nosedive

Hey Amy, pick me up pastrami on rye at Gilla Ardi Deli. Hold the mayo. It baffles the mind that this woman could be on television for what, ten years, and has never been corrected in her pronunciation of the word frustrated. How hard is it to throw in an r after the f? Does she say fied chicken? Beans and fankfurts? Fiday fish fy? It would help her, and her audience, if she posted the recipe on an easel or computer screen in her sight line that she could glance at, so she's not constantly picking up paper from the counter and searching for the measurements. And it would also help if she watched some successful cooking shows and discovered that the audience doesn't sit through all the stirring, beating, etc. They cut away. I didn't watch the video to the end, but does the audience sit through the fully baking time until it's done? Also, why in the world, if it's a new or experimental recipe, wouldn't she do a dry run first, before recording it? Super pet peeve of mine: placing utensils on the countertop. Unless that countertop has been thoroughly disinfected and then, the disinfectant washed off, every utensil she lays down is at risk for picking up whatever bacteria or chemical might be on the countertop, then she places the utensil, and the bacteria or chemical, back into the batter. So simple and much safer to designate a clean plate to hold the utensils. I will be declining any invitations from Amy to dine at her home.

I'm booking a weekend at Canyon Ranch to recover😉.

From what I gleaned from the infamous and oh-so-lengthy LA Times article mentioned on the show, the fur hit the fan in 2019 when one of the loan companies from which his firm had borrowed gained access to some of the firm's books, and grew concerned at what they found. After nine months of demanding repayment and being ignored, they filed a suit against him. It turns out that for several years he had been taking loans from different loan institutions, using the same collateral (primarily the anticipated proceeds from future settlements) for all of them. So when his firm won a settlement, the firm not only owed a portion to their clients, but to all these loan institutions. Each loan company believed that they would be the beneficiary of the settlement, but because there were multiple lenders, there wasn't enough to go around. And some of the loans were at an interest as high as 20%. So Loan Company A was expecting to be repaid when a settlement was made, but so were Loan Companies B, C and D. Plus the clients. By the time he settled with the loan company that sued him in 2019, and presumably word was out about his nefarious business practices, there was a line out the door of people and businesses suing for the money he owed them. And standing in that line was his first wife (Erika is #3), who is suing him for $10,000 a month in alimony, which had been awarded after their split in 1983. She says the payments abruptly stopped.

Got it. Hopefully, it's a temporary set up and she eventually transitions to living in student housing. IMO, it's not the best situation for a young college student or for a young couple with kids. Boundaries in those situations can be challenging.

Um... have you been in a house with two preschoolers lately? Quiet doesn't happen until the kids are asleep.

That sounds like what every 18-year old college student dreams of.

Agree with both statements. He is obviously a snake (with all due apologies to snakes) and she is Opportunist Extraordinaire. But other than the story that a fan reported seeing him at a restaurant with an "older woman," who he kissed when he stood up, and Erika's allegations of his cheating, is there anything else floating around to substantiate the long-term affairs Erika has alleged? Many people regularly kiss friends hello and goodbye, male or female. Maybe he was so happy that he was able to stand up on his first try at 80-whatever, it was just a celebratory kiss. Not that it matters a lot, and as far as I know, infidelity is not a prosecutable crime, but I can't help but suspect that this is just another layer she's plastering on to make herself look like an emotionally abused victim.

Is there evidence that he cheated? I know Erika posted photos, but does a photo taken with a woman necessarily mean he was cheating? It could have been colleagues or friends having dinner together. I have no reason to think he's morally above infidelity, but I also wonder if the cheating accusation was just another fabrication in Erika's "Tom victimized me" narrative.

Thinning hair wouldn't surprise me. Years of deprivation of adequate nutrition could do that.

Oh, that makes sense. But, ugh, what an awful job he has.

Because the coven, whoops, I mean her "best friends" are semi-literate, with the exception of Rinna who has starved to death most of her brain cells from years of a diet consisting of Sweet n' Low packets and celery leaves. She's preserving the few that remain to grace the world with her Volume 2 Sex Manual. And what's with Rinna's wardrobe this season? Did she hijack the clown costume car from a circus parade? You're trying too hard, girl. Why is Kathy Hilton on this show? I like her. She's good for a chuckle. But she has absolutely no storyline going, and if she's even in the scene, she's like wallpaper. And should we assume Kyle "forgot" to give her a heads-up that there would be cameras at the Christmas feast? She looked so normal, almost like a real person, while all the others were glammed to their eye teeth. Not that Kyle would be passive-aggressive like that. The kissing up and bowing down to Erica is nauseating. It's bad enough that the cast does it, but the producer, too? "You've been so strong!" Please. This whole season of allowing her to have center stage is downright gross.

