Reo

Everyone has mentioned that the non-show restaurant workers were actors, not really workers. However, in my many years working in restaurants, I can testify that many if not most actors have mucho kitchen experience. They are probably better at waiting tables, sous chefing, and dishwashing than delivering lines - they certainly have more practice. Although I must say it takes a considerable amount of acting experience to unload some specials driven by the chef. Count me as one that was delighted to see Katsuji's ass handed to him. Yes, this would have been a perfect double elimination - but to my eyes his was the worse crime. When I saw how he was treating everyone it really got my hackles up. John is a dick who is aware that he is a dick, and even if he doesn't want to be a dick anymore it's hard to judge your own behavior and make changes, unless you see yourself on screen and are horrified. (See: Faison, Tiffany and Talde, Dale.) Katsuji is a dick and doesn't give a shit if people know it, he glories in it and feels entitled to it. It would be nicer to judge them on the quality of their food, but since I can't taste it, I can only judge them on the quality of their behavior.

As it happens, I'm an attractive, lively early sixties woman who just moved in with my new boyfriend, a guy in his late fifties who is about to retire with substantial resources. I thought I was done with all that nonsense, and that I'd never fall for anyone and vice versa, too old, too fat, yadda yadda yadda. I bought the kind of pathetic trope about settling into an old age growing old with my dog, then I went to a wedding and met my guy. We just started talking and that was it. And guess what? He's the best relationship I've ever had. Sometimes lightening DOES strike, ladies - don't give up hope. And I didn't even have to break out my slutwear and dance a little dance to land him (although I'm sure he'd appreciate the thought!) I think Erica earns every cent she gets for putting up with Tom, though. He's just creepy.

Who the heck is Eden Sasoon? Her picture is with cast in that Daily News article just linked on Dorit. Not a good look for her. The jury is still out on Dorit for me, too. I was not impressed with her, seems like another narc to me. Not necessarily looking forward to this season, like LVP, last season gave me bad vibes. Not because it was evil or weird (although sometimes it was), but because all of the arguments were petty and seemed heavily scripted.

Hi everybody, after following this show and board for years (first TWOP then here), I realized nothing would change except for the worse. I've been gone since Nurse's Ball, and I've pretty much stopped thinking about GH. But I was curious, I admit, to see if anything DID change in the last six months. I'd love it if someone would give me a snarky recap. I assume Sonny is still a dick, Nik is an undead dick, hopefully Luke is zombie forever gone dick, Jason is now whitewashed of his murderous past and is now Good Guy, Julian is dick on steroids, Dante is pussywhipped, and Nathan is totally clueless. Franco is still on show, acting like smarmy asshole. Alexis alternates between self-righteous and hypocritically corrupt, her daughters are idiots (welcome back Krissy!), Liz is still delusional and lying, Hayden is still on show for Reasons, Tracy is both awesome and hideously mean, Sam is still fan-gurling over a hitman, Spinelli works for Sonny?, and Ava still lying and cheating, Nina delusional and insane, Maxie falling apart, and Lulu cares only about her uterus but not about her kids. Read last five pages and I gather Jax is back and kinda grew a brain where Carly is concerned, and Carly is still scheming bitch with few if any redeeming qualities. The only remotely interesting story is that Laura and Kevin (really? Is that Jon Lindstrom Kevin or imposter? How long before he is brutally murdered for Reasons?) I stand by my exit - the only thing I miss is you guys -

I got it on kindle, so no one would ever know. But I do. And I'm ashamed of giving that trollop money. (If we can't use the common sneers, we have to be creative - and I think trollop suits Brandi to a T.)

Hmmm....well, you see that picture of cherry blossoms in my pic? I was the one that drew it in colored pencils. Not that you can actually see any details or anything. But I assure you, it's quite good. But to be honest, I've pulled myself away from incipient hoarderism by a combination of watching this show and dealing with a real life hoard belonging to a relative. I'll take my cure any way I can find it. *walks of whistling to sort her stuff and re-organize Oh, and BTW, drove by Sandi's house a couple of days after shows aired. Windows all wide open and so were drapes. Looks like she has something to prove. Also, no item from a stinky hoard is going to be worth using for any reason, that stink follows no matter how hard you try to clean item. Source: a 10-year old brand-new Cuisinart from my aunt's hoard. I threw it away, because it smelled like death and I wasn't going to fix any food in it.

Actually, I would! I'm an artist and I make beads, and I've been planning on buying one!

A happy funeral.

I don't often see a kid I would be willing to adopt, but I would take in Maddox. I think Matt felt the same. I've never seen him so affected by a client.

I'm located in the PNW and I go through Port Angeles occasionally as I have friends there, it's a very small place. The fact that Hoarders was there was of intense interest to the community, with their Santa schtick, Sandi and Ed are well-known. Their house is on a main drag and I drive by it all the time. It always has the drapes up on all the windows now so a passerby can see inside (not the case in the past), and everything looks neatly arranged. There is no crap in the yard. I was hoping that things have changed for Sandi and Ed as well, but time will tell. I did not "feel" Sandi's epiphany on the show - it looked to me like she became aware of all the eyes on her rather than the necessity to abandon her crap collection. One general consensus my friend that lives there said was that folks that knew about the episode being filmed avoided the Goodwill like the plague for a month. Everyone knows what those houses are like inside. My aunt was a hoarder and my family had to clean out her hoard after her death in her pile - it all stank, even the new stuff in boxes. I took home a brand-new 10 year old unused Cuisinart (my aunt apparently lived almost entirely on TV dinners, cigarettes, and cough syrup according to the piles of trash, she clearly had no need of it) but I had to throw it away because it stunk, even after washing it down with a variety of cleaners. But personally, I would have liked that rock tumbler. And I would have used it!

