The worst is yet to be The aches and pains from which the quarrels are made; Our bile grows worse each year We pass the pain to those held dear, Once wife, now nurse, with... Continue reading

Posted Jul 21, 2021 at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

5

Fox Conflict

Fox was busy last week. He chased what I imagine was a bunny: He relaxed enough to sit down and have raccoons sneak up on him: He did a little side step in the yard after a squirrel knocked the... Continue reading

Posted Jul 20, 2021 at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

0

Stimulus

So, okay, people with kids now get an extra $250-$350 per child as a tax credit because of the pandemic. That’s a good thing. Don’t begrudge that a bit. But, why? It would make sense if unemployed parents got the... Continue reading

Posted Jul 19, 2021 at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

0

Review: Detour De Force

Friday I was playing Code Monkey by Jonathon Coulton on repeat at Maximum Alexa Volume just so I could hear this line over and over again: “Code Monkey think/ maybe manager / wanna write / goddamned / login page himself”... Continue reading

Posted Jul 18, 2021 at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

3

Salad

Gary speaks well when you get him going. Bring up Trump, he can rattle on in pentameter for an hour without pausing for breath. In fact, he did that last night, not quite for an hour but for at least... Continue reading

Posted Jul 17, 2021 at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

0

Rewriting the Novel: a Step Back and a Step Forward

I’ve taken some time outlining the plot for the second half, no longer does “some stuff happen.” It’s been confusing just because I’ll be in outline mode, and again characters will begin having conversations while I’m trying to make plans,... Continue reading

Posted Jul 16, 2021 at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

0

Weekly Paint Progress: 7/15

This week was all about the mulch. The morning view went from this: … to this: The noon view went from this: … to this: The evening view went from this: … to this: Continue reading

Posted Jul 15, 2021 at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

0

Bitter Pouty Post

It feels as if all my friends are going on vacation, meeting up, going to Hawaii. Enjoy your Prague Summer, I say, we’re going to be locked back down when it gets cold. I don’t see any way to get... Continue reading

Posted Jul 14, 2021 at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

4

Mom Speaks Again From Beyond the Grave

Yesterday I found an old 1950s spiral notebook filled with Mom’s handwriting. It is titled CHI OR DIE, and seems to be an account of a train trip she took to Chicago when she was twenty, along with her sister... Continue reading

Posted Jul 13, 2021 at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

2

Steve at Work

Sometimes you meet just delightful people when you are working. Take Steve. Only photo of Steve I have, appropriately He changed departments about six years ago, and we’d catch up in the cafeteria, but it wasn’t the same as working... Continue reading

Posted Jul 12, 2021 at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

0

Gary Drives

Gary had not yet embraced the Mini, so Friday afternoon I took him down quiet country roads and busy city streets to a spot ten miles away so he could drive back, only, per Gary, “I am not taking the... Continue reading

Posted Jul 11, 2021 at Queen Mediocretia of Suburbia

Comment

0