Zella

Pretty sure it's a "Keep Fayetteville Funky" shirt. I lived there a couple of years ago, and they're very popular in the area. I think it's supposed to encourage support for local businesses. It cracks me up that any Duggar would have anything pro-Fayetteville because the city is pretty proud of its reputation as a quirky, liberal college town.

Holy hell I couldn't finish that video. I read everyone's comments and figured it was bad, but I still wasn't adequately prepared. . . . Those lyrics also had me howling with laughter. I'm surprised I didn't rupture something in my eyes from rolling them during that Richter scale line.

I was also really disturbed by Jill's crying during that interview. I had never watched their show, despite living in Arkansas and knowing about their existence in years, but it really bothered me to see her sobbing uncontrollably the entire time while her sister just sat there and ignored her. I felt really bad for her, and even now when I remmeber that interview, that's all I can think about.

Same here! I like symphonic metal but can't stand the growling singing I associate with death metal. From what I remember of what she let me listen to, it still sounded like an incoherent Cookie Monster growl singing, but the lyrics were tame and maybe even spiritual. At least that was the vibe I got. Edited to add: I'd love to hear Bin's Christian death metal. It'd probably make the crap my roommate made me listen to sound like Mozart.

LOL I had never thought of that, but yes, she isn't the only that has offered! What I never understood about my college roommate is she wasn't an unintelligent person, but she could not read people's body language or facial expressions and she also was curiously devoid of any insight into my interests. We lived together for 3 years, and 3 years after graduation, we're still friends. But she still recommends music and movies and shows to me that anybody else who is ever known me for five minutes would just know I wouldn't like.

Haha it's sad but true! My college roommate was into that. I thought it was an insult to death metal (which I'm not even a fan of.) She offered to download her vast Christian death metal collection onto my computer, so I could "enjoy" it anytime. I invented computer problems to get out of it.

That is a gloriously awful craft. I just start giggling uncontrollably every time I see the picture. And I work at a library where I regularly help small children with crafts. I'm usually pretty desensitized to crafting disasters!

I'd pay money just to see them wander around Fayetteville's Dickson Street on a Friday or Saturday night. ;)

No worries! I don't remember hearing about them back home (North Carolina). Here's a pretty good introduction: https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001333.htm They're not fun, though I don't think they can lead to complications like tick bites can. Mainly they're just so itchy, they can make you scratch them until they bleed, though you're really not supposed to do that. I don't get many tick bites because I am a couch potato, but chiggers like to eat me. Every summer, I end up with tons of bites and red rashes all around my ankles because of them.

I haven't watched the episode, but this is hilarious to me if they're still in the Ozarks at this survival camp. Ticks and chiggers are pretty bad here--my family is originally from another state and were surprised when they moved here how bad they are in the summer, and that's a fairly common sentiment I've heard from other people who relocated here--and there is definitely Lyme's disease. I don't think the Duggars must venture outside much if they have lived in NWA their entire lives and don't associate summer with being eaten alive by ticks.

Yes, it was founded by Italian immigrants and still has an active historic Catholic church.

I don't remember where I saw it, but I've read that because of her fair skin, when she was a child, she wasn't really allowed to play out in the sun because she was so susceptible to sunburn.

I know some people who went to John Brown, and it's apparently not quite as narrow-minded as some other Christian colleges can be. (I live nearby and went to another Christian college that veered much more toward the latter.) One of my friends who went to John Brown for her first couple of years (she's an atheist now) was in their philosophy program and said that they talked about other religions/belief systems openly and respectfully. When I told her about my own negative experiences at another Christian college, she seemed quite shocked and told me she still looked back quite fondly on her time at JBU.

I went to a very conservative Christian college, despite being a very politically modeate Jew (long story), and went on a couple of school trips with people who remind me very much of slightly less sheltered Duggars. A recurring theme on both trips (one to New Orleans and one to Europe) was not enjoying new experiences but instead complaining about how unfamiliar it was. There was no effort whatsoever to enjoy the experience from most of them. I distinctly remember being in New Orleans and them wanting to eat at Pizza Hut instead of, you know, experiencing the glorious food the city is known for. I literally had to bully my group of friends into going to a local restaurant and ordering something native to the area. There were similar meltdowns (from them and me) throughout all of Europe. I spent a lot of telling people "You're in freaking Europe! Stop whining! Try new things!" Quite a few of my classmates went on to do missions work in Southeast Asia after graduating, and I see a lot of JIll's experiences in their chronicles of their adventures on social media. There's the initial, very brief honeymoon stage that is quickly followed by freaking out and isolating themselves.

