Vanderboom

Just finished reading Jim Butcher's Battle Ground. Apparently, it was supposed to be in Peace Talks, but he had to split the story into two books. The result is . . . good, but not great? I think Butcher was trying to make up for the delay in the series and turned all elements Up To Eleven, so there ARE a lot of cool moments, but when the book is all tension, then the cool moments don't stand out. So of course, I'm looking forward to the next one! 😊

Quoting myself because I totally called it! Congrats Meghan, Ben, and the McCain-Domenech family.

You're right. I had forgotten Monique has run this play before to dodge accountability for her actions. But it doesn't work if you keep going Energizer Bunny style even after the heat of the moment. I'm very surprised by how much Monique is in the wrong. When I heard about the fight, I was ready to think the worst of Candiace. I also thought Monique's comment about Candiace's mom was just extra mean; we all know that Candiace's mother has hit her. As much as I hate the whole respectability politics thing (looking at you, "Pound Cake" Cosby, you sick mutha . . .), I get why everyone was all This Makes Us All Look Bad. Real Housewives is not exactly known for its decorum, but physical harm crosses a line that can't be explained away with "editing" or "fun shade." In other news, I can't be the only one who sees the similarities between Karen's talking head look and Miss Finch from Follow That Bird, right?

I know, right?! I get that no one wants to bully a first-time mom (except Dr. Wendy, possibly), but I'm not feeling this Our Sainted Lady of Motherhood attitude toward Ashley this season. I thought Candiace handled the Michael intel with class, but let's not forget the pile on of a few weeks ago when everyone was trying to force Candiace to apologize to Ashley for the previous season. Ashley is incredibly messy, and deserves to be called out on it. Until the last few posts, I thought Gigi was a nickname for Gizelle. I feel . . . not smart about that. Now I have to go reread!

Maybe the Houghs for the snow owls?

As Sara pointed out, this is what the vetting process is for. Amy Coney Barrett needs to explain her position on whether her faith compromises her professional judgment. It's a valid question, and if a Muslim or Jewish candidate waxed eloquent about "the kingdom of God," I would hope that they'd also be questioned about how that plays out in their professional decision-making. Meghan keeps implying that having questions about Coney Barrett's approach is anti-Catholicism, but it really isn't. Who are these Phantom Liberals that Meghan is fighting? Is it Diane Feinstein of 2017, who talked of Coney Barrett being dogmatic?

What does Meghan mean by "Kavanaughed"? Wasn't the whole point of the hearings to determine if Kavanaugh's past made him unfit for office? Congress decided it didn't, and now he's a Supreme Court justice. How else would we deal with those allegations? I agree with Whoopi that these "meat and potatoes" issues aren't necessarily productive for making political decisions. I really want Meghan to explain why it's okay to be a single-issue voter when it comes to being pro-life, but not okay to be a single-issue voter about race? Or climate change? Or healthcare?

I'm so annoyed by Joy and Sunny's behavior to Kim; it made them look thin-skinned and immature. Didn't DJTJ push the blackface button when he showed up? They should know not to fall for this ploy. Once Kim started with her bullshit, Joy should have pulled out ol' Angry Teacher Face Level #2 (Serene Yet Stern: You can try me if you want, but we both know this won't end well for you.) and asked, "is Ad Hominem Blackface Taunt the answer to the question?" I was actually interested in hearing what Kim believes is her Black support besides Candice Owens (probably not even her, as Owens strikes me as the There Can Only Be One type.). It's intellectually dishonest (TM Meghan) to snark that "outsiders" are co-opting BLM, while her support does not come from her would-be constituents. Donald Trump and his base are not Baltimore insiders. But Sunny just kept talking over Kim, and Joy quickly ended the interview. Rude, immature, and unproductive. Just calling balls and strikes as I see them. 😉

Meghan's entire career has been her attempt to sit at the Cool Kids' Table. When she was younger, Meghan wanted to be the Cool, Socially Liberal Republican. Now she's the Badass Gun-totin' Republican and Guardian of the McCain Legacy, Defender Against the Left, etc. This is why she thinks that knowing people is a job qualification. I am glad, however, that she's finally seeing through the empty McCain platitudes that guests use to shut her down. It was so transparent and weak. If you have to resort to that kind of manipulation to argue against Meghan's "filleting," then you are far too inept to be worth paying attention to.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who let out a big sarcastic "Yes!" when the announcer noted the first View Your Deal of the season. ABC has to know how irritating and banal VYD and its siblings on other shows are.

