Calamity Jane

Yes, for me too Under the Gunn destroyed Tim’s facade of congenial, helpful compassion. I recovered some regard for him over the years since, but always keeping in mind the disillusion of that wretched show. In the early years he seemed tuned in to what the judges valued, but then in the latter seasons of PR, it seemed contestants were better off ignoring him. I loved Heidi at the start of PR, when good judges (Michael Kors primarily) kept her more reined in. She just became so superficial over the past few years, though, and downright unlikable on this show. No more.

Yes, yes, yes to all this.

This season was a snooze for me. I thought Gary was the best by far, so I’m disappointed in the outcome. I do think, though, that being on the show will be a big help to advance Gary’s career. meanwhile, I’ve come to the end of my regard for Heidi and even Tim. I’m out.

Not always. I got paid on the 1st of the month, so if that fell on Saturday of a long weekend, I had to eke out three more days of food for my kids, gas for the car, etc. The next payday would come in less time, but that doesn’t help when you’re at $0 right now.

Whether or not you get the money early is dependent on the bank. I had direct deposit for years with no early access to funds before the bank was acquired by another company, then suddenly I got paid on Fridays if the 1st was on the weekend. Hallelujah.

Wow, this made me think again about thoughts I’ve had for years regarding these folks. It truly seems that everyone needs to be in support groups that meet a time or two a week at least with someone from Nowzaradan’s staff to inculcate concepts, strategies, menus, etc. So many patients seem so clueless about the risks their weight poses, proper nutrition, how to prepare the 1,200 calorie meals, how to exercise, and so much more. And frequent meetings make you more accountable. Maybe there’s a lot happening we don’t see, but man oh man, these people seem so on their own. We don’t tell drug addicts or alcoholics to go home to get better by themselves without support, so why with food addicts? It’s so sad that this poor woman needed so much help, but nobody really has an answer that reliably gets results. I wonder what their success rate is compared with treatment for substances. Humans are so self-destructive and so hard to help, perhaps this is as good as it can get, but I hope that’s not true. I also hope her death was not directly from weight-related causes. She was very mobile for 600+ pounds, which would seem to augur well for success. Her whole-body flush when exerting herself alarmed me, also the angry looking mole below her ear, so anything seems possible. Overall, just so sad.

Coffee Mate (?) ad - “I’ve had a cup or two….hundred?” Two hundred cups of coffee is supposed to make him an expert? That’s about two months of cups of coffee for me, maybe less. Don’t see how that makes anyone an expert,completely don’t get it. Two hundred cups, you’re a total newbie.

One of the best experiences of my life was hiking out across the lava field below Kilauea to where you could see the living red lava flowing below your feet. (Small holes popped here and there allowing one to see through.) It was inexpressibly beautiful and thrilling.

I actually used to talk to my students about this, especially 7th and 8th graders, who can be truly horrendous to each other. I saw it as part of what they needed to learn over and over again because it is instinctual behavior that needs to be overcome and corrected. I don’t know how much headway I made with them outside my classroom, but they sure knew not to pull that stuff inside it. A different teacher’s student wrote me a note once saying he liked being sent to my room on time out because “everyone is so polite to each other in here.” Kids.

Adults are not above this kind of bullying behavior, by any means. There was a woman of Chinese background on Survivor who was excoriated for her consuming chicken parts that the white participants found revolting, as if it were a character flaw. I was baffled then, and I still am, but there it was for us all to see. And as a former teacher of grades 4-8, I can say with certitude that kids will pick on anything they take into their heads as out of the norm. It sadly seems to be part of the human condition.

I so enjoyed this season (and last), so it’s heartbreaking that it ends up with a really bad asterisk next to the winner’s name. Of the final three, Gabe’s personality was the least appealing to me, although still quite likable, and his food always sounded so good. Shota seemed to have it in the bag, Dawn’s cooking always drew raves - I didn’t really see Gabe as the winner ahead of the finale. Despite the cloud over the end, I still loved the spirit of camaraderie and cooperation that prevailed across the episodes, and I think it’s pretty clear that the chefs were among the best ever. I’m not giving up on TC just yet, but I’m so disappointed with how the finale played out. Nonetheless, from my vantage point after seventy-one years on the planet, I am heartened that at long last behavior such as Gabe’s is now recognized as wrong and condemned pretty much universally. It wouldn’t have been not too many years ago.

There doesn’t seem to be a readily findable reason, just lots of repeating that radiation can cause the metallic taste. Just a guess, but I imagine it means the taste buds have already been damaged by the radiation, and as such a pretty scary sign when it happens so fast. Radiation and chemo both affect rapidly dividing cells the most, and taste buds fall in that category. Why a metallic taste, though? No clue. I lost my sense of taste for a few months after radiation to my face/neck for Hodgkin disease, but I don’t recall ever tasting metal. One of those things you see but it’s just a given, not really explained.

Even factoring in editing, I have noticed the lack of blaming and throwing others under the bus and it is really refreshing. It was notable last season, too. The focus has been on the tasks, not on the personalities, and I love that. I was happy to see Maria win. Hers is almost always something I would want to try, looks delicious, and gets good feedback from tasters. Tongue has never been a favorite of mine since I was tricked into eating some when I was ten, but I’d be willing to give it a try based on the raves from the judges. Shota seems well positioned to win, but I’d give anyone except Chris a good chance at the top prize. Shota is self-confident without being cocky, has a good sense of humor, and seems to get along with everyone, on top of being an inventive and skilled chef. Can’t wait to see how the season unfolds.

