brilliantbreakfast

I hate to get gross, but Laura could be in perimenopause. For some women, the hormones go off the charts during that time. It's like Mother Nature knocking on your door and saying "Dearie, you know it's getting late. If you're going to have [a / another] baby, ou'd better get moving!" I was ridiculous during that time in a way I'd never been before. It lasted through much of my 40s and by the time I hit menopause, it was like a switch being turned off. I suspect that Laura is in that nature-knocking phase, in which case Aladin may be in for an unpleasant surprise when she hits that "lights out" time.

It constantly amazes me how susceptible and desperate many women in their 60s are. I know one who was still in her unhappy marriage when she fell for a scam. The minute she sent me the photo of the guy I knew it was a scam. They always say they're in the military, for one. But she insisted she'd background-checked him and prattled on and on about how she was going to move across the country to be with him. Then a few months later she told me she'd been scammed. I know she notified police, so I suspect money was involved. I'm in my 60s and widowed, but I have NO desire for any kind of man, foreign or otherwise. I'm quite happy on my own. But I do know women who are on these dating sites, so desperate for a man that they'll fall for anyone who says nice things to them. If Jenny has been up front with Sumit that she has only $6000 to her name, then he's definitely looking to get rid of her.

Not if his wife is in on the scam.

So you don't think she has "the ways of a woman", eh? =barf=

2:30? Amber, you are absolutely pathetic. Get a spine, girl.

Apparently "Everything But" is part of "purity culture." You can have oral sex, you can even receive anal, but still call yourself a virgin. Iris isn't about saving herself for marriage, she's about how special she thinks her coochie is. The problem with vaginal virginity being the holy grail is that once you define yourself by it, then not having it becomes unthinkable because your hymen is who you are. Without that, even from a husband, what is she, under her own definition? Why a woman who defines herself takes this kind of marital risk, I have no idea. I also wonder where her virginity fetish came from. It sure seems it didn't come from her mother, who appears to have run out of patience with her virginity cultishness.

No, he's not. He's a creep but he's not wrong. No, it's NOT normal to look at your wedding album and say nothing but "I look good. I look pretty. Look at my dress." If Amber is the Queen of Doormats, Elizabeth is like Honey Boo Boo grown up -- "LOOKIT ME LOOKIT ME LOOKIT ME I HAVE RED HAIR LOOKIT ME I IZ A FREE SPIRIT LOOKIT ME!!!!" A classic narcissist. And I wonder what her parents' marriage is like that she learned that this kind of uproar and dirty fighting is normal.

Clearly. His wedding ring is clearly visible in their conversations at the bar.

Agreed. My husband quit TWO jobs without telling me and without having a plan. In the second case, it was to take a computer programming class, which we HAD discussed but had not come to a conclusion. And then I found out from his department's secretary congratulating me on him going back to school.

That article is more about the Quiverfull movement itself (of which the Duggars are part) than about being on a reality show itself. I recognize that things are scripted or manipulated to a sizable degree, but I don't get a Quiverfull or Christofascist Zombie Brigade vibe from the Busbys, and my radar on all things CZB is pretty good. Yes, they're active in their church and they are what politicians used to call "people of faith" before so many of them got nailed for having affairs and child molestation, but not in a pathological way. Yes, Adam went to a pastor first when he went through his depression, but that's not unusual. Yes, they DO have a tendency to think that God is some kind of cosmic puppeteer that micromanages their lives and wants them to be on a reality show, but they're not creepy. I think the money helps, they know that their kids are adorable, and that they make good television. They are very media-savvy. My only beef with them is the way they deal with Parker and Riley's quirks. Parker is shy and Riley is hyperemotional, but that doesn't mean they're pathological...and that they are already making Riley into the Designated Family S#!+head (every family has one) is troubling. I suspect they went into IVF figuring one or two would "take", and with their religion, "reduction" was unthinkable. And then...twinning.

It's horrific to think that they brought a child into this.

For once I have to ask the producers, "Where the heck do you find these women???" Yes, Matt seems like a dim bulb, and it's a mystery why a guy who wants to continue to play basketball overseas decided to marry a stranger. But honestly? The other three seem like stand-up guys (to varying degrees). Greg, Keith and Jamie all seem to kind of have their s#!t together. They're all willing to communicate to the extent that these incredibly f**ked-up women are willing to. But the women? Gawdamighty, where did they find them? Amber is pathetic. I happen to think that a height differential of 17" is a big deal. I was married to a guy a foot taller than me and it is very easy to get into little girl mode with a height differential like this. And that scene of Amber in the dark crying for Matt was like watching an abandoned three-year-old crying for her daddy. Creepy. Deonna wouldn't know an adult relationship if it bit her on the nose, and Iris seems to think that her ladyparts are made of solid gold. As for Elizabeth, well, I haven't seen "Wayne's World" in 20 years, but the term "psycho hose bitch" comes to mind. Even on a show that has to scrape the bottom of the barrel in order to cast, this bunch of lunatics takes the cake.

The movie is "Bull Durham."