I must say that I'm surprised that I've been agreeing with Candiace a lot this season. There are definitely cracks in Monique's foundation: passive-aggressive control freak is not a good look. Wendy and Eddie's situation makes me sad, but I like how everyone was so supportive. Too bad Big Chris had to get all vulgar. At least Other Chris was entertaining. In what universe is Gizelle Bryant a better writer than Eric Jerome Dickey?!

Which would be fine if Meghan was actually good at this. Instead, she hurls each question at an "opposing" guest, prefaced by a self-centered word salad monologue. I'd probably do the same if I were in Meghan's position. People can be vicious. I also think she might be anxious about childbirth and parenting. Meghan's entire career has been about her self-importance; I think she lacks the humility and sense of humor that would help her deal with her fear of being an imperfect parent.

I knew I was forgetting something. Sunny's hair and makeup looked good, but why ring in the new season with puffy sleeves that would make Anne of Green Gables proud?! You wouldn't believe Meghan was coming off a six-week break. I only caught the tail end of the Kids discussion. I know Whoopi was asking the mom's of school-aged kids (Sunny and Sara) how comfortable they felt sending their kids back and I returned when Meghan was sulking. What happened in between? I wanted to hear more from SWW, but her strained appearance made me glad when the interview was over. I kind of agree with Meghan that these Trump acolyte tell-alls are getting tiresome, but this sounded like something different. I don't care about the relationship between Ivanka and Melania but I DO want to hear about the irregularities for the inauguration.

I was trying to categorize it. Possibly a combination of spoken word and performance art? The performance at the party when she encouraged everyone to sing along reminded me of the old Kathy Griffin story about Whitney Houston trying to get a crowd to sing along to her new stuff, but nobody knew the words. Dorinda's obsessive hate for Tinsley was a terrible, but apt end for this season. Full circle here. You're right, though. This is Dorinda's nemesis? She's choosing to make an ass of herself over someone with the personality of (expensive) room-temperature bottled water. Edit: I might have been a little too harsh. Let's say sparkling water, then.

Lol @ Sonja immediately yelling "HOT GUYS!" and hugging a random partier then second she enters. Then she lost me because she wouldn't stop babbling about their hotness and youth. I feel like this is a metaphor for Sonja in general: a funny, charming beginning that quickly becomes stale and creepy because of the desperate and repetitive attention-seeking.

I lost a lot of respect for Sherri during her stint on The View, but I'm glad she learned so much from it. I hope she evolves more as an actress. I haven't seen Mr. Iglesias yet, but I loved her in Trial & Error.

I'm still wondering why Wendy is on this show. It's not like this is the first ever season of a Real Housewives show. She seems very much about being an overachiever, so how does RHOP fit in to her brand? I doubt she's actually friends with any of these women, so . . . why? I suspect that like Carole on RHONY, she thinks she'll be a fan favorite because of her accomplishments and that she'll act as a Greek chorus to the insanity. She will end up getting sucked into the drama and having middle-school type arguments about who gets invited to a party or gets to be best friends. I'm willing to give Wendy a few more episodes before deciding whether she's an asset to the show.