In regard to the finger in the door incident: I have a dear friend/ colleague who was arguing with her husband one evening as he was brushing teeth in the bathroom. She was in the doorway with her hand resting on the hinge side of the door jamb. Husband decided to end the argument by slamming the door closed, not realizing where her hand was. Result, tips of the index and middle fingers severed down to the joint just below the fingernail, not reattachable. The surgeon told them it’s a common accident, the cause of most fingertip loss, and a really good reason never to slam a door shut. So, it can be accidental, but not responding immediately suggests more purposeful intent. Ugh, just ugh.

A good friend and her husband went to “snot on a rock” Philip’s restaurant (from the California season) while that season was still airing. He got a pretty rough edit that season. My friend didn’t know anything about him, and said he was completely charming and funny when he came out to talk to diners, and even joked about how bad he looked on the show. And she said the food was really, really good. So it’s worth bearing in mind that reality tv can distort personalities and situations. I didn’t mind Gabriel at all after I realized how mild his transgressions were compared with other seasons’ villains.

I just watched this one today, and I’m kind of confused. Were those two delusional? On drugs? Mentally deficient? Suffering from folie à deux? All of those plus more??? Each time it was as if the previous times hadn’t happened, that he couldn’t have gained weight because he didn’t eat anything,that Lisa didn’t haul in 10,000 calories a day. Even after she admitted she’d brought food into the hospital. They just floored me. It is sad that he got himself on the path to destruction, it is sad that his wife was so clueless/spineless/malicious as to feed him to death, but if going into heart failure wasn’t enough to jolt him out of his idiocy, his death was bound to come sooner than later. As it is, he lasted three years longer than seemed likely at the end of the episode. It all brings back a thought I’ve had a few times watching this show. Some of these folks need much, much more intervention. Nutritionist to knock the facts about calories minto them, PT every day, someone to explain that raising your arms up ten times isn’t going to burn any calories to speak of, a platinum level psychotherapist, a coach, a minder, and perhaps a camera to catch the Lisas sneaking food in. When they’ve shown repeatedly that they won’t follow the plan, and his life is in imminent danger, the plan has to change. So much doing the same thing, expecting a different result - on both sides! Well, his struggles are done now. Such a sad, sad story.

It’s unimaginably heartbreaking. I once had a student who’d been adopted at age four from somewhere in New Mexico. When she was about ten, her parents had a biological child, and things then went haywire, apparently. My student was odd and hard to predict, difficult to handle, and parents had been trying to send her back to New Mexico for a while. There was something about turning age 12 that allowed that, and one day in the middle of the year, she just never came back. Our teaching team tried to find out where she was, with no success, and I have no idea what happened to her. I’m afraid that rejection must have crushed her. People are so hard to understand. These were highly educated professionals, unusual in our rather rural desert community. Just so sad.

I have a tendency to root for tough women, so Maria isn’t bothering me. Her food always sounds like what I’d like to try. I hope she goes far. And if the recipient of the comment was ok with it, i guess the rest of us can be, too?

Angie reminded me of someone right away, but I couldn’t place who it was until the end when she had her hair dyed dark brown. Suddenly I realized that she could be the twin sister of someone I worked with for quite a few years. They even sound alike! And that colleague was from, wait for it, Ohio (I live on the west coast). She also strongly reminded me in her behavior of my son during his teenage years. I think she said she started abusing drugs in her teens, and I think she stayed at that age emotionally. So for both those reasons, I view her in a slightly more charitable light than she may deserve. Her worst behavior seemed to be when she was using or being threatened with detox, so I can see that that could be the drugs talking. Dr. Now was more patient with her than she deserved, but there was a LOT going on with her. I hope she can continue on the path we saw at the end. The bit where she was walking away from the salon, she looked and sounded so much like my colleague it took my breath away. She too was gruff and could be off-putting, but she really did have a good heart under all that. I hope Angie turns out like that. I do worry about recovering addicts returning to the places and people where they became addicted. I have to say, I’d take Angie any day over any of the Assanti family!

Definitely orange, and a pretty deep orange at that on my set. I wish my mind worked like that!

This sort of challenge always makes me think that I would be frozen in place, staring ahead like a deer in the headlights, unable to think of how to relate those categories to food. My hat’s off to them for coming up with anything, much less with a convincing narrative. It was fun to watch them scramble, and really fun to watch the reactions. I thought Padma was great in her intros to each genre, too. Jamie’s odd chirps and squeaks are a bit annoying, but I’m wondering if she has aphasia, which might mean she struggles to find the word she wants. I had a good friend who had aphasia and compensated by spelling in ASL or using her hands to give clues to her meaning. Just for that reason, Jamie didn’t bother me much. I’m still enjoying this season. I love the overall cooperation and mutual support the contestants show. Gabriel is not the most appealing of the bunch, but compared to some previous seasons’ jerks, he’s pretty mild in his obnoxiousness. And at least he does have cooking chops, so there’s that.

My grandmother made the best biscuits. We tried for years to get a recipe from her, but she’d say, “Add (ingredient) until it looks right,” and “Mix it with your hands until it feels right.” Needless to say, we could never replicate her magic. We knew her days were coming to a close when she couldn’t make them anymore. :-(.

My daughter got one for her very small house, but it wouldn’t fit the TP she buys at Costco. It’s such a great idea, though!

It’s heart wrenching and very informative.

Off topic a bit - there was a character in an episode of Bosch named Alberto Bondigas. Al Bondigas. Albondigas. I laughed so hard.