Every time I think of him eating at their house, I just crack up because I can't help but remember that scene in Boardwalk Empire where Bobby Cannavale's Italian gangster character is confronted with spaghetti and meatballs made by non-Italian people and asks the waitress to explain what it is. It's a great scene already, but I just LMAO even more transposing Duggars into that moment. I would link to a video, but sadly, the scene in its entirety is not on YouTube. :'(

Thanks! I had never even thought of it before tonight--or even put that much thought into it when I was doing it--but yes, it's a great way to avoid company. The upshot too is everyone is impressed with how helpful you are and don't realize you're just doing it because you don't want to chit-chat. :) That's a good question about Jana. I think all of the reasons you mentioned are quite possible. I have a really hard time figuring Boob out. I don't know that he is consciously preventing her from courting, but I also don't know that he's actively encouraging it. But I don't doubt that he has his own selfish reasons for the spouses he's approved of, even if it's just that he thinks they seem malleable. I honestly think that might be the most important thing for him--that his children all acquire spouses that he thinks allow him to continue to exert his control and influence.

Agreed! I think it's quite possible that she either doesn't want to undergo the scrutiny of a romance on a television show--and I don't blame her for that--so she quietly resists or that she is uncomfortable enough with being filmed that she shuts down, so the powers that be have decided she isn't a great candidate for a televised courtship, which means no courtship. I also suspect that the family enjoys having her at their beck and call, so even if they are okay with the idea of her finding someone, I don't think they are in any hurry to encourage her to find a husband and leave the house. That'd be a lot of free labor to replace! Hmm Typing this has made me wonder if that's why she seems to do more work than the rest of the family. I suspect part of it is her personality, but it might also be a way to hide, so to speak. I know when my family had company, I was more than happy to volunteer to do things like the dishes or whatever just because it gave me a chance to escape from our visitors and not be accused of being rude.

I feel so bad for Jana because, as someone who is extremely introverted, I get such an introvert vibe from her. Most of the other Duggars seem like extroverts to me, so I imagine it doesn't bother them. But I cannot imagine being surrounded by that many people constantly, and I would think it has to take its toll on her in some way, even if she has been trained not to show that.

Yep it is. I live in the state, and we've had several reported cases since this spring. The 9th reported case in Arkansas was all over the local news earlier this week. Edited to add they have been travel-related as far as I know, but there is a bit of a growing paranoia about it from what I can tell.

It could still be a parking lot wedding with no food. :D

My bad! I was thinking of Sansa. I should probably get more sleep before I type things. :)

And all of them have one of mom's former suitors following them around and "protecting" them, though some (Murtagh) are less creepy than others. :) I've just been sort of lurking on this thread, but I absolutely died when the whole Lily/Lyanna/Ellen connection was mentioned because I read the Harry Potter series, the first Outlander book, and the Game of Thrones series books all this year for the first time, and my conclusion after reading them all was that I am obviously not a major character in a fantasy series because I don't have one of my mother's rejected suitors following me around. But I hadn't realized all of the other similarities that you just mentioned. :)

I think it definitely benefits Outlander in regard to categories like Best Show, but I don't see how Game of Thrones being out of the running would help Sam or Cait snag a nomination because my understanding is Game of Thrones actors and actresses always submit in the supporting categories. So, their absence might help the rest of the Outlander cast get nominated, but I imagine the acting categories for leads will be just as difficult to land a nomination for as they were this year.

Oh God yes with the media. Everyone I know who watches the show, myself included, watch because they genuinely like it, but I see so many clickbait articles about the show that are riddled with basic inaccuracies. I agree with you 100% on that. It's probably only going to get worse since the showrunners have stated the end is near.

That hasn't really been my experience with it, though I don't doubt that's true for a lot of people.