It's been a while since I've watched this show, but the great thing about it is that you can start watching and never miss a beat. Libby's family is still full of drama-seeking morons, I see. Imagine criticizing a country for having . . . winter and . . . large buildings. I can't watch Michael and Angela. It's just too disturbing and abusive. I want Michael to stay with his family and friends, who at least seem to care about him and his safety. Tania and Syngin need to go their separate ways. Don't have children; they won't heal your broken relationship. Kalani is a better person than I am, apparently. She was far more patient with Asuelo's mom and sister than I would be. They're clearly hiding their selfishness behind "culture." I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure the Samoan emphasis on family taking care of each other includes loving and taking care of children, not depriving them for their grandmother's unspecified "needs." I would never have predicted that Captain Slut-people would be the gem in that family.

Karen is ridiculous and I am here for it. Her pretentiousness and double-talk are genuinely grating, but a) she knows how to disagree like an adult (sometimes) and b) she gives us truly hilarious moments on this show. Add me to the list of people who are surprised that Candiace is making a lot of sense this season; no one likes an ambush, and asking NOT to be ambushed is a completely reasonable request. Gizelle is doing too much with her Don't-wake-the-Monster nonsense, but I'd rather watch that than watch her hassle her children into liking their creep of a father. I can't believe I'm saying this, but Monique needs to take a page from Candiace's book and state her beefs in a calm and straightforward way. I understand that she doesn't want to give life and energy to Charisse's rumors (didn't Charisse do this kind of thing to Gizelle a while back?). Say that, then. Don't get all passive-aggressive on Candiace. If she needs help with child care, say it and come up with a plan that doesn't rely on making Big Chris feel sorry for you.

So I'm about 15-20 years younger than Luann, and I seriously envy her physique game. I definitely need to look up her fitness regimen. I couldn't understand all the crosstalk at the Sonja Pretends She's a Fashion Entrepreneur Like Leah scene. What happened? Nevermind, Dorinda is having an Etiquette Rage Moment. I wish Heather was there to talk Leah through it. [Gif of Dorinda scolding "Be present! Enjoy us."]

Omg! I love You're Wrong About! I discovered it about a month ago (all late to the party and whatnot ), and the episode on AAVE is one of the best ones. On Topic: It looks like no one on this show remembers last season. Why would any of these ladies believe anything that Gizelle tells them about the others? Gizelle was even caught misrepresenting things to Robyn, her bff! Why would either Monique or Candiace rely on Gizelle for information? The one smart move Karen has made on this show is maintaining her Gizelle distrust and distance. Robyn and Juan are the will-they-won't-they story that even they don't care about. I hope Robyn has something more, perhaps her public relations or real estate career, than being a sidekick to Gizelle or Juan.

The Weasley Twins were not funny, and Molly Weasley's characterization was weird. Throughout the series, readers are constantly being reminded that Molly's biggest fear is that Voldemort and his followers will kill her family. She's already lost her brothers and can't bear the idea of losing her children. Yet she doesn't seem to worry about Ron's adventures with Harry, which are increasingly life-threatening. She even seems to favor Harry over Ron; l get that she wants to be compassionate toward Harry, but what about Ron's safety? In the Final Battle, it seems as if losing Fred wasn't nearly as important to Molly as almost losing Ginny. [Gif of people dancing under a sign that says "What up with that?"]

Good to see the ladies back! Fun! I like Robyn's two-tone hair, but not in her talking heads. Monique's bird thing is strange to me, but hey, if she's into it, then great. Gizelle' s conversation with her daughters made me sad. It's one thing to forgive Jamal; it's another thing to get back together with him. I agree with the girls; this isn't a good look. Literally groaned when Candiace showed up on screen, with her "low-key" one-year anniversary celebration. I'm glad she's pushing back against Gizelle, however immaturely.

Really, Dorinda? "Some other juice"? Does it count as a double entendre if you just point to your crotch? Oh, ffs Ramona. Trust Ramona to visit Mexico and express joy that there are so many servants there. [Gif of Lucille Bluth rolling her eyes while holding a martini glass]

My guess is that Ramona's known the others for much longer, so she's more forgiving of them, even though they are terrible people.