I was abused as a baby by my mother, who was not enthusiastic about children (hated them) and who did not want to be a mother at all. So she popped me out and proceeded to neglect and emotionally abuse me. I did develop dissociative disorder, but not the DID (at least I don't think so....but who knows). Here's the thing - basically you dissociate when reality is just too painful to be in. Then you get stuck in a loop you can't break without help or awareness that you are doing it. Over the years, as psychology has developed and changed, we've learned a lot about how personalities work. EVERYONE has multiple personalities - different parts of us do different things. For example, think about how you operate at work and how you parent - most likely you use a demeanor and language for both that don't cross. We are one person with our co-workers, another with our friends, and another with our kids or parents. We change and shift personalities as circumstances demand so effortlessly we don't even realize we are doing it. People with DID have no control over the shift, and the personalities within them aren't really aware of each other. Those 14 kids had a lot of tolerance and love for the mother that abused them. I'm really curious about dad - you know there had to be one - but no one said a word about his presence in their lives.

Thanks for your kind words and up votes, everyone. I dunno about "journey" though. For me that's just a trip you take. Life is what happens to all of us, and let's face it, if we want to compare, we've all seen some shit. That's the nature of life. So....Erika felt compelled to bring her makeup team to a place where they could be sentenced to death for being queer? What a thoughtful boss.

I'm with you, Giselle. All I see in all that opulence is the misery of the slaves that built and maintain it. It's an obscenity. I'll join ElDosEquis on the deck in Colorado in the hot tub with a joint. Although the one accusation thing - I bet Yo is regretting not coming if she finds out about that, although Brandi or Kim would revel in it, too. Nothing like a little anonymous phone call to perk a girl up! Glass houses, ladies.

I'm not Erika's biggest fan because I think she isn't a very appealing person. She's cold and materialistic, and as far as I can tell, doesn't really enjoy life. She certainly doesn't have much of a sense of humor. But in one place, I do empathize. Some of you know I was abused starting as a baby by a narcissistic mother. I've been in and out of therapy most of my life, and I'm sane and happy now. But that hasn't always been the case. I married a narc just like dear old mom and had a baby with him when I was about Erika's age. Because I had never been mothered myself, I had no clue how to be a mother. Still, I loved my child and I did the best I could. I fell into a deep, debilitating depression that lasted over a year. I'm not going to go into details but suffice it to say it was one of the lowest points of my life. I made some really bad choices and the end result was that my ex colluded with my mother, and when I finally left him he lied to me about certain things and got custody of our child. I fled to the opposite end of the country. I did the best I could to be there with a phone call or a gift, but it's not the same at all to a little one. We did spend long periods of time in the same city, and when we did, we saw each other regularly. I still have a certain amount of guilt about it, but my child and I have worked things out. If my child understands and doesn't hold it against me, why should anyone else? Here's the thing. They do. Especially women, who see other women who can't or won't mother as unnatural. So I learned to not talk about it much, even though I felt the details exonerated me. I still was judged, a lot, and frequently criticized to my face. My "loving" mother had ammunition to shoot down my self-esteem, and did, for decades. She brought the subject up in our weekly phone conversations, ironically judging me harshly for being a terrible mother - and I couldn't disagree, only abjectly apologize to the one who actually created the situation. So which is better for a child in the long run? A mother who hated her baby and abused her emotionally throughout her life - although she provided me with food, clothing and a place to live there was absolutely no love, or a mother who just simply - couldn't mother. Neither is a good situation, but at least I've taken responsibility and done the best I could. My child was the one that paid the heaviest price, and as far as I'm concerned is the only one who has the right to judge me. So I don't judge Erika, at least for this. We weren't there. We don't know what really happened. Maybe Erika has always been the self-absorbed bitch we see on our TV screens today. Maybe she became that way after losing her child. I know it changed me. On the other hand, I'm gonna mock Erika Jayne with her cunty necklace and syncophants and stupid stage show and fake friendships with every breath in my body.

This was a pretty interesting (and long, not just a paragraph of puff) on Amar's history and evolution as a chef. I found it especially telling that Charlie Parker's formerly successful restaurant in OC folded a few years after Amar left to open his own place in Laguna Beach. Both dudes are alpha males and I'm not surprised there was friction and resentment, not a good look on either of them. However, no one can deny Amar's right to strike out on his own and clearly it was the best choice for him personally. Jeremy's irritability and nastiness in the kitchen, especially in RW, kind of dimmed his appeal for me as the ultimate winner, but I don't think his win was undeserved. Now Amar, he got exactly what he came for (according to the article). He was one of the few applicants who stated that he wasn't after the title - he wanted personal validation as a chef and to be able to showcase himself and his food on national television - he already owns two critically acclaimed restaurants. I'd say he definitely achieved that. He's gotten an unbelievable hit of publicity and good will from his performance on the show. Jeremy, not so much. Jeremy might have gotten the official title, but Amar is really the top chef here.