I think part of what bothers Matt is the height differential. He thinks it makes them look ridiculous -- and it does. Many years ago when I was young and dating, I went on a date through a personal ad with a guy who turned out to be 6'4". I was at the time 4'10" tall (less now, alas -- damn aging!). He was very nice but he let me know gently that this was one date and that the height differential was a dealbreaker. He was very kind about it and it seemed to really be that he couldn't get past that. We had a nice dinner with some laughs and then hugged each other goodbye and wished each other well. I always remember him fondly because he was a gentleman about it when he could have been an @zzhole. A seventeen-inch height differential is a very big deal. My eventual husband was six feet tall and we looked ridiculous enough. Even holding hands at that differential is hard, never mind keeping up with walking. Amber looks like his 10-year-old daughter from a distance when they're together and I think Matt knows it.

The Sweet Home lost me in the first episode when the mother was laughing at the older boys peeing off the porch. No interest in watching trashy people bringing more trashy people into the world.

Another reason to go on living. Things are about to get a whole lot more stupider.

Well I have just watched the March 23 episode and I am just weeping with joy. I think that the weddings of Tania and the twins have been lovelier than any of the real-life weddings I've ever attended. I know that the twins had a troubled past before Mariah brought them home, but I actually felt pride in how well they have done. Lizzie and M2 are utter prizes (as is Marcel). Whatever anyone says about Tia, she has definitely done something right. Think about what these kids do, between the shelter and the parolees and the restaurant (which was their idea) and the shop. It's really quite impressive. I know that we don't really "know" people that we see on TV, and we see what they want us to see, but it's hard not to love this family. This show just keeps getting better. I don't have a big bucket list, but walking dogs at Villalobos is on it.

And see, if they had waited till Jazz hit puberty to suppress, she could have banked sperm and had a biological child -- with a surrogate other than Ari, of course.

Cheating is a big issue in Jamaican culture. Go to the Jamaica Observer or Jamaica Gleaner web site and search for it. Go to YouTube and search for "Jamaican men cheat". You'll find a bunch of stuff, along with videos about Jamaican WOMEN cheating. Obviously Ashley did not watch this video before getting involved with Jay.

What Ashley needs more than anything else is some therapy to learn why and get past this thing where she makes such bad choices and doesn't recognize them. Having had two children by two men who cheated on her, what on earth would make her think that a 19-year-old Jamaican tattoo artist would break that streak?

Thanks for weighing in on this. I don't know if many widows/widowers are bitter, but many do feel cheated of a life that others still have, no matter how young or old they are or how long they were married. The "grief competition" thing is real as well, as are the judgments. I worked through my husband's illness because I had to. The only concession my manager made was letting me work remotely from home or from hospitals. I went back to work at the office two weeks after my husband died because I had to, and because I only had 3 days of bereavement leave and 7 days of vacation time yet. I am now five years out, and I see widows (it's mostly the women) still with raw grief, judging those who are not still unable to get out of bed. I'll grant you -- finding a place for this "new normal" as it becomes more immediate than the married years were can be challenging. After five years, my 30 years with my husband were like someone else's life. I'm not dating, nor do I have any desire to. I had a couple of bad experiences with men's scorn just at social gatherings that were not even for singles so I just don't want to deal with it. My other reality indulgences: Married at First Sight Survivor Return to Amish Lost in Transition I am Jazz Outdaughtered

I'm sorry, but there has to be a way to have a wedding in Las Vegas without it being Elvis-themed. Hell, they could have gone to city hall and then had a nice lunch at a restaurant with friends....except that it seems that Ashley's friends have had quite enough of Ashley and Jay.

I have no issues with what you said, and I'm a woman. I also knew what it was going to be about. The idea that men and women are always EXACTLY THE SAME is ridiculous. The only reason we seem to have to think this way is that we as a species tend to rank things, and things that men are inclined towards are always seen as more valuable than things that women gravitate toward. Angelina is a perfect example that proves what you said. She perceives her cruelty as being somehow indicative of being a "strong woman", when in actuality it's a caricature of what she thinks a "strong man" would be like.

Never has anyone made a bowtie and blazer look so hot. I have a completely age-inappropriate crush on Christian. Genius, brilliance, and quirky fashion sense are a hot combination. Angelina is such an unaware asshole. If being gratuitously cruel is being a "strong woman," then I am Marie of Rumania. I don't know what she thought she would get out of it, but her beef with Alison, a woman who is Chief Inpatient Resident at UNC Hospitals and who plans to work in hematology/oncology after completing residency with a focus on palliative care, coming from a Wall Street tool, seemed completely uncalled for. And oh, by the way, Twitter was full of REAL women of color last night saying "WTF" about the obviously Caucasian Angelina trying to convince people she is one too. Christian was my first choice (though I'm frankly surprised he made it as far as he did, then Davie, then Nick. So I was fine with the outcome. But Christian's vote for Mike is baffling. The fallout with Nick must have been severe and he and Mike must have bonded a lot more than was portrayed.

If Angelina wins this thing, the entire season will be ruined. Smart gameplay is one thing, but taking such glee in outright cruelty should not be rewarded.