I want competence in my realtor, not colorful, quirky or friendly, which, btw, Ramona isn't. She's a snob. Realtors who are successful work extremely hard, are knowledgable about the market, taxes, zoning, financing, and more, put the client's best interest first, and do a lot of legwork behind the scenes, some of which will never pay off with a sale. I have always thought whatever Ramona's success was in the wholesale clothing industry was at least partially the result of being in the right place at the right time. She has never struck me as being all that bright, she has terrible people skills and is entirely unable (or unwilling) to read a room. Except for the client who prefers a brush with "celebrity" over a qualified professional, I can't imagine sellers or buyers pursuing her. Not to mention she has the attention span of a gnat.

Are Janelle's posts meant to inspire? Are there people out there who actually care how she makes her toast? I wouldn't presume that even my nearest and dearest would be interested in such mundane details of my day-to-day life. Oh, and Janelle, that old baked-on crud in your pan, south of the bread, appears to be giving you the finger.

You said it. I've been in since Day One of this show. It's no longer enjoyable. I tuned in last night after the show was underway, during the conversation (which was probably loud and in a public place) about four-inch penises. I watched for about two minutes and turned it off. If a bunch of men were sitting around talking in graphic detail about female genitalia, most of us would be justifiably outraged.

He's 69. Yes, he more than likely is interested in sex. No, he likely doesn't need Viagra unless he has a physical condition that interferes with normal sexual function. He probably enjoys both gardening and sex with his wife. Even at 69, a person can garden and enjoy sex, though not at the same time.

Both are correct, IMO. Keeping others waiting is thoughtless - give yourself more time to get ready - but it's true, sometimes it's unavoidable. However, isn't Ramona's criticism a little hypocritical? Over the past seventy-five years that this show has been on, isn't she chronically late? I seem to remember people being annoyed that she doesn't show up on time. I think the Christmas dinner at the 21 Club (?) was one of them, in Season 1 or 2, when les enfants terribles fatally stabbed the hamburger (which probably cost $40) while on Bethenny's then-boyfriend's plate. (Oh, I miss the good old days when this show was good for a few laughs.) If my memory is accurate, Ramona is regularly guilty of tardiness.

Audrey has very nice teeth. So there's that.

I'm neither Catholic nor Jewish, but I'm pretty sure the Catholics are ecstatically happy to see her go, and every rabbi in New York is putting up a GONE FISHING sign on the door of his/her synagogue.

That's who she reminds me of, too. She has that same mousy, haunted look, like she'd speak sweetly to you while slitting your throat.

Do you think he has the charisma to be a cult leader? Here's what I suspect will happen between Insipidian and the current wife (or girlfriend, if they're not married). Insipidian meets a woman who rings his chimes. They can talk about all the many subjects on which he considers himself an authority, and she kind of digs him, too. (Go figure.) He comes to believe she's his intellectual equal, well almost, unlike poor wifey at home who is sweet enough, but doesn't stimulate him the way the new squeeze does. The more time he and the new squeeze spend together contemplating the meaning of the life, the duller poor wifey-at-home seems. By the time Insipidian has passed the point of no return, and is seriously into the new squeeze, she decides she doesn't want to share him, after all. So she gives him an ultimatum, it's you and me, or you and wifey, but not all three of us. When his "principles" (to live a polygamous lifestyle) look like they're going to require sacrifice from him, he caves like an underbaked meringue. He tearfully tells wifey that he'll always love her, but he'd be doing her a disservice by not letting her go, and he helps her pack her things. He might even bless her with one more taste of his wonderfulness before she goes. The devastated wifey doesn't know what hit her, and she sadly leaves, trash bag of belongings in one hand, bus fare, courtesy of Insipidian, in the other. Sad, sad story, but so, so predictable.

If King Jerod gets any more embiggened, there's going to be a crushed queen. Vanessa will be more enflattened than embettered.

If I shelled out $250 for a couple of tickets to a Broadway musical and a no-talent poser like Erica Girardi was playing a major role, I'd be royally pissed.

When there are multiple Housewives shows on, I can't keep track of which one/s I fell asleep during.

No nailing intended!

Except the Norma Desmond character had achieved something in her life. She had been a silent film star. Sonia's only notable achievement was snagging a rich old guy. Sonia was in her early forties when they divorced, not too old at all to rebuild her life. Her hubris led her to jump into the film industry with no experience, and she lost her shirt, and then some. She has had more opportunities than most, and she continues to piddle them away. Yes, it's sad to watch someone live so destructively, but she is her own worst enemy, with a bad case of delusions of grandeur. It's hard to muster up sympathy for someone who has been given so much, both materially and access-wise, over the past two-plus decades, and mismanage it at every turn.